Ah, the numbers game.
My 3 year old Epson HomeLite 10 max brightness is 1000 lumens and even watching football on a summer afternoon with a 100x80 normal curtained window I'd still only be on the second brightest setting (700 lumens?).
Contrast ratio is almost a meaningless stat as they simply change the testing criteria whenever they want to get a higher number. Mine is 700:1; the new 1080 is 12000:1 (50,000:1 "dynamic" for the UB) and the Panny is 16000:1. I have seen a projector at 2000:1 (not side by side) and didn't notice any added goodness for almost triple the contrast. So, when talking the more modest percentage difference at the much "higher" level are you gonna see a difference? Maybe; I haven't seen either one. I do know that I am currently quite satisfied with my projector and won't be upgrading until my second bulb goes (still on the first bulb @3400 hrs).
The free lamp also shaves $429 off the six year price of the projector.
I'm also a big fan of anything easy. A couple of clicks and you're done direct from Epson. No one else to deal with.
Speaking of fans, apparently the Epson is a bit louder in the brighter settings. If you are gonna be in a brightly lit room using max settings this could be really irritating. As mine is almost always in Theatre Black it isn't much of an issue. I didn't see a dB rating on the Epson page but my fan vol is 29dB on a shelf 4' over my head. It isn't audible when watching anything unless the scene is really quiet.
Last edited by doormat; 02/15/08 09:24 PM.
