Epson Home Cinema 1060 Review – Arguably the Best 1080p Budget Projector

Once you’ve decided to make the upgrade towards a projector, it can be easy to get overwhelmed at the sheer volume of choice that is out there. With a bigger screen, and better quality, it’s obvious they’re better than old school televisions, but which is the best projector?

With ‘lumens of colour’ and ‘driving methods’, it’s easy to get confused by terms that you might not have heard before, but luckily for you, we’re here to explain all this in as simple a way as is possible.

First of all, as with everything, it’s worth buying from a reputable brand, there’s a lot of knock off brands out there and while you’ll get what looks like a bargain it will undoubtedly break in a month or two and leave you having to start back at square one.

Our favourite thing to do is to scour the market for the best projectors out there, and compare each one based on their price, the image they produce, and how well trusted the company that sells them is.

In this article, we’re going to talk extensively about the Epson Home Cinema 1060 projector. This is one of the best 1080p projectors available in the market today that don’t require you to break the bank.

Whatever you do, don’t go out and spend a thousand dollars on a projector that has the exact same features as this one, and even worse don’t go and spend 100 dollars on one and expect to get as crystal clear of an image that this projector gives.

If you’re looking for a solid home cinema system, at a decent price, and from a trusted brand, read on…

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Who’s it for?

If you’re looking for the absolute best projector that money can buy then you’ve found the one! Sure there are ones out there which are double the cost of this one but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily better.

With a projection size going up to 300 inches, it produces as big of a picture as you’ll ever really need and the picture quality is damn near perfection too.

If you’re looking to build a home cinema, or simply want to upgrade from an old school television set to something that gives you a bigger image, then this is definitely a good choice to go for.

If however, you’re looking for a portable projector to take on camping trips with you then it might be worth looking for a slightly lighter and more portable alternative. This is more suitable for if you’re looking for a permanent setup, that’s going to give you the best picture possible.

What We liked about it

There were a few mind-blowing things about this projector. After searching through the best projectors out there, it’s obvious why people often end up choosing an Epson one. So let’s have a quick look at what’s really cool about this projector…

• The first thing that has to be mentioned is the picture quality that this guy gives off. It’s insane! It’s got a 1080p high definition resolution which is pretty much as good as you can get with a projector this size. There’s nothing worse than a projector which gives you an image that’s super blocky, where you can see the individual pixels. Well, you don’t get that here, with over 2 million pixels, the image looks completely lifelike and you can’t see any individual blocks, just one crisp clear image. If you’re looking for quality of the image you’ve got that right here.

• It’s also just so bright and colourful! This makes the picture quality even greater as the brightness of the projector makes the colours pop. With 3100 lumens of both colour and white brightness, this is one of the brightest projectors that money can buy. Not only does this mean you’ll get a clear image, but it also means that the picture will stay clear no matter what light conditions you’re watching it in. So there’s no need to pull the curtains close and smother yourself in darkness if you want to watch a film on a sunny day. It’s also a really important feature for your projector to have if you’re thinking of having outside viewings, as the level of brightness is what makes this possible. Luckily, with this guy the settings allow it to work fine in the daytime, giving you a bright image with no problems at all.

• The size of the image can go up to a whopping 300 inches! Considering most flat screens only go up to around 60 inches, that’s 25 times larger than what you’ll get with a TV! This is huge and will give you images that are literally life-sized, which can be quite fun if you want to stand next to your favourite movie characters and look like you’re hanging out with them. You can project this image onto any blank wall or white sheet and the size is easily adjustable so don’t worry if you don’t have a humongous space, you can just shrink it down, adjusting each corner independently.

• It has a built in speaker too that gives off really amazing sound quality. A lot of these types of projectors don’t have a speaker built in or if they do it’s quiet and can give off a crackly sound. The speaker in this, however, goes louder than you’ll ever really need it to and gives a really crisp, clear sound, with no fuzziness or distortions.

• It can show over a billion different colours, which is 3 times more than most DLP projectors. Combine this with the higher colour brightness that Epson has, and it becomes pretty obvious why it produces such a crazily high quality of picture, with such realistic and vibrant colours. It also uses a brand new type of technology called ‘3LCD’. This is really cool. In the past whenever there was a quick moving action scene, there would be a distortion of colours and a rainbow effect would happen as the colour pixels overlapped each other. If you’ve had a projector that’s 10 years old or more you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. Fortunately, with this new innovative technology that rainbow effect has been completely removed and action scenes become flawless, with no distortion whatsoever.

• The lifespan of the lamp has been improved drastically compared to older models, which is really good to hear as new lamps aren’t exactly cheap! If you have it on it’s ‘normal’ setting it’ll last around 4500 hours which is already really good, but it also has an eco mode which will extend the lifespan to around 7500 hours. This is a crazy amount of time for a lamp to last, when you consider that many older projectors only had a 1500 hour lifespan.

What We didn’t like about it

It’s important to note that this projector isn’t perfect, although to be honest, it comes pretty damn close. While it’s definitely my favourite projector out there, there are two qualities which do hold it back a bit, the price and the weight. With all the capabilities it has, there’s the obvious trade off that it weighs a little more than some other projectors, and it’s got a pretty hefty price tag attached to it too.

• First of all, let’s talk about the weight. It weighs almost 6 pounds, around 2.75 kilograms, which means that although it is portable it’s definitely not the lightest model out there. If you’re looking for something lighter and more portable we would suggest checking out the alternative that we talk about below.
• The second thing that should be mentioned is the price. This isn’t really a con since we think the price is very reasonable for a quality 1080p projector, but we understand it might be considered expensive by many people. Remember, as the price goes down so does the quality, and if your budget is near the 500 dollar mark, the Epson Home Cinema 1060, is the best you’ll find for that price.

Some other sweet features

There’s a couple of other cool features this guy has which are worth mentioning. First off, is how versatile the mount is, you can set it from the front, back or the top, meaning no matter how you want to set up the projector you’re good to go.

The second thing that’s really great is that it comes with a two year warranty. We absolutely love this, not only does it give you that extra peace of mind that nothing’s going to go wrong but, it also just shows how much the manufacturer really does believe in their product.

The projection system and driving method have also been updated on this model. With new 3-chip technology, this means that you’re much less likely to get a frozen picture or have the console get overloaded with data. So you can watch your movies with smooth playback every time.

As well as being less likely to freeze, it also gives you much more choice of the size of the picture that you want, especially when you compare it to some of the older models out there. The size of your projection can be set anywhere between 30 and 300 inches depending on how big of a show you want to put on and how much space you have. This is super handy if you don’t have much space, and with a focal length of 18.2 to 29.2 millimetres, you can massively change the size of projection without even moving the projector itself.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that as well as having 2 HDMI ports it also has an MHL port, so no matter what device you want to connect, they’ve got you covered!

Good alternatives

If you think you’d be happier with a smaller, more portable projector, and don’t mind paying a little bit more for it, then we would suggest checking the Optoma ML1050ST+ mini projector out.

This is another absolute top of the range model, it still has an impressive 1280×800 resolution and gives off 1000 lumens of light.

This means that the picture you get off of it won’t be quite as high definition as the image you’ll get off the Epson 1060, and it won’t fair under bright lighting conditions quite as well either.

However, don’t let this make you write it off, 1000 lumens is still a lot and the image it produces is still higher quality than what you’ll get of off most TVs. Also it weighs less than a pound and can fit into the palm of your hand. Pretty damn nifty if you want a projector you can take on the go with you too.

It’s a little more expensive than the Epson 1060, but with the extra bucks you get a much more portable device.

Conclusion

Creating this Epson Home Cinema 1060 review has been nothing short of a pleasure. There’s no better feeling than finding a product that works exactly how it’s supposed to and then some, and we have to say we’ve been blown away by how far projectors have come in such a short amount of time.

Some might consider it to be a bit on the pricey side, but it is worth every penny. The clearness of the picture makes it that much easier to get sucked into your favourite TV shows, and when the characters are life-sized too that helps even more! We really can’t stress enough how great the picture quality is, it’s just outstanding! That combined with the increased brightness levels makes this a hands down winner for the best image produced.

Add all of this joined together, along with the insanely long lifespan of the bulbs, and the 2 year warranty that it comes with makes it pretty easy to see why Epson has managed to maintain its leadership in the world of projectors over so many years. Constantly progressing, it’s exciting to think about what they can possibly release next, especially when this newcomer is so close to perfection already.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here is a quick list of some other questions that come up again and again when people are thinking of buying this projector:

Who are Epson?

Epson is a Japanese electrical company that have been making electrical goods for over 75 years. In that time they’ve made a name for themselves as producing high-end, top of the range, products that consistently perform well.

Their customer service is also famously responsive, and most of their products come with an all-inclusive warranty that covers if anything goes wrong in the first year or two. Although, it’s worth mentioning that I’ve never heard of someone having to use this.

As well as projectors, Epson has also specialized in making printers, personal computers, and incredibly accurate watches.

How much does a new bulb cost?

After a while, the bulb on your lamp will break. Unfortunately, this is just a fact of life, that they do have a lifespan and they don’t last forever. They’re not cheap either, a new bulb is going to set you back around 50 dollars. Fortunately, the Epson Home Cinema 1080’s original bulb has one of the longest lifespans out there (around 4500-7500 hours), so you shouldn’t have to replace it too soon.

Can you use this projector outside?

There’s a common misconception that any projector will work outside and still produce a clear image. This is a dangerous preconception, and could not be further from the truth. If you get a low quality, cheap projector, it’s likely that it won’t be bright enough to tackle outside conditions, especially if you’re using it in the day.

Fortunately, the Epson Home Cinema 1060 has been designed specifically so that it can be used in any lighting conditions. The brightness of the bulb means that even if it’s a bright sunny day, it’ll still create a clear image that can easily be viewed.

So yes, even on a sunny day you can still have an outside viewing!

How easy is it to change the size of the image?

This is where the huge focal length of 18.2 to 29.2 millimetres comes in.

Don’t worry, we know words like focal length can sound confusing, but it’s really quite simple. The focal length is simply how much you can change the size of the projection by turning the lens, rather than moving the projector closer or further away from the screen.

This focal length is bigger than what you’ll get on most other projectors in this price range and is one of the reasons that the Epson Home Cinema 1060 is so popular. You don’t have to take it down and put it back up every time you want to change the size of the image, you just have to turn the lens.

This’ll allow you to change the size of the image by about 50 inches, but if you want to change it any more than that then you will have to move the whole device.