Epson's $1599 Home Cinema 3010 - a 2D and 3D Projector
Greetings all of you folks that have just been dying to learn more about Epson's new, and least expensive 3D capable 1080p projector; the Home Cinema 3010.
The Home Cinema 3010 projector has an MSRP of $1599, and includes two pair of 3D glasses (and internal emitter). There is also a second version, the 3010e (also 3D capable) which sells for $200 more, lacks the 3D glasses (optional). Other than the wireless HD - WiHD - and the number of glasses included, the two projectors are identical.
The big story, is that just two hours ago, Fedex delivered a pre-production HC3010e projector for me to review. I've already got it plugged in, and have been viewing football - in 2D, and in 3D, and a brief mix of other content - 2D and 3D so far.
Too soon for any real opinions, except to say that the Home Cinema 3010e - and therefore also the Home Cinema 3010, are both
pretty bright - they seem about equal to the Optoma GT750 gaming projector (2D and 3D) in brightness, As I just noted in my previous blog, that one (GT750) has good brightness - enough to do a respectable job in 3D on a 100" screen. Respectable is something that the far more expensive Sony VPL-VW90ES, JVC DLA-RS60, Sharp XV-Z17000, Optoma HD8300, and Mitsubishi HC9000D really can't claim - marginal at best. Most of those can just reach 1000 lumens in their brightest mode, while this Epson Home Cinema 3010 claims 2200 lumens, and should measure fairly close to that.
With 3D and active glasses wiping out effectively at least 75% of effective brightness, we need all the lumens we can find when watching 3D content. I haven't watched enough to know, in 3D, if I'm really happy with the brightness (at 100" diagonal on a 1.3 gain Studiotek 130), or just satisfied. I'll settle for satisfied, which is more than I can say for any of those far more expensive LCoS and DLP 3D projectors mentioned above.
The Home Cinema 3010 and Home Cinema 3010e projectors - in a nutshell:
- HC3010 MSRP: $1599 (with 2 pair of active glasses for 3D and built in emitter)
- HC3010e MSRP: $1799 (no glasses), but with wireless HDMI.
- 2200 lumens claimed
- 3D and 2D capabilities
- Manual zoom and focus
- Keystone correction, but no lens shift
- Great warranty
- Full color management system
- Split screen (can support 2 hi-res sources at once - one HDMI, one Component), side by side
I've got that Optoma GT750 to finish writing up, this Epson Home Cinema 3010 e to review, and still another 3D capable projector arrived as well, the Sony VPL-HW30ES which is more expensive and will compete with the higher end Epson 5010, most of those LCoS projectors I've mentioned, etc. More in my next blog.
The Sony arrived first, but Mike took it for calibration before we even opened the box. As a result I've started viewing the Epson first. Not sure which will get written up first, but one will publish by 10/8 when I leave for a week vacation. Fear not, my vacations are never "all vacation". Whichever of the two reviews is not published before I head out, will be finished within a day or two of my vacation start - figure by October 10th.
So, hang in there, 3 different 3D capable projectors, from the low cost Optoma, to the low-mid-priced Epson 3010, to the $3500 Sony, and all will be written up and published in a 10-11 day period.
One final note. I still have the Optoma HD33 here, for a couple more days. That Optoma is $1499 - just $100 less than the Epson HC3010. But it doesn't come with glasses - they are optional, making the Epson the less expensive of the two, for those who want to play with 3D at least a little. The point is, I'll be doing a fair amount of side by side viewing, including 2D and 3D.
Hang in there, things are getting exciting! -art
