Epson LS100 UST

[ShpongleDMT]

What are your thoughts on Ultra Short Throw projectors like this Epson LS100? It seems like a great solution to bring a big picture to your living room at a good price.

http://news.epson.com/news/epson-home-cinema-ls100

Epson Home Cinema LS100 Digital Laser Display
Epson, the number-one projector manufacturer in the world, today introduced the Home Cinema LS100 Full HD 3LCD Ultra Short-Throw Laser Display – bringing bright, big-screen projection in a smart ultra-short throw design to living rooms for under $3,000 MSRP. A simple and compact solution, the Home Cinema LS100 sits just inches from the wall without any long cables, shadows or glare to disrupt the viewing experience or detract from decor. Powered by Epson’s innovative laser technology, the Home Cinema LS100 features an incredible 4,000 lumens of equal color and white brightness1, and an extraordinary contrast ratio up to 2,500,000:1 for incredibly deep blacks. Offering an immersive, Full HD picture up to 10 feet diagonal, the Home Cinema LS100 delivers bright, vivid images, with or without a screen.

“The Home Cinema LS100 Digital Laser Display is designed to allow people to enjoy life-size images in Full HD up to 10 feet diagonal with the lights on and the shades open – all at a fraction of the cost of a 120-inch traditional flat panel display,” said Rodrigo Catalan, senior product manager, Projectors, Epson America. “With the Home Cinema LS100, families don’t have to worry about the limitations of traditional home projection systems, such as shadows when walking in front of the projected image.”

The Home Cinema LS100 complements Epson’s existing lineup, targeting consumers looking for easy, flexible installation and seamless integration with their home décor. The LS100 delivers a full HD image with or without a screen for a transcendent, immersive viewing experience.

Featuring “No Shadow” projection and simple cable management, users don’t have to worry about interruptions when viewing content if people walk in front of the projected image. The Home Cinema LS100 also enables today’s connected home to stream Full HD content from a range of devices including cable/satellite boxes, gaming consoles and streaming devices like Amazon Fire™ TV, Apple TV®, Chromecast™ and Roku®.

The Home Cinema LS100 features Epson’s innovative laser technology, offering up to 10 or more years of worry-free operation2. A high-speed contrast control ensures both bright and dark scenes look their absolute best and 4,000 lumens of equal color and white brightness1. Additionally, 100 percent color brightness delivers extraordinary image performance in a variety of lighting conditions. With Instant Off® performance, experience almost no lag time for warm-up or cool down with the projector reaching maximum brightness or turning off within 5 seconds.

More About the Home Cinema LS100 Digital Laser Display

The Home Cinema LS100 offers a range of features and performance for everyday entertainment and beyond:

• Transcendent Viewing Experience – Place the projector just inches from the wall and get sharp, life-size images in Full HD resolution up to 10 feet diagonal – with no long cables, no shadows, and no glare – for a modern entertainment solution that won’t detract from your décor
• Ultra Bright Laser Technology – 4,000 lumens of equal color and white brightness1 for 100 percent Color Brightness, plus Instant Off®
• Deep Black Contrast Ratio – Features an extraordinary contrast ratio up to 2,500,000:1, for exceptionally deep blacks and brilliant, vivid colors
• Advanced 3-Chip Design – 3LCD technology ensures no color wheels, no white segments and no rainbow effect
• Easy, Flexible Installation – 3x HDMI® ports allow you to unite all your devices in a single hub, offering versatile connectivity for cable/satellite boxes, gaming consoles and streaming devices
• Perfect for Everyday Entertainment and Beyond – Enjoy your favorite HD channels, sports, concerts, movies and more
• Dependable, long-life technology – Lamp-free light source delivers up to 10 or more years of performance2; comes with a two-year limited warranty and two-business day replacement with free shipping for added peace of mind

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Wow... only "inches" from the wall... that's amazing. I would love to be able to do that for 4K. This is really neat and convenient. No mount, no long cables, most likely farther away from you with less fan noise... and no shadows... the only thing lacking is 4K. I still like it even if it's only 1080p.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Not to let the cat out of the bag, but this was one of my more favorite products of CEDIA! ;-)

 

[tripplej]

This is a nice product.. Inches. wow.

 

[ShpongleDMT]

Not to let the cat out of the bag, but this was one of my more favorite products of CEDIA! ;-)

I would definitely like to hear your thoughts about seeing it in person.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Hope you don't mind my jumping in on this one. Epson's demo was excellent and the LS100 delivers excellent FHD/SDR image quality. Nice and bright, Epson rates the peak light output at 4000 lumens. No lens shift, but you should not need that if you can adjust the screen height to the sweet spot and no 3D.

Interesting fact is its native aspect ratio is what you would get from a PC, 16:10, aka 1920x1200.

Reasonable SRP $2,999.

Look forward to Todd's take on this new Epson laser projector.

 

[mechman]

I would think that anyone serious about upgrading their home theater projector right now would be looking for 4K and HDR. I do like that it is a laser (10 year lifespan) and that it's ultra short throw. Now they just need to add the rest of today's technology and I am in for one!!

 

[ShpongleDMT]

I would think that anyone serious about upgrading their home theater projector right now would be looking for 4K and HDR. I do like that it is a laser (10 year lifespan) and that it's ultra short throw. Now they just need to add the rest of today's technology and I am in for one!!

You can get all that in the Sony ultra short throw VPL-VZ1000ES, but it's 25 grand.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Love Sony's VPL-VZ1000ES! I have one in my house. They are on promotion starting this week with the beautiful Salamander Designs custom cabinet at no charge and we have a 10% Rewards credit also going on now.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Wow... I bet you have a rockin' nice system in your home Robert. Maybe I'll get to see it one day.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Thanks! I got into this business through my passion for a/v and have enjoyed every minute of my career and hobby.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I would think that anyone serious about upgrading their home theater projector right now would be looking for 4K and HDR. I do like that it is a laser (10 year lifespan) and that it's ultra short throw. Now they just need to add the rest of today's technology and I am in for one!!

This is not a product meant to replace a home theater projector... this is definitely more a family room piece.

 

[Robert Zohn]

Agreed, ^ I call it a lifestyle projection system for the modern world.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Lifestyle is definitely its category!

 

[mechman]

I have a LG 65" C7 in my family room and I wouldn't think of anything less than 4K/HDR now. I guess I'm still in the minority though. Hopefully that will change sooner rather than later.

On the plus side, Epson did get back to me and said I will be getting one for review!

 

[tripplej]

Can't wait for the review.

 

[chriscmore]

I find them curious as a product category. I remember being unsure what an iPad would be good for too, so maybe I'm similarly clueless about how great UST projectors can be. So far I find them too finicky with respect to geometry and other than the Sony too much like the Casio and data projectors.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Robert Zohn]

Chris ^, if you are near the metro NY area I'd love for you to stop by and see our VPL-VZ1000ES in action. This is Sony's latest iteration and Sony has a lot of experience in short throw and laser diode light engines.

Not sure how Sony accomplishes what looks like perfect geometry, but when this projector is properly set-up the image is excellent and as plumb as any projection system I've seen.

 

[chriscmore]

Our booth was two down from theirs so I saw theirs many times. We put Wolf Cinema's little projector up but didn't have the large black light-blocking roof that Sony did. Or 4K. And maybe the screen material wasn't up to it. Hmm.

 

[mechman]

Welcome to Nirvana Chris! Good to have you around! Not sure when I could do this (probably spring) but would it be possible to swing in for a tour some time? My daughter is at IA State.

 

[Robert Zohn]

I echo mech's words! Very happy you are a member of AV NIRVANA and look forward to discussing our beloved hobby and careers in this new, but very well managed and rapidly growing enthusiasts forum.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Yup... @chriscmore ... was a pleasure to chat with you last week. Welcome to AV NIRVANA!

Personally, I think these UST projectors are family room material. A place where ambient light is exceedingly high and pickiness over things such as color uniformity, etc, aren't an issue.

I talked to a trusted review source that took serious issue with key performance factors associated with a current well known UST projector... I'd never put one of these in a reference environment.

Family Room? Yes

 

[Todd Anderson]

@ShpongleDMT just closing the loop... Robertgave some good details about his CEDIA impressions. You can read mine in the CEDIA Show Report article.