May 8th, 2013 Art Feierman
Greetings one and all,
This is just a quickie notification, that our annual Classroom Education projector report is going live this week. I know that’s off topic for this blog, but I figure some of you might be interested. As with all reports, it will go up, piece by piece.
BTW one of the most interesting projectors in the report may not be ideal for the home, but if 3D sports ever really get going, this might be a hot projector for doing 3D in sports bars, etc, considering it uses passive glasses and has over 5000 usable lumens, for the brightest 3D I’ve seen yet without spending $5000+ ($1899). One projector handles 3D for one eye, the other handles the other eye’s 3D image. So, if you have a sports bar, check out the Epson W16SK review.
And for those of you who think Pocket and Pico projectors are cool, and want one, we’re writing up the review of a cool Pocket projector from HB Opto. What makes it cool? Well, lots of features, including 3D, and SXGA resolution (1280×800). It will handle 1080p sources, such as my PS3. But what tends to really set it apart, is having a few hundred lumens, and being able to deliver them from a similarly sized battery pack!
As long as I’ve got your attention, coming up in the next few weeks: Epson Home Cinema 750HD, BenQ W1080ST (basically it seems to be a short throw version of the W1070, and Acer H6510. That’s a nice collection of around and under $1000 home theater/entertainment projectors. Stay tuned.
Posted in Industry, New Projector Reviews, Products | No Comments »
March 25th, 2013 Art Feierman
Greetings, Finally this year’s awards for the best Home Theater Projectors currently available, are now published. Again we offer a variety of awards: Best In Class, Best In Class Runner-up, and Best In Class Special Awards.
Click for this year’s Best Home Theater Projectors report winners, now published.
There are many more pages to the report, along with our new Guide to Choosing the Best Home Theater Projector for You, all of which will go live over the next 72 hours.
Posted in Industry, New Projector Reviews, Opinion, Products | 4 Comments »
March 16th, 2013 Art Feierman
Greetings everyone – it’s Smart Home Automation time at Projector Reviews!
I promised a blog to tell you a bit about our “Smart Home” plans. Here goes:
We’re creating a Dream Home! It will be a Smart Home, a Connected Home, and lucky me, it’s my home (and Lori’s and Lisa’s).
As a former dealer, my old company Presenting Solutions! did some fairly high local automation, although I personally stayed focused on the online “box” side of our projector business. Note, we mostly did automation for the Navy, and large corporations, rather than home automation. Back then we were Crestron authorized. It’s always been easy to automate a home if you don’t mind throwing six figures of money at the project. Not all of us, however, (certainly not me) have $100,000 or $250,000 to accomplish that.
Our goal, therefore is to create a Dream Home but do it with limited “old school” systems such as Crestron, AMX, Control4, and instead focus more on the new. I’m talking wired/wireless products supporting the Zigbee and Z-Wave alliances, and possibly Insteon too. We’ll use “old school” were necessary, of course.
The goal is to do this affordably. Wireless for most things will drastically reduce installation costs. Less centralized Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Industry, Opinion, Products, Smart Home | 2 Comments »
January 21st, 2013 Art Feierman
Greetings, Yes, projector owners, Our time has almost come. It is time for us to prepare, to consider, to plan our home theater – and home entertainment future. 4K is almost upon us, and 3D is being taken more and more seriously by more than a few of the greatest Directors out there. This conversation addresses both 4K – Ultra-HD, and 3D, and the impact of both together.
Let’s consider that thought in terms of some of today’s great directors, and consider who’s directing 3D movies. Although I’m skipping most Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Movies, 3D Projectors, Blu-ray, Home Theater Projector issues, Industry, Movies Related, Opinion | 4 Comments »
January 12th, 2013 Art Feierman
Greetings one and all,
I had intended to do three or four blogs from the CES show. So much for good intentions. Part of the problem was that I didn’t see a new home theater projector that I haven’t seen before, until I visited Optoma, Wednesday afternoon – that is, half way through Day 2 of CES.
“That’s not too bad” you say, but, I am under NDA regarding the Optoma projectors (non-disclosure agreement). You know the old saying: ”I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” (or me). I can tell you that Optoma will likely have three new projectors before CEDIA. The first, probably in the summer.
Plenty of picos and pocket projectors, however. I will blog about those in the next 24 hours. That said, this year pico’s come in all shapes and small sizes.
This first show blog will be a quick rundown of some of the projectors that I did see there, many of which
were announced at CEDIA and IFA back in September:
On the first day of the show, I met with Panasonic, who was showing
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Projectors, Industry, News, Products | 1 Comment »
August 31st, 2012 Art Feierman
Greetings,
Epson's Home Cinema 3020 - Great family room projector
OK, pricing is still not set, best we can tell, but the Home Cinema 3020 and 3020e, probably won’t be more than last year’s 3010 and 3010e. So far, though Epson has not indicated the new prices. Let me clarify. Last year’s two versions (3010 and 3010e) were $1599 and $1799. the “e” version is the one with the wireless HDMI (5 inputs and Digital Audio this year, up from 2/0). Last year, the base version came with two pair of 3D glasses, while the “e” version came with wireless, but no glasses. This year all of Epson’s 3D projectors will come standard with 2 pair of 3D active glasses (newer and lighter, and rechargeable).
So, pricing may shift a bit, due to the addition of the glasses with the “e” version.
So, “what else is new?” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Projectors, gaming and Game projectors, Industry, News, Products | 15 Comments »
August 31st, 2012 Art Feierman
Greetings,
Epson Pro Cinema 6020 Projector - 3D, Bright, great warranty
This little blog on the new Epson Pro Cinema 6020, is a very similar blog to the one on the 5010 projector. After all, these two projectors are about 95% the same.
Expect the Epson Pro Cinema 6020 to only be sold by local installing dealers. Also expect the 6020 to share the same improvements in contrast and black levels as the 5020 offers.
Brightness should be the same 2400 lumens as last year’s version. This year however, we expect the Pro Cinema 6020 to fix my old complaint of no dynamic iris, or other dynamic features when Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Projectors, Industry, News, Products | 6 Comments »
August 31st, 2012 Art Feierman
Greetings everyone!
Epson's new Home Cinema 5020UB Projector
OK, around here we know all about the Epson models that the Home Cinema 5020UB and Home Cinema 5020UBe will replace. The older 5010 has been a major favorite of ours.
So, what’s going to make the Home Cinema 5020UB worth the wait?
Here are a few tidbits, best I can confirm: First, the new 5020 projectors look exactly like the older projectors they replace. No cosmetics upgrade! Still mostly off white, with a center mounted 2.1:1 zoom lens, but with much of the front trim dark gray.
Look for the 5020 to be the same 2400 lumens brightness, which should see the new Home Cinema 5020UB and 5020UBE continue to hold the title for brightest home theater projectors under $5000. Note, the “e” version comes with wireless HDMI.
But, also look for an improvement in contrast and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Projectors, Industry, News, Products | 3 Comments »
August 31st, 2012 Art Feierman
Greetings Projector Fans!
It’s touch and go time here. the big IFA tradeshow has begun in Germany, and as is the case most years, it’s shortly before the US CEDIA tradeshow.
Epson's new Home Cinema 5020UB looks like the older 5010
These two shows are where most new home theater and home entertainment projectors are announced.
My understanding is that here in the US, Epson like many other home theater projector manufacturers, is distributing information on their new projectors in advance of CEDIA to we members of the press, but with the restriction, that “it’s a secret” until Sept 5th, which is Press day at CEDIA.
What that means to you, is that even if Epson told me everything about any new home projectors, I couldn’t legitimately share that info with you until they lift the “embargo”.
Fortunately, that doesn’t really apply to information Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 3D Projectors, Industry, News, Products | 5 Comments »
June 13th, 2012 Art Feierman
Greetings from Las Vegas, at the Infocomm 2012 show.
For those of you not familiar, Infocomm is the big US show for displays. There are plenty of projectors, but the show is dominated by LCDs Plasmas, LEDs, lots of digital signage.
Infocomm is not a home theater projector show. While most home theater projectors tend to get announced at CEDIA in September (the show for home theater projectors), the good news for you home theater fans, is that there are always a few new projectors for the home, launched here. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Industry, News, Products | No Comments »
