Epson PowerLite Pro Z10005UNL Projector Review – Summary

Review Summary

The PowerLite Pro Z10005UNL is a true, high power, commercial projector capable of supporting a huge array of different types of applications including presentations, digital signage, rock concerts, museum displays, worship applications, command and control rooms, scientific presentations, and large (university) classroom use.  Basically most of everything you can think of, that requires true WUXGA / 2K / 1080p resolution (technically it’s not 2K – only 1920 – but the term is being used to cover WUXGA projectors).

Certainly not everyone needs WUXGA, either immediately or within the near future.  For those, Epson offers lower resolution projectors in XGA and WXGA formats in the PowerLite Pro Z series of models.

This Epson Z10005UNL is especially practical where live camera work needs to be pumped directly through the projector to the screen.  An example might be a professional camera in a studio, or, perhaps a church, pointing at the speaker from 20 feet away.  The projector might be mounted 120 feet away, connected to the professional video camera by SDI connector (over coax), which is good for a 300 foot run. SDI is still rather rare on projectors.  Combine that ability with home theater like (or professional) level calibration abilities, for excellent color.

Remember, if you don’t need the WUXGA, you can save significant dollars and have virtually the same projector (give or take SDI, etc.) for a fraction of the price by going with one of Epson’s WXGA or XGA models in the Pro Z series..

Advanced features like Edge Blending, and the ability to mount the projector tilted in different directions, allows a great deal of creative applications, or to meet unique, demanding setups.  The Tilt Position ability can offer extensive benefits when just one Epson is being used as well.  I mentioned rear projection as an excellent example of how that feature could save valuable rear space.

But, there’s more to like.  The remote is good, and has excellent range. A optional wired remote can be used when distance is too far, or there’s no line of sight.  Menus are very well designed – logical, and functional.

The selection of inputs is very good with both digital and analog varieties provided.

Overall the Powerlite Pro Z10005UNL, seems to handle anything it does, (those that we could test), very well.  I haven’t found a poor implementation of anything, nevermind anything that fails at what it’s supposed to do.  In fairness, we did not test networking at all.  This Epson offers wireless, but they did not supply the option wireless network adapter. Also we only had a single projector and thus did not evaluate the Z10005UNL in a multi-projector installation.  However, given Epson’s experience in such multi-projector setups, I have no doubt those features will work as advertised.

A quick web search leads me to believe the street price for the Z10005UNL is 40% less than the MSRP and Epson themselves offers a significant discount for education organizations.

And that folks, is the bottom line. This Epson PowerLite Pro Z10005UNL, with its wide range of powered lenses, healthy 10,000 lumens, offers an extensive feature set (no one will need them all), a great warranty, and for many, just as important, Epson’s reputation for reliability. And no, I never did find a real flaw with this projector’s performance. Deciding to bestow our Hot Product award on the Epson Z10005UNL didn’t take a whole lot of time, this Epson projector obviously deserves it.

Down to basics:  If you need WUXGA, and continous operation capabilities (dual lamp), with great image quality, and a street price tag of less than $20,000 with lens, this Epson better be on your short list to consider.

Pros

• Multiple (7) lens capability allows for installation over a wide range of distances from the screen including “short throw” for rear projection – to back of the auditorium ultra long throw, all offer motorized lens shift
• Excellent color saturation, overall excellent image quality in best picture modes
• Color Lumens along with White lumens – no color wheel, unlike single chip DLP projectors where a “clear” filter sacrifices color brightness and saturation for a higher “white” lumen spec.
• Out of the box modes all have at least respectable picture (color) quality, even Dynamic, the brightnest, will be useful when max. brightness is needed.  Theatre and sRGB are even better
• Full calibration controls (rivalling any home theater projector)
• Excellent warranty (3 years) and support with replacement through Road Service program
• DICOM simulation mode for medical education/training applications such as presenting X-rays and other medical film (normal everyday projectors are NOT able to do this
• Dual lamp operation for minimum/no downtime
• Extremely bright, measuring close to Epson’s 10,000 lumen claim
• Ability to display presentations over the network, without a local computer connection
• Support for Crestron RoomView and AMX support
• Networking abilities including email notification for maintenance and mechanical problems, as well as presenting from other computers on the network, and a full host of other features
• HDBaseT support for single cable solution for both video, networking and control
• When mounted, both lamps and filter can be changed without unmounting the projector
• More than one projector can be “stacked” for more brightness.
• Multiple Projector support – A number of Pro Z’s can placed with different tilts to create unusual scapes for public display, signage, and a myriad of other unique uses
• Edge blending allows seamless images that look consistent and continuous, such as creating a panorama using 3 projectors to create an image that’s 10 feet high and 50 feet wide. The color and brightness of the individual images can be adjusted to be consistent across all the projectors to produce a seamless combined image.
• Considering the feature set, excellent price/performance ratio

Cons