Cinema is dying… goes the cry around town, but given the reception that greeted Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, movies in theatres will continue to attract audiences, provided they come with “this and that”. Those who are looking for a second screen at home are considering projectors that can recreate some of the magic of movie halls. Given the exorbitant cost of a tub of popcorn and even a medium-sized cola, watching movies at home is far more affordable. So why not entertain movie enthusiasts at home?

Making it possible is a projector like Epson TW-6250 home theatre projector, which is not much more expensive than a good-quality large television set. It’s an investment that will give you returns in terms of keeping friends and family members happy for years to come.

Turn on and tune in

The unit is compact, considering it has built-in speakers, it’s lightweight, quite attractive and made from decent materials. I kept it on a table, but you can also mount it, which should be a stable option.

There are manual keystone adjustments on top of the projector. Picture: Mathures Paul

Setup is relatively simple but may take longer than expected as it updates the firmware, and then you will go through setting up Google TV. If you have a Google account ready on your smartphone, then this will speed up the process. The projector will automatically focus and correct the keystone, giving you a sharp, bright and vivid image.

This is a 3LCD video projector with lamp life up to 7500 hours. Brightness is 2800 lumens and it supports HDR 10/HLG. Plus, it supports Epson’s 4K Pro-UHD enhancements, which basically uses 4K image enhancements via pixel shifting to produce emulated 4K, so taking a native resolution of 1080p and enhancing the on-screen pixel count in real time, so you would experience a noticeable difference in image quality.

Epson’s pixel-shifting technology has dedicated processors for this 4K image enhancement. So expect sharper images, reduced motion blur, impressive HDR processing and brilliant brightness.

The fan doesn't get too loud even after the projector has been used for a long time

Contrast ratio is 35,000 to 1. The projector supports manual focus and keystone correction. There is vertical lens shift, optical zoom, less than 20ms response time, maximum optimum screen size of 500 inches, and even support for HDMI input 1.4 for your favourite gaming consoles. Plus, there are built-in speakers.

There are plenty of vents towards the front, and if you stay near the projector, it can get a bit hot. At the back of the projector, there’s a power socket, HDMI (ARC), audio out and a service port.

Flip the projector around; there are three tripod threads, so you can hook it up to a ceiling mount. At the bottom, there is a latch; push it to unveil a small stand. It offers some elevation to the projector. The machine weighs 4.1 kgs and is relatively light, making it easy to move around.

Vivid picture

Standing next to the projector, you can expect fan noise of 40-45 dB, and from a metre away, it drops to 30-35dB.

Keeping the projector three metres away from the wall, we projected just over 90 inches. Having Android TV support means support for a wide range of streaming platforms. The remote works fine, but it is plastic-y.

On YouTube, the maximum streaming possible is 4K 2160p60 HDR. There are no pixelations up close, and all four corners of the projection look sharp. Overall picture quality is incredible. Even if you keep the lights on in the room, there is decent clarity. You can use the projector at any time.

On top of the projector, there are some control dials — one for focus and the other for zoom. And there is a round keystone (vertical) correction dial. There is another dial for horizontal keystone correction. It’s good to have all the dials and sliders in place but Epson could have kept all the buttons in the same place and made all of them either sliders or dials.

There is a small compartment, the cover of which can be taken off to reveal ports to connect a TV stick. The TV stick/streaming media player itself can be kept inside a slot on the side of the projector.

What we liked most about the projector is its ability to reproduce vibrant colours. There are some presets — dynamic, vivid, natural and cinema. Vivid looks the best and is the default. There are some expert settings under which you can change contrast, saturation, tint, sharpness, white balance, image enhancements and so on.

Make the call

The number of ports at the back has been kept to a minimum

It’s a versatile home cinema projector offering clarity, brightness and some customisation features. Further, Epson’s 4K Pro UHD technology works very well. You can watch 4K HDR movies from the internal Android TV OS. Movies and games look outstanding. Colours, contrast, brightness and overall projection quality look immersive. The built-in speakers are decent and fill a medium-sized room; they can rise above the fan noise. The speakers offer zero distortion and are loud, but they lack bass. You will need to look at an external speaker setup for a true immersive cinema experience.

For gamers, this is a good option. Low input lag or a minimum delay between the time you make a move using a controller and what you see on screen. It is crucial for fast-paced games.

Overall, the default picture quality on Epson TW-6250 is vibrant enough, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time futzing with confusing picture controls.

At a glance

Device: Epson TW-6250

Price: ₹142,990

High notes

Vibrant image output

Controls are not confusing

The fan is not loud

All streaming services can be accessed

Muffled notes

Audio lacks bass

Remote control could have been of higher quality