Epson Pro Cinema 1985 Projector Review - Hardware Tour 2

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Art Feierman

Pro Cinema 1985 PROJECTOR - HARDWARE TOUR Page 2: Remote Control, Menus, Lens Throw This page is basically a copy of the one from the business version of this projector since the two are essentially identical in terms of this content. They come with the same remote control, have the same menu options with the exception of a name change or two in the menus, and, naturally have the same lens throw characteristics.

PC1985 Remote Control

Epson's remote control for the 1985 WU is medium sized with smallish buttons. It does not have a backlight, but then since a 4800 lumen projector rarely has to work in a dark room, that should not be a problem. True, being backlit would be better, but few of today's projectors - other than home theater, have backlit remotes.

The range of the remote is pretty good. No problem standing 22 feet from the screen, and getting a nice bounce to the projector sitting about 12 feet back. Just remember to point in the appropriate direction, of course. The Epson has both front and rear sensors, so you can be a lot further back with the remote, if needed. Officially Epson puts the range at just over 26 feet, so it easily exceeds that.

Let's take a look at the remotes feature set, starting with the green Power button on the top left.

Click Image to Enlarge

Pro Cinema 1985 W Menus

This Epson uses the same basic menu organization they have used for many years. In addition to all the usual sub-menus, there is a complete menu system for the wired and wireless networking setup. The PC1985 incorporates the same feature set as the commercial version, and Epson did not bother to hide some of the options that really aren't geared for home use, such as the rather capable Scheduling system. Below are a number of menus and sub-menus in the player. Where helpful I've added some comments about the features shown.

1985WU Menus

Image Menu

The first main menu, has most color and picture quality controls, multiple sub-menus

Image: Advanced Sub-Menu

This sub-menu offers menus for gamma adjustment, color calibration

Gamma Adjust

Five presets, and a custom setup option

Image: RGB - Adjust grayscale

Allows adjusting to the proper color temp, such as 6500K for REC 709 video.

Image: RGBCMY - the CMS

The color management system, where one calibrates individual colors

Signal Menu

Has two noise reduction settings, Overscan, Image Processing

Settings: Test Pattern

Brings up a simple blue background and some fine lines for focus and general positioning.

Pointer

Not a laser, rather a pointer that is controlled from the remote. Three choices of the pointer's shape - a biz/education feature, but fun for sports replays.

Networking Main Menu

Networking: Wireless

Settings to allow Screen Mirroring, and Wireless Local Area Network - Miracast support

Networking: Wireless: Mirroring

Info menu showing settings

Inside Networking Menu

When its time to do settings in networking, the menu system is on a blue background

Exiting Networking

You cannot just quit networking menus. Changes must be saved or canceled

Projector Information

Has two sub-menus...One with current info and source info, the other: firmware version

Eco Mode

Full power, or Eco, plus Auto, which will draw full power only when needed

Scheduler

If you fall asleep watching movies or HDTV, you could use the scheduler to shut down the projector

Epson 1985WU Lens Throw

Epson's manual 1.6:1 zoom lens provides better than most range among projectors that don't have interchangeable lenses. It should be mentioned though, that the projector lacks any vertical or horizontal lens shift adjustments, instead relying on keystone correction. Doing so is a good way to keep the costs down. Remember, the 1900 series offer the type of brightness found on a lot of projectors including Epson's G series, that specialize in lens capabilities with interchangeable lenses and lens shift. This guy - the 1985WU - is for those will simpler setup needs!

The table here gives you a sample of throw ranges for larger screens:

Lens Throw Chart
Diagonal Screen size, 16:10	Closest Distance	Furthest Distance
80 Inch	92.9 inches	154.2 inches
100 Inch	116.5 inches	193.1 inches
150 Inch	175.4 inches	290.4 inches
20 Foot (for fun)	278.7 inches	462.6 inches