Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
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Tm
> 24 hourI bought this after doing a moderate amount of research. It seemed like the right projector for me at this reasonable price point (I picked mine up for $650, but it seems to fluctuate on Amazon), and after a week of regular use Im pretty satisfied. There is one area this projector is severely lacking in though, and that is black levels. Ignoring the insane numerical contrast ratios that Epson likes to throw around, I can tell you that this is clearly the biggest weakness. Before purchasing, I read a few reviews and comments praising the black performance, but Im here to tell you this is incorrect, and probably sourced from people who are easily pleased. For most families and first time projector owners, it will be fine. But as a designer and photographer who scrutinizes and edits digital images all day, Im a little let down. I did a little more research and it would appear that this is a LCD projector technology limitation. You can find a few projector models in the sub $800 price range that have slightly improved blacks, but those are DLP. Im sticking with my 2040 because of the brightness, colors, and because Ill never have to deal with the rainbow effect on DLP projectors. Its also great for gaming, with the lowest lag time Ive found in this price range. I have taken a few steps to improve the ambient light in my room, hoping it will deepen the blacks. Draped black fabric above and to the sides of the screen seems to help a little because it cuts down on reflected light back on the screen, but dark scenes still struggle a little and tend to look gray and washed out. Do not be fooled by reviewers who dont know what to look for in an image. For the average Joe or anyone who wants a beautifully sharp and vibrant image, as well as the ability to blow up movies to insane screen sizes... This is a great purchase. Id recommend the 2040 if you arent willing to shell out $200-$300 more for deeper blacks.
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mpalmer
> 24 hourOverall: 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!
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Tired & Dirty
> 24 hourProbably 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.
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JC Brooklyn
> 24 hourVery 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
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J. Geib
> 24 hourFantastic 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.
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CMH Houston
> 24 hourI received this projector a week and a half ago, everything is set up fine on the ceiling mount. It worked great for about 6 days, then a faint bar appeared on the left side of the screen which almost looked like burn-in but it seems to be an image processing issue or defect. The bar has a thin white line that intermittently shows up on top. The warranty looks legitimate, and I will revise my review if the customer service/technical support resolves the issue promptly. Like I said the projector was great until the defect appeared. Revised, after some trouble shooting, figured out the problem with technical support. Everything appears to be working back to normal, image is great, responsiveness when playing games is great, warranty and cost of replacement bulbs is unbeatable. Highly recommended as the best all around in this price range, tried playing FIFA with a friend on a BENQ and it was almost unplayable with the delay, the Epson is pretty much just as good as an LCD TV in terms of responsiveness.
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Thunderg
> 24 hourI 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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TL
> 24 hourIve been trying out various projectors over the past week for my bedroom. Im not looking for anything too crazy or too expensive, just a decent projector with decent image would suffice to watch movies from my bed. I started with very cheap models and gradually moved to more expensive ones. This is the 5th projector I tried and hence I had some comparison points. What I love about the projector: 1. Image is bright and crisp. I compared the brightness of Epson Home Cinema 2040 to another projector with the brightness of 3200 lumens
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faraway12
> 24 hourSo this is my first projector and I am sold. I probably read hundreds of reviews on different Epson projectors and I eventually chose this one for price and capabilities. I had a 60inch Vizio E series tv before this and I was very to go bigger without buying a bigger tv. I havent noticed any difference in quality when comparing the projector to my tv which is great. I will admit though that my tv in my bedroom which is a M series has more clarity than the projector. That being said, I know there are projectors that have better quality but I had a budget which was under 1k and I haven not been disappointed at all with this projector! If you want your 1080HD experience then this projector is the way to go. It also does really well for lights being on. I have windows and a lot of natural light that gets into my den and this projector holds up well in lighting, even in Eco mode. If you want super crisp and clean then clearly a more expensive projector like the 3000 series is the way to go. I do intend to one day upgrade to the top notch kind of projector, but for now this one is perfectly fine when considering I now have virtually a 150 tv for only a hundred dollars more than my 60. I took two pictures. One is the Apple tv screen which shows the great clarity and the other is of a movie I was watching. The quality was based on my actual internet which isnt the best, but when it is streaming well the quality is great!
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Rick Mc
> 24 hourBought this Projector with the hopes of creating a home theater. While I have gone back and started redoing the walls for the theatre room, while this was up the picture quality was awesome and the video brightness was acceptable in the normal/eco modes. It has plenty of inputs, and the remote worked well. They Keystone also worked amazingly well for when I had sat the projector at a funky angle. It was able to throw it on the wall at an angle, compensate and make it nearly level/flush. The one issue with doing this is that it slightly goes out of focus because of it throwing further in certain corners. I did not leave it like that, but I used it for a few days like that. Noise wise, it isnt bad at all. To me it just sounds like a quiet fan, Im not worried about it, but would definitely consider building a box with fabric on the inside that would dampen the noise for a purely theatre feel. IT DOES 3D. Bought some cheap 3D glasses (active) and they were recognized by the projector. Also had to fiddle with the blu-ray player to get passive 3D to work. Both types worked for me. The quality is very good considering the price point. I personally could not understand wanting to spend more money for a projector with the same features and maybe slightly further throw distance. When I was working for AT&T as a wire technician I would see many types of projectors in use. I feel like I have saved a lot of money because many of the customers paid multiple thousands for a projector with no significant quality difference in my opinion. Remote works well from various angles.