Epson Cinema 400 Home Theater Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons

Ease of use is another plus that will appeal to many - especially those who aren't techie. A great remote, (with single button access to most of the controls that a user might use frequently, like changing presets from Theater Dark 1, to Livingroom), plus an extremely well laid out menu structure, and easy navigation, are most appreciated. Also include in that ease of use, great placement flexibility thanks to the 1.5:1 zoom lens and exceptional lens shift adjustment capability.

All together, that means Epson has a projector with a great deal of appeal, and more than enough performance and benefits to earn our award.

If you are a movie purist - and that's all you care about, and you have a fully darkened room, there are other projectors that may suit you better (and probably DLP), in the general price range. For those buying a projector to view a wide variety of content, though, the Epson definitely should be a top contender..

And for those who do like to play with settings, within those Epson menus are about as much image control as you will find on any projector.

I mentioned image quality above, and I'm pleased to report that the Cinema 400 has improved (and appreciated) performance over the older Cinema 550. Most notably the changes to LCD panels and optics provide a sharper image. We found the older Cinema 550 to be a bit soft, not so, the Cinema 400.

Add to all of this a great warranty, impressive styling, and Epson's well known support, and you have one of the top contenders in the $1000 - $2000 market.

Pros

• Very bright, with rich, dynamic colors
• Excellent placement flexibility
• Excellent preset modes for everything from movies in the dark, to sports on a bright day
• Very good achievable color accuracy in Theater Dark modes, but needs "tweaking" (or basic calibration) to maximize performance
• Great warranty (with replacement) and reputation for support
• Great remote
• Very good manual (a rarity). It not only shows you how to use all the controls, but actually does a fair job of explaining what many of them do. - I'm impressed!
• Very quiet in Theater Dark modes
• 3000 hour lamp life in Theater Dark modes
• 9 user savable settings, which most will appreciate
• Excellent flesh tones
• Cool styling (if you care about such things)
• Looks absolutely fabulous, when watching sports (football) in Hi-Def!! (Go Penn State!)
• Price/Performance!

Cons

• Noisy in brighter modes - too noisy for the really noise adverse, for movie watching, though shouldn't be an issue for most, especially for non-movie content
• Shadow details - not bad at all, but surpassed by a few others
• To change lamp, you must unmount projector if ceiling mounted (true of probably 80% of all home theater projectors)
• Pixels are more visible than DLP projectors, so you'll want to sit a little further back (true of LCD projectors in general)