The NEC P525UL is a laser light engine installation class 3LCD projector having WUXGA, 1920 x 1200, resolution and a bright 5,000 lumens rated light output. It offers many features for its current list price of $3,099. This is a commercial/installation class projector that falls toward the lower end, in terms of size, weight, and price, of the installation class of projectors rated at or near 5,000 lumens, especially those using a laser light source.

The P525UL uses a laser/phosphor wheel light engine rated at 20,000 hours of life, which is unusual to find in an installation projector at this price point. The P525UL utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in the previous P502WL series which improves its color reproduction.
While this is an installation class projector, it is also suitable for use in a conference room or classroom. For education use it would probably be of most interest to colleges/universities looking for a low maintenance projector with networking capabilities and perhaps the ability to simultaneously display content from multiple sources, including mobile devices.

While the P525UL is missing some features found on more expensive installation class projectors, including interchangeable motorized lenses, edge blending and projection mapping, at a retail price of just $3,099, the NEC P525UL is still a great value. The P525UL received our Higher Education Best in Classroom: Performance - Runner-up award for being a versatile projector capable of being a very good larger venue ‘entry-level” installation projector as well as suitable for use in certain conference room and classroom applications.

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

A couple of years ago we gave the NEC P502WL a Special Interest award for being a very good large venue installation laser projector for someone looking at entry level units suitable for large conference room and classroom applications. The NEC 525UL offers several enhancements over the P502WL to make it even better.

The NEC 525UL is a small footprint 5,000 lumen installation WUXGA projector with a laser/phosphor light source which is rated slightly brighter than the P502WL. Like the older P502WL, the P525UL uses a laser/phosphor wheel light engine rated for 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation. There is also a Constant Brightness mode to ensure that the P525UL delivers consistent looking imagery over the life of the projector.

The P525UL utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in the P502WL series which improves color reproduction. To ensure consistent color, the P525UL has Self-Color Correction that automatically compensates based on usage hours for the natural color shift that occurs as a projector ages. I’m sure switching from DLP to LCD is also a factor in the projector’s increased contrast ratio. The P525UL is rated at 500,000:1 (with Light Adjust) compared to the P502UL 20,000;1 (with dynamic contrast)

While the P525UL is a WUXGA projector, it can accept 4K@30P content via HDMI or HDBaseT for increased clarity and detail. Like other NEC P Series projectors, the P525UL has manual horizontal and vertical lens shift, 1.6x zoom lens, dual HDMI inputs and a HDBaseT input. It also features USB 2.0A support to power third-party devices and a LAN port for network control and asset management. Combining the optional Wireless Module (NP05LM1) with the MultiPresenter software lets you display for up to 16 simultaneous connections.

What really makes this NEC projector unique is how incredibility quiet it is for such a bright installation projector. The NEC P525UL produces only 22db in ECO Mode and 27db at full power! The P525UL was so quiet in ECO mode that I could barely heard it from 3 feet away.

The new Epson 4K capable Home Cinema 5050UB projector is their latest and best projector in Epson’s now 12 year old UB series – aka “Ultra-Black” shifting projectors, offering an improvement over the previous HC 5040UB/PC 6040UB home theater projectors in pixel shifting and HDR, as well as in a number of other areas. 

Epson calls their latest implementations and improvements Pro-UHD (a registered mark), and advertises the Home Cinema 5050UB (as well as the HC4010 and PC4050), as having a wider color gamut and reaching the full 100% of the P3/BT.2020 color range; a claim that’s been echoed by several others since CEDIA 2018, but as yet has not been delivered upon – we’ll see if the HC5050UB/PC4050 can actually pull it off! (The HC4010 and PC4050).  See Eric's comments on the calibration pages.

Epson’s new Home Cinema 5050UB is a bright, 4K Capable – 2,600 lumen –fully featured projector.  The Home Cinema 5050UB – aka HC5050UB, comes only in a white case (with a nice gold trim ring).

The Home Cinema 5050’s list price is $2,999, The HC5050UB’s warranty is Epson’s standard two year warranty with two years of Rapid Replacement.  While the change from the HC5040UB to the HC5050UB is definitely evolutionary, not revolutionary, there are some areas of improvement which will be very important to a lot of folks.

Wireless HDMI transmitter comes with the HC5050UBe version

As usual, there is a second new projector in the UB line-up, the Home Cinema 5050UBe, which launched at the same time in April and sells for $300 more. That Epson physically looks identical but has built-in Wireless HDMI and comes with an HDMI transmitter, that handles three HDMI inputs on the back, plus one on the side.  It also outputs wired HDMI and Digital Optical audio!  BTW $300 for that ability is typically a good bit less than third-party wireless HDMI choices.

Also of note, since I started writing up this review, Epson just launched the Home Cinema 5050UB's almost identical twin - the Pro Cinema 6050UB.  Other than the black case, it looks just like the 5050UB but touts slightly better performance - which will be discussed in its review.  Just know that the Pro Cinema 6050UB is $1000 more, for which you get a slight bump in performance (including contrast for better blacks), along with hardware goodies:  Free spare lamp, cable cover and ceiling mount.  Don't forget the 3rd year of warranty and replacement program (vs the HC5050UB's two years of each).

I put on well more than 50 hours of watching the projector (ok, I’m not paying close attention all the time), before Eric came by to collect it, and take it for calibration.  He brought it back a week or so ago, calibrated and I helped him unmount the 5040UB and replace it with the Home Cinema 5050UB in my theater.  (Eric is tall, I’m not!)  Even before I gave it to him I was already appreciating a number of improvements.  I even took a pretty large number of my usual photos, pre-calibration because the Epson has several really good looking Picture modes, which may not be “calibration” accurate, but most will be quite thrilled with the “out of the box” settings.  

Not many sub-$3000 projector brands do as well,  Along with Epson, Sony (especially good) and BenQ, are the brands that come first to mind for consistently having at least really good out of the box color and skin tones – there are a couple of others though.  I normally adjust the Brightness and Contrast by eyeball, when I first start viewing (that’s really easy to do, no gear of software needed).

Interestingly with the launch of the 5050UB, Epson solves that slightly embarrassing situation of having better performance in some ways, in a step down model.  Let’s take a quick look at this new Epson’s major highlights, features, and benefits.  From there, we will tackle Special Features, Hardware, Picture Quality and Performance, before wrapping it up with a Summary page, where we will also discuss this Epson’s competitors.  Time to explore the Home Cinema 5050UB!

The Epson EV-100 LightScene Laser Projector 2,000 lumen laser projector is designed for retail, hospitality and entertainment applications. Unlike the boxy design of most commercial projectors, the EV-100’s “track light” design blends seamlessly into shops, museums and restaurants. It is intended for those who want to project motion graphics onto walls, products and display plinths in order to create dynamic experiences for digital art, commercial signage and décor applications.

While I reviewed the white finish EV-100, there is an identical version available in black called the EV-105.

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

Looking to highlight a product or create an engaging museum exhibit? the Epson LightScene EV-100 is a great solution. Use the EV-100 to combine photos, videos and lighting effects to achieve unique visual experiences while blending seamlessly into restaurants, retail spaces, art galleys and museums. While reviewing the EV-100, I could think of several situations where I could have utilized it over the years in various retail and trade show applications.

There are hundreds of commercial projectors on the market today, what makes the EV-100 immediately stand out is its form factor. The EV-100 basically looks like an oversized track light, so it would easily integrate into a traditional track lighting system. Epson even has an optional track mount (ELPMB54W) to make that type of installation easier.

Its stealthy appearance combined with reliability and longevity of a laser light engine capable of delivering 2,000 lumens, makes the EV-100 a unique commercial projector solution.

The EV-100 native resolution is WXGA (1280 x 800). As with all Epson 3LCD projectors, it produces as many color lumens as it does white lumens, which ensures a bright, vibrant image to be utilized in application like restaurants, retail, museums and art galleys.

The free Epson Projector Content Manager software makes it easy for anyone to develop compelling visual displays by combining photos, videos, and alpha based backgrounds into a playlist that can be stored on an embedded SD card.

This award goes to projectors that are either a cut above but may have a rough edge. Or, if it is a quality, but specialized product.

In many applications, multiple LightScene EV-100 can be utilized. Epson’s free Projector Professional Tool software simplifies the optimization for multi-projector setups. Since you can control multiple projectors simultaneously using the software via a network (wired or wireless) there is no need for a remote control.

The projector features Edge Blending, which allows several projectors to be set up side-by-side or top and bottom to project a larger and higher resolution image. This feature allows blending of adjacent edges of each projector’s image greatly reducing any visible seam. While this process could be done with two separate remote controls, it can now be done using a single PC via the Projector Professional Tool software, greatly reducing installation time.

There are many situations where the image may not be projected onto a flat surface. The projection mapping available in this model allows you to quickly fix the distortion created when projecting onto a curved, corner or irregular surface.

The Maxell MP-WU5503 is a WUXGA resolution (1920 x 1200), 5,000 lumen projector for business and education applications. It has a laser light engine, which gives it a longer lifespan than its lamp based competition, and 3LCD technology. That it has 3LCD technology (has as many color lumens as it has white ones) and a 5,000 lumen claim makes it well suited for higher education classrooms and large venues where there is some degree of uncontrollable ambient light and optimal color is desired. This projector may also find its home in larger high school classroom environments, and in business environments such as boardrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, as well as in houses of worship and smaller entertainment venues.

I’ll begin this review of the Maxell MP-WU5503 with a brief overview, followed by the projector’s highlights before moving on to a list of its special features. We will also tour the hardware, discuss picture quality, and talk about performance before summing it all up for you on the last page. By the end of this review, you should know if the Maxell MP-WU5503 is the right projector for your business or education applications. Let’s get started!

This projector has a bit of an interesting story. Originally, Maxell was a part of Hitachi, but it was spun off a few years back. As of April 1, 2019 (no joke), Hitachi projectors will henceforth be known as Maxell brand. If you bought a Hitachi projector within the last few weeks or months, the Maxell projectors are the same, just under a different name. You can expect the same support and distribution. Hitachi (and now Maxell) has had a focus on the education market – this particular projector was featured in our education report – but they don’t publish their education pricing online.

The Maxell MP-WU5503 is a $6,299 laser projector with WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution claiming 5,000 lumens. It has 3LCD technology, which yields its own advantages over DLP projectors, though DLPs have some advantages over 3LCD as well. Projectors with 3LCD technology produce as many color lumens as they do white ones, so they maintain better color in the face of ambient light than DLPs. By comparison, a DLP projector costs less to make, tends to be more portable, and you’ll get more white lumens dollar for dollar than a 3LCD projector. As we say, there are always trade-offs.

The Maxell MP-WU5503 has a laser light engine with an impressive lifespan. It has the standard 20,000 hour claim when operating at full power, but kick it into ECO Mode, and that claim goes up to 50,000 hours! Talk about a significant jump. Most laser based projectors I’ve reviewed have a lifespan of up to 20,000 hours, maybe 30,000 if you’re lucky, but this is the first I’ve come across that claims 50,000. I’m sure Art has come across a claim or two as high as this in his decades of playing the projector game.

The benefits of such a high lifespan of the MP-WU5503 will be much appreciated in the education market. Though this projector (and all laser projectors) has a higher upfront cost, it provides an excellent value proposition when it comes to maintenance. With a lamp based projector, you’ll be switching out a lamp every 3,000 to 8,000 hours, and calling in maintenance to do so. With a laser light engine, you can expect the projector’s light source to last about a decade when operating at full power – two or so when operating in ECO Mode. Impressive.

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

This projector comes with some pretty awesome features for higher education and large venues, particularly in the form of Advanced Networking. This guy has HDBaseT, among other advanced networking features, and lens shift. That lens shift makes things a lot easier during the installation process – but more on that on the next page! It has several more features that we’ll dive into on the Special Features page. For now, let’s look at the highlights of the Maxell MPWU5503 projector!

Hot off the presses – Epson launches the Home Cinema 5050UB, to replace their bestselling 5040UB.  Our first conclusion:  The performance bar for all other under $3000 projectors just got moved up quite a bit.

This is my short, First Look review of the Home Cinema 5050UB.  Yes, it is a modest two long pages.  The full, in-depth review, should go live before the last week of April, so stay tuned.  Between now and then, the 5050UB will be calibrated, and then most of the pictures will be taken (I’ll be sneaking away for a week of well deserved vacation).

I’ve been using this new Epson projector but while under a Non-Disclosure  Agreement – so I couldn’t leak info ahead of the official launch (today – April 9).

In the two plus weeks I’ve had it, I’ve already logged over 40 hours of viewing.  Let’s say I’m really “getting the hang” of the 5050UB and how it compares with the 5040UB.  In fact, I have both here, and have done a couple of split screen images, although its been tough – the older Epson has well over 2000 hours on the lamp, so is dimmer even at full power, than the 5050UB in lower power modes.

On paper, the 5050UB is not a significant improvement over its predecessor.  The reality is quite different.

The older Epson has been in the hands of both “normal folks” and enthusiasts, going back to the fall of 2016.  I add my voice to others who have been waiting for the update:  It’s about time!

I (and many others) certainly expected HC5050UB to replace the older UB, but six months ago at the CEDIA show, not now in the spring of 2019.  We all expected, because Epson launched the similar looking but lower performance Home Cinema 4010 and (and the Pro Cinema 4050).

That said, the new HC5050UB  has arrived, sporting an official list price of $2999!

Aurora - Jennifer Lawrence in Passengers - HC5050UB; 4K UHD HDR P3 content. Digital Cinema mode: Default settings yield impressively good skin tones!

Before I forget, there is a second version of the projector, the HC5050Ube, with a $3299 list price.  As was the case with the older 5040Ube, this model adds wireless HDMI capabilities, a very nice extra capability that will simplify life for many owners. Ube versions aren’t new they’ve been around for years.

Seems that Epson added a few extra performance related items to the new Home Cinema 5050UB that weren’t ready when the HC4010 launched six months ago, or we might have seen it launch at CEDIA last September.

So, I waited, and you waited, and now, the HC5050UB is here. Let’s take a closer look:

3LCD design, 2600 lumens (white and color, of course - it’s 3LCD).  All lens features of the 15 element all glass lens with its 2.1:1 zoom ratio, are motorized.  That provides Lens Memory abilities for working with wide screens (such as my 2.35:1 screen).  Lens Memory is a rarely found feature in under $5K projectors. Additionally, when considering the lens system, you will be hard pressed to find any projector offering more vertical and horizontal lens shift than the HC5050UB, and that translates to describing this projector as having more placement flexibility than any competitor, including many projectors costing several times as much.

For a great picture, of course, the HC5050UB supports HDR (high dynamic range) – both the HDR10 standard for 4K UHD Blu-ray discs, and now Epson has included  support for the newer HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) – a second HDR, optimized for over the air broadcast and streaming.  That will come in handy as more Netflix and other streaming content start using HDR on their 4K offerings.

Two HDMI inputs – these have been upgraded to a full 18Ghz speed allowing for the full capabilities of HDMI 2.0.    With this improvement, the new Epson is capable of running 4K content at 60fps with HDR and P3, so able to work with the fastest/best/highest res games out there today.

Before I forget, for comparison purposes, the less expensive HC4010 launched last fall, lacks support for HLG, and does not have 18Ghz HDMI, so can’t do the full 60fps HDR gaming content with P3 color (it can run the games without HDR).   That makes support for both HDR standards and the faster HDMIs, the primary new performance improvements to the 5050UB.  The UBs, (Ultra Black) of course, have always had a big advantage over the HC4010 and the HC4000 before it, in terms of black levels.

No this Epson does not have the brand new HDMI 2.1.  I know someone would ask if I didn’t mention it.   

Please click here, to read Phil’s technical discussion about HDMI  2.1, and whether it should important to you.  (Hint, probably not, unless you are a hard core gamer, and even then, not for a while.) For the rest of us, it can probably wait for 8K projectors.

Here’s what is really important:  As those of you who own a 40 series UB know, Getting HDR right has been a major challenge for projector manufacturers.  It relates to brightness and other things, but the challenges for all manufacturers have been significant, with many producing dim looking content.  On the older 5040UB/6040UB, Epson did two separate user firmware upgrades to improve the look of HDR content.  Both made real improvements, before the first one, almost all HDR content was at least a bit dim looking.   On the most recent version, though, HDR looked pretty darn good.  I was still messing with “gamma” – EOTF, to further lighten the lower mid-ranges, but the HDR content overall was very satisfactory, and rarely dim.

Welcome to a brave new world where HDR looks killer!  The Home Cinema 5050UB uses tone mapping and doing more expansively, it seems, than on the HC4010.  (Tone mapping is being used by others now, including BenQ, but especially Sony, who seems to have pioneered tone mapping for HDR in projectors, and, I assume,  also in their OLED TVs.

A quick story about dealing with HDR.  I recall, two years and change ago, heading down to Sony corporate, where Phil Jones, their lead engineer there for Sony projectors (training and support), was kind enough to spend hours bringing Eric – our calibrator,  and I, up to speed, best he could at the time, regarding dealing with HDR, trying to get it right.

I mention that now, because some of you may recognize Phil’s name, as he is our newest reviewer!  Phil will be primarily focused on higher end commercial and education projectors but will also do some home theater reviews as well, and blog on technical issues.  (His first review for us just published – Epson’s 15,000 lumen L1755UNL laser projector, and he’s working on two more reviews right now.)

But I digress. This is about Epson’s Home Cinema 5050UB, so let’s get into more of the details.

Tone mapping HDR – You can now adjust the tone mapping on this Epson, with a series of 16 settings, which tend to either lighten or dim the mid and lower mid ranges. With the default setting of 8, most HDR content looks great, I would say as well balanced as most of those higher end Sonys, which I have been extremely impressed with for their HDR handling.  The most recent, their $40,000 VW995ES.   I commented back then that the older 5040UB looked more than a little like the Sony, just that the Sony was clearer, brighter, better balanced (HDR), etc.   Similar but a major magnitude difference.

Much to my surprise, I even found some content where the default tone map of 8 made the picture a bit too bright overall, but changing the setting to 9 did the trick.  On a few of the darkest looking HDR movies, a setting of 7 did the trick.

The Epson Pro L1755UNL is a 15,000 lumen, large venue, 4K pixel shifting laser projector with WUXGA resolution, that can accept a full range of 4K content.

Epson currently offers a total of eight commercial laser projector chassis in its Epson L-Series lineup. Brightness ranges from 6,000 lumens delivered by the Pro L1100U all the way up to a retina burning 30,000 lumens provided by the newly announced Pro L30000U. Less expensive L series projectors start around $2000 (without interchangeable lens options). Some of the projector models in the Pro L series can be purchased with or without the standard lens. Several of the models including the L1755U are also available in both black and white finishes. I reviewed the black finish L1755UNL, however an identical version in white is the L1750UNL.

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

With the ability to deliver up to 15,000 lumens. combined with the reliability and longevity of a laser light engine, the Epson ProL1755U projector could be the perfect solution for someone looking for a large venue projector. While its light output is impressive, there is a lot more to the Epson Pro L1755U than its brightness. It is also tremendously adjustable and flexible which makes it a great solution for a variety of applications.

As with all Epson 3LCD projectors, it produces as many color lumens as it does white lumens, which ensures a bright, vibrant image to be utilized in events such as concerts, stage performances and house of worship functions.

The L1755UNL’s native resolution is WUXGA (1920 x 1200). To provide a crisp and clear picture, the projector accepts 4K content and is equipped with Epson’s PRO-UHD chip, which pixel shifts the image for 4K enhancement.

While the Epson Pro L1755UNL does not ship with a lens, for maximum flexibility it is compatible with a total of eight, 4K ready lenses ranging from a 15% vertical lens shift to a very generous 65%. However, be aware that some lenses will not support the maximum brightness level of this projector. For this review the ELPLM15 lens was utilized. It is a middle-throw zoom lens with a range of 1.57 to 2.5. It also allows the projector to deliver its maximum brightness level. 

It has wired LAN and HDBaseT for running audio, video and control signals over extremely long distances (up to 100 meters). There’s a DVI-D connector, an HDMI 2.2 port for accepting 4K content, several audio inputs and an RS-232c connector for old-school command and control. It also has BNC connectors, a service port and an input for a wired remote control.

The L1755UNL’s compatibility with Epson’s free Projector Professional Tool software simplifies the optimization for multi-projector setups. Since you can control multiple projectors simultaneously using the software via a network (wired or wireless), there is no need for a remote control. The projector features Edge Blending, which allows two projectors to be set up side-by-side or top and bottom to project a larger and higher resolution image. This feature allows blending of adjacent edges of each projector’s image greatly reducing any visible seam. While this process could be done with of two separate remote controls, it can now be done using a single PC via the Projector Professional Tool software, greatly reducing installation time.

After several thousand hours, the color of a projector, even one with a laser light engine, can shift. To ensure long-term picture quality, the L1755UNL also includes an Auto Color Adjustment feature which uses a built-in camera and the laser light engine to adjust for color uniformity. 

This feature is even more useful when utilizing multiple projectors because according to Epson, it can “detect subtle color inconsistencies between multiple projectors and screens that have become unevenly colored over time”. This function can be used manually or can be set to automatically check at predetermined intervals.

There are many situations where the image not be projected onto a flat surface. The projection mapping available in this model allows you to quickly fix the distortion created when projecting onto a curved, corner or irregular surface. 

The Epson PowerLite 5520W is a 5,500 lumen, WXGA (1280 x 800) resolution projector for business and education applications. It has 3LCD technology, which means this Epson projects as many color lumens as it does white ones. This allows the PowerLite 5520W to cut through some serious ambient light while maintaining excellent color. The Epson will be at home in K-12 and higher education classroom environments, as well as conference rooms, meeting rooms, and boardrooms.

I’ll start this review of the Epson PowerLite 5520W with a brief overview, followed by the projector’s highlights before moving on to a list of its special features. We will also tour the hardware, discuss picture quality, and talk about performance before summing it all up for you on the last page. By the end of this review, you should know if the Epson PowerLite 5520W  is the right projector for your business or education applications. Let’s get started!

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

The Epson PowerLite 5520W claims 5,500 lumens. Epson is known amongst us reviewers at Projector Reviews for beating their brightness claims more often than not, so I expect that this already-wall-melting projector will follow suit. Even still, 5,500 lumens is plenty bright for the kind of ambient light seen in K-12 classrooms and your typical conference room or boardroom – it’s even bright enough to tackle the large image sizes needed for higher education lecture halls. Remember, the larger the image, the more lumens you need!

WXGA resolution is the business and education world’s 720p. That means, it’s business HD, if at the lower end of high definition. For most business and education applications, WXGA is perfectly sharp. In situations where the highest quality image is necessary – such as in engineering or scientific fields – the higher resolution, WUXGA, or 4K capable projectors, will be desired. I generally find 3LCD projectors to have sharper text than competing DLP projectors, though I have to note that this is not always true. I have seen many higher priced DLP projectors that are rather excellent when projecting text. However, as you can see from the image of the various font sizes above, this Epson performs admirably.

Its lamp life is pretty standard – 5,000 hours at full power, up to 10,000 in ECO Mode. Most lamp based projectors fall between 3,000 hours and 8,000 hours, so this projector does pretty well. Running the projector 20 hours a week, 10 months out of the year at full power, you can expect the lamp to last just under 6 years. Not bad! Epson’s lamps are some of the most cost-effective around, and if you’re an educator, you can expect a nice price break through Epson’s Brighter Futures Education Program – more on that on the Special Features Page.

The Epson PowerLite 5520W has advanced connectivity, making it useful for more sophisticated setups, such as what you might see in a higher education lecture hall. We’ll talk more about that on the next page as well, and go deeper into the inputs and connectors when we tour the hardware after that. It is certainly an impressive beast, and though it doesn’t have many features, what it does have makes it great for a variety of business and education applications. For now, let’s take a look at the projector’s highlights before getting into its features and performance.

The Epson PowerLite 109W is a WXGA (1280 x 800) business and education projector claiming a wall melting 4,000 lumens. This brightness claim makes it suitable for classrooms and conference rooms where there is little control over the amount of ambient light that enters the space. Its 3LCD technology, coupled with the high brightness, means this projector will not only cut through the ambient light, but maintain excellent color while doing so. 3LCD projectors produce the same amount of color lumens as they do white ones, so you can expect the Epson PowerLite 109W to be vibrant whether the room is fully darkened or not.

Like always, I’ll begin this review of the Epson PowerLite 109W with a brief overview, followed by some highlights before moving on to a list of its special features. We will also tour the hardware, discuss picture quality, and talk about performance before summing it all up for you on the last page. By the end of this review, you should know if the Epson PowerLite 109W  is the right projector for your business or education applications. Let’s get started!

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

The Epson PowerLite 109W is a 4,000 lumen projector, and if past experience is anything to go by, you can expect this Epson to meet or exceed that brightness claim. The W in the “109W” model number stands for WXGA resolution (1280 x 800). Consider WXGA to be the business and education world’s 720p – so, expect a nicely sharp image, though not as good as 1080p (or WUXGA, in this case). For most business and education applications, WXGA will perform brilliantly. With a list price of just $749, this projector will be quite attractive to K-12 school districts, and offices requiring more than one projector.

It has an impressive lamp life of up to 12,000 hours in ECO Mode – remember, however, that ECO Modes tend to reduce the brightness of the projector by up to half. Still, even if you were running the projector at full power all the time, you can expect the lamp life to be around 6,000 hours. That’s quite a bit more than the average! That is substantial when you consider the projector will likely be used about 20 hours a week or less.

Running 20 hours a week, 10 months out of the year is only 870 hours per year, so it will be over 7 years before you’d have to replace that lamp running at full power. Good deal! And, when you do need to replace that lamp, Epson has an excellent education program that gives discounts to school districts on the projector and its accessories. So, if you’re looking for a projector for education applications, Epson is a brand to seriously consider.

The Epson PowerLite 109W weighs just over 6 lbs, making it a portable projector. This means it can easily be shared amongst conference rooms or classrooms if necessary. The projector has some features desirable amongst those looking for a business and education projector such as wireless capabilities and compatibility with the iProjection app by Epson, which we’ll get deeper into on our Special Features page! Let’s check out the projector’s highlights before taking a closer look at its features and performance.

The Epson PowerLite L400U is a WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 3LCD laser projector intended for larger meeting spaces and the field of higher education. WUXGA is the business and education world’s 1080p, and offers full 1080p support. This $2,499 projector features some pretty awesome color, brightness and excellent clarity and will suit many medium-sized auditoriums and large university lecture halls well. Epson claims a brightness of 4,500 lumens, which simply tears through some fairly heavy ambient light. It’s equipped an RJ-45 network port for interfacing with existing networks, and supports an optional wireless module for WiFi connectivity. Once connected to a network, this projector accepts connections from smart Android and iOS devices via the free Epson iProjection App. It also offers support for USB mass storage.

This projector is part of Epson’s PowerLite L Series, and has 6 siblings! That’s not really a surprise from Epson, as they are they have the largest market share of projectors by a long shot – around 50%. This family of laser projectors includes the WXGA L500W and L610W models, with a list price of $1,999 and $2,599 respectively. The L610 XGA model at $2,399, and of course, the WUXGA models of L510U, L610U, and L615U, at $2,799, and $3,499 for the L610U and L615U. This family’s brightness ranges from 4,500 lumens to a wall-melting 6,000, and offers vertical Lens Shift and a zoom ratio of 1.60:1 for good placement flexibility.

At $2499, the L400U is the lowest priced WUXGA laser projector we’ve found yet, to review.  It's also worth mentioning that Epson's L500 (at $1999) is tied for the least expensive WXGA laser projector we’ve reviewed.

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

This review of the Epson PowerLite L400U laser projector will start off with a quick overview and a list of highlights. Then, we’ll list and discuss some of the special features this projector offers. Following that, we’ll take a tour of the hardware. We’ll discuss picture and audio quality (yes, this model has audio!) before taking a look at just how well the L400U performed and if it met our expectations. We’ll finish off with a summary page where – you guessed it – we’ll summarize this review. By the end of our journey, you should have a pretty good idea if the Epson PowerLite L400U will meet your needs for a high-resolution laser installation projector.  And off we go!

Epson’s PowerLite L400U is a 4,500 lumen laser projector with WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution powered by 3LCD technology. 3LCD projectors offer a significant advantage over DLP projectors in that they offer as many color lumens as white lumens, whereas on a typical DLP business and education projector, you would have to expect to sacrifice more brightness than with 3LCDs for great color.

At Projector Reviews, we measure the brightness the projector puts out in each preset picture mode.  While we will certainly let you know if it meets the manufacture claim, what is far more important than the number of lumens is how well did it perform? We’ll discuss that on the Performance Page.

Another advantage for 3LCD over DLP - there’s also none of that annoying rainbow effect which, if you’re like me and, perhaps ~5% of the population, and you are bothered by it, 3LCD offers a real advantage.

The L400U measures in at 5.35 inches tall, by 17.32 inches wide and 11.97 inches deep, weighing in at 17.1 lbs. This projector is likely to find a home in a higher education classroom, lecture hall or large meeting space in a ceiling mounted configuration. Its vertical Lens Shift and 1.60:1 zoom lens gives this projector some good placement flexibility – a vital asset in these larger venues. This bright projector is capable of projecting images as large as 500 inches diagonally for some of the larger screens. We have a saying here – there’s always trade-offs – and when you project a larger image, you trade away brightness.

Now, because it's such an absurd thing to say, I need to say something about it.  While this projector may be capable of focusing to an image 500 inches diagonally, the amount of brightness you would loose would be tremendous.  Folks who need an image that large are not even looking at this price point - and rightly so - as they need a projector with brightness in the range of 10,000 to 25,000 lumens or more, in the expected price range of no less than $15,000 to $20,000.  Obviously, any practical use of the L400U will be on a much smaller screen than its theoretical 500 inches.

This projector offers just about everything you’ll need for use in business and higher education, from Crestron support, to Miracast, wired networking, wireless networking via an optional wireless module, a good compliment of inputs and connectors including dual HDMI, VGA and Audio-In MiniJacks, and the DICOM SIM. color mode for use in the medical field.

The new Epson 4K Home Cinema 4010 and Pro Cinema 4050 projectors represent another small step in the evolution of 4K capable, pixel shifting projectors. More bang, less bucks!  They offer an improvement over the previous generation of Epson’s projectors that could also handle 4K content including HDR and expanded color!

The HC4010 and PC4050 have a sharpness advantage compared to the older, higher end HC 5040UB/PC 6040UB and HC4000/PC4040 home theater projectors thanks to improved pixel shifting.  There are other improvements, but the more expensive, and physically identical looking “UB” series still has some advantages, and we expect (it's just logical) that in the upcoming months, replacements for the Epson 5040UB and 6040UB will appear as Epson wishes to have their higher end models incorporate the same improvements found in the HC4010 and PC4050, while maintaining the other advantages.

Epson calls these new projectors PRO-UHD (just what we need, another trademarked - resolution oriented name to help keep us confused, but folks, that's marketing), and they offer a wider color gamut that can reach very close to the full 100% of the P3/BT.2020 color range (sometimes called DCI-P3 - the term for the movie theater standards). Now that's a claim that’s been echoed by several others since CEDIA 2018, but as yet has not been delivered upon – we’ll see if the HC4010/PC4050 can actually pull it off!  Most under $3000 projectors don’t even come remotely close to P3 color, many can barely do great on the older REC709 standard  (Hint:  These Epsons come very, very close to P3!!! – art)

Epson’s new Home Cinema 4010/Pro Cinema 4050 are bright, 4K Capable – 2,500 lumen – and fully featured projectors.  The two projectors are identical, but for the color of the case.  The Pro 4050 – aka the PC4050, is all black.  The Home Cinema 4010 – aka HC4010, comes in a white case.  These two projectors are sold through different dealer channels, with the HC4010 easily found online, as well as big box houses.  The PC4050 by comparison might make it into some big box houses (Best Buy’s in-store Magnolia showrooms, for example) but are primarily available through a large network of trained, local installing dealers.

The Pro Cinema 4050’s list price is $2,399 (including extras), while the Home Cinema 4010’s is only $1,999.  Why the difference?  It’s a marketing thing.  The Pro Cinema series of projectors come with a high quality ceiling mount, one spare lamp, and a cable cover.  The HC4010’s warranty is Epson’s standard two year warranty with two years of rapid replacement program.  The PC4050 takes the HC4010’s warranty and upgrades it, making it three years of warranty with three years of their rapid replacement program.  The Pro Cinema 4050’s warranty package is by far the best of any warranty for a projector below $2,500 available today!

For those of you familiar with Epson’s popular UB, or Ultra Black, Series, these are one step down.  Essentially, they have all the same features but utilize the new 4K PRO-UHD processing chip, which offers improved pixel shifting, but less native contrast, and therefor isn’t quite as good as the HC5040UB and PC6040UB when it comes to the darkest scenes.  These two projectors, the HC4010 and PC4050, are the replacements for Epson’s previous HC4000 and PC4040 models.  The differences are evolutionary, providing so definite improvements, but nothing drastic.

I took the time to play with the projector (they sent me a Home Cinema 4010, not the Pro Cinema version) for a few days – completely uncalibrated, before shipping it to Eric to calibrate.  It should come as no surprise there were several modes that provided some really fine looking color, and overall picture quality, without any adjustments at all.  Okay, I did lower brightness from 50 to 49 on a 1-100 scale to get the black levels optimized, but that adjustment was just something that was easy to eyeball.

Interestingly, with the shipping of new models, these two are now a bit more advanced than the existing, now two year old, HC5040UB and PC6040UB projectors.  I mention that because logic would indicate the Epson would need to upgrade their higher end models with improvements.  If you are reading this in 2019, my guess is that Epson will have already replaced their older UB models.

Let’s take a quick look at these new Epson’s most important highlights, features and benefits.  Then, we’ll get into all the details: Special Features, Hardware, Picture Quality and Performance, before wrapping it up with a Summary page, where we will discuss these projector’s competitors.  Let’s get started!