Epson Pro Cinema LS10500 Laser Home Theater Projector Review – Hardware

Pro Cinema LS10000 - Hardware Overview and Lens

As with the LS10500’s predecessor, this Epson is, to my taste, good looking physically, with that “euro” type look, that reminds me of SIM2 projectors.   The finish is a matte black so should disappear nicely in a dedicated theater with a dark ceiling.  Dual large exhausts adorn the front, on either side of the recessed power zoom lens with lens memory.

The control panel is on the side – the left side if you are facing the front of the projector.  It is located on a spring loaded door, so is essentially invisible when you don’t need it.  The usual indicator led lights are found above the control panel on the curved part of the top of the projector.

Note in the images above, that one shows the Epson powered down, with the lens cover closed.  It opens automatically when powered up (of course)!  Also of note, There are two photos of he rear of the projector: The first one showing the input panel and filter, and immediately following, the LS10500 is shown with the provided cable cover attached.

All the inputs and other connectors are located on the back.  The back isn’t very pretty (without the cable cover in place!  One can see a large filter on the back, along with the connectors.  Epson includes with the LS10500 that cable cover to keep things nice and neat.  Note that when the projector is ceiling mounted, the access through the cable cover is on the top where it belongs.   That should allow the successful hiding of most of the cable clutter.

The remote control looks like all of Epson home theater projector:  That is, it’s on the larger side.  It has a nice  backlight and large buttons.  It also has very good range.

Let’s consider the lens.  The center mounted, recessed power zoom lens has a 2.1:1 zoom ration which provides maximum placement flexibility, especially with the exceptional amount of motorized lens shift provided.   Info about the affect of the zoom lens position on brightness is covered on the Performance pages.

The older LS10000 was the first Epson projector to offer Lens Memory, so that one can choose to use a wide screen – cinemascope style such as 2.35:1 or 2.4:1, if desired instead of the more HDTV 16:9 ratio.

The LS10500 works great with my 2.35:1 Stewart Studiotek 130 screen.  I use the Lens memory feature regularly as I switch back and forth between HDTV and 16:9 movies, to wide screen movies, and back.

Control Panel

The Epson Pro Cinema LS10500’s control panel opens smoothly and moderately slowly upon touching the button next to it. (It feels great!)  If you are standing behind the projector the text is right side up, facing you.  At the top of the panel (closest to the front) is the Power button (once for on, twice for off), that’s followed by the Source button which brings up the many sources. Each time you press the Source button it toggles to the next source, until you stop on one, and then it switches to it.

After the Source button comes the Menu button.  Next comes a very small joystick surrounded by 4 tiny arrows printed on the projector.  But the joystick handles the navigation.  Just tilt the joystick toward the arrow you want.  Pressing down on the joystick functions as the Enter button.  The last button, is the Escape button which takes you back up a level in the menus when navigating.  Pretty standard stuff, except for the cool spring loaded hidden door.  Epson isn’t the first to use a micro-joystick.  Sony has been putting them in home theater projector control panels for some time now.

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LS10000 Inputs and Connectors

You will find all the connectors and inputs on the right hand side of the back of the projector.  Note:  The filter door is dead center if you are facing the back of the projector.  The connector that is  hardest to see is the power receptacle because it is vertical.  That is, the power cord’ connector (from this right side up view) goes up into the receptacle.  (Note the label:  AC Inlet)

 

Near the top left of the panel are the two HDMI inputs. They support HDMI 2.0 and also the HDCP 2.2 which is the current copy protection (required for Blu-ray 4K UHD..

Further to the right is the standard ethernet RJ45 type connector for a hard wired network – that is, plug it into your home router or gigabit switch.   As mentioned earlier, the projector is designed so that firmware can be updated through your network, when the projector is connected.

A small USB mini-type connector as a service port on the top right.  Below and further to the right is the usual RS232 serial port (DB9) for “old school” command and control.  Moving to the left is an analog computer input labeled PC (DB15 connector), and then comes the three color coded RCA jacks for component video.

All that’s left as a composite video (yellow RCA jack) and a pair of 12 volt screen triggers, one of which could be used to control an anamorphic lens sled, but most folks will be perfectly happy using the Epson’s Lens Memory to switch between 16:9 and 2.35 or 2.40 anamorphic “Cinemascope” shaped movies.

All considered, a nicely equipped input panel.  Missing?  Well, I always call for a 3rd HDMI input, because not everyone uses an AV Receiver with HDMI switching.  Also consider – it’s only AV receivers launched in the past 24 months that even support HDCP 2.2, which means you couldn’t switch your Blu-ray UHD player through the older AV receivers anyway.

More on the LS10500’s hardware coming up.  Turn the page!