New Epson Home Theater Projectors - A First Look!

Introducing two new series of 3D capable Epson home theater projectors.  Believe it or not, we're talking two different core projectors, and several variations, including a very interesting twist!!! Everything I now know about these projectors is going live at the same time, although I'm splitting all the info into  this blog and five separate articles on our main projectorreviews.com website, one for each new projector.  The links below will take you to the other articles and blogs.  Enjoy!  It's going to be very fun fall home theater projector season, far more exciting that last year's which left quite a bit to be desired, in terms of new projectors.) The articles on the main site will be the ones that include my impressions after watching these new Epson projectors.  Note, those articles have the correct images of the projectors.  More images coming soon. I was able to preview these new Epson projectors very recently, at Epson America's HQ.  Although seeing them in a conference room with basically white walls, isn't ideal, I did get a good two hours plus, of viewing, even bringing and viewing a couple of my favorite discs. All of the Epson projectors sport Epson's new 480hz panels, which per Epson, is how they are able to offer the brightest 3D home projectors to date (assuming you ignore $70,000 Runco projectors, etc. Let's start with the short version and intro and comments in each of these new projectors.  The links will take you to First Look reviews of the new projectors:

Epson Home Cinema 3010

Epson caught me by surprise when I got to look at the Epson Home Cinema 3010 projector.   Sure, the rumors have been going around (I've been helping, I guess) about a higher end projector, or rather projectors, which are the Epson Home Cinema 5010 and Pro Cinema 6010.  The Home Cinema 3010, however, blew me away.  With an MSRP of only $1599, the Home Cinema 3010 projector looks to be the least expensive 1080p Home Theater projector that's 3D capable.  OK, you are going to say - "but the Optoma HD33 you just reviewed was only $1499." The thing is, the Epson Home Cinema 3010 comes with two pair of 3D glasses, but with the Optoma, the glasses are optional (at $99 each).  Based on that, the title (for now) for lowest cost 3D ready projector, will belong to Epson when it ships. Ready for this?   The 3010 offers 2200 lumens, with a very impressive 40,000:1 contrast considering the price. The Home Cinema 3010 can do split screen.  You can view two sources side by side. It could be two video sources, or perhaps you'd like to be watching NFL football on one half of the image and be viewing your fantasy football stats from your computer, on the other half.   This could prove to be much fun!

Epson Pro Cinema 6010 3D Projector

Of course Epson will also have a "pro" version of the Home Cinema 5010.  That one is the Pro Cinema 6010.  As is typical for Epson's local installing dealer only Pro Cinema series, the Pro Cinema 6010, comes with a spare lamp, a ceiling mount, and 2 pair of 3D glasses.  Cool styling, tons of lumens - 2400 claimed - great black level performance, split screen and improved CFI, are some of the biggest highlights. Did I mention there are two Home Cinema 5010 projectors?  No?  OK, not only is there a 5010, but also an Epson Home Cinema 5010e! While I'm at it, note:  There are also two Home Cinema 3010 projectors, the regular 3010, and the 3010e. I'll get to the two Epson e series projectors further down. For now, I want to give you all the basics of the Home Cinema 3010, and also the Home Cinema 5010 / Pro Cinema 6010. And I've got lots of specs for you too. And even pricing on some of them, but not all! For the sake of search engines noticing these projector announcements, I'm going to do this a bit different than in the past, as I mentioned above, I'm going to go into detail on each, with my viewing comments, in separate blogs and articles. Let's continue though:

Epson Home Cinema 5010 Projector

This is the projector that rumors were circulating about. The Epson Home Cinema 5010, and the similar Epson Pro Cinema 6010, are the Epson's new premium projectors.  Sadly, I don't have pricing yet on these, and I don't expect Epson to announce that until CEDIA.  I won't speculate further, since I did a couple of weeks ago in my early rumor blog. Think of the Home Cinema 5010 as the replacement for the Home Cinema 8700UB.   It's finished in white, and will be sold by online and local dealers. The Epson Home Cinema 5010 is Epson's answer to the Panasonic PT-AE7000 projector.  Once again a new Epson - the Home Cinema 5010, will go head to head with a Panasonic, that shares the same Epson LCD panels! Excited yet?  Consider this:  Epson's claiming a massive 2400 lumens, and says the Home Cinema 5010 offers up to 200,000:1 contrast (same as the to be discontinued Home Cinema 8700UB). Did I mention that the the 5010 (and the "e"), have support for an anamorphic lens, with two modes, so you can save the expense of an expensive motorized sled for the anamorphic lens? If your math is good, so far, you've counted three different projectors:  Home Cinema 3010, Home Cinema 5010, and Pro Cinema 6010.   But, there are more!

Epson Home Cinema 3010e Projector

No, the "e" in Epson Home Cinema 3010e, does not mean it's a version for Europe.  In fact, I was truly surprised by the e version.  First of all, the e isn't 3D capable.  This one's for those of you who could care less about 3D.  The Home Cinema 3010e loses the 3D capability, but replaces it with: WirelessHD!  That's right, if you own sources that support WirelessHD, as do some new Blu-ray players from Sony, LG, Visio and others, as well as some new AV receivers, you don't need to run an HDMI cable from those devices to your projector. Did I mention that both of the 3010 projectors have speakers on board as well, which can be a real nice touch if you don't have a permanent setup with some nice 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound. Contrast is 40,000:1   That's an extremely impressive spec for these two $1599 projectors. And the piece d'resistance:  Epson is claiming these two projectors using Epson's new 480hz LCD panels (same as the Panasonic), produce 2200 lumens.   Wow!   For you "techies" out there, interested in info on these new panels, which, per Epson are why their projectors are by far the brightest, affordable 3D capable projectors out there. For more information on the Home Cinema 3010e, click here! That makes 4 new projectors so far, and I've got one more for you:

Epson Home Cinema 5010e

OK!  Figuring out the Home Cinema 5010e is easy, now that you've already read the brief above, about the 3010e projector.  It has the same contrast and brightness of the Home Cinema 5010, but lacks the 3D capability, but adds the WirelessHD capability!   Like the standard 5010, it claims 2400 lumens and a 200,000:1 contrast ratio! This is the version for those with no interest in 3D! And that makes 5! It must be noted, that Epson plans to keep their best selling Home Cinema 8350 in the lineup, as the lowest cost of their 1080p home projectors.  The 8700UB, though will be gone.   All told that means 6 Epson's to choose from this fall. The 3010 projectors will ship in October, according to Epson, but those of you who can't live without one of the 5010 projectors or the 6010, will have to wait for November. Enough.  Check out the articles with my viewing comments.  Actually I only watch the Home Cinema 3010, and the Pro Cinema 6010.  From a picture quality standpoint, the 3010 and 3010e, should be identical.  The three bigger projectors -  5010, 5010e, and 6010 should share identical picture quality, and be a solid step up overall from the 3010 series, thanks to the far better black level performance. Go read the individual articles!  -art