Epson Home Cinema 3200 4K PRO-UHD 3-Chip Projector with HDR

Ive used a number of projectors over the years, getting a new one every 2-3 years as the upgrades come out. This is my first 4k projector, but keep in mind this is not true 4k but uses pixel shifting to create a more detailed image. The true 4k projectors start upwards of $5k and get closer to $10k when you factor in HDR, etc. This bridges the gap between 1080p and 4k projectors, and is a great option for multipurpose rooms (e.g. room with windows, family room, etc). I am using this projector in my finished third floor with windows. I have a 50 HDTV on the wall for the kids, and installed a recessed 120 Elite tab tensioned screen with full tower 5.2.2 Atmos speaker setup for everything else (movies). I bought the Epson ceiling mount, which fits perfectly and is very solid. This PJ is big and heavy, so do NOT cheap out on the mount! Its got lens shift and keystone adjustments, so if you are not dead on center or your screen isnt 100% straight, dont worry. The throw distance can be found on projector central, which has a great calculator when you are trying to figure out what size screen you can get and where to mount the projector. I ran a Ruipro 4k HDMI 2.2 cable to ensure I was getting all features available (not all HDMI cables will transmit 4k, Dolby Atmos, HDR, etc). The picture is very bright, and it has 4 setting profiles to select from. To be honest, all the images looked washed out to me, and the blacks are not remotely close to black - more dark gray. I adjusted the picture quite a bit, added a lot of color and increased contrast. Its much better, but still has terrible blacks and poor contrast. I would honestly recommend the 3800 over this due to the increase in contrast if you are very, very serious about image quality. The PJ is relatively quiet except on high settings, where it gets quite loud. Due to the fact that its mounted directly above my head, there is no way I will ever put it on that setting. Mine is on medium, which is still louder than Id like but tolerable. It comes on quickly and shuts down quickly, which is nice (my BenQ took forever). This is my first LCD PJ, as Ive always had BenQ DLP PJs. BenQ was much better with color and black levels, but this LCD is far brighter and has no rainbow effect. Epson bulbs are much cheaper to replace than BenQ DLP. Pros/cons to each. This PJ is good for the money, and a great option for a bright room. HDR looks good, but keep in mind this will never look as good as a 4k HDR TV. Its simply impossible to get the colors and contrast of a TV set, though you can obviously get a much bigger image with the PJ. My family loves watching movies, and watching them in full Dolby Atmos surround is incredible. This is a good, affordable option in the projector world. Hopefully within the next few years, true 4K projectors become affordable.

We have a bonus room/movie theatre which the kids use a majority of the year and we use for major events like the Super Bowl, etc. My son has his PS4 hooked up to the receiver so he plays 2K20 and Fortnite while the daughter has spend the night movie parties in there. Everyone loves the ability to consume their content via the 120 projector screen in 4k. For the past three months we have thoroughly enjoyed this Epson 3200 projector. Unlike some of the bigger Epson projectors which support HDMI over wireless (which comes with its own issues with Netflix, etc.) this one does allow you to project content over IP (either LAN or WLAN with optional wireless module) This allows the user to bring their own device and throw content to the screen without physically connecting the device to the projector (or receiver). To do this you have to use Epsons app or software. The problem with this approach is the audio as most of you looking to buy this will be hooking to a receiver for movies/games, etc. If you project wirelessly through the app, the content goes directly to the projector, bypassing the receiver so any audio needs you have will have to come out of the back of the projector via the built in tiny speakers. I wouldnt utilize this feature for much more than showing a powerpoint. Before I get too far ahead of myself, I should point out that installation was quite simple and just involves the power cord and plugging in my HDMI cord (which we had already run to the ceiling from my receiver). Both kids and my wife immediately commented on how much darker the blacks were than our Sony projector. Without getting into the technical color calibrations, Epson offers you multiple modes on the projector to choose from. Unanimously the family chose natural while my son does like to change it to dynamic when he plays fortnite because he swears the brighter colors make him play better. If youre considering this projector you have probably seen the bigger brother to this unit, the Epson 3800. Its $200 more and includes some nice to have features such as better contrast, better brightness and some lens shift adjustments. For us those features wouldnt be justification for the extra money. All in all this is a major bump up from our 1080p 3D Sony projector that we had and am thoroughly enjoying the rich 4k titles (albeit it via our HDMI cable instead of wireless!)

I replaced my 7 year old Epson 8350 with this 3800. The picture is simply amazing - bright and clear. I did not think I would need the HLG capability for upscaling with YouTube TV, but glad it has it because the picture with the HDR is not really nice to view from YouTube TV on the FireTV Cube - too bright and not as much fine detail as when placing it in HLG mode. Glad i thought ahead: You must have a HDMI cable rated for 4K to hook to the FireTV Cube or it will not work with your AVR 2.2 HDMI input - it flickers and you can an error message saying it will not broadcast the 4K video. Buy two cables while you at it because you will need one from your AVR to the projector and one from your Cube to AVR - if you try to use non-4K cables it aint gonna work with the Cube.

Great picture quality and features. Best decision and nice price ! Perfect

I was going back and forth on which model to buy, so glad I chose the 3800! Excellent picture and saved some coin!!

I purchased an Epson 3700 in 2016 and I have been very happy with it. I have a 150 wall screen in my great room with plenty of ambient light have had no issues. I use it for sports, news, movies, and 3d (the surprise impressive feature, I now own 100+ 3d movies). Ive been reluctant to make the jump to 4K because lets face it... 1. Its a lot of work to update all of your components to 4K. 2. True 4K projectors are really expensive. 3. Most true 4K projectors are not yet bright enough for my ambient light filled great room. 4. Most material is 720P or 1080i, and that would need to be upscaled to 4K, so depending on how good a job the upscaler does I may or may not get good results for the majority of my material. 5. I have a lot of 3d now and that is all 1080P, so same issue as #4 (and I need to make sure I have 3d support in any new projector). When I saw Epsons new entry in the market I was intrigued. It is basically identical to my 3700 (same size, lens, bulb, etc.) and supports all the previous features (3d, etc.) and they added the 4K/HDR support using pixel shifting (i.e. converting each 4K pixel into two 2K frames played rapidly and shifted) rather than using a native 4K panel. In my mind this is an excellent compromise that solves a lot of the above issues for me. The price is about the same as the previous model, it is still a native 1080p projector (so no upscaling issues for most material or for 3d), and it is just as bright as before. The real question is how good is 4K using pixel shifting? Most side by side reviews conclude human beings really cant tell the difference. During these covid times Ive been working from home so I decided that this and other home upgrades were in order. Last month I upgraded the AV Receiver and Blu-Ray Player. This week I ran a new 8K HDMI cable through the ceiling, installed a new mount, and replaced the 3700 with the 3800. So if you own a 3700 can 4K alone justify the upgrade? Well in my case I have a 150 screen and I only sit 10-15 away so 4K should make a noticeable difference in my viewing experience. To test I used both Amazon Prime 4K material and UHD Blu-Ray material. On Amazon Prime search for 4K demo for a list of excellent material. I used the IMAX movie The Living Sea, which Amazon has in 4K UHD/HDR. I used the Blu-Ray players 4K Amazon Prime app to freeze test frames and then switched sources to my 1080P FireTV stick freezing the same frames. The best test frame was one of a sunrise just coming over the horizon lighting the ocean below, clouds above, and silhouetting a mountain range. The comparison of the 2 was night and day. the 4K had fine detail in the mountain range, ocean and clouds not present in the 1080p version, and the HDR bought out highlights in the clouds and water that were completely washed out in the non HDR 1080p version. I got similar excellent results with The Last Reef using both Blu-Ray an UHD HDR material. So the answer for me is YES! It looks like 4K to me and on a large screen you really can tell the difference. The pictures I included show how much light I have in the room during the day, and then 2 pictures of a really zoomed in section of a freeze frame the movie I referenced above The Living Sea. It is the sun rising above the ocean. One of the pictures is 1080P and the other is 4K. Its pretty easy to tell which is which. If you look closely you can see the pixel structure in the 1080P picture, but it is barely noticeable in the 4K picture. Update: As some have commented on inability to focus across the entire screen. I had to work on the projector position a bit as I had a similar experience, but after I pointed the projector slightly up (still no keystoning), and used lens shift to bring the image down I was able to get a completely uniform focus at all sections of the screen. I added a picture of the Panel Alignment pattern to show it is sharp on all locations of the screen (the missing lines are due to my black velvet screen masking). Maybe I got lucky with mine but Ive had no issues with focus or blurring after adjusting. Very happy with my purchase of the 3800!

Heavy nice projector. The brightness is perfect which allows you not to have to sit in complete darkness to see a nice picture. Just plug it in and start watching movies. I recommend that you use high quality HDMI cables to get the best picture. I upgraded my Verizon cable box to 4K and could not get a picture and the same with my 4K DVD player. I tried everything but Epson support helped and suggested changing the cables and it worked perfectly. It turned out that cables that were installed in the theater room when the house was built (8 years ago) were out dated.

Im new to projectors. Only have a cheap $200 one to compare it to. Picture is sharp, very bright, works well in room even when the window shades are open. No complaints. Good value for the money.

Had a optima cant compare this projector is fantastic

PROS: + At 2,900 Lumens, this projector is bright + Pixel Shifting 4K Projector looks great; in particular with HDR content + Accepts full 10-bit HDR source input signal + Supports 4k @ 60fps resolution via HDMI 2.0 (18 Gbps) + Excellent vertical & horizontal optical lens adjustments (manual) + Latest Bluetooth tech for external audio source + Little to no fan noise in Eco modes + 3LCD tech avoids rainbows, for those sensitive to it + 3D glasses support, for those who aren’t happy with a mere 2 dimensions + Low input lag and latency for gaming + Relatively compact design for a 4k projector + Lots of advanced picture controls and adjustments + Full-featured remote control + 2.0A USB Power Port CONS: - Poor black levels - No built-in speakers - Fan can get noisy at higher brightness levels - Some may find on the pricey side BACKGROUND First I should note that I have an existing home theater/office that I’m using to test out this projector. I currently have an Optoma UHD65 DLP 4k projector. This would be at a different price point but I’ll make a few notable comparisons. I’m also using a Silver Ticket 120” 16:9 Gray Material screen and about 12’ away. The room has blackout curtains but I did tests in complete darkness and with various levels of ambient light. UNBOXING & SETUP Out of the box you’ve got the projector, a remote, batteries, documentation, and a power cable. No HDMI cable is included. The project itself is compact for a 4k projector. It’s smaller than the Optoma UHD65. The lens is off-set, which is normal for smaller projectors. That’s just something to note for installation. Although it’s easy to adjust for that. Speaking of setup, it’s fairly straight forward as just about any modern-day projector. There are adjustable feet for table use as well as ceiling mount points on the bottom. Thanks to the manual lens adjustments for horizontal and vertical positions, installation is very easy. Some projectors don’t have this, such as the current Optoma projectors, meaning you have to mount dead center and at just the right height. Otherwise, you’ll have to deal with digital keystone correction which limits resolution since it’s basically cropping the image. Avoid digital this if at all possible. The physical optical lens shift is the way to go. REMOTE CONTROL The non-universal remote is surprisingly useful for the projector. It’s a standard candy-bar design with quick-access buttons for just about every feature you could want. There are still menus that you’ll need to dig through for some advanced functions. But the basic stuff is all there with a single button. The remote is also backlit and very intuitive to use. The IR signal and receiver are strong enough so that I can just point at the screen and the project at the back of the room picks up on the signal. I’ve used some projector remotes that fail at this. CONTROLS & SETTINGS I won’t go through every setting as the manual would do a better job. But Epson projectors are well known for having just about every advanced feature and setting you could possibly want. In addition to several common features in the form of physical buttons on the projector. But the on-screen menu itself is laid out in an intuitive manner. In other words, if you just want to make some basic adjustments to brightness or pick a preset picture mode, you can do that. Or if you want to adjust the gamma or hue and color saturation, it’s all there for you. For example, the primary color mode presets of Dynamic, Bright Cinema, Natural, and Cinema will be all that your average user needs to touch in order to get the picture they are comfortable with. PICTURE QUALITY I did most testing in Natural, ECO power mode, and High-Speed Auto Iris. I haven’t spent much time doing extensive calibration yet as it’s surprisingly good with a few minor changes. After the bulb has some more hours on it I’ll go through that process and update here as needed. Basically, the picture looks great. The bright 2,900-lumen output with HDR enabled really makes colors pop. And with 4k pixel shifting, you do notice those fine details. At least with 4k content, which is most of what I watch these days. It’s worth noting this isn’t a “true 4K” projector, but with said pixel-shifting, it technically meets the industry definition for use of 4k branding due to the number of pixels hitting the screen. Compared to the Optoma, I do find it’s DLP chipset to produce a smoother picture which lends itself to a more crisp image. There’s more vibrant color saturation with Optoma’s RGBRGB color wheel versus the RGBCYW of the Epson. The latter is meant to allow more light output. But that’s something you really do have to compare back-to-back to appreciate. On its own, the 3200 is really impressive with 4k content; more so with HDR as it has the added benefit of being quite bright. The biggest negative is absolutely the 40:000:1 contrast ratio. Whereas the pricier models can easily push 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, it’s very noticeable with any content where there is a decent amount of black content and when viewing in a dark room. The best you get is a medium gray color. This is most apparent in the dark home theater environment. With curtains opens or a little ambient light, it’s essentially a non-issue for virtually any projector. GAMING I threw a few 4k games at the projector via my Xbox One X and it absolutely met all expectations. After some more back-to-back comparisons with the DLP projector, there is a noticeable improvement with lower input lag. I had pretty much gotten used to it and had simply adjusted to the lag by dying more frequently. But if you are playing a game that benefits from fast responses you’ll appreciate the quick responsiveness via low input lag. AUDIO There are no speakers on this model, which is unfortunate as I know some would like that for outdoor use. The remote is used for other projectors, so there are volume controls, but they won’t do anything with the 3200. There is an aux jack for audio output as well as Bluetooth audio streaming. Bluetooth is using a relatively new “aptX” Bluetooth standard that compresses and decompresses audio streams for fast low latency audio transmission to your wireless receiver (i.e. headphones, speakers, etc). Older Bluetooth receivers may not support this new standard. Regardless, you’ll get much better audio quality if you provide your own HDMI AV receiver and speaker system. Just make sure it supports HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 standards for 4k passthrough. CONCLUSION There are projectors for just about every use case you can think of. Which is what I’m going to focus my review and rating. This projector is ideal for a living room home theater. In other words, a dual-purpose room. Where you may have some ambient light coming into the room because you have a near-by kitchen, game room, window, etc. In which case the bright output of the projector can still produce a nice crisp and detailed 4k image. Just note that as with any projector, black levels and overall image visibility will suffer due to external light sources other than the projector itself. This is why in those situations, a lower contrast ratio isn’t as big of a deal. And you still need to have some control of light as there are physical limitations here. Also, a gray material screen will help with black levels and reflections from said lighting. If you’re going to primarily use this in a dedicated home theater where you can control all light sources, the 3200 is still perfectly acceptable. But if you’re particular about those black levels, I’d suggest moving to an alternate and possibly more expensive model with a better contrast ratio. As long as you make the right choice for your needs, you won’t regret the decision. The Epson 3200’s bright lumen output, 4k HDR picture quality, and flexible installation make this an easy recommendation from me.