Skip to main content

Epson Ships New Home Cinema Projector

Epson America today announced they’d begun shipments of their new PowerLite Home 20 projector. This 480p native resolution 3LCD projector is priced at $999.

The PowerLite Home 20 projector, according to Epson, is targeted towards entry level users and video enthusiasts. Features of this projector include a portable, table top design, 1,200 ANSI lumens of brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio, optical/offset lens shift, short throw distance of an 80-inch widescreen image from 6.6 feet away, 3,000 hour lamp life and inputs for component video, VGA and composite video.

“The PowerLite Home 20 is an outstanding value for customers who want to bring the excitement of a cinematic experience into their homes and have the versatility of using it with other components, such as a DVD player, computer, an HDTV cable box or satellite receiver, video game console, and more,” said Fabia Ochoa, group product manager, Home Entertainment Division, Epson America. “And, considering the visual benefits that come from Epson’s 3LCD technology, consumers know their projected images are going to look great, no matter what video device they’re connecting to it.”

Digital Trends Staff
Digital Trends has a simple mission: to help readers easily understand how tech affects the way they live. We are your…
Optoma’s CinemaX 4K laser projectors now have faster response times for gamers
People using the Optoma CinemaX D2 outdoors.

Optoma is expanding its 4K UHD home theater projector line by introducing the CinemaX D2 Series. Optoma says this is an upgrade from the previous CinemaX P2 projector, and the improvements are based on user feedback. The series includes the CinemaX D2, a 4K UHD ultra short throw laser home projector, and the CinemaX D2 Smart, which adds smart TV features courtesy of an included Android TV dongle.
Ultra short throw projectors are ideal for people with limited space in their room as they can cast an image on the screen from small distances. Traditional short throw projectors need at least four feet to eight feet of distance from the screen to be able to produce high-quality images, but not all rooms have this much area to spare.  That's where ultra short throw projectors can help. The CinemaX D2 Series, for example, can cast up to 100-inch images from less than a foot away from the screen. If you increase the distance a bit more, you get up to 120-inch images. 
The CinemaX D2 Series features 3,000 lumens and a 1,800,000:1 contrast ratio, which, oddly, is a bit of a step down from their predecessor, the CinemaX P2 projector, which offers the same brightness, but with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio. 

The biggest boost this series offers is an Enhanced Gaming Mode that claims "blur-free visuals and low lag" with the help of its 16ms response time in 4K at 60Hz and 4ms in 1080P at 240Hz. The 30,000-hour life span (same as its predecessor) seems to be slightly higher than other ultra short throw projectors in this price range as well. Both D2 models have three HDMI 2.0 inputs, instead of the P2's double-HDMI 2.0 and single HDMI 1.4 inputs.

Read more
Marantz’s new Cinema series AV receivers are a stylish way to go 8K
Marantz Cinema AV 10 8K AVR in black.

AV receivers might be the nerve center of every serious home theater setup, but these big (and usually shiny and black) boxes aren't exactly the most beautiful things to look at. However, Marantz's new Cinema line of 8K Dolby Atmos AV receivers might just be the first to give folks a real alternative to the flat-panel-full-of-buttons aesthetic we've become accustomed to. The new models start at $1,200 for the Cinema 70s and go up to $7,000 for the flagship AV 10. They will be available by the end of October, though only the Cinema 50 and 60 will be released initially.

In addition to a textured finish that graces the side portions of the Cinema's front panels, each model has an elegant circular display window that either acts on its own as the main way to see critical status information or can be used to augment a much larger full display hidden behind a hinged cover.  It's a design that Marantz debuted on its Model 30 stereo amplifier. These improvements are more than superficial. The Cinema series also has a new graphical user interface, as well as voice command compatibility.

Read more
New leak hints at Sonos’ future: Bluetooth, spatial audio, and lots more home theater
Rendering of a reportedly unreleased Sonos speaker created by The Verge.

You have to imagine that Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is getting a little tired of leaks originating from within the company's walls. For the second time in 2022, The Verge's Chris Welch has published details of an unreleased and unconfirmed Sonos product that Welch claims is code-named Optimo 2. According to this information, which he claims was gleaned from work-in-progress images of the Optimo 2, it's a speaker that will likely take over from the current Sonos Five, a product that hasn't been meaningfully updated since it debuted as the Play:5 in 2009.

If the report is accurate -- and it's worth noting that Welch's prior reporting on the Sonos Ray ahead of that product's debut was very close to what was eventually announced -- the Optimo 2 could represent the beginning of a new era for Sonos. It reportedly contains the mics needed for Sonos Voice Control, as well as plenty of RAM for future updates. A wireframe render of the speaker created by The Verge (which is what you do when you need to protect the source material) illustrates an unusual mirror-image shape -- it looks vaguely like a VR headset -- which appears to be designed to direct sound outward in at least two directions -- forward and backward -- though Welch says that some of the Optimo 2's drivers will aim sound upward, too.

Read more