Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector

After much thought and consideration into either jumping into 4k vs purchasing a projector I took the plunge and went with the 2040. While a few DLP units in this price range offered better contrast ratio I ultimately went with the Epson fearing I may notice the rainbow effect that DLP units tend to produce. Projecting onto a tan wall for the first month of ownership the contrast was absolutely terrible and color looked unappealingly and washed out. My room is light controlled, so after some extensive research into projector screens I went with a 92 Grey screen with a 1.0 gain by Silver Ticket. Wow, colors now seem to pop and contrast is on par with my Samsung LED TV. This Epson unit is fantastic when paired with a worthy screen. Input lag is minimal and playing games like Battlefield 1 and Street Fighter 5 show zero input lag. I still get a bit giddy every time I put a Blu-Ray on. Movies come to life in both 2d and 3d modes, and I have nothing but good things to say about this Epson. Color me impressed.

This 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.

Best projector for the price right now. I like it better than the BenQ I recently owned (1075) in 9 out of 10 scenarios (brightness, latency/gaming, frame interpolation, lamp cost, menu options, contrast, no rainbow effect, cost, image enhancement, lamp life). The only thing it doesnt appear to do quite as well is black levels. But I doubt most people would be able to pick out the difference. And theyll definitely notice the speed, brightness, and frame interpolation if they watch sports, or dont have a dark room. And the fact that they were the first to move many high end features from much more expensive projectors down into this price range is commendable. If this had a motorized lens, with lens memory, I could sell dozens of these to folks looking to replace their aging home theater projectors. Epson did a really nice job with this one.

One 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.

Overall: 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!

I want to give it 4.5 stars and it deserves it. I have had a couple glitches, cant seem to hook a sound bar up to it for one and it has just stopped on me a few times. I have it on a 4X7 screen and Im glad I have it. I researched projectors for 3 weeks, reading everything I could get my eyes on, visiting home theater stores, talking to people with projectors and I ended up with this. It was between this and the BenQ and the price and durability of bulbs pushed me in this direction. Im pleased.

Im 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.

I have put ~ 50 hours on this projector in the last 3 weeks. I use it with my Elite Screens grey 135 inch homemade screen. I really like it but there are a few things that could be better. My Pros: Bright - I have total light control in my theater so most of the time I run it in economy mode. Quite - Not too loud in eco mode, see cons for normal mode. 3d - Works great. Price - I picked this up when it was on sale for about $600 shipped from Amazon. Bulb costs- Ive found them for as low $65. I never feel guilty watching it. Cons: Loud - I use normal mode when watching sports and it is very loud. Creative frame interpolation - I wanted to like this feature. Not enough horsepower as it lags/stutters a lot. No lens shift means that my projector hangs down 6 inches from the ceiling. Automatic Iris - I shut it off. It was too noticeable while on. One note about the contrast. I recommend a grey screen for this projector as it needs all the help it can get for contrasts. Once I settled for eco mode and set the processing from fine to fast, I do enjoy using it. I will never go back to a flat panel TV.

Probably the best value in 3D 1080p projectors when I bought it earlier this year. Might still be. I came from an older DLP projector, and this Epson is at least as good in terms of color and overall image quality as that. 3D works very well with Panasonic TY-ER3D4MU glasses. Shutdown takes only a few seconds, unlike the DLP which needed to cool off first. The fan is noisy, but I use surround headphones so its fine for me. May be a problem for you if you use speakers exclusively and you are close to the projector. There is not a major difference in actual brightness between the economy and bright modes for some reason, but the fan is noticeably louder in bright mode. I just keep it in economy mode for simplicity and to save the bulb. Some other things: - Optical zoom adjustments are narrow, making placement a bit awkward in my case. - Fewer holes on bottom than normal for ceiling mount. Had to be extra creative with my existing mount. - AV Mute is a just stupid manual lens cover. I forget about this sometimes. - Remote is not backlit, hard to see buttons in the dark. - No component input. What cancels out all the negatives is that the official bulbs are C-H-E-A-P. Cheap enough that I use this as my primary TV now. Hopefully the rest of the unit lasts a long time.

This is my first projector so I dont really have anything to compare it to, but Im very happy with it. I have it about 17 feet from the screen, which is about 6 X 11, and it produces a really good high def picture. I had my doubts about the vid quality at that size, but its really as good as what you give it. A blu ray or a good 1080p signal reproduces flawlessly. The fan is a bit noisy in the high mode, but I dont notice it when a show is playing. Some people have said they watch in economy mode, which is quieter, but thats not bright enough for me which brings me to the only complaint I might have. Sometimes I think the picture could be a little brighter. It could just be my screen, its a painted white wall, but I did do some research and painted it with something that is supposed to produce very good results. Its not a big deal and its only in certain scenes. The internal speaker is pretty cheesy sounding, but I Bluetooth the audio to my sound bar and its awesome. I think for the price, this projector is really good.