Everything You Need to Know About the Epson EF-100 Mini-Laser Streaming Projector
The Epson EF-100 is a laser-based projector designed for streaming content from the streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu, or to project content from Blu-ray players or a set-top box. The Epson EF-100 delivers a bright, satisfying image of a large size in the ambient light. It has a laser light source which is functioned so well that it lasts the life of the projector. You can have Epson EF-100 in either black or white color. It is rated at 2,000 lumens and is undoubtedly different from the majority of home projectors.
The Epson EF-100 is bright enough to stand up to ambient light. It has a three-chip LCD engine that virtually eliminates rainbow artifacts to deliver color and white brightness in proportion.
It comes bundled with an Android TV dongle; hence the company refers to it as a mini-laser streaming projector with Android TV. The Epson EF-100 is officially priced on Epson’s website at $999.99. The Epson EF-100 has a modest 1,280 x 800 pixels native resolution and lacks optical zoom and support for HDR, 3D or input resolutions which are above 1080p. However, it offers all the advantages of a laser light source and is the least expensive, mini-sized light home laser projector.
Why Use Lasers?
Lasers are comparatively higher in prices than the traditional lamps used as a projection source. But they do last the life of the projector, so you don’t need to replace them. However, they do lose brightness very gradually throughout their lives.
The light source of EF-100 is, however, rated at 12,000 hours when it is at full power. This power is sufficient for running for up to five hours per day and continuous use for more than six years. While being at the lowest power mode, its life jumps to over 20,000 hours. The EF-100 has various power settings. It has nine settings between full-power and eco modes. You can adjust the power according to your requirements. Set the brightness according to your needs to extend the battery life of the laser and to save power too. Lasers make it easier for us to design projectors, for almost any type of orientation.
Testing the EF-100
There’s a minor complication with the EF-100’s brightness as its rating of 2,000 lumens applies only to the aspect ratio of 16:10. Many streaming sites, TV shows and Blu-ray discs, use an aspect ratio of 16:9. This means over 10% of the total pixels are set to black, which directly blocks over 10 per cent of the light. However, even 1,800 lumens can also easily translate to high brightness.
Based on SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) recommendations, 1,800 lumens are enough to brighten a dark room with 190-inch diagonal 16:9 image having a 1.0-gain screen. In case of a moderately bright ambient lighting, the size drops to 110 inches.
However, the image quality is good enough on the Epson EF-100. It has detailed levels of sharpness which is appropriate for the resolution of the projector. However, it does have a bit of weak contrast.
Its remote has two buttons for streaming, one for calling up YouTube, and the other one for launching the Apps screen. Also, the EF-100 has a built-in 5-watt speaker that delivers volume enough to fill a family room, with good sound quality. To increase the sound to a higher volume, you can connect to an external stereo sound setup or speakers using Bluetooth or the 3.5mm audio-out port.
Final Verdict
The Epson EF-100 is bright, compact and worth considering. You can go for a decent costing 720p lamp-based model like the Epson Home Cinema 760. However, in case you want higher resolution under $1000, you can opt for the 1080p lamp-based models like the BenQ HT2150ST, the Optoma HD39HDR, or the ViewSonic PX701HD. But suppose your requirement is of a laser light source. In that case, you should definitely go for the Epson EF-100 as it is a low priced and a compact sized laser projector which has impressive room-to-room portability, with excellent brightness and image quality which stands up well in the ambient lightings.
Alexane Kris is a Norton product professional and has been working in the science corporation due to the truth 2001. As a technical expert, Alexane has written technical blogs, manuals, white papers, and evaluations for many internet web sites such as norton.com/setup.
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