Epson EB-810E
Epson’s new extreme short-throw projector is a major head-turner. Nick Ross checks out just how versatile it is.
We’ve seen Epson’s EB-810E turn heads (and stop people in their tracks) at a few tradeshows, already.
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Epson says that it was initially designed for small meeting rooms, but its potential for broader applications quickly becomes evident. Thanks to its extraordinary, 0.16 throw ratio, it can be placed on a surface, right up against a wall, and generate bright, Full HD (or UHD), 21:9, HDR, 80” image from just 1” away.
If you move it all the way back to four (count em’) inches, you get a 160” image. It also has twin, built-in speakers meaning it could theoretically be used as a mobile cinema.
So, what can and can’t it excel at?
Features and installation
Our review model had a white plastic chassis, but you can also get a black version, called the EB-815E. It feels solid as a whole and surprisingly light at 12.5kg. Panels on three sides come off, to access various controls, ports and mountings, but they don’t feel flimsy.
The three, height-adjustable feet are simple to twist with your fingers, but it’s simply angling the projector left or right that makes the most difference to the image shape. If placing the EB-810E next to a wall isn’t practical, there are brackets available for both wall and ceiling mounting.
Setting-up can be done with the controls on the side, the (included, infra-red) remote or even an app on your phone. Beyond moving the main chassis, an easy-to-access sliding lever is the main way to make focus adjustments and it’s very quick and easy to use. You can also display a test pattern which can be configured by the partner phone app. This comes into its own when you need to straighten the images’ bordering lines as they can get a bit lumpy.
Automating this with the app is preferable to manual manipulation as the latter feels like digital blacksmithing – tapping segments of a lineup and down until the whole thing is straight. Still, it’s all straightforward and we appreciated the number of adjustments available.
Inputs include two HDMI and two USB-A 2.0 ports. It also supports HDBaseT. An additional USB-B port exists for firmware updates, while a third USB-A port facilitates the connection of a wireless LAN dongle. There’s also Gigabit Ethernet plus an old-school RS232C port for legacy connections. Miracast is supported if you want to project from a mobile device without cables.
It displays a native, Full HD resolution but this can quickly be adjusted to (a Microsoft Teams Front Row-friendly) 21:9 and 16:6 aspect ratios. Epson’s 4KE UHD enhancement can upscale the resolution to 3,840 x 2,160. Image quality enhancements include face brightening when in multi-person video calls.
The image feels very bright thanks to its 5,000-lumen rating. It’s generated using Epson’s three-chip, 0.62” LCD technology and a laser light source. The latter can last up to 30,000 hours in eco mode or 20,000 hours in normal mode and naturally means you don’t need to worry about awkward lamp management or regular, expensive light-source-related operating costs. It also opens the door to ‘wake on signal’ so you don’t have to wait for everything to reach optimal operating temperatures before you see anything.
There are two 8W speakers inside and these can be set to normal or voice enhancement modes. The projector is also compatible with Epson’s edge-blending technology which allows you to easily and seamlessly combine multiple-projector mega-images that work wonders for signage and display applications. A couple of use cases, that we’ve seen demonstrated, include lining both sides of a narrow corridor and all four sides of a small room with a single image.
How does it perform?
The primary benefit of having an extreme, short-throw projector is that shadows from presenters, their gesticulations, audience members and people walking in front of the device are immediately mitigated. Having it right up against a wall also banishes the bane of finding a suitable, compatible-distance platform in the middle of a room, when it’s not a permanent installation.
As for image quality, despite the physics involved in enormously stretching and projecting the source image, we were very impressed that no LCD cells were evident, under scrutiny. Quality is naturally further enhanced by using a specialist projector screen, but we had few concerns when testing it on a white wall.
The 5,000-lumen brightness means it’s mostly usable in a brightly lit room but, naturally, darker is better. Small text on a Windows Desktop and in presentations was fully legible. Colours are impressively vibrant and, in Windows HDR mode, both colourful and monochromatic gradients were rendered smoothly without stepping or blockiness.
HDR noticeably enhanced contrast performance, with bright lights popping out from dark backgrounds, similar to the best consumer TVs. However, despite the stated 2,5000,000:1 contrast ratio, true blacks are still some way off those displayed by Epson’s glassy rivals. It’s still excellent compared to many projectors but it’s worth noting that details can get lost in highlights and shadows.
In case anyone has grand visions of gaming on it, it’s worth noting that the input lag is more than sub-optimal. So, forget about anything remotely fast and frantic.
If you’re determined to use it for movie night, the twin, built-in, 8W speakers are useable but not the best. They can get loud and bassy but fidelity isn’t very well rounded when it comes to music or movies and everything can sound rather muddy. We actually preferred to set the Sound Mode to ‘Clear Voice’ which didn’t improve multimedia performance but made a great fist of making voices impressively clear in video calls – ideal for the target market. Just note the lack of options when it comes to audio-out, as this may hinder some installation scenarios.
Also, note that it’s not the quietest projector. You’ll notice the 35dB fan in a small, quiet room. Fortunately, this drops down to 26dB in Eco Mode, which is far less distracting, though you’ll lose image brightness by activating it.
An issue that did concern us, however, was the amount of dust that could accumulate over the lens. In a dusty environment, you’ll need to ensure it gets regularly wiped with a high-quality cloth, lest the glass gets scratched. Our model also appeared to have had something splashed onto it and this took some very careful scraping to remove – we wonder if casual office workers will be so thoughtful when cleaning it. Having a lens cover, when not in use, would be helpful here. Meanwhile, if you wipe the lens while it’s turned on, the projector will beep and display a warning message to remove the problem, which is good to know as it would otherwise be a potential fire hazard.
At the end of the day, the Epson EB-810E is going to be an attractive proposition whether you’re using it in a classroom; a lecture theatre; for UC in a meeting room; for signage and displays at an event space; or occasional movie night-type scenarios.
It’s more mobile than many other large-image projectors and much more so than wheeling a large TV into another room. Its ability to operate right up against a wall makes it a more practical option than having an installed screen in some scenarios, too.
Its ability to daisy chain multiple models together for occasional events, before moving them back into a meeting room, might be enough of a selling point for some IT managers on its own – especially if transport and storage are considerations.
Ultimately, with its price tag, it’s relatively inexpensive, very good value and it will be a tempting option to many different user groups.
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