Gaj-it was at a special Epson event in Berlin yesterday for the world launch of their new 3LCD Reflective panel projectors. With four new projectors on show ranging from family friendly entry-level editions to full cinema level projectors – they had something for everyone.
First of all, they unleashed two of their top-of-the-range projectors including the EH-R2000 and the flagship EH-R4000, which are both full HD projector with contrast ratios that have never been seen before, with ratios of 500,000:1 and 1,000,000:1 they both produced stunning black levels, producing rich, deep, intense blacks and bright stunning whites.
Gaj-it was given a special series of demonstrations by Epson. They were conducted within controlled conditions, but what we were shown blew us away. First of all, they fired up a scene from Mission Impossible 3 in full cinema mode and it was breathtaking. The best picture we ever scene from a projector and the image processing was truly breathtaking. But Chris Morris' The Dark Knight stole the show, with the Joker pursuing Batman through the dark and dingy mean-streets of Gotham City. We were blown away by the quality and it was like we were in our own private cinema, minus the screaming kids and over priced pop corn – it really was that good.
Other notable advantages from this new technology, includes massively improved response times, which is quicker for fast-paced action and an increase in aperture. They also come with several different colour modes including; Cinema and Living Room and a Super Resolution feature (seen on the TW5500), which attempts to upscale standard def sources.
The EH-R4000 can be controlled over a network, and both projectors can operate other equipment, such as Blu-ray player straight from the remote.
We were then whisked away to the Epson booth at the IFA for a more detailed look at their new projector line. We went hands-on their lower-end EH-TW450 - which is aimed at consumers that are taking their first steps into the world of projectors – starting at around £500-£600.
We got the chance to put it through its paces on a PS3, Xbox and a Wii. And we were pleasantly surprised; obviously they weren't at the level of the R4000, but the R4000 is 8 times the prices. We very impressed by their new entry-level product and is also shares some the technology of the R4000 and R2000, but at a fraction of the price.
The Advanced 3LCD imaging technology gave it a extremely bright images, especially when we played a bit of the new Toy Story game, with more accurate color reproduction and finer gray scaling. You can easily connect to your favorite games console via HDMI. It boasted a superb viewing angles and with Epson's long-life lamps. It's built for durability, with a low energy use, it will be a long time before it needs to be replaced. You'll be able to enjoy the game in broad daylight with all the color and clarity you need.
Epson also showed a middle-ranged projectors in the shape of the EH-TW3500, for us the Epson EH TW3500 is the projector to beat in this price range around £1200 – it has huge zoom range and Lens shift. high brightness, good black levels and a wealth of colour adjustments to acheive vibrant colours and natural skin tones.
We would mention that the vast majority of the competing models in and around this price point are all DLP based and do not require maintenance other than lamp replacement. The Epson, being 3LCD, has a filter that needs routine cleaning to get the maximum life out of the lamp, but as long as you have a can of compressed air to hand and 5 minutes then your good to go as it’s that quick to clean the filter (in a normal home environment you only need to do this every 2 months! more frequently if its used in a smoky environment).
There are cheaper 1080p projectors available but this is one of those occasions where we would strongly reccomend spending the extra £150-£200 pounds – it’s money well spent and the end result will be without question superior image quality!
Epson are officially the world-leader in projectors and with their new 2010 range this will continue for sometime to come – whether you have your own cinema room and want to splash the cash, or you’re a home user who wants experience giant scene entertainment for a very reasonable price you'd be a fool not to seriously consider an Epson projector, after all you don't get to be number one by not making the world's best projectors. And Epson's 2010 range are the best projectors we have ever seen. Period.
Release Dates and Prices
Available from November, the EH-R2000 will cost £2999.99 and the EH-R4000 will cost you a eye-watering £4999.99.
The T-450 is available now and will cost between £500-£600. The TW-32000 will be available in October for around £1200