Epson Powerlite 1985 WU Projector Review - Special Features 2

Posted on January 4, 2015 by Art Feierman

POWERLITE 1985WU REVIEW - SPECIAL FEATURES: Listings of Minor Features, Zoom Lens Ratio, PC Free Slideshow, Easy MP Command and Control

List of Features

The Powerlite 1985 WU is loaded with many features, some major, some minor. Here I will list a large number of them. A sentence or paragraph will be found in the Menus section for many of them, when viewing the appropriate menu in its comment area. Some need no comment.

Auto Iris for improved black level performance (two speeds)
Color management system both Grayscale and individual color calibration controls available
Gamma adjustments - 5 preset, plus custom
8 Preset modes including Dynamic, Presentation, Theatre, DICOM etc.
Many audio inputs, audio output
2 Noise reduction levels
Overscan
Fine or Fast image processing
Split Screen - two sources at once - equal sized
Non-laser Pointer built in, controlled by remote
Closed Caption
User Logo
High Altitude Mode
Auto Source Search (or manual)
Define which audio to output
Multi-screen control brightness and color correction
Scheduling of Use, Power/Standby, Dates and Times
Screen Mirroring

Click Image to Enlarge

Zoom Lens Ratio

As commented earlier, this Epson is a very bright projector. Many competitors including Epson's G series, have many similar features, but also offer a choice of lenses. Unfortunately, projectors with lens options tend to be a lot more expensive than those without, all else being about equal. The Powerlite 1985WU has a 1.6:1 manual zoom lens. That's as much or more zoom range than most fixed install, and large portables offer. It allows for sufficient placement range for most environments such as classrooms, conference rooms, training rooms, etc. But it may not have the needed operating range for a church, or small auditorium, and some other large rooms (including some university classrooms) if the projector cannot be placed relatively close to the screen. For example, if you need to place the projector 30 feet back from a 100" screen, that's just not going to work.

PC Free Presenting

The Powerlite 1985WU offers basic PC Free presenting by way of an onboard media player. The 1985WU supports image files and PDF, but is not as extensive as some, as it does not support Microsoft Office formats. Of course you can convert Powerpoint type presentations to a series of JPGs, and many other "documents" into PDFs to use the media player. That said, this is a projector that can work wired or wirelessly with smart devices, do screen mirroring, etc. So, while you may not be able to pop in a word document off of a USB thumb drive, your options likely include viewing it wirelessly from your computer, or tablet of phone, or in some cases, via wire.

Easy MP Software (free) for Command and Control

Epson's Easy MP software has been around for perhaps a decade, maybe longer, as a way to control the projector from software on your computer. Although not as sophisticated as some of the advanced command and control protocols such as Crestron RoomView, it does handle the basics rather nicely and has a good feature set. The Powerlite 1985WU is, however, also compatible with Crestron RoomView and some other advanced systems, as might be found in a school district or corporate HQ. Even without those, however, the projector does support features such as email notifications of status. (Letting the IT folks know that the lamp has failed, or other problems or certain uses.