Epson Home Cinema 2040 1080p 3D 3LCD Home Theater Projector

by people ...

Product Specifications

Screen Size Range: 90-inches from 8 feet; 134-inches from 12 feet. Projector Dimensions: Including feet - 11.69” x 9.65” x 4.69” (W x D x H). Excluding feet - 11.69” x 9.80” x 4.49” (W x D x H).
White Brightness: 2200 Lumens; Color Brightness: 2200 Lumens
Contrast Ratio: 35,000:1; Keystone Correction: Yes; Lens Shift: No
Warranty: 2 Year Limited; Lamp Life: Up to 7,500 hours (ECO mode) and up to 4000 hours (Normal mode)
Connectivity: 2 HDMI (1 MHL), 1 RCA (composite), 2 RCA (1 audio L/R) stereo, 1 VGA D-sub 15 pin (computer input), 1 USB Type A. Please refer the User Guide before use.
Fan Noise: 29 dB – 37 dB

Product Description

The Home Cinema 2040 projector brings the big screen home, delivering Full HD 1080p entertainment. Offering up to 3x Higher Color Brightness1 than competitive models, Epson 3LCD projectors ensure vibrant images. This portable performer delivers up to 35,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, advanced image processing, plus 2200 lumens of color brightness and 2200 lumens of white brightness2. Enjoy movies, games and more with two HDMI ports and MHL3 connectivity. Connect your Blu-ray Disc player, gaming console or streaming device, and project up to 300” virtually anywhere. A built-in speaker and convenient setup tools mean you can enjoy HD content out of the box.

Product Reviews

Epson Home Cinema 2040 vs. 1040

I had the opportunity to test out both the Epson Home Cinema 2040 and 1040 recently, and here are my thoughts comparing the two.Both have a MSRP (USD) of $799 (with a varying street price not too far from one another), both are considered Home Cinema projectors by Epson, and both have HD resolution. Out of those three statements, however, I disagree with the second.Both are Home Cinema projectors?I have managed, tested and installed both Home Cinema and Multimedia projectors. In general, multimedia projectors tend to be used in conference rooms at business for giving presentations, whereas home theater or cinema projectors are for watching movies and playing video games. There is some gray area as to what makes one a multimedia and another a home cinema, but a few factors lean toward a specific type. Technically, you can use either for both purposes, but it’s best to aim for the areas that best fit your needs.In my estimation, the Epson 2040 fits best in the Home Cinema category whereas the Epson 1040 fits better as a Multimedia. Why? Well, for one thing take a look at the remotes. The 1040’s remote displays buttons for mouse clicking and moving pageup and pagedown; a feature commonly used for advancing PowerPoints. It also prioritizes the source selection for Computer, which is typically used in a conference room. The 2040 on the other hand does not have mouse centered controls and it prioritizes HDMI (typically used in home theaters) as the source selections. On top of that, there are play and pause buttons on the 2040’s remote – not so on the 1040.If the controller wasn’t enough, take a look at the throw distance. Throw distance basically means the size a projected image will be based on the projector’s distance from the wall or screen. Most central conference rooms offer more space than living rooms. So, if you want to see Tom Brady nail that touchdown to Rob Gronkowski at maximum size, or headshot that noob in Call of Duty with a large zoom, you’ll want a throw distance that allows for a bigger picture at a closer distance.Using my home theater setup as an example, my room only allows 10 feet of distance between projector and wall/screen. At 10 feet, the Epson 1040 projects a 79” wide image on the screen. Whereas the Epson 2040 projects a 90” wide image. That means the Epson 2040 provides a bigger image than the 1040 at a shorter distance, thus is more living room (or even bedroom) friendly.Now, what about movies? Let’s say you have The Avengers on Blu-ray and want to watch it in 3D. Again, here’s where the Epson 2040 proves to be more cinematic; it has 3D capability whereas the 1040 does not. You’ll need to purchase 3D glasses separately (Epson lists (RF) ELPGS03 as the official option) – they are a bit pricy and need to be charged/powered – but they allow you to view 3D movies on the 2040 should you wish to. Not so on the 1040.There is a slight brightness difference between the two. The 1040 is brighter than the 2040 by 800 lumens (3000 vs. 2200), but the 2040 has better contrast (35000:1 vs. 15000:1). That said, when I put both projectors side-by-side and compared the image on the screen, I didn’t see a huge difference in either contrast or brightness. In fact, both looked a bit washed out to me, especially in areas of absolute black (such as dark scenes in movies and the bars that appear above and below 16:9 images – aka pillarbox). This has a lot to do with the LCD technology both Epson projectors use.To give you an idea, most projectors in movie theaters use DLP technology. DLP projectors have a high pixel fill factor, which minimizes pixelization for a more realistic, film-like viewing experience. This explains why the Epsons look washed out, as LCD shadow detail and absolute black levels fall short. There is also lower color accuracy (although the 3 LCD chips helps with that) and a greater risk of problems should the projector be used for long periods of time. Want to binge-watch The Walking Dead or play Fallout 4 for hours on end? Know that LCD panels lose image quality over time. The less the projector is used each day, the less of a problem this is. But if you plan on turning it on for long periods of time you may want to look into a DLP. And let’s not forget about the dreaded dead pixels that are common with LCDs.It’s important to note that, unlike traditional organic LCD panels, Epson uses a special inorganic alignment layer. In theory this should help to eliminate the degradation patterns caused over time since heat and UV light shouldn’t affect it the same way. However, in my research, I have found no official claims or concrete statements to confirm or deny this. In fact, a professional installer for over 20 years stated that projector engineers have admitted to him that all LCD projects are subject to degradation. Inorganic versions do last a bit longer, but still suffer from the same problem. As for my experience, I have owned an organic LCD projector and it did develop degradation after several years of use. A bluish glow or stain covered the left side of the screen. I do hope that inorganic (or non-organic) helps to resolve this problem, but there is very little evidence to state the contrary.That’s not to say that LCDs are all bad, in fact they have no issues with rainbow effect and generally have a longer lamp life. The Epson 1040 lists 5000 hours and the 2040 4000 hours. Even better is the lower cost of bulb replacements. Both 2040 and 1040 use the same replacement bulb (V13H010L88) which runs for around $79.00 while DLP projector bulbs are more expensive – for example, the BenQ HT3050 bulb goes for $249.00.That’s not taking into account ECO Power Consumption mode. This is a feature both Epson projectors support. If you put the 1040 into ECO mode, the lamp life goes from 5000 to 10000 hours. Similarly, the 2040 goes from 4000 to 7500 hours. Not only do you get a longer lamp life and lower power consumption, but the fan noise goes down too. Both projectors in Normal mode produce 37.0 dBs of noise, but in ECO mode, the 1040 goes down to 28.0 dB and the 2040 to 29.0 dB. The drawback is that the white light output goes down as well. So, the 2040 in Normal mode has 2200 lumens, but in ECO mode goes down to 1500 lumens. Similarly, the 1040 goes from 3000 lumens to 2100 lumens. If you are in a dark room with little ambient light, this isn’t a problem. But if you are in a conference room with windows, the extra lumens can make a difference, which is another reason the 1040 makes more sense for offices since it has more lumens. For my home theater setup, I keep my projector on ECO mode and the image brightness is just fine. Heck, my first projector, the Hitachi-PJTX100, only had 1,200 lumens and projected images plenty bright enough for my eyes. In fact, darker can be better when watching movies.Another difference is that the 1040 has a native resolution of 1920x1200, which is higher than the 2040’s 1920x1080. Most everything I watch – or device I use – is at 1080, so that’s not an issue for me. It just means you can get your plugged-in computer resolution a bit higher (another advantage I see more for multimedia than home theater use). Regardless, both share the same HDTV formats, which are: 720p, 1080i, 1080p/60, 576i, 576p. Note the “p” in 1080p, which some projectors can’t handle (some can only do 1080i). The “p” stands for “progressive scan,” which is important for home theaters since the image looks sharper, is more defined [than 1080i], and provides better visuals for scenes showing a lot of fast motion (think The Bourne Identity).I was surprised that neither Epson provides component (RCA (Y,Pb,Pr)) ports. This is a plug that older HD devices use. Plus, on newer devices that still support it, you can hook up a third HD (1080) compatible system. For instance, on my BenQ projector I have two HDMI ports. My PS4 is plugged into one and my PS3 is plugged into the other. Because my BenQ has component ports, I also have my WiiU plugged in and get HD quality video as a third device. The Epsons have two HDMI ports but no component, so there’s one less HD option. Surprisingly, Epson did add composite (Video RCA) ports which are used for older non-HD devices, such as VCR players. We’re talking 480 resolution, so expect horribly pixelated images when blown up on a screen. Why Epson supported older composite but not component ports is beyond me.Speaking of ports, the 1040 actually has two additional options that the 2040 does not. Wireless LAN and USB Display. The Wireless network adapter is included and plugs into the projector, allowing access to LAN or peer-to-peer networks. Using the Epson EasyMP Monitor and Network Projection software, you can remotely access and control the projector. The USB Display connection allows a PC to connect without using the VGA port. You can also connect a USB device (such as a flash drive, camera or smartphone) or external drive (must be formatted in FAT or FAT32) and use the projector’s PC Free feature to view compatible images or movies. The supported images are .jpg, .bmp. .gif and .png. The only video file format supported is .avi and it must use linear PCM and ADPCM codec or it won’t work. The video file also can’t be above 1280 × 720 resolution or larger than 2GB. These seem like interesting features, but are a bit restrictive and take some messing around to be of much use for the practical user.Overall, both the Epson Home Cinema 2040 and Epson Home Cinema 1040 are more budgeted – entry level – solutions. Dedicated home theater projectors range closer to $1,500 - $2,000 and offer better contrast and picture quality. That said, these are viable solutions for businesses with smaller budgets and home users who don’t want to break the bank. I much prefer the Epson Home Cinema 2040 for home theaters with its shorter throw distance, cinematic remote and 3D capability. Whereas I like the Epson Home Cinema 1040 for conference rooms as it offers brighter white light output, a presentation friendly remote and higher resolution for PCs. Personally, I would pay a little more and get the BenQ HT3050 which has an even shorter throw distance, component ports, and a DLP display chip (for darker blacks, less pixelization, and maintained image quality over time). The biggest with the BenQ negative is the more expensive bulbs and shorter lamp life, but overall I think the quality is worth it. That said, I really don’t think you can go wrong with the Epson Home Cinema 2040 or 1040. Just be sure to check your room size and assess the features before making a decision.

Bringing the Movie Theater to Your Home!

This is a great product! I was worried that a 1080p image would look poor when projected at 100”. This projector proved me wrong! After I booted it up, I was blown away by how vibrant and crisp the image looked. After using this, I don’t think I’ll watch on anything smaller than 100”. I also have a 50” 4k TV (without HDR), and I would still rather watch a movie using the 1080p projector. I took some pictures that will give you a good idea of what it looks like. Note that the pictures do not show the true scale of the projection. In person it looks huge!

First impressions

Unpacked and set it up using it’s own shipping box for a projector table… couldn’t wait! A few minutes later and I had it hooked up to the laptop and focused and keystone corrected - very simple set-up. Loaded a random episode of Vikings so I could send a surprise picture of the wall covered in vikings to the girlfriend, and ended up watching the whole episode, mouth open. Awesome quality. So glad I stopped the seemingly endless loop of research trying to decide between LCD and DLP… I’m not disappointed, or even curious about DLP now. The fan is actually legitimately loud, but on Eco Mode it is quiet enough to forget about, especially once audio is on for whatever you’re watching/playing. Eco Mode dims the picture a bit, but not in a significant way… I can see never changing it from Eco. I will be trying a camera filter to see if it can help darken the black levels, but it’s not as big of an issue as I thought it would be. Once you see Lagertha life-size, these things don’t matter as much.One day into it, the only downsides are:- It heats up the small room after a few hours (8’ x 12’ x 8’) - this room has two open doors but no windows… if the projector were to be used more than 2-3 hours, you might want more airflow than I have in this room.- For a white unit, a white power cord would’ve been nice.- Probably just a fluke, but no batteries for the remote came with the package.Will update after it is properly mounted and more hours of use!

GREAT GREAT GREAT

GREAT GREAT GREAT!!! best projector I have ever had this is my forth projector, pic is great out of box , run on cinema mode quite and nice pic. Love this projector .

LOVE IT!!!!

I couldn’t be happier! I’m not a super techie so not going into specs & things. I’ve only watched a Standard Def DVD (pictures posted are standard def DVD) so far but was very…

This projector just blew my mind!

This projector just blew my mind! The picture looks so awesome! I am using it in a dark basement with a 120” (yes 10’ diag!

… to say here than the picture quality is absolutely amazing, even on a 135” display (haven’t tried more

Not much more to say here than the picture quality is absolutely amazing, even on a 135” display (haven’t tried more, I’m sure it looks just as great) and it’s quiet.

Five Stars

It is just perfect

Great entry level projector

The Epson Home Cinema 2040 (HC 2040) is a terrific projector that is a great value. It’s perfect as an entry-level projector – especially for people like me who are sensitive to…

Stopped working after an 1hr. I was impressed with …

Stopped working after an 1hr. I was impressed with the picture quality until it stopped displaying video, audio carried on for a few seconds then the status light(blue) and Lamp…

I like the quality

Just hooked this up yesterday, quality seems to be on par. I have it running to a AV Receiver. I like the quality, and for the price, it’s good stuff.

Love this projector

This projector is absolutely fabulous. The colors are great, the sharpness is fantastic and the blacks are great. I don’t understand the complaint about the blacks.