Epson is known to produce impressive and top-grade business and educational oriented products. Just recently, we did a review of the Epson Home Cinema 1060. Now its time for the Epson Home Cinema 1040 review!
Epson’s home theatre projectors have been gaining quite a lot of popularity lately. And, that brings us to our recent interest, the Epson Home Cinema 1040 projector.
Epson claims it to be one of the best available home-theatre projectors within the class.
And, to be honest, we agree with that sentiment! But you need not believe us. Instead, let us go through this projector review and you decide for yourself!
In this Epson Home Cinema 1040 review, we’ll take a look at this projector’s design, built quality, and performance and tell you if it’s worth your money or not.
Are you ready?
Let’s get started!
Epson Home Cinema 1040 Review
- Screen Size Range: 80-inches from 8 feet; 119-inches from 12 feet
- White Brightness: 3000 Lumens; Color Brightness: 3000 Lumens
- Contrast Ratio: 15,000:1; Keystone Correction: Yes; Lens Shift: No
- Warranty: 2 Year Limited; Lamp Life: Up to 10,000 hours (ECO mode) and up to 5000 hours (Normal mode)
- Connectivity: 2 HDMI (1 MHL), 1 RCA (composite), 1 RCA (1 audio L/R), 1 VGA D-sub 15 pin (computer input/component), 1 USB Type A, 1 USB Type B
First Impression & Design
Let’s start by discussing the aesthetics of the projector. It comes enclosed in a cuboidal box with dimensions of 11.7 x 9.6 x 3.3 inches. The casing is curved at the edges that prevent minor damages while setting it up. It is a mid-size projector that can be easily placed on a coffee table or ceiling mounted.
The Epson Home Cinema 1040 projector weighs at 5.7 lbs, which is extremely lightweight compared to other regular sized projectors. On the design front, it looks very basic and surely won’t win any design awards.
Yet, the built quality is reliable and capable of handling minor mishandling. However, a 3-6 feet drop might damage the projecting lens or the plastic body.
The back panel of the projector hosts 2 HDMI ports. One of the ports even supports MHL connectivity. Therefore, connecting with mobile devices is relatively easy. You can even spot an RCA port for composite Video input and two RCA Audio (L/R) inputs.
Other than these, it also houses a VGA D-sub 15 pin port for connecting to computers. The device even has two additional USB type A and USB type B ports integrated for plug n’ play options! It has four adjustable feet for front/rear projections and threading for ceiling installation.
While this projector has plenty of wired connectivity options; however, wireless connectivity options are missing. To add wireless options like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, you can connect the Epson Home Cinema 1040 to streaming media players like Amazon Fire stick, Chromecast and Roku.
The back also features a 2W mono speaker; however, the speaker is average sounding and better left unused. Instead, you’re better off getting a dedicated home theatre speaker system or a compact Bluetooth speaker for a better audio experience.
Built Quality & Performance
As mentioned earlier, Epson Home Cinema 1040 comes only in white color. The projector looks similar to its peers ranged slightly above its price.
It uses Epson’s Poly-silicon TFT Active Matrix as its primary driving method. You also get the 3LCD projection technology found in costlier Epson projectors.
With 3LCD projection technology, you get accurate colors and vivid viewing experience. Thus, you won’t experience rainbow effect seen in most budget single-chip DLP projectors.
This allows it to project full HD images at a resolution of 1920 x 1200p. In other words, visuals on this projector will appear in a WUXGA mode with an aspect ratio of 16:10.
It does provide an option for resizing the visuals at a 4:3 aspect ratio, though. We are not the biggest fans of this option, considering the better image quality produced in widescreen mode.
The native resolution setting for Epson Home Cinema 1040 is 1920 x 1200p. It uses this setting to project full HD images at 1920 x1080p. However, this projector doesn’t support 4K video input.
Marketed as a budget home theater projector, the Epson Home Cinema 1040 offers 3000 lumens brightness. Hence, you won’t have any issues while using it in a dark condition or bright environment.
The Epson Home Cinema 1040 uses a 200W UHE type lamp as its primary light source. This lamp usually lasts up to 5,000 hours in the normal mode. However, its life span increases drastically to 10,000 hours when used in Eco Mode.
Moreover, the projector has an integrated optical lens with manual zoom capability. The lens has a focal range of 20.42 – 24.50 mm, with a zoom ratio up to 1.2x. The lamp, along with the lens, can project at a distance range of 2.85 ft. – 36.02 ft.
The projector has max power consumption of 291W while projecting in active mode. When used for a long time, the projection setup can produce excess. This excess heat dissipation is handled by a powerful cooling fan. This fan is rated to produce 28 – 37 dB noise, which can get noisy in a quiet room. Although, once you start the speakers, you won’t even notice the fan noise.
Important Features & Functions
One of Epson Home Cinema 1040’s best features is the presence of four adjustable feet. This is quite rare in other home theatre projectors within this price range.
To get an even projection, you get vertical and horizontal keystone adjustments. The Epson Home Cinema 1040 offers a ±30° horizontal as well as vertical keystone adjustments.
However, our value-packed budget range projector Vankyo Performance V630 offers up to ±45° of vertical and horizontal keystone adjustment. Though the picture quality will not be a match to Epson Home Cinema 1040.
This projector offers you four discrete color modes to choose from. We’re referring to the Dynamic, Bright Cinema, Cinema, and Game mode. It is compatible with both HDMI and TMDS signals across the range 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. At the same time, its video compatibility ranges from Standard 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.
The projector is equally compatible with Windows and Mac. It even supports all sorts of devices with MHL compatibility. This means you can easily use Chromecast and Roku Streaming Stick with this projector.
It specifically enhances the gaming experience, considering its 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio! The projector also boasts Epson’s revolutionary 3LCD technology that prevents it from producing any rainbow effects whatsoever.
The new 3-chip technology distributes 3,000 lumens efficiently across white and colored pixels, further enhancing the picture quality.
We were thoroughly impressed by the remote-control that comes with this projector. It consists of a child lock button that prevents children from misusing the equipment.
Moreover, it can control the projector from a distance of nearly 20 ft. This adds value whenever presenting to a professional crowd or while streaming movies.
Similar Priced Alternatives to Epson Home Cinema 1040
Epson Home Cinema 1040 Review: Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
Conclusion
Epson Home Cinema 1040 is an excellent projector for the price range it’s offered. It performs reasonably well under in a partially bright room due to its 3000 lumens brightness.
Due to its size, you can carry it anywhere with you. Moreover, it will make as a great outdoor projector that can be used during evening and night time.
For the price, the Epson Home Cinema 1040 offers excellent features and specification. Although, for the price it is offered at, there are many great competitor products. You can check our guide about best projectors under $600 and best projectors under $700 to find excellent alternatives.
If you have any questions regarding this projector, please don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.
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