Epson Powerlite Pro Cinema G6550WU Special Features page 3

Posted on June 15, 2015 by Art Feierman

POWERLITE PRO G6550WU SPECIAL FEATURES PAGE 3: 360 Degree operation, Multi-PC Projecting, Advanced Networking and Scheduling, Wireless Networking

360 Degree Operation

“360 Degree Operation” doesn’t mean you can mount the projector anyway you want. You can have it place horizontally, vertically (pointing up or down), or in between. Think of the face of a clock. But you cannot skew it. For example, you can have the projector on a 20 degree down angle, but you can’t tilt it so the left side is higher or lower than the right side.

That said, this Epson should work for the vast majority of non-horizontal positioning situations such as digital signage. Or presenting to ceilings, floors or screens mounted on angle. Use a number of these projectors with edge blending to fill a 120 degree curved display, project onto ceiling or floor, or even, thanks to the geometric correction, even project an image that appears partially on a wall, the rest on the floor.

There are relatively few projectors out there that can be mounted at crazy angles, due mostly to air circulation and heating issues. It must be noted that solid state light engine projectors (lasers or LED) are more flexible in this regard, but the Epson should handle most real world situations. Being that flexible opens up many uses for a projector, again, in digital signage, and art exhibits, corporate lobbies, special events, concerts.

Epson G series projectors can be mounted with +/- 20% range, horizontally, or mount vertically, (i.e. pointing up to ceiling or down to the floor). Picture a sports bar with a number of projectors up in the rafters pointing down at angles. Perhaps two of them, using edge blending, might project a football game on the floor below? There are a lot of applications when folks start getting creative.

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Multi-PC Projecting

Epson’s been including similar capabilities in many of their install projectors for several years. This Epson projector can talk to up to 32 computers on a network (perhaps in a classroom or training room), any 4 of those can be displayed on the screen at the same time in 4 quadrants (or any of the 32 can fill the entire screen. Use this feature for collaboration or in the classroom. Although we did not test this feature on this Epson, we did get the chance to do so a couple of years ago, on an older projector.

Call that one small part of the Epson Powerlite Pro G6550WU’s networking capabilities.

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Advanced Networking and Wireless Networking

The G6550WU projector comes fully equipped, in terms of its networking capabilities. It comes ready pretty loaded, and there’s additional software for setting up notifications and alerts, monitoring. The projector can also run IP based content over the network. Of course the projector can be scheduled and controlled remotely. While Epson has its Easy MP software included, the G6550WU also supports Crestron RoomView, which has all of these advanced capabilities and more.

The G6550WU has built in, its own scheduling module, for when it’s not being controlled on a network. Thus, a single projector can be turned on and off, as well as other adjustments and changes made on a pre-determined schedule. The list of networking capabilities is long, and the Epson is “Crestron Connected” for command and control, and also supports other design “standards”.

For the networking people in the audience, I’ve captured most of the networking and setup menus, which you can see in the Product Tour section, that should reveal a good bit. I’m not a networking guy, beyond maintaining my own local Wifi, devices and other home networking functions.

Wireless networking on the G6550WU is based on the optional Wireless LAN module. Again this is pretty standard fare, we’ve worked with the module recently when we reviewed Epson’s best interactive projector, the BrightLink 1430Wi, and the PowerLite 1985W. Epson also offers apps for iOS and Android devices. Peer to peer is also supported.