Epson Lights Up New Home Theater Projectors

Epson's new Home Cinema 705HD projector offers HD capability for a low price tag, while the MovieMate 60 packs a DVD player and stereo speakers.

Epson is looking to get into consumers living room and game rooms with two new home theater projectors aiming to let folks have big screen experience at a relatively checkbook-friendly price. The company’s new Home Cinema 705HD projector supports 720p high-definition video, while the MovieMate 60 offers an all-in-one solution with integrated stereo speakers and a CD/DVD player.

Epsons Home Cinema 705HD is a 3LCD projector offering 2,500 lumens of brightness, a 1.2× optical zoom, and a spate of connectivity options, including HDMI, component video, S-Video, and USB. The unit features a 200 Watt high efficiency lamp that should offer up to 5,000 hours of use, and supports video up to 720p resolution. Conversely, the MovieMate 60 only supports standard-definition video, but it packs an integrated CD/DVD player, a 10 Watt stereo speaker system, an integrated microphone jack so folks can talk along with slide shows or (ahem) singing along with karaoke, and a projector lamp offering 2,000 lumens of brightness. Epson isn’t too specific on connectivity options but says the MovieMate 60 will accept HDMI input.

The Home Cinema 705HD should go on sale for an estimated street price of $749.99; the MovieMate 60 should run about $699. Both will be available in October.