Thorgodofthunder
Update: I now have over 50 hours of use on this projector, watching movies, hockey, football and several other programs. I have left it on quiet mode the entire time and it has preformed wonderfully in all light conditions. I couldn’t be happier…. Great purchase.
I am writing this review for people similar to me that don’t want to settle for cheap, but also don’t see a need to spend $5000 or more on a projector for an occasional movie.
Although I do have plans in my house for a future home theater, my former fixed screen, speakers etc are all currently in storage. My set up in the meantime is a projector networked into a Yamaha Home Theater Receiver with a pull up Elite 107” portable screen for occasional movies, sports and watching The Chosen. This is in a great-room on the main level of my house with windows on 3 sides without room darkening blinds.
Due to this setup, movies are for the most part an after dark affair as the Epson Home Cinema 6100 I have been using is certainly best in low to no ambient light conditions. Recently my trusty old Epson had started to show a magenta band on the bottom of the screen and a blue band across the top, so I figured after about 15 years, it was time to replace the projector.
If I had my theater room ready to go, I would likely be writing this review on the Epson LS12000 Home Theater projector as I would have made the extra investment into a “home theater” quality projector. However, since I was placing this projector in a main room in my house, with varying levels of ambient light, I wanted something with some higher lumens that would allow for an afternoon hockey or football game to be watched in non-filtered (ambient) daylight. I also did not want to break the bank on an occasional use, non-theater dedicated projector. That’s where my research started focusing on this Epson EX11000 laser “business” class projector, due to the cost and laser light source with ample lumens.
Like another excellent review here that factored heavily into my decision to purchase this, I was a little hung up on the business rating of this projector and some of the professional reviews that ranked it okay for watching an occasional movie. As I will likely never project a spreadsheet or presentation on this, I wanted it to be better than satisfactory for movie watching, and like him I wanted higher lumens for some daytime use as well.
Well, I pulled the trigger on Black Friday (small discount but nothing to write home about) and just plugged it in and mounted it yesterday. As a test, I watched Top Gun Maverick on Blu Ray during the afternoon in medium-bright ambient light conditions as well as an episode of the Chosen at night with two table lamps on, and finally Paint Your Wagon in full darkness. I started Top Gun in the default settings which was either dynamic or presentation with the cooling fan on. The picture was certainly better than from my old 6100 and the fan was not as loud. I was very pleased with the picture quality and watchability in normal room lighting conditions. As others have noted, it’s nearly like watching a television. My limitations may be more screen related than projector related. Later on for the Chosen and for Paint your wagon I changed the settings to fan off (eco mode) and cinema. Again this Projector performed admirably, certainly an improvement from what I had with no discernible fan noise, which is great because in my arrangement, the projector is about 5 feet above your head.
Bottom line it is a great replacement Projector for those of us who have older HD projectors but are not worried about 4 or 8 k projection abilities. I thought the colors were fine, but understand I am not the type that will likely go in and tweak every setting… I’ve tried that on some of my TV’s and it seems to get worse! Yes, on cinema and eco, this projector although totally useable, may be just a little too bright in a totally dark environment. Not terrible mind you, but I was thinking that it would be nice to step it down just a bit on brightness. To be fair here, I never dug into the image controls and the brightness is currently set at 50, so there is certainly room for improvement and adjustments on my behalf.
Even though this projector has keystone correction, It is really designed to be centered on the screen it appears. It does not have an offset adjustment like my old 6100 (at least that I can find) and my wall mount is off center from the screen location. The keystone adjustment on this projector is not able to correct properly for the angle I need to turn it since it does not have offset adjustment capabilities. I don’t know if that is something that a home cinema projector like the LS12000 retains or if that is a vestige of the past. Either way, for about 1/4 of the price of the LS12000, coupled with my intended usage and environment, I am more than pleased with this purchase. If you are an average person like me, looking to upgrade an older projector to laser on a budget, this Epson appears to be a solid option without cleaning out your bank account. I would certainly buy it again.
| Brand Name | Epson |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 9.5 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 11.8 x 12.8 x 4.1 inches |
| Country of Origin | Philippines |
| Item model number | V11HA72220 |
| Color Name | Black |
| Special Features | Built-In Speaker, Lightweight, Built-In Wi-Fi |