I was asked in my place of work if I have any projector recommendations under 5000€. I am not super familiar with projectors but did some research and came across Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 and while the specs look good, I'm having trouble finding any good information about how well it can be calibrated to SDR rec.709? What really gives me pause are possible gamut issues, caused by it possibly having in-built calibration that can't be disabled, as mentioned in the guide. Gamut or color space is not mentioned in the manual once and best info I can find from google is 87% DCI-P3 coverage.

Does anyone have any experience with this projector? Are there any reasons to avoid it? The place I work only has an i1D3 but there is a correlation file in Ted's list for LS12000 and I will be using some version of CS. Which such limited tools the results aren't going to be perfect, I know, but they don't really have to be. I'm looking for "okay" results at worst, but if it can be calibrated really well, I would love know that too.

You can achieve a perfect REC.709 calibration by using an external LUT box.

First, pre-cal 100% White using the projector controls to define the peak output.

Then, find which colorspace setting provides the 'native gamut' (largest) coverage.

Select the gamma setting that is best to use, check contrast and brightness, and then profile with the 17-Point Cube.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/colourspace-zro-low-cost-manual-calibration-software-thread.3175441/post-61584855

Jonahan
If you do decide to use an external LUT holder to calibrate the Epson for Rec.709, a great option is the BlackMagic Design 12G Bidirectional Micro Converter.

It does a great 33 point LUT at 4K resolution.

The only caveat is it won't pass HDMI protected material. So you may need to work around that depending on what content you work with.

Also, exporting .CUBE format LUTs I believe requires the LTE version or better. But best to confirm that.

The Blackmagic Design 12G Bidirectional Micro Converter requires ColorSpace LTE.

You can use it for signals up to 2160p30 with 10-bit RGB-Full/Video or 2160p60 with 10-bit YCbCr.

If you need to transmit a protected signal, you will require an HDMI splitter that removes HDCP, or an HD Fury device with a custom firmware that also removes HDCP. You can request that special firmware from HDFury support.

https://lightillusion.com/tetratune.html

The Videworks Tetratune HDMI video processor is a better solution, featuring Tetrahedral interpolation and supporting YCbCr 4:4:4.

ConnecTED
I found out the room where the projector is to be located to be really small, around 19 m² (200 ft²) and when I added the projectors distance to screen and the desired image size in Epson's Projector Throw Distance Simulator, Brightness & Contrast guide reports that the nits are going to be nearly 500 on gain 1 screen , and that would of course be way too bright for a dark room. Now I don't really understand how that number is calculated since you can't modify the light output on the simulator, but 'cause I'm a complete novice when it comes to projector calibration, I have to ask a basic question: given the size of the room and all the available settings on the projector and 3D LUT calibration options, is 50-100 nits calibration even possible?

I added a PDF from the simulator as an attachment.

Attached file: pdf_1760559844687.pdf

You won't have any issues calibrating to the nits levels you mentioned.

For SDR, 48-60 nits is sufficient.

You can adjust the peak output before starting by using the lens aperture or laser power.

ConnecTED
Thank you, that's a weight off my mind!

For confirmation, the DCI specification for digital cinema is 48 nits.
Dolby cinema is 100 nits.
(actually 108 nits, but who's counting...)
We've been working with The Look, London, on their existing JVC based grading room, and their soon to be announced new cinema/grading room.
(That will be 100 nits capable.)
Both rooms are calibrated via the new Tetratune LUT box/video processor/TPG, obviously with ColourSpace.

Steve