Posted on February 14, 2017 By Art Feierman
The Home Cinema 3700 is one of three projectors launched in September 2016, replacing the older 3000 series. There are significant improvements. Because it has what I felt was the best feature set and value proposition, we decided to review this one. I’ll mention below, the differences between models – some noticeable differences, and point out what types of viewers might prefer each model. All have HDMI with MHL to support streaming sticks and other MHL compatible All of these Epson’s have two years parts and labor, and have a free (freight) rapid replacement program instead of repairing warranty failures.
The HC3700 – aka Home Cinema 3700 – is the middle priced model with a list price of $1499. It claims a healthy 3000 lumens, internal speakers and improved contrast relative to its predecessor. And, it has a healthy amount of vertical and horizontal lens shift, something not common on sub $2000 projectors (although a number of projectors in this range have a small amount of lens shift.) All three models are 1080p projectors.
For $200 less is the HC3100. 2600 lumens (making the HC3700 15% brighter, not huge but a respectable bump.)
Then comes the flagship, which I will want to get a look at, as it has new 3LCD panels, likely the same ones in Epson’s Pro Cinema 4040 (which I’ll write up after this review). That should mean that the HC3900 will have a a nice, but modest improvement in black levels, but still no match for Epson’s more expensive “UB” projectors.
At $1999, Epson sees the HC3900 as more “home theater” than “home entertainment.” So no speakers on the 3900. It has the same 3000 lumens, so the extra is primarily for the black level improvement.
Speaking of pricing, typically Epson projectors are sold at their list prices, but it seems at times Epson runs promotions that are found both on their site and authorized dealers. At one point I saw this projector for 10% off.
OK enough on the family, time to focus on the Home Cinema 3700, which I have logged more than 40 hours watching. Eric calibrated it, so we’ll report our basic settings on the Calibration page, and the advanced settings for our subscribers. Suffice to say though, color is rather good right out of the box.
On last thought here. For those of you who are small business folks, etc., the HC3700 can easily double as a business projector. It’s certainly bright enough, has sound, and pretty much everything else needed, not to mention high resolution.
I’ve mentioned more than a couple of these items above. Consider this just a short, more concise list, most of which is discussed in the review:
On the next page, we’ll discuss some of the special features. That will be followed by our tour of the hardware.
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