For those who thought making a home theatre that's just like the real thing was only an achievable dream for the rich, Epson will make you think again. At Berlin's IFA consumer electronics show, the iconic projector company announced the release of the EpiqVision Ultra LS650.
This projector is retailing at a whopping £700 below the next cheapest model in the EpiqVision line (international pricing is yet to be announced); yet, the LS650 sports some top-of-the-line tech from more advanced models. As eager supporters of home cinema accessibility, we are particularly excited about this Epson release. Let's take a deeper pe into the EH-LS650.
Like every Epson projector, the LS650 is a 3-chip LCD projector. This allows for equal brightness of white and colours and prevents against some colouring issues seen with single-chip projectors. Beyond that, the LS650 is seemingly an expansion of the previous LS300 model, and thus shares many design aspects and specifications, including a similar chassis and a 3,600 ISO lumen brightness. It also features an image size of 61 to a whopping 120 inches, to allow for a true front-row experience. And let's not forget that the LS650 is an ultra short throw projector with a 0.26:1 aspect ratio. This means if the projector's backside is positioned just 10.5 inches from the screen wall, it can produce a 100-inch image.
This is what makes the LS650 so impressive for its price range. Projecting a UHD display no longer requires a complex mounting mechanism or rearranging your entire living room to accommodate a projector -- you can literally place it on your entertainment stand just as you would with a TV. Of course, projectors require a bit of additional setup compared to a TV, as you must adjust the lens position and colour settings according to the projector's placement and the lighting in the room. To make things easier, you can download Epson's Assistant App. With the app, you can simply take a picture of the projected target pattern with your phone and the projector will "snap" the image borders into place. (We tried it -- it works).
There are also some features that make the LS650 more attractive than its counterpart, including the addition of 4K PRO-UHD technology -- the same tech used in Epson's flagship LS800 UST. PRO-UHD reportedly doubles the onscreen resolution of the native 1080p chips using pixel-shifting. Combined with advanced video processing, it may be difficult to distinguish an LS650 display from a full 4K UHD display at a normal viewing distance. The model also supports HLG and HDR10.
As we'd expect from an Epson projector, the new model comes with an Android TV OS and web-streaming platform with Google Assistant integration, so you can stream from apps like Hulu, Amazon Prime, or Disney+. There won't be an authorized Netflix app, however, as is the case with most Android TV projectors.
You'll be able to snag the new EpiqVision Ultra LS650 in a white or black finish, and we can expect international pricing and availability to be released sometime this fall, so stay tuned.
