Epson Pro Cinema 6020 UB Projector - Physical Tour
This page is identical to the Tour page of the Home Cinema 5020 review, except that the main photo (top) reflects the 6020's black exterior and the last section notes the 6020's anamorphic lens.
1/27/2013 - Art Feierman
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Epson Home Cinema 5020 UB Projector - Appearance
Observing the exterior, the finish is white, with dark grey front vents. It's not overly large, (call it a large "medium"), has lots of rounded edges, and in general, looks pretty cool. We're not talking Gucci here, just a pretty clean looking projector, but not dull looking. I like that the front grills are dark. After all, why have a white surface reflecting light back to the screen (even if minimal), when people with theaters try for dark walls/ceiling/floors, for the same reason.
The Home Cinema 5020e looks exactly the same as its predecessor, except for the name tag, and slightly on the back panel, with the addition of a connector cover. Since we're talking about appearance, I should note that there is also a black Pro Cinema 6020, (photo below). That Pro version is, as noted, the version sold through local installing dealers, and almost identical performance wise.
Starting with the front: The Home Cinema 5020 UB has a center mounted, recessed. manual, 2.1:1 zoom lens. The focus and zoom controls consist of recessed dials on the top, right behind the lens. A lens shutter closes to protect the lens when powered down. There is an IR sensor for the remote control, that is also located in the front. Intake and exhaust vents are in the front as well. The hot air is aimed forward and to the right.
If you aren't ceiling or shelf mounting, let me point out that you probably don't want to be sitting 2-3 feet in front of the projector and a foot or two to the left. It will get warm there due to the exhaust.
The top has the lens shift controls, while the control panel is mostly recessed on the side (right side if you are facing the projector). You can see the small sliding door in the image above. Inputs and other connectors are on the back. There's a single, fixed, rear foot, on the back bottom.
Look to the bottom, and you will find two screw thread adjustable front feet.
Besides the focus and zoom dials, you will find smaller vertical and horiztonal lens shift dials on the top.
Home Cinema 5020 Control Panel
Moving to the side, the power switch and source selection buttons are up by the front (right side if you are facing the projector). The rest of the Control panel consists of a square recessed panel with a sliding door to cover it. They are backlit blue. (You may turn off the projector's lights via a menu option).
Slide it out of the way, and there is your basic feature set, a menu button, the navigation buttons in a diamond shape, a Center enter key, and then Enter and Esc keys.
Just above the control panel, actually on the top, are three indicator lights for power, temp and lamp.
Home Cinema 5020 Projector - Input/Output
The Home Cinema 5020 is pretty average when it comes to inputs and connectors. As usual, our tour of the panel begins on the left. Two HDMI 1.4a inputs, capable of Blu-ray 3D, are on the left.
Continuing to the right, one set of component video with the usual red, green and blue RCA jacks, followed by the obligatory composite video (yellow RCA jack).
The Epson Home Cinema 5020 and the other variations, each have the usual, analog computer input (HD15 connector) for a monitor out.
Next over is serial port, RS232C and a 12 Volt trigger to control a screen, or an anamorphic lens (Epson 6020). There's also the power receptical, hard power switch, and a Kensington lock slot.
Of note, there is no S-video input, as was the case last year. I notice that this year that a number of projectors have been dropping S-video. I do not know if the EU or other versions have that jack - it's possible.
Home Cinema 5020 Menus
The menu photos have been taken. This section will be finished in the first few days after the review posts.
I will say that Epson has done little to change the way their menus work in the last decade perhaps. Sure, there are more, and some different features (including "new" things like dynamic irises, and CFI), but the organization, and the "look and feel" remain unchanged. I really liked the Epson menus all the way back to when I started reviewing, and I haven't changed my mind. Overall, type is on the smaller side, but no problem, translucency of the menu is done well, there are two aesthetic choices for the menus color scheme. I used the default which is gray/black/white.
Below find almost all the major menus, as well as a number of sub-menus and other on screen displays.
Epson Home Cinema 5020 Remote Control
It's big, loaded with buttons, and identical to last year's. The Epson Home Cinema 5020's remote works rather well. A similar remote control is used for the lower cost Home Cinema 3020, but that one has a few less buttons, due to less features. I repeat my same objection to this remote, from last year:: Since it is a rather long remote, it would have been nicer to have the backlight button closer to where you would grip the remote for balance. Or, let any key light the remote! That, though covers the complaints, as range is very good, over 25 feet bouncing the IR off of my 1.3 gain Stewart Studiotek G3.
Epson Home Cinema 5020 Lens Throw
Epson's 2.1:1 zoom ratio manual lens has been around for 6 generations of Epson Ultra Black (UB) projectors. It is a Fujinon lens, with exceptional zoom range, and overall very good quality, with lots of lens elements and groups.
As usual we report on the placement range to fill a 100 inch diagonal, 16:9 aspect ratio screen: The HC5020UB projector (measured from the front of the lens to the screen), can be as close as 9.8 feet or as far back as 20.9 feet. You can calculate distances for other screen sizes, by starting with those numbers. For example, if you are interested in a 120" diagonal screen, then multiply the 9.8 x 1.2 = 11.76 feet, and the furthest would be 20.9 x 1.2 = 25.08 feet.
Kapisch?
Home Cinema 5020 Lens Shift
This Epson has quite a bit of adjustable lens shift. For that same 100 inch screen, the Epson can be placed, (normal or inverted), anywhere from 22.7 inches above the top of that screen's surface, all the way down to 22.7 inches below the bottom of the screen surface. Measurements are calculated by measuring from center of the lens. There is also a good amount of horizontal lens shift. Using horizontal lens shift will partially limit the range of the vertical lens shift (and vice versa).
The combination of the wide range zoom lens, and excellent lens shift, makes ceiling mounting, or shelf mounting the Home Cinema 5020, practical, in almost any room situation.
Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen
The Pro Cinema 6020 supports an anamorphic lens.