Epson Home Cinema 2250 Review

The Epson Home Cinema 2250 is a great option for anyone looking for a well-rounded projector. With its 1080p resolution, high contrast ratio, 3LCD projection technology brightness, and intuitive interface, this device works wonders in the home and office alike. It features vertical and horizontal keystoning, lens shift, and 3D capabilities, which help set it apart from the rest of the options in our test suite.

Performance Comparison

Contrast Ratio

The 70000:1 contrast ratio is no joke for the Home Cinema 2250. Black and white patterns are highly contrasted, the projected night skies are almost perfect, and the small font is easy to read.

This projector does our space video and forest test justice. It has excellent pitch blacks and great luminescent whites. It also produces a myriad of light grays, whereas others in the past have bleached out the screen.

Color Accuracy

In our tests, we found that the baseline settings of the Home Cinema 2250 suffer from poor color accuracy, negatively impacting its otherwise well-rounded scores in our other testing metrics. Fortunately, with some tweaks to the settings, our testers quickly compensated for this and produced much more satisfying results.

Under the baseline settings, the slight oversaturation of some colors and the overwhelming presence of red hues negatively affect the cinematic experience. Skin tones look healthy in that they are not washed out, but the rosy hue makes most people look flush when they are meant to look pale. The use of color can be important in film, and this inaccuracy negatively affects the viewing experience. Browns appear red, and greens are browner. Purples appear pinker, while red and orange are over-saturated. Yellow also appears a little more orange, which became obvious while observing our banana slide during testing. The Home Cinema 22 accurately portrays blue oceans, while many projectors turn oceans a more teal color. The experience overall is just okay.

During testing, our team found that by altering the advanced settings, they were able to compensate for the red tint, producing a much more accurate color projection. Testers navigated to the advanced image settings and adjusted the RGBCMY option, where they were able to select a color and adjust the hue, saturation, and brightness. Our testers appreciated that the results were instantaneous after the adjustment. While we wish these settings were part of the baseline performance, our testers appreciated the ability to fine-tune the projector and its results.

Resolution

The 1080-pixel resolution helps to create a very clear picture. High Definition images are crisp and small text is easy to read. Even zoomed in 400% on the Siemens star test, the level of detail that remains is impressive. Closest to the center, there is some subtle cross-hatching, but other than that, you can tell the lines apart very close to the center. This bodes well for video resolution as well, depicting very clean imagery.

Ease of Use

The remote and interface for this projector are very intuitive. The Home Cinema comes with two remotes, neither of which have backlit buttons, which can be frustrating when using them in the dark, but the buttons are large and laid out intuitively. There are also controls on the device itself, so you can navigate between menus or choose your input method if you misplace both remotes.

The projected interface works just like an Android TV which is very intuitive. When connected to WiFi, you can access all your streaming services right on the device, rather than having to connect to a phone, computer, or tablet.

Portability is the only portion of this test where the 2250 could stand to improve. However, as the name states, this device is meant for a home cinema, meaning the device isn't intended to be highly portable. It is 12.2 by 12.4 by 4.8 inches and weighs in at 8.4 pounds. It's still pretty sleek and comes with a lens cover for protection if you need to transport it, but a simple carry bag would have given this device an extra bump up in portability.

A few more noteworthy attributes of the 2250 include direct casting from Google Chrome, seamless HDMI connection to any device, and the ability to connect external audio via Bluetooth.

The image adjustments are also automatic but offer some manual override. The vertical lens shift and auto vertical keystoning work great, resulting in little to no distortion. But if they are not to your liking, you can manually adjust both. The zoom range is stellar, and the manual focus is as easy as turning a wheel.

Brightness

Brightness mostly determines how affected an image will be by ambient light. Office models, for example, require the ability to shine brightly because you probably aren't going to be making your conference room completely black to pitch an idea to your superiors. On the other hand, a home cinema will most likely be used in a darker space.

The Cinema 2250 claims a brightness of up to 2700 lumens. During our testing, while our measured brightness is roughly 1780 lumens. This is not terrible, but it's significantly less than what the Home Cinema is supposed to provide.

Fan Noise

A large and powerful machine needs to stay cool, especially if running long enough for a movie marathon. While it can be difficult to find a silent machine, we think the 2250 performs decently. The fan is far from quiet, but the sound it emits is more of a low hum. This is much less offensive than some of the higher-pitched sounds produced by other models in our test suite. Most of our testers feel that the fan noise created by the Cinema 2250 is very easy to ignore.

Should You Buy the Epson Home Cinema 2250?

The Epson Home Cinema 2250 is an expensive projector and may feel over-priced if color accuracy is a priority to you. With WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities and an intuitive Android TV-like interface, it's sure to keep you entertained. Sometimes you have to pay high prices for convenience, and this model falls in that bucket. If you are in the market for a versatile projector and don't mind a warm tone or spending a few extra bucks, the Home Cinema 2250 could be a good option.

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