Considering how homes are becoming smaller, projectors are becoming less feasible to accommodate — that is, unless you get a short throw projector. And if we’re talking about ones to build a home cinema setup on, then the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 is a potential contender.
But this projector isn’t for everybody. Priced at S$4,999, the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 is more expensive than most of its traditional counterparts. But there’s a reason why it has that price. It’s a projector with one of the shortest throw projections available, boasting other high-end features like a bright and sharp resolution, with Yamaha speakers to complement the whole experience.
It’s an excellent projector to have, especially for those going for a home cinema setup. But at that price, is it worth getting this over a more traditional projector?
Design and Build
Though short-throw projectors typically help mitigate the troubles of setting up in small spaces, the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 is, ironically, a large device.
Measuring nearly 70 centimetres and 35 centimetres in width and depth respectively, the projector looks almost like a chunky soundbar. And it has heft as well, weighing just over 12 kilograms. Thankfully, it comes with a carrier inside the package to aid with lifting it to its setup position if you’re setting it up solo.
While the projector will take up a good portion of space, it does have a modern design that won’t look out of place in most homes—great if you’re looking for something that blends well with your proposed setup.
Despite its weight, I was a little surprised to see that the projector’s build uses plastic, though maybe I shouldn’t be since it’ll weigh even more! As it is, it does the job and is plenty sturdy, except for the removable side panel, which feels a little bit cheap-ish. But maybe it’s just me; for a device with a S$5K price tag, there’s a small expectation for something slightly more premium.
Setting up the projector is easy in theory, but gets somewhat tricky when you actually do it. The Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 has sensors in place where the light projects, a measure to prevent eye damage in case the light comes into contact with your eye; turning off the projection for a few seconds when it detects anything in the area. However, it made for a frustrating experience, making me wait several times as I tried to adjust the positioning and focus of the picture.
Once you get over the hump of that initial setup process, much of the rest is smooth sailing. The projected image won’t be perfect at first, but you can further adjust it through the projector settings, which are intuitive enough to go through to get the proper alignment easily.
As a short-throw projector, the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 lives up to its name. From a distance of only 44 centimetres from the front of the projector to the wall, it can project a massive 100-inch screen. And you can get it bigger too. Its maximum screen size of 150 inches just needs a gap of around 60 centimetres from its front. I found that aspect to be greatly helpful in trying to make the perfect setup, and it is especially useful if you plan to have it in a room with limited space.
At the side, there is a removable panel that hides all the ports and the manual focus lever. While you technically only need to adjust the focus and settle the connection once, I wish that the implementation of the side panel was a little better; it is somewhat annoying to fumble through getting it off.
As for the connection ports, it is a decent list — you get 3x HDMI ports, 3x USB-A ports (though one of them just has power supply functionality), and an optical audio output alongside a headphone jack. One of the HDMI ports is geared towards gaming — disabling the UI overlay to reduce input lag — but none have eARC support, meaning you’ll miss out on Dolby Atmos content.
Thankfully, the projector just has a single remote to control everything (unlike some others). It’s a decent remote with nice clicky buttons to enjoy. The only downside is that it lacks quick-access buttons to popular streaming apps, which obviously makes it less convenient if you frequently use them.
Features and Performance
The Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 boasts 4,000 lumens of brightness alongside their 3LCD projection technology, which uses a pixel shifting system to take its native 1080p resolution and produce a near 4K experience.
The combination is very good. Video content appears incredibly bright but is also backed up with great contrast and a crisp 4K resolution. This is evident in vibrant scenes with lots of colour, making them look visually distinct. Oppenheimer is a film with colour grading with cooler tones, and it handles up well on the projector image, preserving that same cinematic quality from Nolan films.
There are several colour modes to choose from, but the default Dynamic setting provides the best visual experience since it provides a great balance of vividness and brightness. The other modes tend to have some disadvantages when used. For instance, the Vivid Colour Mode leaned too much on the saturation to the point of being distracting.
The colour modes provide a base level of customisation for casual users. Still, if you’re the kind who prefers to tweak it to a specific setup, you’ll be glad to know that the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 also offers a decent amount of tweaking within the Picture settings. There, you can adjust options like colour temperature, HDR brightness, and more. These also apply to the specific colour modes, so if you like the Cinema Mode but feel that the colours are a little off, you can make changes to solve that issue.
Epson claims that the projector can handle rooms with ambient and natural light, but while its brightness is indeed outstanding, it depends on your setup. If you’re using it on a bare wall as we did, the performance is notably worse; I barely could enjoy what was shown on screen due to how dim it appeared. A projector screen is a must since it’ll help absorb light and boost contrast, but that adds an additional cost if you don’t already have one.
Alongside the visual experience, Epson uses a sound system designed by Yamaha to deliver the audio, and it is a superb performer in its own regard. Not only is the sound quality clear — excellent for dialogue-heavy content — but the speaker system is a powerful one. It gets very loud and delivers booming bass and presence that fills the room.
The downside is that you can hear a noticeable static sound through the speakers at higher volume levels. Truth be told, it would be rare for you to encounter this issue, considering how loud it gets, even at half the volume.
In addition to the colour modes in the picture settings, several sound modes cater to different types of content. I’ve tried testing the various modes with the designated content (Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on the Concert Mode and one of Japan’s AFC Asian Cup matches on the Stadium Mode), and they generally work well. Similarly, with the colour mode, the default theatre mode seems to be the most balanced one out of the lot; it sounds great with most of the differing content played on it. It’s best to keep it on that rather than constantly switching around.
All in all, while it won’t measure to dedicated sound systems with subwoofers, it still is a more than adequate performer for its audio.
Lastly, the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 comes with Andriod TV installed from the get-go, giving you easy access to streaming apps like YouTube, Disney+, and AppleTV. But it does have one missing — Netflix. After I could not find it on the home screen and the Google Play Store, I reached out to a representative and was told that it was not included due to copyright issues. It is a big miss, given how many people have Netflix accounts.
That aside, Android TV functionality is a great inclusion and works well here. If you’re familiar with it, you’ll know then that you’re getting an easy-to-navigate operating system.
Verdict
The Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 has the markings to be a great centrepiece for a home theatre experience — it provides an excellent visual performance complemented by a solid built-in sound system.
However, the higher cost is something to consider, especially when some traditional projectors offer the same quality for less. And even with the more expensive price tag, it is missing some features like eARC support and Netflix.
That being said, the short-throw projector scene is costly, and the Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 does provide good value compared to others. If you are committed to having a short-throw projector to complete your home cinema setup, this projector is the one to get.
The Epson EpiqVision Ultra EH-LS800 projector is available to purchase from Epson’s official store pages on the Shopee and Lazada platforms.
Photos by Brendan Tan of the DANAMIC Team.
