epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, review

 

4K home theatre projectors are becoming ever more popular. Because projection technology has evolved so fast and so well, it’s now possible to get a movie theatre-level experience at home. So if the last time you experienced a projector was high school or that really dull presentation at a trade show, it’s time to take another look, because projectors are clearer, sharper, more vibrant and colourful and more dynamic than ever.

At the same time, there are lots out there when it comes to projectors for sale. Do they all live up to the hype? I can’t speak for everything, but I did have a chance to use a new 4K home theatre projector at home recently. The Epson Home Cinema 4010 is a 4K UHD projector made for home applications. Let’s take a look at how it stacks up.

The first thing to note here is the size of this projector. It’s HUGE (check out the video review to see how it compares to me; it’s as wide as my shoulders!). It’s easily twice the size of most projectors I’ve tested out. I’m not sure why. It’s also heavy. You’ll need a good solid platform for it and plenty of space.

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, reviewSince this one is a loan from Best Buy, I’m not doing a permanent installation, but this one might be a good candidate for suspending from the ceiling so it takes up less valuable space. Here, I’ve just got it on an adjustable stand I got from Valencia Home Theatre. I’m using it with the 106” EluneVision Elara NanoEdge projector screen, which I really like and recommend if you’re going for a professional looking home theatre, as opposed to using a white wall, or a sheet. I got it on Best Buy’s Marketplace, and you can read my review of the Elara Nano Edge screen here.

Epson 4010 Features: 4K & HDR

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, reviewTwo of the key features of this projector are that it has got both 4K & HDR.

Before we get too far, a quick primer on 4K video—it’s higher resolution video. 4K TV is the highest resolution you can get in a TV (not counting 8K for right now); it’s four times more detailed than even today’s standard HDTVs, so it makes lines ultra sharp, and creates a video picture so real you’ll want to touch it.

Meanwhile, HDR stands for High Dynamic range, and this feature means better colour replication and more realistic light reproduction like less harshness and better visibility in dark scenes. HDR helps give you realistic light and depth.

I could dazzle you with some stats here, like that this projector has a full 10-bit colour output, an Advanced 3-Chip, 3LCD Technology and a contrast ratio that’s 200,000:1, or I could just tell you in plain English that the Epson® Home Cinema 4010 is designed to show you a never-before-seen level of detail on the video, with even and realistic light levels—no burning bulbs, and all with colour that looks ultra real and vibrant.

So does it deliver? Let’s get right to what the video quality looks like.

Video Quality of Epson Home Cinema 4010

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, review
Image quality with overhead lights on

This video, not surprisingly, looks great: True to 4Ks nature, it is razor sharp, ultra-detailed, bright and colourful. The image is big, beautiful and bright.

Brightness & lumens

The Epson® Home Cinema 4010 has a 2,400-lumen output. What does that mean to you? It means the projector is going to be bright, and it can probably compete with some ambient light bleed.

Set Up & what’s in the box

In the box you’ll find:

  • Home Cinema 4010 Projector
  • Power cord
  • Two HDMI cable clamps
  • Remote control with AA batteries
  • CD-ROM with user guide link and Quick Setup Guide

Generally speaking, setting up a projector is pretty easy. Assuming you don’t have to mount it or wire it into your ceiling, you can be ready to go in minutes. To get going, plug-in the power, connect your peripheral of choice, and here I’m using my Roku 4K media streamer. Then you can make adjustments to the picture to get it just right.

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, reviewThis projector has motorized lens controls which make it super easy to adjust your video picture. If you’re looking into getting a projector, I highly recommend one with motorized movements because it lets you easily adjust your video alignment, without having to shuffle the projector around the room. No matter where you place it, you can adjust the framing and make keystone adjustments to correct any off centre wonkiness.

Connections & Ports: Epson Home Cinema 4010

Three HDMI ports turn this projector into a home entertainment hub for all your devices, including cable boxes, video game consoles, and more. There are connections for Optical HDMI, HDCP2 HDMI, regular HDMI, USB, LAN, PC, RS232, a remote trigger and there’s also an infrared sensor.

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, reviewImage Size options

Using this projector you can get an image size from 50″ – 300” large. I maxed out on my 106” screen.

Epson 4K 4010 : Why no internal speaker?

It might be surprising, but this projector has no internal speaker. It may seem odd not to include one—especially at the price point this speaker is at—but in truth, you’d never spend this kind of coin on a 4K projector then leave it to the internal speaker to provide the sound.

You would be connecting this to your receiver or dedicated home theatre audio system using the HDMI or HDMI optical port. You could also connect speakers to any video source that has its own speaker connections.

Overall review of Epson Home Cinema 4K 4010

epson home cinema, 4010, home theatre, projector, reviewOverall this projector has a lot of great features. The video quality is top-notch, it’s bright, colourful, clear and realistic and definitely gives you a solid video image. Plus I really like the motorized movements that are easy to control with the remote.

If there are any cons, the large size of the Epson® Home Cinema 4010 means you’ll have to think carefully about where to put it.

Yes, you can find less expensive 4K projectors that are just as high quality, and a lot smaller, but on its own merits I can recommend the Epson® Home Cinema 4010. It’s available at Best Buy.

Erin Lawrence
Editor TV and Home Theatre
Erin is a journalist, writer, and TV producer with a fascination for technology and a love of gadgets. Check out her blog TechGadgetsCanada.com

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