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Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080

post #1 of 1260
3/26/07 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 
I didn't see any threads for this projector yet:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4553435&EDATE=

Epson Builds Upon Leadership Position as Number-One Selling Projector Brand
Worldwide With Groundbreaking Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080

LONG BEACH, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine the excitement of
having a ten-foot high-definition display in your home that lets you, your
family, and friends experience sports, movies, and video games in
larger-than-life sizes with cutting-edge true 1080p native resolution, the
industry's most cutting-edge video signal to date. Epson America today
announced a new 3LCD front projector -- the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema
1080 -- that not only delivers amazing video performance and visual impact,
but is the industry's first to do so at the price point of $2,999.
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post #2 of 1260
3/26/07 at 3:52pm
Short form:

-1080p 3-LCD projector
-12000:1 contrast ratio
-"industry best" lens shift (vertical + horizontal)
-HDMI 1.3 with deep color support
-no lamp info
-$2,999 MSRP

My thoughts:

...wow. Impressive paper specs, though here's some intro analysis:

-12000:1 contrast ratio is likely bullcrap.
-can LCD even reproduce the full deep color gamut?
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post #3 of 1260
3/26/07 at 3:55pm
Whoa. This is huge news. It ought to sell like gangbusters at this price point. Epson is typically at the high end of the market for pricing, so this is a huge shift for them. I expect Panasonic will respond soon with a price drop on their PT-AE1000U soon. It seems that I may have jumped on my TW700 a bit too soon. Oh well, I'm loving it anyway.

Thanks for posting this ay221!
-- jaydillyo
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post #4 of 1260
3/26/07 at 5:31pm
http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/26/e...80p-projector/

Hopefully they post more info soon. I'd like to know how many lumens it puts out. I'd also like to know how wide the phsical projector is. I'm impressed that it says it will stay in focus edge to edge. (unlike others that have edge focus issues when using zoom) Perfect for HTPC !

If it's over 2000 lumens I'll upgrade my Panisonic 720P AX100 ASAP !
If it's only 1000/1100 lumens, I'll wait for the next sub-$3000 1080p projector
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post #5 of 1260
3/26/07 at 5:54pm
From projectorcentral.com


Projector News


Monday, March 26

Hi folks,

Epson has just announced their latest home theater projector, the PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 link , for a retail price of just $2,999. This is the first projector in the 1080p resolution class to go below $3,000. (See press release) It has impressive specifications including up to 12,000:1 contrast, and so far it is looking as impressive in the lab as it does on paper.

We currently have the Home Cinema 1080 and the Pro Cinema 1080 in house, and these will be the next home theater reviews to post. We will shoot for this Friday, but my guess is early next week. We were about to post the Pro 1080 review when we got word that Epson was accelerating the release date of the Home version to today. The Pro 1080 review has been delayed a bit so we can prepare an analysis of the relative benefits of both models.

Thanks for using ProjectorCentral,

Evan Powell
Editor"



Strange that Epson US has always been on the more expensive side of the projector market and now the first one to come in with a 1080p under 3k.
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post #6 of 1260
3/26/07 at 6:23pm
If you take a look at the specs between the Home and the Pro models, other than price the only other difference so far is black casing for the pro and pearl-white for the Home. I was just debating this issue about Epson's with my sales rep from PP this morning. Epson is very good about protecting their custom installer segment in the US, and thus why their PJ's are higher. The 400 was one of the first "consumer" targeted models that they could sell at competitive prices to the Panny's and Sanyos and others and not abandon their premium market segment. So I'm hoping its a case color change and not much else and now us mass consumer segment get to enjoy this quality of a PJ from Epson. Eagerly waiting on the reviews to come in!!!
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post #7 of 1260
3/26/07 at 6:30pm
I am really looking forward to reading more about this projector...I've held off on upgrading our set-ups and it looks like 'patience is a virtue' may indeed be true, at least in this case.
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post #8 of 1260
3/26/07 at 6:56pm
Oh baby, the waiting game may have paid off!!!! I was going to upgrade to a 720p but now I think I'll hold off for a 1080p!!! wooohoo!!!
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post #9 of 1260
3/26/07 at 7:04pm
I just ordered an Epson EMP-TW1000 from Japan this morning. This new US model is probably the same machine. Ironically, one of the reasons I wanted the Japanese version was because of its white case. The black-case Epson 1080p projector (Pro Cinema 1080) sells for US$5000, though they include a spare bulb and a ceiling mount.
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post #10 of 1260
3/26/07 at 8:23pm
Good news! Looks like the inevitable price-lowering trends continue.
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post #11 of 1260
3/26/07 at 9:24pm
If I can cancel my Japanese order, I am going to get the Home Cinema 1080 as soon as it is available. The TW1000 gets great reviews and comments from users.
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post #12 of 1260
3/26/07 at 9:52pm
Wow, I'm stoked! Who'd have thought by April '07 we'd be discussing 1080p in the Under $3,000 USD MSRP forum! And from Epson, no less!
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post #13 of 1260
3/26/07 at 10:16pm
Evan gets a lot of criticism, but I'll be looking forward to his review.
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post #14 of 1260
3/26/07 at 10:31pm
I didn't see any mention of an iris in that press release, did you guys? How close to 12,000:1 do you think we'll really see? Half that wouldn't suck! Maybe my endless feet dragging will pay off after all. MSRP & street are pretty darned close on Epson, but even so $3k is pretty cheap if the thing is 1/2 as good as the specs.

Could I be looking at my first LCD?
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post #15 of 1260
3/26/07 at 11:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob Babcock View Post

I didn't see any mention of an iris in that press release, did you guys? How close to 12,000:1 do you think we'll really see? Half that wouldn't suck! Maybe my endless feet dragging will pay off after all. MSRP & street are pretty darned close on Epson, but even so $3k is pretty cheap if the thing is 1/2 as good as the specs.

Could I be looking at my first LCD?


Although it was not mentioned in the press release, but I am sure it will have an auto iris. The new Home Cinema 1080 is likely just the same projector as the Pro Cinema 1080, but comes in white instead of black. All current range 720p and 1080p Epson projectors have auto irises.
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post #16 of 1260
3/27/07 at 5:24am
Jeeze prices are becoming ridiculous.

SDE should be a nonissue with this projector seeing as its 1080p, and if black level is good.

Predicting, in two years, 1080p, great black levels, 2000 lumens - 1k.
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post #17 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:20am
guess Espon got tired of all the import talk/email questions=paranoia. Now if I can ail down the funds finally this could be awesome!
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post #18 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:31am
The one other delta I see on the prliminary specs is a 1 year warranty versus the Pro model's 2 year warranty. I hope this is just a way to cut costs a little to help reach this price point (they have NO problem reaching this price point on their Pro model in Japan!) and there are no internal changes (which would greatly simplify manufacturing/engineering/support costs if the internals are identical).
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post #19 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:39am
And so the 1080p price war begins....

The Pro version has been getting some fine reviews from sites and users in the "above 3K" forum so this should be interesting.
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post #20 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:43am
Epson is getting smarter and seems they don't want to lose out on the retail sales. They've always targeted their Pro Cinema projectors towards custom installers and kept prices high to protect their margins.

Recently many people have found (thanks to forums like AVS) a way to import the both the TW700 (Pro 810) and TW1000 (Pro 1080) from Japan and Hong Kong for a lot less. My guess is Epson US realized they're losing a lot US sales to imports.

If you read the press release carefully, you'll quickly realize this is an Espon US/Canada press release only, meaning it's not a brand new Epson projector, just a repackage of the same 1080p currently sold in Japan for almost half it's US price. Now it seems they'll cater and compete in both retail and custom install market segments.

Here's how I think it'll play out.
The exact same 1080p models from Japan come in white shells, while the Hong Kong models come in black shells. By the sounds of the press release they'll maintain their higher priced Pro Cinema line (black shells) for custom installers at higher prices.

Pro Cinema series

720p Epson Pro Cinema 810 (TW700), black shell US MSRP$2799

1080p Epson Pro Cinema 1080 (TW1000), black shell, spare bulb and ceiling mount US MSRP$4999

Home Cinema series

720p Epson 400 , white shell, US MSRP$1499 (now has $200 rebate, down to $1299).

1080p Epson Home Cinema 1080, (exactly the same as TW1000 in Japan) white shell US MSRP $2999

So folks we have our first sub 3k 1080p projector from a company who's inherently been the most expensive in the past, but to their credit has the better build quality among the LCD group. Times are changing, let the fun begin.

Joe
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post #21 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:44am
sigh. having just got a TW700 2 months ago, how do i convince my wife it is time to upgrade already?
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post #22 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:51am
Well, falling below $3K MSRP for 1080P is obviously good news for the consumer, but the Panasonic AE1000 is not really that much more expensive after the rebate. Now these two projectors really go head to head. So, the interesting question is whether (or how soon) this will prompt Panasonic to reduce their price. Also, keep in mind that Epson tends to sell at or close to MSRP-so this news is less significant than, say, Panasonic announcing a $2999 MSRP! (now that would really be a bombshell).

The question I am most interested in is whether or not this will put downward pressure on the the pricing of the JVC RS1.
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post #23 of 1260
3/27/07 at 6:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by olletsoc View Post

sigh. having just got a TW700 2 months ago, how do i convince my wife it is time to upgrade already?

Pretty dastardly I realize, but the TW700 and the Cinema Home 1080 should have exactly the same outer pearl white shell, she wouldn't tell them apart.

*hint* next time she's out of the house .....zoink....pull the old switcheroo....and you're done.
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post #24 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedro2 View Post

Well, falling below $3K MSRP for 1080P is obviously good news for the consumer, but the Panasonic AE1000 is not really that much more expensive after the rebate. Now these two projectors really go head to head. So, the interesting question is whether (or how soon) this will prompt Panasonic to reduce their price. Also, keep in mind that Epson tends to sell at or close to MSRP-so this news is less significant than, say, Panasonic announcing a $2999 MSRP! (now that would really be a bombshell).

The question I am most interested in is whether or not this will put downward pressure on the the pricing of the JVC RS1.


The Panasonic is $3500 AFTER rebate, that's $500 more than the Epson.
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post #25 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:01am
I've been seriously considering the pro cinema for about 2 weeks and was intending to pull the trigger w/in the next month. so this is interesting timing indeed, looking forward to the reviews of the 3k version.

"The question I am most interested in is whether or not this will put downward pressure on the the pricing of the JVC RS1."
RS1 was in close second place for me, so this is a very good question!
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post #26 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:46am
I just noticed this in the press release:

"The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 will be available in April 2007
through authorized Epson projector dealers and select retail outlets."

Maybe this will make it into the large club store that we are not allowed to mention.
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post #27 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thuway View Post

Jeeze prices are becoming ridiculous.

SDE should be a nonissue with this projector seeing as its 1080p, and if black level is good.

Predicting, in two years, 1080p, great black levels, 2000 lumens - 1k.

Good prediction..

I have a feeling it may happen sooner..
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post #28 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe_Black View Post

Epson is getting smarter and seems they don't want to lose out on the retail sales. They've always targeted their Pro Cinema projectors towards custom installers and kept prices high to protect their margins.

Recently many people have found (thanks to forums like AVS) a way to import the both the TW700 (Pro 810) and TW1000 (Pro 1080) from Japan and Hong Kong for a lot less. My guess is Epson US realized they're losing a lot US sales to imports.

If you read the press release carefully, you'll quickly realize this is an Espon US/Canada press release only, meaning it's not a brand new Epson projector, just a repackage of the same 1080p currently sold in Japan for almost half it's US price. Now it seems they'll cater and compete in both retail and custom install market segments.

Here's how I think it'll play out.
The exact same 1080p models from Japan come in white shells, while the Hong Kong models come in black shells. By the sounds of the press release they'll maintain their higher priced Pro Cinema line (black shells) for custom installers at higher prices.

Pro Cinema series

720p Epson Pro Cinema 810 (TW700), black shell US MSRP$2799

1080p Epson Pro Cinema 1080 (TW1000), black shell, spare bulb and ceiling mount US MSRP$4999

Home Cinema series

720p Epson 400 , white shell, US MSRP$1499 (now has $200 rebate, down to $1299).

1080p Epson Home Cinema 1080, (exactly the same as TW1000 in Japan) white shell US MSRP $2999

So folks we have our first sub 3k 1080p projector from a company who's inherently been the most expensive in the past, but to their credit has the better build quality among the LCD group. Times are changing, let the fun begin.

Joe

Interesting points.. I guess I read the release through too fast, you know, just skimming for the specs..
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post #29 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:58am
I was going to just pick up the HD1000U and wait for 1080p prices to drop or new projector technology to develop (led, laser, unknown) but now I think I will wait to see how this reviews and get an idea on street prices before I invest in anything.
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post #30 of 1260
3/27/07 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe_Black View Post

*hint* next time she's out of the house .....zoink....pull the old switcheroo....and you're done.

ah yes, the old switcheroo......
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