Epson Home Cinema 3010e WirelessHD 3D Projector Preview

At CEDIA this year, Epson unveiled their new Home Cinema 3010e projector. We were confused. Didn't they already have a 3010? Yes, they informed us, but this one is the 3010e. Apparently no one told them about the new "i" revolution. So what does an "e" get you other than a $200 increase to the price? WirelessHD streaming.

That's right, HD video streamed wirelessly to your projector.

While we often bemoan the "wireless" resolution for being misleading, we're going to have to give this one a pass. Unlike "wireless" speakers where consumers are often surprised they have to run a power cord up their wall, no one is going to be surprised that their new projector requires power. This is essentially a super-bright lightbulb in a housing after all. But getting a really expensive HDMI cable that they may have to pull later because of random changes in the HDMI spec can be daunting. 

For the 3010e, Epson paired with Silicon Image to add the WirelessHD chipset. This entails a transmitter on the receiver/source end and embedded receiver on the projector side. According to Silicon Image, the key features of the WirelessHD chipset are:

• 4Gbps over-the-air data transfer rate
• FCC and EU regulatory tested and passed modules
• Industry standard compliant (WirelessHD 1.0, HDMI 1.4a)
  
• Embedded CPU for managing WirelessHD protocol
  
• Fully compatible with HDMI-CEC
  
• Low-power designs need only passive heat-sinking
  
• Small form factor packages

With HDMI 1.4a supported, this means you can get all your different 3D codecs wirelessly. The WirelessHD solution operates on 60GHz which avoids interference issues seen with other wireless audio/video solutions based on 2.4GHz and 5GHz. What is not clear, as of yet, is how close the projector and the transmitter need to be. With home theater racks often full devices throwing off all sorts of interference not to mention being housed in cabinets or in closets, distance will be a huge factor. According to the pictures in the manual, the WirelessHD transmitter should be placed in line of sight with the projector up to 32 feet away. From the text:

The wireless transmission range may vary depending on the placement and size of surrounding objects. Avoid placing the transmitter in an area with many large or metal objects and do not place the transmitter on a metal surface, as this may interfere with the signal.

The Epson Home Cinema 3010e looks to be a very nice solution. With a center-mounted lens, the projector boasts 2200 lumens and a 40,000:1 contrast ratio. There are component and composite video inputs as well as RCA stereo analogue audio inputs (the 3010e sports two 10 watt speakers). Dual HDMI inputs, a PC input, and a USB port round out offerings. For custom installers, a RS-232 port is included.

The 3010e offers both 2D and 3D through it's 3LCD, 3-chip optical engine. In 2D mode you can display two images side by side from 2 different sources. The one main downside we see to this projector is that there are no 3D glasses included (though we expect there will be some bundled from retailers).

Conclusion

A 1080p 3D capable projector with WirelessHD for only $200 over the price of the non-wireless projector? We're betting the Epson Home Cinema 3010e is going to be a popular option (once we read some reviews saying it works). Compared to the price of an HDMI cable plus the cost of installation, and you'll easily come out way ahead. Given that you're still getting all the HDMI functionality including 3D and HDMI-CEC, and there is no downside. Pair this with one of Epson's 3LCD projectors sporting 2200 lumens and 40,000:1 contrast ratio, and we think they've got a winner. We're looking forward to testing this one out.

For more information, please visit www.epson.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.