At CEDIA 2018, Epson announced their new Pro Cinema 4050 home theater projector. This exciting new projector offers improved pixel shifting from their previous models, such as the Epson Home Cinema 4000 and 5040UB, made possible by utilizing the new PRO-UHD 3LCD chip. Epson advertises this model as having a wider color gamut, reaching 100% of P3/BT.2020, HDR with balanced color brightness for that extra pop and wow factor. Being 3LCD, the projector delivers the same brightness across all colors, which allows it to combat ambient light better than its DLP counterparts. In this First Look Review, we will explore the hardware and features of the Epson Pro Cinema 4050 and discover just what this new addition to Epson’s home theater lineup has to offer.

Before we get started, you may be asking “Just what is a First Look Review?” Well, a First Look Review is a simple one-page review where we take a close look at the specifications of the projector, along with its features and our thoughts based on what the manufacturer has claimed. This all takes place before our reviewers actually get their hands on this projector. Therefore, these First Look Reviews are a mix of insight and common sense. Of course, we won’t know if the Pro Cinema 4050 will meet our expectations until we actually get it in for testing, but given what we know about similar Epson projectors, we can make some fairly safe assumptions. Let’s start with our First Look Review of the Epson Pro Cinema 4050 home theater projector!

The Epson Pro Cinema 4050 is a $2,399 home theater projector with advanced pixel-shifting technology, thanks to the new 4K PRO-UHD chip offered by Epson, with a 1920 x 1080 x2 resolution. That’s a pretty good price for a 3LCD projector offering 4K video, an included ceiling mount and an extra lamp, especially when you consider the Home Cinema 5040UB is a couple hundred more without those extras! While pixel shifters have been around for a while, what is exciting about the 4050 is the previously mentioned enhanced PRO-UHD 3LCD chip, which makes its debut with this new projector and the similarly spec’d HC4010.

As a 3LCD projector, color is accurate, vivid and as bright as white light; 3LCD projectors offer the same number of lumens for colors as they do white ones. The new Epson Pro Cinema 4050 has a brightness claim of 2,400 lumens, which is nicely bright for a home theater projector, and is a good fit dedicated home theaters or living rooms with at least some good control over ambient light. This 4K capable projector also supports HDR10, which provides more vivid color than projectors without HDR.

Epson claims a lamp life of up to 5,000 hours in ECO Mode, which is enough potential life for more than two years between lamp changes with a viewing schedule of 6 hours a day, every day. In High Mode, the lifespan of the lamp is reduced to 3,500 hours, which is still respectable – most projectors have a lamp life claim of between 3,000 and 8,000 hours, with the higher end of that spectrum being ECO Mode claims.

While DLP projectors typically offer better black levels than 3LCD, the contrast ratio claim here is 200,000:1. With a claim like that, I would expect black levels to be better than entry level. In Art’s reviews of the 4K UHD DLP projectors, he’s been saying that most of them have merely entry level black level performance. With Epson’s improved technology, we can at least hope that the black levels of the Pro Cinema 4050 will be at least as good as the HC4000’s, if not as good as the HC5040UB’s. Like I said, we can hope, but a final determination on that will have to wait until we actually get to review one and see for ourselves.

The Pro Cinema 4050 is a sizeable 24.3 lbs, and measures in at 7.6 inches tall, 20.5 inches wide and 17.7 inches deep; right about the same size as the Home Cinema 5040UB. Other than the new PRO-UHD chip, there are a few other key features which we will get into in the Special Features section of this page, which follows the Highlights section below.

The Epson Pro Cinema 4050 offers 1080p resolution with pixel shifting up to a 4K UHD image resolution.    The 15-element glass lens features Lens Memory, allowing quick switching between your regular HDTV, 16:9 content to widescreen viewing for movies. This is great for those home theater fanatics who, like Art, own a wide screen. In addition to Lens Memory, the Pro Cinema 4050 has motorized lens functions such as powered zoom and focus, which is a major plus.

Epson’s new 4K PRO-UHD technology is built into the Home Pro Cinema 4050. This new chipset is comprised of three hardware processors for Resolution Enhancement, HDR10, and Image Processing.  This means there are three dedicated processors working in parallel to display an amazing 4K HDR image, possibly among the best seen from any projector currently on the market. Epson’s new dedicated pixel-shifting technology delivers more sharpness than the older models, which greatly improves the detail of the image. Again, we won’t know how improved until Art posts his review of the PC4050/HC4010, which should be within the next month.

The Epson Pro Cinema 4050 is intended for home theater use and, as such, has very few connections and inputs. There are two HDMI inputs (one HDCP 2.2 for 4K content, and one regular 1.4), a powered Type A USB, a standard USB for an optional wireless dongle and firmware upgrade, a Mini USB for service only, a standard RJ-45 Ethernet port for wired networking, a VGA input for computer connection, a RS-232c for legacy command and control, and a 12 V trigger.

The Epson Pro Cinema 4050 should offer a stunning 4K image with its new PRO-UHD technology and dedicated pixel shifting processor. Its list price of $2,399 will make it an exceptional value for those shopping for a dedicated home theater projector. With the color quality we have come to expect from Epson, combined with its new chip, its 100% of P3/BT.2020 claim, and support of HDR10, I think we’re in for a treat when Art gets to take a look at one in action. Epson has provided us with an advertorial for this projector – click here to check it out!

The Epson PowerLite 1785W is a WXGA (1280x800) 3LCD projector intended for the traveling professional, classroom, or anyone who needs to wow their audience on-the-go.  This $899 projector is set to impress with a brightness claim of 3,200 white and color lumens for vivid color, which is great for rooms with little control over ambient light.

Its convenient wireless connectivity provides for a quick and easy setup to existing networks, and it even accepts connection directly from your smart device; incredibly convenient in this day-and-age where students are more likely to have their classroom presentation stored on their smart phone than “old fashioned” flash drive.

The Epson PowerLite 1785W is part of a family of portable projectors – Epson has by far the widest variety of projectors of any manufacturer and currently has the largest market share of all projector manufactures.  The PowerLite 1700 series of ultra-slim, portable business and education projectors includes the 1785W, which we are reviewing here.  Its siblings include: the 1795F, a HD 1080p version with a list price $100 more; the 1781W, WXGA (it’s virtually identical to the 1785W, but with a black cabinet) at $799; and the 1780W, also WXGA with a brightness of 3,000 lumens at a cost of $749.

This review of the Epson PowerLite 1785W portable projector will begin with a short overview and some highlights.  We’ll move on to a list and discussion of some of the special features this unit offers, followed by a tour of the hardware.  We’ll discuss picture quality in the different color modes and dive into how well this projector performed and if it met our expectations as I took it for a spin.  We’ll sum it all up on the final summary page; by that point you should know if the Epson PowerLite 1785W meets your needs for as a portable wireless WXGA business and education projector.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors report.  

The Epson PowerLite 1785W is a 3,200 lumen projector with WXGA (1280x800) resolution with 3LCD technology.  What I love about 3LCD projectors is that they offer as many color lumens as white lumens.  Of course, due to wavelengths of visible light, no color is going to be exactly as bright as white light when using the same light source, but it’s close enough!  We tested the brightness claim and will discuss those on the performance page; we also tried the projector out in moderate ambient light (daytime, windows open, lights off) and we’ll let you see how well it performed there.

This projector is ultra-slim, and that’s another big plus for me.  Who wants to lug a large clunky projector around when you can get features such as wireless networking for smart devices, vivid color, high brightness, and high definition images and video out of something the size and weight of a laptop?

The projector even has automatic vertical AND horizontal keystone correction, which is useful as it makes fitting the image perfectly on the screen so much easier – a real plus if you’re going to be moving this projector from classroom to classroom, or meeting room to meeting room.

There are only a few connectors available on this projector, but the wireless connectivity provides a broader range of devices that can interact with the Epson PowerLite 1785W.  Miracast streaming is supported, so you can turn your display into a smart screen, 30” all the way up to 300” diagonal.

Of course, this is a small, very portable projector; while it is capable of filling a 300” screen, let’s be real here - it’s unlikely anyone would use it to go larger than 120" or 150” diagonal.  Obviously, that would be pushing it without very good lighting control.  On my 90" screen, which is about what you would expect this projector to be used with, it looks fantastic!

The Epson PowerLite L610W Laser Projector is one of seven projectors in Epson’s new PowerLite Laser Series laser line of projectors for corporate, education, houses of worship, and similar settings, requiring strong performance in high, ambient light.

The Epson PowerLite L610W delivers a powerful 6,000 lumens brightness with instant on/off capability thanks to Epson’s new breakthrough laser technology so your presentation can start on time with no waiting for power up.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors report.  

The L610W is one in a subseries of PowerLites that includes 6,000 lumens each and includes the L610 XGA projector, the L610W WXGA projector, the L610U/L615U WUXGA projectors. The L610 comes in at $2,400, the L610W is $2,600, and the L610U/L615U is $3,600. With Epson’s Better future’s the costs are $1,999, $2,199, and $2,999 respectively. Plus you get all the benefits of the program including competitive pricing on all Epson projectors, 3 year limited warranty & 90 day lamp warranty, free next-business-day replacement with free shipping both ways, access to Epson’s PrivateLine toll-free tech support at no charge for the life of your warranty.  Calling in the dedicated line gets you right to projector support, no switchboards, no people answering who support printers, or other devices, just projectors.

Even Dynamic mode - the brightest, as some pretty good looking color! (sorry, image slightly overexposed)

In addition to the pricing, this L6xx series class projector includes a single 10 watt speaker for useable, respectable volume sound.  Quality, of course, is limited.  We're not talking full range, professional sound.   In larger rooms the L610W will need help from the room's own sound system, which virtually every large lecture hall and auditorium already have built in.

Wireless connectivity (Epson's $99 wireless adapter is sold separately)enables increased engagement in your presentation through device sharing and or multiple screens.

Also, you can adjust up to ±50 percent vertical and ±20 percent horizontal manual lens shift in order to aid you with flexible installations.

The PowerLite L610W sits at about 19 pounds and occupies 17.5” x 12”, and it can be ceiling mounted or placed on table top. It includes 2,500,000 : 1 Dynamic contrast ratio. And another feat thanks to Epson’s breakthrough Laser technology, the L610W delivers a light source that will last 20,000 hours virtually maintenance free.

As you’ll soon learn about this projector, the Epson PowerLite L610W Laser Projector delivers high quality performance at a reasonable cost for any large, bright settings needing a powerful projector to display whatever you need, whenever you need it.