The Flex Plus menu offers just four predefined picture modes. Each has the same set of settings options, ranging from basics like brightness and contrast to more advanced ones, such as Dynamic Contrast, Scene Adaptive Gamma, and a color tuner with all the necessary parameters for a full calibration. Note that although the picture mode names remain the same for both SDR and HDR input, the settings are saved separately for SDR, HDR10, and HLG. That allows you to use the same picture mode in each case, if you prefer, while still having different custom settings for each type of input.
For SDR viewing, none of the picture modes offers close-to-acceptable shadow detail straight out of the box, and even moderately dark scenes appear noticeably darker than they should. Cinema is the best of the batch, however, so I used it as my starting point in testing. After adjusting both brightness and contrast properly, the projector delivered more-than-good-enough image quality by most people’s standards, including good color accuracy, contrast, shadow detail, and sense of three-dimensionality, along with a decent black level. The only other change I made to the settings was to turn off frame interpolation to remove the soap opera effect, which comes from the added frames making filmed material look like live video.
(Credit: M. David Stone)
For my formal HDR10 viewing tests, using a 4K HDR disc of the same movies we use for testing SDR, I picked Vivid mode as having the best color quality, turned off frame interpolation, and also adjusted the brightness and contrast options, though I wound up with significantly different settings than for SDR. Surprisingly, the Flex Plus negotiated a 1080p connection, despite supporting 4K, which means that the player had to downconvert the image from 4K to 1080p, and the Flex Plus had to upconvert it. Much more important is that the projector handled the HDR version well enough to showcase the improved image quality that HDR promises, with enhanced color saturation and notably better shadow detail.
In my informal tests with streaming material, I was unable to confirm whether the projector connected at 1080p or 4K, but it displayed a message when the connection switched to SDR, HDR10, or HLG. It also gave essentially the same level of image quality as in my formal tests. Note that the Flex Plus doesn’t offer 3D support.
(Credit: M. David Stone)
A notable extra is the Epson Projection Studio app. It’s designed to make it easy for anyone at an event (like parties or weddings) to take pictures, turn them into a show, and let the Flex Plus project it. You simply download the app, then connect to the Flex Plus, select the pictures to include, and start the show. (Note that the projector and mobile device connect through the cloud, so both have to be connected to the internet.) I didn’t have a party scheduled to try it with, but the app works as promised, and I suspect it would be well received.
Gamers will appreciate the short lag time, at just a few milliseconds longer than is state-of-the-art for 60Hz input. I measured it using my Bodnar 4K Lag Tester, which yielded 20.9 milliseconds for both 1080p and 4K 60Hz signals.
The Flex Plus also scores well in terms of brightness. Based on the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations for a dark room, the rated 1,000 ISO lumens (equivalent to ANSI lumens) is bright enough to light up a roughly 125-to-165-inch, 1.0-gain screen. With the settings I used, both SDR and HDR images appeared suitably bright on my 90-inch screen, in lighting conditions ranging from a dark room to a family room at night with lights on. For daytime watching on a cloudy day, I increased the light output level from the default to maximum, and settled on a roughly 55-inch diagonal picture as highly watchable, though a little washed out.
