When comparing BenQ HT2050A vs Epson Home Cinema 2040, the Slant community recommends BenQ HT2050A for most people. In the question“What are the best projectors?” BenQ HT2050A is ranked 1st while Epson Home Cinema 2040 is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose BenQ HT2050A is:
The 1.3x zoom lens allows some flexibility in the throw distance. The vertical lens shift on this projector lets you move the image up and down by about 10% of the image size. This is helpful if you happen to install the projector with a small offset.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Easy to set up
The 1.3x zoom lens allows some flexibility in the throw distance. The vertical lens shift on this projector lets you move the image up and down by about 10% of the image size. This is helpful if you happen to install the projector with a small offset.
Pro Bright and detailed picture
The BenQ HT2050 is a bright projector with amazing contrast. Its native resolution of 1920x1080 produces a detailed Full HD picture.
The 2,200 Lumens of brightness on this BenQ is high enough to deal with some ambient light. You can watch movies in daytime with curtains rolled down.
A 15,000:1 contrast ratio means that the white image is 15,000 times brighter than the black image. This gives the projector great black-levels and shadow detail so the dark scenes in movies will look great.
Pro No blur from fast motion
Motion handling is great on the HT2050, as for all the DLP (digital light processing) projectors. In movie scenes with fast motion, the picture won’t get blurry.
Pro Low input lag for gaming
For gamers requiring a low input lag, the HT2050 is the best way to go since it beats most of its competitors with an input lag of only 17ms.
Pro Quiet fans
HT2050 has very quiet fans, almost unnoticeable unless there’s total silence. The fans produce more or less the same noise in both ECO and performance modes.
Pro Very good picture
Epson 2040 has a native resolution of 1920x1080 and is capable of playing full HD 1080p content. The Detail Clarity Processor (also used in expensive Epsons) adds more detail and makes the picture look even higher in resolution than it is. The 2040 also has a dynamic iris installed for slightly improving the black levels when watching movies at night.
Pro Great 3D experience
Many inexpensive projectors struggle with 3D performance due to low brightness. With brightness of 2200 lumens, Epson 2040 is the brightest under $1000 pick for watching 3D content. The 3D image is also high contrast (for detailed dark scenes) and rich in color.
Pro Low fan-noise
This Epson has rather low fan noise of 29 dB in Eco-Mode. Since the projector produces great brightness in Eco-Mode, the performance mode does not have to be used too often.
Pro Good lamp life and cheap replacement lamps
The lamp life is 4000 hours in performance mode and 7000 hours in Eco-Mode. In addition to a very decent lamp life, the replacement lamps are extremely cheap. They cost only $79.
Pro Low input lags for gaming
The 2040 measures an input lag of only 24.6 ms, making it a great pick for gamers.
Pro No rainbow artifacts
Since it is a 3LCD projector, there are no visible rainbow artifacts.
Cons
Con Rainbow effects
Rainbow effects are an issue for this projector, as is the case for most DLP projectors. They create rainbows on bright objects on dark backgrounds, for example streetlights. Some people don’t notice them, some find them extremely annoying. Luckily, the BenQ proves to show less rainbow artifacts than an average DLP.
Con Expensive replacement lamps
The replacement lamps cost $250. Of all the inexpensive projectors, HT2050 has one of the most expensive replacement lamps.
Con Complicated setup
This projector has a slight negative throw offset. The bottom edge of the image is around 5% of the total image height below the center of the lens. If you mount it to the ceiling, you will probably need an extension tube for the projector.
Con Not a movie room projector
Black levels and contrast are not the strongest side for this Epson. If you have created a special movie room with ambient light blocked out, then you should probably purchase a more expensive projector as well. This projector is meant for watching movies in a room with ambient light (a family room). In this case, black levels and contrast are meaningless factors - they will not make much difference in the picture quality.
Con Noisy fans in performance mode
In performance mode the fan noise goes up to 37 dB, being the loudest among its closest competitors.
Con A blurry picture or extra input lags
LCD projectors have motion blur problems during fast movie scenes. Although the frame interpolation technology (analyzes and adds frames to the video) on the 2040 helps take care of the motion blur issue, this technology adds some input lag, so it can't be used while gaming.
