Epson EB-1915 3LCD Projector

This week we have another Epson Projector for review, but the segment is totally different. There is no in built DVD player or any other fluff - this one is a straight up serious performer suited for the mobile presenter; of course it can be used at home too. Thus it comes with a considerable price tag. Read on to see what we think of the EB-1915

Design and features
A clean milky white chassis greets you once the projector is removed from the black carry bag in which it’s packed up neatly, snuggled in the carton. The unit is quite flat and even comparatively light in weight. There are 2 black stations on the top panel; one for lens control and the other housing the buttons, all of the latter being small black push buttons labeled accordingly. The base panel is also black in color, thus the aesthetics have a contrasting look.

It’s curvaceous at the corners and smooth on the surfaces - overall very neat looking. The back panel houses the i/o, which are, in no particular order, one HDMI, 3 USBs, S-video, composite video, 2 audio ins, 2 VGA ins and one VGA out. Last but not least there is an Ethernet port.

The native resolution of this unit is 1024 x 768, thus making it 720p capable natively. The tech used� and promoted aggressively by Epson, is 3LCD projection technology, and it’s a direct competition to DLP. 3LCD has better colors in my opinion - let’s see if this model conforms. The contrast ratio is 2000:1 and brightness is a super chunky rating of 4000 ANSI Lumens.

The focus option available is digital along with autofocus. Also there is an optical zoom of 1.6:1. The projector does come with a 10 watt speaker, thus the presence of audio inputs at the back.

Performance
We positioned the unit at a distance of about 10 feet from our screen, and got a screen size of 145 inches. The first thing we realized is the ease of set up and operation, with the auto focus and keystone correction controls. We were plugged in via HDMI, displaying the image in native res of 1024 x 768.

In our grayscale tests, the high lumen brightness came out clearly in this model. It’s a real daylight projector, and more so the contrast is also very healthy. The low blacks were deep and consistent. Colors as usual were splendid, but accuracy wise we gauged a bit of oversaturation in reds. The whole color palette was intense and vibrant due to the bright lamp, so overall we received a very dazzling image. We played the classic anime Akira on the unit, and it was eyecatching what with the mad colors� depicted with serious force.

Conclusion
At Rs. 1,59,000 this unit is not cheap, but the brightness is really high. It’s in another market segment altogether, a market of daylight projectors. Thus in a dark room the image is even better. The colors are intense and the contrast is also very healthy. The light weight makes this sort of portable, compared to other cumbersome Home theater projectors.