Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector
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drbob
22-11-2024I 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.
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TruthBtold
> 3 dayDespite all the review about the the lamp. We purchased our project in 2017 and out lamp replacement warning flashed late 2022. We’ve had no issues this far with this projector. The primary use is home theater, day and night, but we’ve enjoyed it outdoors as well. We’ve even watch 3D movies on it. Only con was when hooking up the sound shakers due to the audio cord. We tried multiple adapters but it was just easier and less cord to hook it up to the sound bar. We still Highly recommend this projector
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dcos
> 3 dayThis 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.
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Tm
> 3 dayI 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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Tired & Dirty
Greater than one weekProbably 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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Jac William Stein
> 3 dayI had a Epson DLP projector from 2005 that gave a nice 720p picture - so when it came time to replace it, I thought Id buy another Epson. I am not disappointed. In fact this model is SOOOOO much better. The picture is sharp from corner to corner. Bright and full saturated color. I keep it on the economy setting and it is silent. In regular mode it makes very little fan noise. I keep the auto-iris turned off. It makes an annoying noise and doesnt help the picture. Im not sure what they were thinking when they added that feature. It throws a 100 picture in a 8 foot space. The lens is amazingly sharp. There is supposed to be a problem with contrast with LED projectors, but this one makes blacker blacks than my 11 year old DLP. I watch a lot of old movies in black-and-white and again this projector blows away the old DLP. Add to that a lamp replacement cost of under $70 compared to the $450 for the old model and the 8000 hour lamp life and you have a compelling reason to get this one. A great projector, a great picture (the Super Bowl looked amazing). The 3D is totally immersive. It looks like stuff comes right off the screen in front of you. Very effective. I got Panasonic and Samsung glasses and they both work perfectly with the Epson. I bought a grey screen to cut down on light scatter. My room doesnt get very dark, yet the picture is perfect. I am very happy with my new projector and recommend it very highly.
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Art Vandelay
> 3 dayMy initial review is below. Ive now had this projector for two years and havent seen any issues with it. Its rock solid and reliable. Also havent had to replace the bulb yet, which is nice. If I was shopping for a new one, Id look for deeper black levels (these are OK, but not great) and perhaps something with a quieter fan. The sound is fine in ECO mode but gets a bit loud otherwise. -------------------------- Ill put it this way: the picture on this thing is good enough that I can watch a movie and not feel, as I used to when I had a TV, that I was missing out on the visual impact Id get from seeing it in the theater. Sitting 15 feet away from this projecting on a 6 foot wide screen, Im immersed, totally. Im projecting it at around 90 diagonally, and the picture is bright and razor sharp. Put on a well-mastered BluRay and youll be blown away witih the quality, brightness and detail, particularly in outdoor, daylight scenes. For darker scenes, black levels are not deep, inky black, and night scenes dont quite have the contrast of a higher-end model. But its definitely watchable. I would recommend using it on eco mode, which is still quite bright and apparently extends the lamp life significantly. Going from eco to standard makes the picture seem maybe 10-15% brighter, but makes the fan easily twice as loud. The good news is eco mode will be bright enough if your room is even moderately dark. Theres a 60fps image smoothing setting, common on a lot of TVs now, but Id leave it off for movies and TV unless you like that weird soap opera effect;. The one exception would be sports or video games. Im very impressed with this projector. My last Epson ran for three years without any issues and without having to even change the bulb, and so far (five months) this one is going great.
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Stephanie
18-11-2024This 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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trbizwiz
> 3 dayI have spent much more on projectors, but this is my favorite so far. The picture quality in a light controlled room is excellent, and the picture quality in a room with moderate ambient light is fine. I love that replacement bulbs are easily acquired for under $100. My past projectors required builds over $300. At the price of bulbs for this projectors, its easy to update when the picture dims, rather than dealing with a faded picture and waiting for the bulb to pop. I was looking for a budget projector. I wanted a good movie watching experience. I have all that and more and I am well pleased. There are projectors in this price range with better contrast ratio. Contrast ratio is important. I may well like those projectors better if I tried one. I chose this one because of the cost replacement bulbs. I was not concerned with having the best and newest. That can get expensive. I wanted a great movie watching experience for an affordable price.
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Joe Burks
> 3 dayI bought this because of the advertised color brightness and... WOW! They werent kidding. Leaves DLP in the dust. Dust that is very muted in tone with no color richness to speak of. DLP is fine for your Powerpoint presentation, but if you want to watch a movie in your home theater, you want something more like this. Because there are three different image elements in this projector creating three different images, you only get perfect convergence at one distance from the lens. I had this projecting onto a wall in my garage (dont know exactly how big the image was, but it was over 10 feet wide) and the color separation was about 1/4 at worst. I didnt notice this issue unless I was being picky and looking for it.