Epson BrightLink 735Fi, PowerLite 750F, and PowerLite L200SW Education Projectors: Our First-Look Review of Key Features and Capabilities

Epson recently announced a slew of new projectors aimed squarely at the education market, including two interactive BrightLink models and seven non-interactive PowerLite models. For this First Look, I'm going to concentrate on the BrightLink 735Fi and the PowerLite 750F and L200SW.

All of the new education projectors are illuminated by lasers that last up to 20,000 hours with a minimal drop in brightness over their entire lifetime. By contrast, projector's that use lamps, their bulbs must be replaced every 1000 to 2000 hours, and their brightness drops steadily over that time. With a laser light source, your maintenance bills drop to almost nothing while the image remains bright and engaging throughout the life of the projector.

Educators will be glad to know that the image produced is definitely bright enough to work well even under the classroom lights. The BrightLink 735Fi and PowerLite 750F boast a brightness up to 3,600 lumens, while the PowerLite L200SW pumps out up to 3,800 lumens, and some of the other newly announced models reach as high as 4,200 lumens. Even better, those numbers apply to both white and color brightness. Many single-chip DLP projectors have much lower color brightness than white brightness, leading to dim, dull colors on the screen.

• 3LCD imaging
• 1080p resolution (1920x1080)
• 20,000-hour laser light source with instant on/off
• 3600 lumens white and color brightness
• Ultra short-throw
• Image size up to 100" (16:9) or 110" (16:6)
• Split-screen capability
• Dual-pen and optional touch-enabled interactivity for up to 8 users at once
• Built-in 5 GHz Wi-Fi for Miracast and Epson iProjection-enabled devices

• 3LCD imaging
• 1080p resolution (1920x1080)
• 20,000-hour laser light source with instant on/off
• 3600 lumens white and color brightness
• Ultra short-throw
• Image size up to 100" (16:9) or 110" (16:6))
• Split-screen capability
• Whiteboard sharing (view only)
• Built-in 5 GHz Wi-Fi for Miracast and Epson iProjection-enabled devices

The BrightLink 735Fi and PowerLite 750F feature so-called Full HD or 1080p (1920x1080) resolution and can fill a 16:9 screen measuring up to 100" diagonally. They also offer the ability to project an ultra-wide 16:6 image measuring up to 110" diagonally by cropping pixels from the top and bottom to a resolution of 1920x720. The PowerLite L200SW offers WXGA (1280x800) resolution and can project a 16:10 image up to 120" diagonally. Also, all of the new education models can display two different sources in a split-screen configuration.

All three models provide 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity, and they support Miracast, which lets you "cast" the screen of any compatible Android device onto the projection screen. They also support Epson's iProjection software that does much the same thing from Android, iOS, Windows, and MacOS devices—up to 50 devices at once!

In addition, the BrightLink 735Fi and PowerLite 750F are both ultra-short-throw (UST) models, which means they are designed to be placed within a few inches of the screen wall. The advantage is that no one can walk into the light beam and cast a shadow on the image. The projectors can be placed on a desk or other surface below the screen or mounted on the wall above the screen with an optional wall mount.

The BrightLink 735Fi includes an interactive whiteboard functionality that lets teachers and students "draw" on the screen using a special pen or even a finger using an optional touch module. Users can turn virtually any flat surface into an interactive workspace where teachers and students can share ideas in real time locally or with remote participants. Below is a comparison chart showing the difference the four available BrightLink models.