When you’re looking to upgrade your home theater setup with a brand new 4K laser projector, don’t, like me, forget to read its spec sheet first, or you might be in for a surprise.
I love projectors and think people should at least consider ditching their TV for one. Of course, the best 4K projectors are usually more expensive than the best 4K TVs, and you have to make sure your home theater is built in the correct room – somewhere with a large white surface and no windows (or install blackouts Curtains) – for the best visual effect. But in my opinion, the ambiance created by a projector-driven setup and the field-of-view images it can create are well worth the effort.
So, to convince others that projectors are the way forward, I took the Epson EH-LS11000W that I’ve been testing for TechRadar to my parents’ place to show them what it’s capable of. In my review, I was impressed with the laser projector’s crisp 4K images (which can be zoomed up to 300 inches) and the brilliant colors of its picture — though the contrast in dark scenes wasn’t as good as I’d hoped Love it (especially for its price), plus its limited ports and lack of a TV OS is a bad combination because you’re forced to waste a port on a streaming stick.
Also, as I learned after spending hours hyping it up and setting it up at my parents’ house, it doesn’t have any built-in speakers. This realization brought movie nights to an immediate halt because my family was reluctant to let me borrow their soundbar and destroy their existing TV setup. So I dejectedly put the EH-LS11000W back in the box. One TV, zero projector.
Right Projector, Wrong Home Theater
This is not uncommon for projectors. Even with fairly high-cost options like the Epson EH-LS11000W ($3,999 / £4,199 / ~AU$5,750), they focus on making top-notch visuals and leave the audio to the best bars Speakers and the best speakers.
But in my hubris, I forgot that. Instead, I’m assuming the vents on the side of the machine are for clear audio from its speakers, ignoring that they may actually be vents for heat dissipation from its 2,5,000-lumen laser unit.
Thankfully, I didn’t spend any money on this projector because Epson loaned it to me for review, so the mistake didn’t cost me. If I had just dropped $3,999/£4,199, my entire home theater budget would have been wiped out with an incomplete setup.
But the moment is a good reminder that even us techies can make mistakes and make inaccurate assumptions about a product that looks cool. That’s why we always recommend reading through a gadget’s features and reviews before buying (don’t just look at the score and move on).
Speakerless projectors like the Epson EH-LS11000W aren’t terrible, but they’re not ideal for every home theater setup. This is the case with a lot of technology; it’s not about how amazing the device is, it’s about whether it’s right for you and your needs.
