Epson Pro EX10000 3LCD 1080p Wireless Laser Projector Review – Performance

TEXT AND PRESENTATION QUALITY

The Epson Pro EX10000 projected sharp text and slide presentations in good detail. The ability to present multiple documents or web pages simultaneously at Full High Definition (1920 x 1080) resolution on a big screen should be helpful in many business and education applications. The Pro EX10000’s Split Screen capability makes splitting the screen two-ways or four-ways really easy. However, keep in mind that you would be dealing with two or four images that are smaller than projecting one large image at a time. Higher resolution does not change the limits of font sizes and viewing distances for Apple Keynote slide presentations, Microsoft PowerPoint slide presentations, or other infographic-type materials. For example, if using an 8-point or smaller font, you might be able to see it up close, but it may be too small for a person in the back of the room to read it, regardless of the resolution of the projector.

COLOR REPRODUCTION

You can change the Epson Pro EX10000’s Color Mode using the remote control to optimize the image for your viewing environment. The Pro EX10000 has the following five Color Mode presets.

Dynamic: The projector’s brightest Mode. Epson states Dynamic Mode is best for video games in a bright room. I will add that Dynamic Mode could also be selected when using the projector in a room with uncontrolled ambient light sources that cause the image to appear faded on your screen. Unlike the typical Bright Mode on most projectors, the Pro EX10000 maintains decent color in Dynamic Mode with only a slight greenish/blue tint added to the image.

Presentation: Designed for color presentations like PowerPoint in a bright room.

Cinema: Designed for viewing entertainment content like movies in a dark room with natural tone images. On the Epson Pro EX10000, the Cinema Mode was the second most accurate color mode for entertainment content in my projector lab. Unfortunately, Cinema Mode also had the tendency to crush blacks, as can be seen in the photo below. Look at the black jeans in the image below. They look totally flat black in Cinema Mode when there are black and grey details throughout the jeans in reality.

sRGB: Epson states the sRGB Mode is best for standard sRGB computer displays. sRGB was the most color-accurate mode on this projector. In my testing environment, sRGB Mode provided the best picture performance on this projector. The black and grey details in the jeans become perfectly visible in person; however, the camera does not do a good job of picking it up to show you on your computer or mobile device.

Blackboard: Designed to use when using a regular green chalkboard as your projection surface. The overall purplish overtones in this mode make it mostly unusable on any other type of typical projection material.

The screenshots above are intended to give only a rough idea of the color accuracy. However, when viewed in person, the color accuracy will generally look somewhat better than shown in these photos.

BRIGHTNESS

Epson lists the brightness of the Pro EX10000 at 4,500 lumens. I also measured the brightness myself. To measure the brightness, I set the projector’s Color Mode to Dynamic and its Light Source Mode to Normal, which is the projector’s brightest configuration. I then took 3-4 readings about 15-20% out from the center of the screen.

The Pro EX10000 measured 4,165 ANSI lumens at its maximum brightness setup, just a tad lower than Epson’s 4,500 lumens claim. In addition, I measured all five available Color Modes; my measurements are below.

 Epson Pro EX10000 Projector Color Mode Brightness

While in Dynamic Color Mode, I also measured the brightness of the Pro EX10000’s different Light Source Modes (power modes), all of which alter the unit’s laser light output.

CONTRAST / BLACK LEVEL

The Pro EX10000 has a dynamic contrast ratio claim of 100,000:1. Contrast refers to black-level performance, or “how black” the blacks look. Business and education projectors don’t require excellent black-level performance in the same way home entertainment or home cinema projectors do. Meaning, business and education projectors tend to hang out in the medium gray to dark-gray spectrum. Business and education projectors are not expected to have true deep blacks. However, as seen in the above pictures, the Epson Pro EX10000 actually had decent black-level performance.

VIDEO QUALITY

Considering the Epson Pro EX10000 is aimed squarely at the business and education crowd, the projector’s video quality was surprisingly good out of the box. The Pro EX10000 did quite well pulling part-time home cinema projector duties. I am not saying the Pro EX10000 is as good as a dedicated home cinema projector. I’m just saying that the projector worked better than I expected for movies. One of the significant advantages of the Epson Pro EX10000 is how bright it is. During my testing, I was able to test it in almost complete darkness, and, as expected, the image looked great. The real surprise was when I began allowing light into my projection space. Even at uncontrolled ambient light levels that would kill an average projector, the Pro EX10000 displayed content unbelievably well. Keep in mind my projector lab is in Southern California. Even in December, when I wrote this review, it was bright and sunny outside.

Changing the Light Source Modes and Color Modes can significantly alter the on-screen image. I found myself leaving the Light Source Mode on Normal and then switching between the Cinema and sRGB Color Modes when watching movies.

SOUND QUALITY

The Pro EX10000’s audio system consists of a single 16-watt speaker. As a result, the Pro EX10000 has enough sound for most business and classroom settings. In addition, the projector is more than loud enough to let business associates or students hear content clearly, even if they are sitting in the back of the room. In addition to the built-in 16-watt speaker system, there is an audio out port for connecting external speakers when a more powerful audio system is wanted.

AUDIBLE NOISE

Epson advertises the Pro EX10000’s audible noise at 36 dB (Normal Light Source Mode) 27 dB (ECO Light Source Mode). That is about standard for Epson and business and education projectors in general. I measured the fan noise produced by the Pro EX10000 between 33dB and 40dB. I placed the Color Mode on Dynamic and the Light Source Mode on Normal, giving me the highest fan noise measurement of 40dB. I then switched the Color Mode to Blackboard and the Light Source Mode to Quiet and got the lowest fan noise measurement of 33dB.

GAMING

The Epson Pro EX10000 User Guide states that Dynamic Color Mode is best for video games in a bright room. Since Epson claims the Pro EX10000 has a mode just aimed at video games, I had to try it out.

I switched the projector’s Color Mode to Dynamic and tested numerous games from my PlayStation and Xbox on the Pro EX10000. The games I tried on the Pro EX10000 played fine, included Elder Scrolls Online (ESO), God of War, and Mortal Kombat XL. I did not experience any significant issues with input lag, even while in action-packed sections of the games. The Epson Pro EX10000 should be fine for most casual gamers looking to play games on a big projector screen. So, with the Epson Pro EX10000, you have a projector that works for business, classrooms, movie watching, and gaming.