Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
-
Art Vandelay
> 3 dayMy initial review is below. Ive now had this projector for two years and havent seen any issues with it. Its rock solid and reliable. Also havent had to replace the bulb yet, which is nice. If I was shopping for a new one, Id look for deeper black levels (these are OK, but not great) and perhaps something with a quieter fan. The sound is fine in ECO mode but gets a bit loud otherwise. -------------------------- Ill put it this way: the picture on this thing is good enough that I can watch a movie and not feel, as I used to when I had a TV, that I was missing out on the visual impact Id get from seeing it in the theater. Sitting 15 feet away from this projecting on a 6 foot wide screen, Im immersed, totally. Im projecting it at around 90 diagonally, and the picture is bright and razor sharp. Put on a well-mastered BluRay and youll be blown away witih the quality, brightness and detail, particularly in outdoor, daylight scenes. For darker scenes, black levels are not deep, inky black, and night scenes dont quite have the contrast of a higher-end model. But its definitely watchable. I would recommend using it on eco mode, which is still quite bright and apparently extends the lamp life significantly. Going from eco to standard makes the picture seem maybe 10-15% brighter, but makes the fan easily twice as loud. The good news is eco mode will be bright enough if your room is even moderately dark. Theres a 60fps image smoothing setting, common on a lot of TVs now, but Id leave it off for movies and TV unless you like that weird soap opera effect;. The one exception would be sports or video games. Im very impressed with this projector. My last Epson ran for three years without any issues and without having to even change the bulb, and so far (five months) this one is going great.
-
cyphersk8
> 3 dayThis projector is ok. Its not the best, but its not the worst either. For a sub $1000 projector it is pretty good. Why only 3 stars? The projector has a manual lens cover for starters. If youre mounting this higher up, youll need a stool to reach for it every time. A slight annoyance, not a huge deal breaker though. The particular unit I received had very severe color separation from the lcds not being matted together perfectly. I ran all sorts of tests as you can see in the photos. I believe this is outside what can be considered tolerable. Maybe it was a manufacturing defect, but I was disappointed. I am very sensitive to it, which is also why I opted for the LCD vs DLP projectors. The unit is bright, but that also comes with a sacrifice... noise. When you have it set to bright, its LOUD! On the other brightness settings the fans really quiet down and I found it to be bright enough even during the day time. Ive had a PLV-Z4 for 8 years and its been a great projector. Ill be looking at upping my price and testing out the 5030 soon. Overall, this is a decent little guy, but I found too many cons to outweigh the pros for my particular set up.
-
BlockDuck
> 3 dayAbsolutely wonderful projector! I bought this for my basement cinema. Pros: - Super clear picture for Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and the TV receiver box for antenna stations. - Fan is relatively quiet. I sit right below it and dont notice it when watching a show - Vivid and true colors - Easy to mount to ceiling when you buy a universal mount - Very easy to set up - Looks great even when projecting directly onto a wall. I havent put our screen up yet, and just have it aimed at a muted green wall. - Great picture even with lights on. Our basement has two lighting areas. I usually watch it with the back area lit and the picture is still very bright and clear. Cons: - I bought a Harmony 350 universal remote. It can turn the projector on, but it cant shut it off for some reason.
-
Amit P.
> 3 dayWith this purchase, one thing I have learnt is to always purchase products from trusted brands. My new Epson Home Cinema LCD projector is an amazing device, perfect for my basement home theater. The picture quality is impeccable, 35000:1 contrast ratio provides a very good rendition of black levels. 2200 lumens is just enough for my needs. Could not have found a better projector at this price. I am extremely happy with this purchase. The Good: Image quality, color rendition, brightness levels are perfect. 35000:1 contrast ratio Decent inbuilt speakers. Quieter than many other projectors I have seen 2 HDMI ports Light and Small Simple IR Remote The Bad: (which is not so bad) No optical audio port slight vibration (which is probably a normal characteristic of projectors, but I have seen Epsons that just do not vibrate - of course they are in a higher price band) All in all I would recommend this product to anyone who is looking to buy an inexpensive projector for their home theater. Good buy! Tip: Wait for a Thanksgiving deal to buy this item, I bought mine for $499
-
JC Brooklyn
> 3 dayVery Crisp colors and detailed picture even on a sunny room movies and shows look amazing, my only concern seems to be the software at times buggy, when turning on I hear the fan noise but not picture is displayed, I use the remote to change source or display menu and no response I have to resort in to unplug the device and plug in to make it work again, I contacted Epson customer service I have a case number Im waiting for a software update to correct this but nothing so far, Ill try to contact them again to see if they help me solve and update on the outcome
-
mpalmer
> 3 dayOverall: I cannot express how truly happy I am with this projector! I received this projector in December and have been using it non-stop since! I previously had an Epson 705HD and that was a good projector but this one makes that seem like it was childs play. The image is definitely 1080p and colors are vibrant and bright. There are several color modes to choose from (Dynamic, Cinema, Bright Cinema) and I prefer to use Cinema. I have not used the 3D capability as of yet because I do not have a 3D player as of yet, but I expect that the 3D is just as amazing as the rest of the projector. I want to talk about the frame interpolation a little bit. This is something that many high-end projectors have and it is very apparent when it is on. I personally love it because it makes the images seem clearer and smoother. At times, however it makes the images look fake because of the effect of the heightened frame rate. There is also a slight problem with the processing of movement with words. When the interpolation is on and there is a sweeping landscape, or when there are words on the side of a vehicle driving through the frame, the words lose their definition. Here it is obvious that the interpolation programming is attempting to pick the relevant information and becomes obvious. Even with these negatives, the overall opinion I have is that the interpolation is worth it; the picture is smoother and, to me, appears crisper. There are many inputs and outputs from the unit which make it quite versatile. I have only one HDMI plugged in currently, but it is a comfort to know that I could use more inputs if need be. The noise from the fan, as some people have noticed, is present, but only when the bulb is set to normal. Keeping the setting on Eco fixes this and makes the fan almost silent. I find that Eco is plenty bright for all the purposes I need. Also, having a good 5.1 system will really help with the noise (i know, duh) because this will diminish what can be heard coming from the fan. Only during silent scenes will there be any noise heard, and this is less than the sound that most fridges make when they are running. There is very little light leakage. Some projectors have lines of light rays that escape from the housing and cause bright spots in the dark room; I have not noticed any of these. I am using the projector with a 100 inch screen and it is very crisp and bright. I have used bigger screens with the projector and, of course, with a bigger screen comes the downside of seeing more pixels. You will definitely want to start using Blu-Ray players if you havent already. With my previous projector and some TVs the difference between the two is negligible, but not so with this projector. DVDs are much less clear and it is very obvious once you begin using blu-rays. The remote reaches from very far and very many angles; there are 2 sensors on the projector for the IR signal and this means that you dont have to be in the right place like some other projectors on the market. Thank you Epson! I was comparing this to some DLP projectors and ultimately went with this one. I have not used a DLP and therefore cannot speak to their image quality, but I can assure you that you will not be disappointed by making this your next home theater investment. I am a very happy customer and have recommended it many times!
-
Larry
> 3 dayPicture is great. Projector is small. No lens shift on this model which I didnt think was a big deal because I will just use the keystones to adjust the picture. You can do this, but be aware that when you use the keystones to adjust the picture there will be a slight ghosting effect where the picture was located. I couldnt live with this and ended up dropping the projector down far enough from the ceiling to keep from using the keystone adjustments. I wish I would have purchased a unit with lens shift. The only other con is it does have a noticeable fan noise and generate enough heat to change the temperature in a 200 sq ft room.
-
JD in SB
> 3 dayUnpacked and set it up using its own shipping box for a projector table... couldnt wait! A few minutes later and I had it hooked up to the laptop and focused and keystone corrected - very simple set-up. Loaded a random episode of Vikings so I could send a surprise picture of the wall covered in vikings to the girlfriend, and ended up watching the whole episode, mouth open. Awesome quality. So glad I stopped the seemingly endless loop of research trying to decide between LCD and DLP... Im not disappointed, or even curious about DLP now. The fan is actually legitimately loud, but on Eco Mode it is quiet enough to forget about, especially once audio is on for whatever youre watching/playing. Eco Mode dims the picture a bit, but not in a significant way... I can see never changing it from Eco. I will be trying a camera filter to see if it can help darken the black levels, but its not as big of an issue as I thought it would be. Once you see Lagertha life-size, these things dont matter as much. One day into it, the only downsides are: - It heats up the small room after a few hours (8 x 12 x 8) - this room has two open doors but no windows... if the projector were to be used more than 2-3 hours, you might want more airflow than I have in this room. - For a white unit, a white power cord wouldve been nice. - Probably just a fluke, but no batteries for the remote came with the package. Will update after it is properly mounted and more hours of use!
-
Bradford
Greater than one weekI have 3,000 hours on the bulb that came with this, its used heavily. The picture is fantastic on my 9 screen, its a stationary screen with a black felt border. I can see every hair and every pore on faces with a Blu-Ray, Netflix, or any 1080P source. Works great with the PS4, great for games. Easy to use menus, nice remote. Very bright for a theatre projector, brighter than the $4,000 Sony projector I replaced with this one. DO NOT buy a universal mount, dont be cheap, fork over the money for the Epson mount. I bought a cheap $20 universal mount and upon installation immediately purchased the Epson mount (which was $120 I believe?) The Epson mount is solid, quality built, and much easier to use and setup.
-
kthanid
> 3 dayOne very important note. DO not use this with a throw distance over 18 feet. It cant scale down enough. Mine is displayed on the side walls and I cant adjust it any smaller. Update: 9/10/18. The power cord that comes with it could stand to stick into the prongs a bit better. When we recently moved this to a throw of about 17 feet and tried to maneuver it to the right height and mark the ceiling hole, it would cut out as we were holding it. Thought it was the lamp, no, it was just the cord coming slightly loose in the projector. So far though, aside from the shorter throw limit, it has worked flawlessly. Son uses it for gaming and wife and I use it for movie watching. We didnt paint he dang wall, and it seems fine for all of us. No screen pain or special cloth. We all still enjoy it. Its hard to complain when your TV just grew to a 9x7 picture.