Epson Projectors

Home theater and multimedia projection

You might be more familiar with Epson’s printers, but the company specializes in digital imaging on screen and on glass - not just on paper. In fact, in some circles Epson is considered a leading manufacturer of LCD projectors for business, education and home entertainment, and their machines are known for their reliability.

Epson’s small to medium sized projectors for school and office start at well under $1000, weigh less than six pounds and boast a brightness output of anywhere from 1800 to 3000 ANSI lumens. Their SVGA model has long been a popular entry level projector, especially for schools, although XGA is the standard resolution of Epson’s education and business projectors.

The portable line-up of Epson projectors includes several models that weigh in below four pounds, offering reduced size without sacrificing brightness (2000 to 2700 ANSI lumens). Wireless and “networkable” models are also available, both in portable projectors and in larger venue or fixed installation machines.

Epson calls their larger projection systems “full-featured” or “corporate” projectors, although the company recommends them for schools and houses of worship as well. Many of these are nearly as affordable as the smaller machines, starting at just over $1000. Starting at 12 pounds and going up from there, Epson’s corporate line-up advertises a brightness output of 2000 and 5200 ANSI lumens, wireless and networkable projectors models, and a native resolution of 1024x768 (XGA). According to Epson’s recommendations, the 3500 to 5200 lumen projectors are suitable for auditoriums seating 50 to 100 people.

Projectors from Epson may come with a wide range of features, depending on the model. Some of these include auto keystone correction, 1.2x optical zoom and even closed captioning. Epson also make a high resolution document imager.

In addition to its business-focused models, Epson offers a few dedicated widescreen (16:9) projectors for home cinema and gaming. Home theater projectors come with 480p and 720p resolution, and most offer high contrast for LCD projectors - they start at a contrast ratio of 1000:1 but go up to 5000:1. Brightness is slightly more restrained but still adequate for most home set-ups, ranging between 1400 and 1600 ANSI lumens.

Epson entered the home theater market in 2002 with the first 720p LCD projector. Now they produce five models, including a combination CD/DVD/projector combo unit called “MovieMate.” The MovieMate projector comes with internal speakers and an external subwoofer, and is basically an all-in-one home entertainment package.