Epson Home Cinema 8100

The Epson Home Cinema 8100 provides terrific performance at a terrific price. Blacks are excellent, though some more expensive projectors offer blacks that are a hair darker still. Colors are first-class -- excellent right out of the box, and there are lots of controls for those who want to dial things into perfection. Brightness is very high in most modes, making the Home Cinema 8100 a suitable choice for use under a variety of lighting conditions, including those in most living rooms and family rooms. However, one reviewer complains that some projectors have a highest brightness setting that's more powerful still. While not loaded with features, all of the must-haves are there for a projector in this price range. A good zoom range and ample lens shift help make installation easy in any room. The use of LCD technology mean's DLP's rainbow effect is nowhere to be seen, and LCD's screen-door effect (visible pixel structure) is tamed to the point where it is a non-factor. For those on a tighter budget, the Optoma HD20 DLP projector delivers good picture quality at the lowest price yet for a 1080p projector. However, most experts say that if you can swing the price difference, the Epson Home Cinema 8100 is better in most regards.

The Epson Home Cinema 8100 is brand new and is just beginning to reach retailers at the time of this report. Still, two of the top reviewers of home-theater projectors -- ProjectorCentral.com and ProjectorReviews.com -- have had a good look at it and deliver nicely detailed and informative reports. Because of its newness, no user feedback is yet available.