2015-2016 Award Winners: Larger Venue Projectors for the Classroom

This Epson typifies the type of projector I just mentioned above.  4800 lumens will handle almost any classroom around, including larger university classrooms/lecture halls with well over 100 seats. Advanced networking will tie into a university's or school district's networks nicely, and with Crestron RoomView compatibility offer a host of advanced projector and networking features.

The Powerlite 1985WU, with a well below $2000 education price, is full WUXGA (1920x1200) resolution.  Yet it is a small fraction of the price (for comparison purposes) of last year's Epson G6900WU ($5999 MSRP) 6000 lumen projector with the same resolution.  Gone are multiple lens choices (but the 1985WU has plenty of range in its built in zoom lens), and lens shift...

The Epson Powerlite 1985WU offers the strongest value proposition of any of the high brightness projectors considered in this year's report.  It's 3 year warranty with three years of rapid replacement program for education buyers, is tough to beat as well.

Epson's 1900 series is extensive, if you don't need WUXGA resolution, or one or two other features, consider many other projectors in the series that might better suit your specific needs.

There certainly is no shortage of well equipped, bright WUXGA projectors in the $4000 - $8000 range.  The Canon WUX6000 isn't the least expensive  of those, but it does come across a cut above most.

Unlike the Epson above, which is very capable but lacks the extensive placement flexibility due to no interchangeable lenses or lens shift, this Canon has both interchangeable lenses and plenty of lens shift in addition to advanced networking.  DICOM is available if you need it, in the slightly more expensive WUX6000D, for medical imaging applications.

One feature offered, but still not widely found on projectors at this price point is support for multi-projector work.  True there are a number of competitors that do, but probably far more that lack this feature. That ability is not required in a typical higher education classroom, but universities might find it handy in some labs, or in art displays, and museum type areas.

Of particular note is the image quality.  Two things stand out.  First, color in the brightest mode - Dynamic was noticeably superior to most other projectors' Dynamic modes.  There's some green-->yellow shifting, but overall, it looks far better than the bulk of the competition.  That would indicate that if Canon wasn't Canon - a photography company that reveres color performance - they probably could have given us an uglier Dynamic and found at least several hundred extra lumens to boast about.

The other point is that its combination of really impressive sharpness, WUXGA resolution and the almost invisible pixel structure of LCoS creates even tiny text (8 point) that appears very sharp and readable.  Really impressive!   Brightness - about 5500 lumens at max with the standard lens, and over 4700 at mid-zoom.  The other modes are mostly clustered right below 4000 lumens, plenty of power - at mid-zoom.  A basic Canon WUX6000 seems to street for about $4000.

Finally, it is one of the most compact projectors around that offers the interchangeable lens option.  Why it could even be treated as a portable, if need be, although I expect almost all would be mounted.

The PT-RZ670BU or RZ670U, is a large, high performance feature laden - tackle just about every situation - projector.  It's a long life laser projector, and can be positioned vertically, horizontally, off angle, basically every-which way.  It will be ideal for any situations which require 24/7 operation thanks to it's laser design (rather than dual or quad conventional lamps). It's also ideal for art display, and museum like areas.

It's got lots of lenses, but of particular note, I want to mention that one is an ultra short throw lens that lets the projector be positioned in the tightest places, including, rear screen applications.

The only scary thing about the Panasonic, is it's list price, but fear not, because despite an over $24,000 MSRP - with lens choice optional, that price has little - almost nothing to do with real selling prices, which are typically not much more than half of that.  Whew!

As you would expect, it supports edge blending, and multi-projection setups.  That makes it ideal for permanent displays, museum environments, simulators, and whatever other unique applications you educators can come up with.

Amazing as this DLP projector performs - measuring over 7000 lumens - and remember it's a laser projector it will take years to lose significant brightness - it's not perfect, a faster than 3X color wheel would have been nice, and there's no wireless networking.  That said, it is impressively capable.

BTW, for some reason we have never been able to get Christie or Barco (two companies that specialize in large venue projectors) to send us some of their competitors, but perhaps that's because they are scared of this Panasonic's performance.  This Panasonic RZ670U is going to be tough to beat.

PS.  To you K-12 Educators:  I don't think you'll be able to rationalize one of these Panny's.   Alas!

The Epson G6900WU was our top pick thanks to being an aggressively priced (especially for schools) high brightness projector, that is just loaded with features.  Suitable for small auditoriums or large university type classrooms, it measured close enough to it’s claimed 6000 lumens to tackle almost any indoor environment.

Here's a very capable projector with education pricing in the $5000 range.  It is definitely a direct competitor of this year's Performance winner, the Canon WUX6000.  Each has some advantages, but overall, they are more similar than different.

The G6900WU remains the flagship of Epson's G series commercial projectors.  It is a true WUXGA projector.  Only their Z series is more capable (brighter and sporting features like dual lamp design), but then their WUXGA Z series projectors have list prices mostly in the over $20,000 range!

Advanced networking, interchangeable lenses, of course.  But also HD-SDI, and HD-BaseT for easier installation in larger rooms.  That means low cost wiring to sources, and especially to live video, and in both cases, over large distances, which can mean huge savings in large classrooms and lecture halls.

Single lamp design, 6000 lumens, WUXGA.  Great three year warranty with three years of replacement program, and aggressive educational pricing!

Last year Sony's laser projector wow'd us.  OK, it's no match in brightness compared to this year's Panasonic winner.  The Sony claims a mere 4000 lumens, an delivers over 2800 with especially good color,  but it's also dramatically less expensive than the Panasonic, and still readily available. Advanced networking, WUXGA resolution, 3LCD panels, laser - I said that already - and lots of other goodies, including edge blending, 360 degree operation, DICOM.  And then there's the warranty:  5 years parts and labor, and overnight replacement program, plus, a 12,000 hour warranty on the laser light engine.  All of that and an under $5000 MSRP!

We didn't come up with a Best In Classroom award for Epson's Powerlite 1965 projector, but this projector does deserve a mention here.  It happens to be at "end of life" although there are a number of similar 19xx series projectors in the Epson line-up.

What makes the PowerLite 1965 a fascinating Large Venue projector is its price point which is under $2000 and that's even before the educational discounts Epson offers.   The secret to the low price for a larger venue projector lies primarily in that its really a portable projector, weighing only about 8.5 pounds, but it does output an impressive 5000 lumens both white and color!  That's definitely enough for those large university classrooms, and small auditoriums.