Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
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Rigel
> 3 dayBackground: I am nearly finished with a large and expensive remodel involving adding a playroom and bathroom to my house. I love home theatres so I installed a 7.2 sound system and painted a 110” screen on the far wall bordered by 3” felt tape. My intention all along was to spend $2700 on the Epson 5040ub upscaling UHD projector that I know from personal experience produces a fantastic image. The reality: after a year of remodel and hemorrhaging cash I couldn’t justify spending $2700. I read a ton of reviews and nearly pulled the plug on a Optoma HD DLP projector that got rave reviews here on Amazon. The significant drawback was the presence of rainbow artifact related to DLP projectors. Within the reviews for the Optoma this projector was mentioned as the replacement the person made after sending the Optoma back. All I can say is I am thrilled I read that users review. My review: this Projector cost about $100 more than the Optoma which I felt was a tiny sacrifice for rainbow free images. It installed easily albeit much closer than I had planned since it does not have an electronic zoom like the 5040ub. Keystone, focus and zoom were easy enough to adjust. The good: 1. Terrific clarity and detail of picture. My couch sits 14’ feet back from screen and I would have a hard time distinguishing this image from the 5040ub based upon resolution. 2. Color is excellent. I can say it does not match the 5040ub but I can’t expect it to. Selecting “Dynamic” picture really enhances the color and I do prefer this setting. 3. Color saturation very good. Richness and brightness of color rivals my Samsung 65”LED TV. 4. Contrast at 35,000:1 is sharp and deep. Again not nearly as much depth as the 5040ub but hey that one is 1,000,000:1. No contest. 5. Brightness at 2,200 lumens is plenty bright for cinema use in dark environment. Daytime use is totally achievable if you darken the room with drapes/curtains. 6: Price-nuff said. 7: Size and weight super easy to handle. When I do upgrade to the 5040ub this one will be my incredibly portable projector. 8. Pattern selection helps you size and center your image. The Bad: 1: Contrast. I’d prefer deeper darks but this is really a minor complaint. 2. Would have like electronic focus, zoom, etc. makes for a much easier adjustment since my projector is ceiling mounted. 3. Color saturation just a slight bit weak but again I have extremely high expectations. 4. Fan noise level just a tad more than I’d prefer. Overall this inexpensive projector is an incredible buy. If you are on the fence do not hesitate giving this a try. Coming from a movie buff and seasoned home theater user I really don’t see anything wrong with this little giant and can not recommend it any higher. Thanks for reading. It’s been about 6 months since I purchased the Epson 2040 projector. I still absolutely love the projector. For the price i think it is unbeatable. Fast frames never smear. Color is really nice and sharpness top quality. I still want the UHD upscaling Epson but find that this does so well I can’t justify spending $2400. Really wish contrast ratio was better. In a dark room it is noticeable. In the day with curtains pulled this little projector shines. The semi dark environment allows the contrast to looks its best. Still no hesitation whatsoever in recommending this projector. Our home has become the “mini movie theater” for the kids friends. Super immersive e perience especially with a top notch sound system.
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Priest Of Syrinx
> 3 dayLike having a movie theater in our basement but without the annoying children yammering on and looking at their cell phones. I will never even consider buying a television again. My wife and I both feel the picture is stunning, though we do not use it on the slower framerate mode because there seems to be a little bit of blurriness / stagger in the picture during epic battle scenes or very fast motions. The fast framerate looks just fine to us. Looks better than my 1080p plasma TV we had before this. For a budget level projector, I cant see getting much better than this. Was very easy to ceiling mount, we use on a 120 screen, connected to our AV receiver fantastically. Zero issues. 100% satisfied.
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Ariel Scott
> 3 dayIm pleased to finally write a review. The plastic casing is easy to scratch or to receive scratched so double check when the box arrives. Amazon and Visual Apex were very helpful and fair about returns. Aside from that, there is no need to calibrate the projector. This projector comes right out of the box ready to display brilliant, accurate colors. Great use with Finding Nemo 3D. We are using this projector against a painted light grey wall (before considering a screen) and it works great so far. Official reviews from magazines have stated that the black levels are not great. To fix this, I simply bought a ND2 46mm lens with a round adapter used on drones and secured it to piece of word. I noticed a great difference when I put the lens near the front of the projector while watching Star Wars. Space in the movie was now deeper and better. If anyone has any opinion, please let me know. I almost went for the Epson 3000, but saved the $600 by going this route and buying a replacement bulb for future. The Epson 3000 with a replacement bulb is $600 more. The Epson 3000 actually made the film Gladiator look washed out, syrupy and needed much more calibration. The Epson 2040 can really work well in daylight and on a painted wall. I looked at both projectors (3000 vs. 2040) in a store side by side and it was hard with the naked eye to tell the difference between the images. The 3000 was almost over saturated. The 3000 is better for placement from a ceiling. The small grey space I get along the edges of the image by raising the projector a bit is not too much a bother since the eye is mainly focused on the middle of the image - plus I did not think it was with correcting for $500 to $600 more and get the 3000. Believe me I was torn between the two, but went wit the 2040 since right out of the box it is hard to believe my entire wall can be covered with an impressive image. I tested motion with Star Ward and it worked fine.
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Jamrockka
> 3 dayIm very happy to have this projector. I have it placed a little over 10 feet from the wall and the projection size is 118 inches! The picture quality is excellent and much brighter than my last projector. The resolution is crisp and the text is easy to read. I have it plugged into my computers graphics card (MSI RX 480 8GB). I am very happy with the black levels and video quality. The refresh rate is 60Hz at 1080p which is excellent and I have not noticed any lag time with gaming. If you play first person shooters, the input lag is not noticeable at all! I have the projector running on ECO mode as well and didnt notice a jump in input lag. Make sure the signal image processing is set to fast. So far I have used 187 lamp hours since purchase and havent had any overheating problems or any issues. The fan is much quieter than my last O***a projector. Honestly, my computers liquid cooling fan is much louder than the projector fan noise. Pros: Sharp image Reasonably priced True 1080p native resolution at 60Hz Low input lag Bright image even with sunlight peeking through Rarely have to adjust focus, stays in focus for weeks! I like the auto keystone and zoom adjustment Quick menu navigation and good remote Decent audio volume output Reasonably priced replacement lamps Great design and build quality Cons: Speakers could be better quality but not bad Lamp life could be better No TV coaxial input for watching antennae HDTV Price does not drop very much over time Not AMD Freesync compatible! Conclusion: Overall I would rate this projector a 9/10. The price is nice and much cheaper than purchasing a 70+ television. Sure the bulb will have to be replaced a few times but for about 100 bucks for a new bulb, its a great deal. I almost bought a 65 4K TV but felt like I really wanted to continue a projector experience. This is the second projector I have purchased and one that I have researched thoroughly. This is probably the best bang for your buck. I spent hours researching and clearly I am satisfied with the purchase.
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Luke E
> 3 dayI was in the market for a project for under $1000 and this one was constantly rated at the top of the charts. I have a dedicated room so I can control the light fairly well and was blown away upon turning it on. The quality and color is great and even in eco mode has plenty of light to show a movie with moderate ambient light. The project has vertical as well as horizontal keystone correct which helps mounting it as it doesnt have to be perfect. I watched a couple of movies now and love every single one. I have a 144in screen at 15ft back. While the projector looked good on my wall paired with the Carls ProWhite I was blown away. The colors pop and the contrast looks good. Im sure the contrast would look better on a higher end projector but its left me nothing to complain about.
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Thunderg
> 3 dayI have been using projectors for my home cinema for 16 years on a white wall. People have always been impressed by the size of the picture, but didnt comment much about the quality. This projector has a picture quality that is so bright and detailed that nobody believes its coming from a projector. This is an amazing projector for this price. I have a 110in picture at 13ft away hung from a ceiling mount. If your on a budget like I am, you cant go wrong with this projector. The bulb that comes with this projector is impossible to find. Replacements range in price from $25 to just over $100 and could not fine the exact same one it came with, makes it impossible to duplicate after the bulb goes out. So enjoy it out of the box because youll never repeat it as Epson does not sell a original replacement.
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Stephanie
> 3 dayThis is a wonderful projector. Pros: --1080p HD . . . the projected picture from my non-retina macbook air was so much better than what Im used to seeing on my laptop . . . it had an air of unreality to it because it was so hi-def --LCD means no rainbows --Easy to set up each time with a very easy-to-adjust front leg & two adjustable back legs --Has a sliding lens cover built in for protection --Plug-ins all in the back and their placement makes sense --Plenty of settings to make any viewing situation work (including in room flooded with daylight--not ideal, but we were able to do it) Cons: --Possibly the cost. If you dont see or arent bothered by rainbows, then this is probably a bit much to pay. The Acer H5380BD (a DLP projector with 720p) is a bargain and I would have kept it had the rainbow effect not been such a problem. --Not quite as portable as Id like and didnt come with a carrying case (like the Acer did) . . . but this is a much better projector.
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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.
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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.
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The Sixth
> 3 dayIm really enjoying having the image size of a projector, such a step up from the 60 TV. Currently have it set up with a 120 screen. Im really impressed with the image quality, but only use it in the dark, so I cant comment on the performance in normally or even dim lit rooms. Also only using it for movies, even though Im a casual gamer. The fan is a bit noisier than Id like, but when watching a movie I dont notice it except during quiet parts. Its also currently just sitting on a table behind the viewer temporarily till its ceiling mounted. So I dont expect it to be a an issue at that point.