Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
-
J. Geib
> 3 dayFantastic projector. I picked this up during the Black Friday pricing and couldnt be happier... It was originally used in my holiday lights display as a rear projector for Santa in the front window and it was amazingly crisp and bright. It now lives with me in the man cave and is being projected onto a plain white wall and looks AMAZING. Weve had big screen 55+ LCD/LEDs in the past, but nothing even comes close to how this projector looks filling a wall. Will never go back to watching movies on the small screen again. Im also a avid gaming and am very happy with how the projector works with my XBOX. No lag issues noticeable at all. If I had to pick a single con about the project it would have to be the frame interpolation sometimes has issues with certain sources and can introduce noticeable stutter or jerkiness. Seems to be very hit an miss and most of the time and work perfectly.
-
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!
-
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!
-
Jkm
> 3 dayLove it. Pound for pound one of the best tech purchases Ive ever made and I am a picky home theater enthusiast and have worked in movies my whole career so having quality presentation is important to me and this thing performs like a champ for the price. Its easy to use, has all the ports youd want and need and performs great with a fantastic, bright picture. I typically use for outdoor movie night setups and throw about 14 off my deck on to a 144 screen. Image quality is fantastic and we can even get started early dusk (but of course it shines best after sundown, which with a proper Blu-ray set up is as good as it gets). I just recently used the 3D for the first time after having this for a bit and I was blown away by the quality and simplicity of use. A single button press to enable 3D mode, turn on the Epson branded glasses and they saw each other automatically and just worked - no fiddling beyond that and the movie looked as good (perhaps better) as when I saw it in the theatre (3D was great from virtually any angle in a pretty decent arc in front of the screen - I tested). All of this said, plan to invest or have some kind of solid audio solution and dont expect to use the on-board audio. There is a convenient audio out radio jack so you can push the audio to another/better sound system set up (Ive been using a Klipsch 2.1 kit that frankly is also amazing for the money spent - again - I use primarily outside - but you could easily tie into the highest end home audio system). Couple of HDMI ports. Dont really need much more. If you want/use 3D I loved the performance of the Epson ELPGS03 glasses. As I said above use/setup could not have been simpler and the quality is great. There may be cheaper solutions on the glasses but you wont go wrong with these. Maybe my tune will change if/when the lamp needs replacing (I maybe have 100 hours use in at this point) but for the money Im not sure you can do better.
-
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.
-
Stucazzo
> 3 dayGot this on sale for 499 and replaced an aging 8350. I was on my 3rd bulb on the 8350 and although i loved it, the price for the bulbs were too expensive, especially 5 years later. What really sold me on this projector was the price and the price of the replacement bulbs ($99). I use it mostly for video gaming and movies. The fan is not any louder then my 8350, but when scenes change, the unit is really loud. it sort of sounds like a really loud shutter. But for the price how can you really complain. go buy a $2k projector if you want super quiet. The colors are great and its just as bright as my 8350 was.
-
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.
-
Chris
> 3 dayThis projector is the first Ive ever purchased. I did a decent amount of research before hand but I was still unsure exactly what to expect. I dont have a proper home theater room. The walls are white, I can shut the blinds and close the door.. but thats it. I purchased a Silver Ticket 92 screen to go with this. First off . .maybe the works in a bright room claims are exaggerated. Perhaps compared to other projectors. Compared to a regular tv, though, this projector is highly susceptible to light. That being said, I find it watchable, with the blinds closed, at all but the brightest parts of the day. The second big question in my mind was the black level . .how bad were they? Pretty bad, actually. Even at night, with the blinds and doors closed, dark scenes are noticeably washed out. If you only watch movies it could be a deal breaker, otherwise its probably OK. . but its noticeable. The color is great. Bright scenes pop with lots of detail. There is not a lot of blurring. Sports look really good. .Ive watched basketball and golf so far - there are some issues but its a very enjoyable viewing experience. Watching golf, for example, theres some blur when the ball is moving fast but, for chips and putts, the ball is tracked pretty well. Its kind of in between my old Pioneer Kuros Plasma and my new Samsung LCD. There is less detail and not as good blacks as the Kuros, but more natural looking than the Samsung. Last things - cartoons, web content and video games. This thing is amazing for all of the above. Cartoons look absolutely amazing - if you have little kids they will be jaws-on-the-foor. Netflix and Amazon video seem to look even better than my cable HD. Its great for video games. I have no comparison as this is my first projector but we use it a lot for PS3 games and I cant tell any difference in response time from the lcd tv we used to have it hooked up to. Last last things . .the price! For the price it is . .it is a cant miss. Even if its not everything you ever wanted in a projector, its great and if youre looking to get your first projector you wont be sorry. You can watch anything on it - from movies to cartoons to video games. The replacement bulbs are cheap. I bought a screen but it looks good just on the wall. My kids, in fact, insist that we do movie night on the wall because it can be bigger. Im pretty amazed at what such an inexpensive projector can do.
-
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.