Projector Central and Projector Reviews both review the Epson Cinema 550 projector. It is 1400 Lumens bright, has a contrast ratio of 3000:1, includes a 1.5:1 zoom lens, and is a 3LCD design with a resolution of 1280 x 720. Is this thing good enough to beat the current kings, the Panasonic PT-AE900U and Sanyo PLV-Z4? Who knows? But it looks to try, that’s for sure.
$2500 MSRP, and for that money you get the above, a two year warranty and also an HDMI input.
The projector has great brightness uniformity, is really bright, and has good sharpness.
Unfortunately, Projector Central’s unit had a problem with the alignment of the 3 LCD panels, creating problems with colour and pixel structure. But theirs was a pre-production model.
Projector Central’s conclusion:
The Epson Powerlite Cinema 550 is among the strongest of the new high contrast LCD projectors released this fall. Those who make their projector selections based on manufacturer’s specs will tend to overlook the Cinema 550 with its official 3000:1 rating, and go for one of the competing units rated at 5000:1 or higher. They do so to their detriment, for the Cinema 550 is fully capable of meeting or exceeding the actual contrast, black level, and color saturation performance of the other high contrast LCDs in its price range.
Projector Review’s:
Overall, the Epson is excellent for users with mixed viewing requirements, (sports, HDTV, movies, and probably gaming), especially if you don’t want to fully darken your room. DVD’s are a little soft, but next generation DVD’s (Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) should be much sharper. For those primarily interested in DVD viewing (today’s DVD’s), however other projectors do exceed its performance. While black levels and shadow detail are very good, a few others do better.
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