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Best Projector for 2016 under $2000.00

10K views 157 replies 50 participants last post by  milehighou 
#1 ·
Which Projector do you think is the best in 2016 for under $2000.00 ?

Please include Brand and Model #

Although there are many review sites out there, I don't feel they can be trusted because many of them are affiliate paid review sites therefore their review could be influenced.

So based on your experience, add your favorite brand & model...
 
#2 ·
Some of the review sites are more trustworthy than others. Over the years it becomes obvious which ones are trustworthy as their test results are verified by the real-world experience of many AVS Forum members.

The two obvious candidates that always come up among the best of the sub-$2,000 projectors are the Epson 5030UB and the Sony VPL-HW40ES when it's available at its frequently offered sale price as it happens to be right now.
 
#3 ·
When on sale the Sony 40ES is generally regarded as the best 'home theater' projector for the money. The Epson 5030UB might have something to say about that but the only way you're likely to find the Epson below $2k is for a refurbished unit.


Below those two the BenQ lineup of 2050/3050/4050 has gotten a lot of positive press for image quality around the $1k mark. All three are very similar in terms of picture quality and offer a wide array of features depending on your needs. The 4050 is the more 'serious' home theater model with arguably the more refined picture and plenty of lens shift for flexibility of placement. The 3050 retains the 4050's rec 709 picture mode in a less expensive package. The 2050 is the value leader of the bunch offering the same level of picture quality in a sub $800 projector.
 
#9 ·
What size do you want to project? How far back will you be placing the projector (lens to screen)? Ceiling mount or table/shelf? Are you sensitive to DLP "rainbows"? Motion judder? Do you prioritize 3D? Sports? Movies? Gaming? Will you be watching in ambient light or a light-controlled room?

We can give you all the recommendations in the world, but answers to those questions will do more to whittle down the options than our opinions.
 
#10 ·
Bard makes a good point. I sort of assumed "best" meant best picture quality but if you're attempting to project in a well lit room you would want to eschew the picture quality champs and get yourself an Epson 1440. Similarly, if you have limited space as I do a model with a short throw like the BenQs I mentioned above might be a better fit. Best picture quality is a fairly easy question to answer but best projector is really dependent on the individual doing the shopping.
 
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#13 ·
I don't understand the big hype of the Sony. We went and viewed one a few weeks ago. Maybe the pompous a$$ that was demonstrating it didn't do a good job. The room wasn't that dark either. From what I seen, if the room has light at all, might as well throw the Sony in the garbage. The guy said "great picture huh?" My wife looked at him and said "you got to be kidding right! I would rather watch a movie on my phone."

I finally tracked down a place that has a Epson on demo and am going to go see it as soon as I can. I just wanted to point out, when they say light controlled room for the Sony, they are not kidding.
 
#23 · (Edited)
I have a 40ES and I can have the lights on and it is still incredibly bright. Sure like any projector you can't put a light directly over the screen or angled at the screen, but it's a fantastic projector with an absolutely stunning picture. I wonder what the lighting was like when you saw it and how many hours did the lamp have on it. They could have been running it for two years 8-12hrs a day and the lamp has thousands of hours on it and it had dimmed a lot. Setup, room and age of the lamp are key to any projector. Something was not right with one or more of these factors for the 40ES you saw. I've had four projectors in the past like 12 years., all in $2000 range and the 40ES easily blows them all away in brightness, black level, contrast and noise level.
 
#14 ·
Sako7STW, to get the best out of any projector must be in a complete dark viewing environment. Light reflections back to screen from walls and ceiling white or light color) wash out the black/contrast of the screened image. Extreme low ambient light or night lights in the viewing room shall have no problem. This is most important if you decide to buy projector instead of TV set.
 
#15 ·
Absolutely - how many commercial movie theaters have you been to that have a bunch of lights on ? You would ask for your money back! Or at least a free bucket of popcorn. ;)

Right now, with the Sony HW40 and the Epson 5030 both officially on sale for $ 1999.00, those would be your best projectors for " under $ 2000.00 " !
 
#16 ·
Sony designed the HW40ES primarily for dark home theater use, where its strong points are at their best. Even with that, veteran reviewer Art Feierman measured the HW40ES at 1,500 lumens calibrated. That's plenty to handle a modest amount of ambient light for anyone with realistic expectations about front projection.
 
#17 ·
Hi all,

I'm also in the market possibly for a sub 2k projector but the more research I'm doing the more I don't know if my room is suited for it. I have another thread going "Thinking about adding a projector - need advice" but I'll post my pics here to give an idea of the brightness.

It has a bay window area and a sliding door. That side of the wall faces South. Normally I have the blinds closed but they are "solar" blinds so light does come in on purpose but it is greatly dimmed. On the sliding door area I have a few planks missing so light comes in a bit there too. Other than that I usually have the "inside" lights out. But the pics below should show how bright it can be.

I've never even paid attention to the projector market until today and it's turning out that I know very little about them.

Any thoughts? (much appreciated) and Johndeak, I don't mean to hijack your thread!
 

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#18 ·
Im pretty sure I'm going to go with the Sony HW40ES - After reading the comments here and watching a ton of reviews on Youtube it appears to be an amazing Projector for the money. It also seems to do really well in lighted areas. I think this is the one I'm going to buy this weekend.
 
#19 ·
I can promise you, it does not do well in lighted areas. I am having hell trying to convince my wife that a projector is the way to go after viewing the Sony in dim lit room, yet alone well lighted. Go see one for yourself and you will see.
 
#21 ·
I have a Sony VW10HT I bought several years ago.

Anyone know what improvements I can expect if I upgraded to the Epson 5030UB or Sony VPL-HW40ES?

I have a complete light controlled room with a 96" screen.

Also, is my VW10HT worth much? What might be reasonable sell price on craigslist?

Thanks
 
#25 ·
You guys are all correct in I didn't have the info I needed. After how non impressed my wife was and the jerk of a salesman, my wife and daughter all but headed straight for the door. Not giving me much of a chance to discuss further. It really was that bad. This was a very high end shop and the 40es was their entry level projector. The dumba$$ treated me like I didn't deserve to be in his store. Funny thing is, I could afford anything in his place I wanted. He had no clue. A guy pulled up in a older beat to crap 5k Porsche and he ran right to the guy. Totally ignoring my 80k Ford F-350 sitting their.

Like I said, I found a different place that has some other options to look at like the Epson. Then I will decide. Maybe your right, maybe I expect too much out of a projector that tgey just can't do. I am all for a dark room, but I hate living in a bat cave just to watch decent tv.
 
#27 ·
I really advise against the Sony VPL-HW40ES. Compared to a comparative Viewsonic 1080p projector, the Sony has: 400% greater purchase price, 1500 less lumens, and less than half the lamp life. You're basically paying that extra 400% for a name brand, lens shift, and, IMO, a worse tech than DLP.
 
#33 ·
I have been curious about the BenQ, Viewsonic's, and Optoma's in this $2000 price range. How do they compare? I have seen many on here praise the lower end BenQ's like the 1075, but what about the better models? Are they worth the money? I like their higher Lumen counts for sure.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Another vote for no SDE on SXRD. If you see any from a normal seating distance you have eagle eyes. I have to get right up to the screen to see any pixel structure at all.

As far as sharpness goes I do think Sony cheaps out on the lens a little bit. My entry level Epson is more 'natively' sharp. But you wouldn't be able to tell without a direct comparison. I never feel like the Sony is soft while watching it.
 
#38 ·
There is this in regards to the Sony though,

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/24-di...ts-all-current-sony-sxrd-1080p-4k-panels.html

And the Epson still has the spare free lamp rebate too I think which isn't insignificant in money. Epson also has "living room mode" which is very bright for non-light controlled rooms. The Sony is brighter in it's "best" mode though.

Epson also has a fantastic warranty (they'll directly swap you with a refurb, no need to wait for a repair).

For full disclosure, I do have the Epson. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.
 
#42 ·
You guys are fighting over digital projectors and 1080p. You really shouldn't be using words like "way better" because for one, there isn't a digital projector on the planet that has truly good blacks. Those that came from CRT front projectors know what I'm talking about. And price really shouldn't sway anyone's opinion because there are $10k+ digital projectors out there that 99.9% of the population couldn't tell the difference between that and a 1k priced projector.

Basically what I'm trying to say is... the digital tech displays we use today are pretty much at their max maturity level so don't expect things to be "way better" because it just isn't real world. When tech becomes very mature people tend to use words like "way better" if something comes out that in the real world is just a tad better. Usually because when a tech does become very mature it takes wonders to eek out a tiny tiny bit more performance so they charge you out the arse for it. Then people come on to forums and say things like....this is sooooooo much better, when the fact is, it's a tad better to anyone that isn't trying to justify in their own head their buying decision.

Bottom line: Get what you can afford, be happy with it and don't look back. Just know that tomorrow there will be 15 new models released all claiming to be much better but, they really won't be all that.
 
#43 ·
You don't like "way better", I get it. Sorry I don't have all the scientific numbers to back up what I'm seeing. But the 40es is in a completely different league than the BwnQ 1070 and related pj's.

Not sure what your point is. Are you really saying that the old crt projectors look better? Not a chance.
 
#48 ·
I guess it depends what you want. So far any reviews I've read says DLP excellent for 3D and I can confirm that watching lots of 3d on DLP. Reviews of other technologies and peoples comments are always trying to defend the issues they have. Then there are motion issues etc.
 
#49 ·
My 1070 was really good at 3D. Zero cross talk. I haven't tried it on the Sony yet.

The only thing about those DLP's, which all use the same Texas Instruments single chip by the way, are the black levels. They are more of a dark gray. And because of that they don't have as good of contrast either.

Don't get me wrong, they look fantastic for the money. The 1070 was my first projector and I was blown away by the picture on a gray screen.

Many people would be satisfied with them, for sure, but this thread is what is the BEST projector.

If 3D is really important to you, the 5030UB is the better choice. If you value over all picture quality, the Sony is better.

Are they worth $1000 more? I think it's certainly the tipping point of dimminishing returns. They are not 100% better, that's for sure, but show me something in this hobby that gets you a 1% increase in performance for every dollar spent lol!

If you want better than the $1k DLP's right now, it will cost you twice as much. That's the cost to play. Is what it is.
 
#50 ·
See, I know you get it. That was my point. You really do have to spend A LOT more just to get a tiny tiny bit more performance. That tiny bit more performance is not enough of a difference that is noticeable to the masses. On paper or on a computer graph sure, but to the human eye it just isn't much better(if at all to some people). As for the "dark gray" comment, I agree but then again, I haven't seen a digital yet regardless of price that hasn't lit up a room in an all black scene. And I would bet my life on it that the Sony 40ES is not even close to true black. It too is a dark gray, just a much darker gray. Again, I am use to CRT blacks that in a fade to black scene like Finding Nemo when Dory swims to the bottom and it fades to black. When I had my CRT projector I couldn't see my hand in front of my face in my all black theater. Play that scene on ANY digital and you will clearly see your hand because the room is now illuminated.
 
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