Epson is planning to unveil seven new 1080p home theater projectors next week at the CEDIA trade show. The flagship model, the ProCinema 61000, will carry a contrast rating of 1,000,000:1 and a brightness rating of 1200 lumens.
Most notably, the ProCinema 61000 will have an all new reflective 3LCD light engine. This is a radical new development for Epson, which thus far has based their entire projector product line exclusively on transmissive 3LCD technology.
Along with the ProCinema 61000, two new lower priced models will also feature the reflective 3LCD engine-the HomeCinema 21000 and HomeCinema 31000. These models will be rated at 500,000:1 contrast and 1200 lumens. All three of these models will feature powered zoom, focus, powered lens shift, and Lens Memory for 2.4 Cinemascope set ups. These three models are housed in an all new casework design with the lens in center position.
More details will be posted here as they become available. Initial shipments are not expected until December, but a pre-production PC61000 will be shown at CEDIA. Pricing is not yet announced, but will be published next week.
In addition to the three new reflective light engine models, Epson plans to replace its four popular current home theater models with upgraded editions. The HomeCinema 8100 and 9100 will be replaced with the HomeCinema 8350 and ProCinema 9350 respectively. Noteworthy changes in these models includes a boost in contrast from 30,000:1 to 50,000:1 and a slight increase in brightness from 1800 to 2000 lumens. Initial deliveries are expected by the end of this month.
The HomeCinema 8500UB and ProCinema 9500UB will be replaced with the HomeCinema 8700 UB and the ProCinema 9700 UB, respectively. We are still collecting data on these models, but the new versions will retain the 200,000:1 contrast and 1600 lumen brightness rating of their predecessors.
