Which has enhanced gaming mode – Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150? Embrace the huge-screen cinematic experience with the affordable 3,600 lumens Optoma HD146X 1080p home theater projector. The excellent color reproduction and high-quality 25, 000: 1 contrast ratio ensures images up to 301-inches look incredible for unmatched immersion for movies and gaming. The Epson 2150 can accept signals up to 1080p/60, no HDR or 4K, which is fine as this isn’t an HDR or 4K projector. 3D TVs are dead but projectors like the 2150 still show 3D movies, although glasses aren’t included. Know about more helpful features in Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150 comparison.
Pros & Cons – Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150
Optoma HD146X
LIKE
- Full HD 3D support
- Excellent color accuracy, contrast, and black level for the price
- Fast input lag
- High brightness designed to stand up to ambient light
- Image feels three-dimensional
DON’T LIKE
- Minimal zoom range.
- Fan noise is quite noticeable.
- Only one HDMI port; USB port is only for power out
- Lacks image shift for setup
- Onboard audio is poor
Epson 2150
LIKE
- Bright, colorful image
- Lens shift
- No DLP rainbows
DON’T LIKE
- Only average contrast and black level
- Fairly noisy in normal lamp mode
Specs – Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150
Optoma HD146X
- Native resolution: 1,920×1,080 pixels
- HDR-compatible: No
- 4K-compatible: No
- 3D-compatible: Yes
- Lumens spec: 3,600
- Zoom: Manual (1.1)
- Lens shift: None
- Lamp life (Bright mode): 4,000 hours
EPSON 2150
- Native resolution: 1080p
- Discrete pixels on chips: 1,920×1,080
- HDR-compatible: No
- 4K-compatible: No
- 3D-compatible: Yes
- Lumens spec: 2,500
- Zoom: Manual (1.6x)
- Lens shift: Manual
- Lamp life (Normal mode): 4,500 hours
Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150 review
Design
The HD146X weighs only 6.2 pounds and measures 4.3 by 12.4 by 9.5 inches (HWD), making it easy to handle. Measuring 12.2 x 11.2 x 4.8 inches, EPSON 2150 weighs 7.7 pounds.
Ports
Optoma HD146X
- HDMI inputs: 1
- PC input: None
- USB port: 1 (1.5-amp power)
- Audio input and output: 3.5mm output
- Digital audio output: None
- LAN port: None
- 12v trigger: None
- RS-232 remote port: None
- MHL: No
- Remote: Backlit
Epson 2150
- HDMI inputs: 2
- PC input: Analog RGB
- USB port: 1 (1A power)
- Audio input and output: Output only
- Digital audio output: No
- LAN port: No
- 12v trigger: No
- RS-232 remote port: No
- MHL: Yes (On HDMI 1)
- Remote: Not backlit
Brightness
The Epson and Optoma actually looked relatively close, although the Epson was noticeably brighter, at least when the Optoma is in one of its more accurate modes; colors looked a bit richer on the Epson as well.
With the Optoma HD146X in Vivid mode, the eye gets drawn its brighter highlights, even though the contrast ratio isn’t much different. The colors and color temperature are less accurate than the Epson 2150, especially in this mode, but I could imagine many people being far more interested in the greater brightness over accurate color.
Resolution
Optoma HD146X
The projector only displays 1080p signals and has much better brightness and dynamic range. The blacks are pretty good and the brightness is good even in rooms with ambient light.
Epson 2150
The 2150 can accept signals up to 1080p/60, no HDR or 4K, which is fine as this isn’t an HDR or 4K projector. 3D TVs are dead but projectors like the 2150 still show 3D movies, although glasses aren’t included. The $99 glasses are out of stock on Epson’s site, but there are third-party alternatives on Amazon.
Lumens
Optoma HD146X
The rated 3,500 lumens is bright enough to project onto a 1.0-gain white screen for a 270-inch-diagonal 16:9 image in a dark room. In ambient light, the suitable size is 150 inches in Bright mode, and smaller still for the modes with better color accuracy.
Epson 2150
Epson 2150 claims a maximum light output of 2,500 lumens. With my sample, I measured an impressive 1,620 lumens (it’s normal for projectors to measure less than their claimed specs). This is far less than the brightness of most TVs today, but bright compared with projectors and TVs from a few years ago. On a 100-inch+ screen, it’s a lot. The claimed contrast ratio of 65,000:1 is the only spec that’s higher than the wired version of this projector, the slightly cheaper HC2100..
Noise
All small projectors have loud fans, that’s just the tradeoff for a bright image from a small product. That said, the ones in the HD146X are a bit more noticeable. For instance, it’s not appreciably louder than the Epson, but the tone of Epson’s projector noise is more easily ignored than the Optoma’s.
Lamp life
Optoma HD146X
Doing so bumps the claimed lamp life to an even more impressive 15,000 hours but also causes the fan to ramp up and down, which makes it even more annoying. This is true of most “Dynamic Black” type features, but is especially noticeable on the HD146X.
Epson 2150
Lamp life is a claimed 4,500 hours, or 7,500 in the much quieter, but dimmer, Eco mode. This is good for this price range. To put this in perspective, if you were to use this projector as your main “TV,” watching it 4 hours every day, the lamp in Eco mode would last you over five years. For comparison, the BenQ’s lamp life, in its Eco mode, is 5,000 hours.
Similarities
Both Optoma HD146X and Epson 2150 also have wireless connectivity. Using Miracast, you can send content from your laptop to the screen with minimal setup fuss, but it’s not ideal. Miracast can be finicky, and this setup will rely on you having your laptop (PC only, mind you) open and playing the content. If you don’t want to run an HDMI cable, streaming sticks are cheap and will be easier to use in the long run because you’re just sticking them into the projector itself. Roku also has Miracast built in so you could still stream content from your computer to it.
Optoma HD146X vs Epson 2150 Customer reviews
Great Projector for this price point.
Purchased this projector to have movie nights outdoors with the family via my Roku. Picture quality is great and very bright. I hooked up a Bluetooth adapter to the Aux port and have two speakers with stands that I connect with Bluetooth. Very happy to the quality. Watched Avatar the first night and picture was crisp and colors were vibrant. This projector exceeded my expectations. Would have been nice to have built-in Bluetooth and an extra HDMI port, but overall this is a great projector for this price.
By Norcalute at Best Buy
I love this projector!
I have recently become very interested in projectors. I bought a small anker Portable projector a couple years ago that kinda kick started my interest. I finally started doing some research about projectors and have learned that the technology in Epson’s line of projectors called “3LCD” chips do not project a rainbow effect like traditional DLP projectors can.
Anyway lol all that being said, the epson 2150 home cinema projector is pretty amazing! It is bright enough to use with some window or ambient lightning even in eco mode. Colors are very vibrant and even blacks are as dark as they should be. The fan is also hardly noticeable when in eco mode. If you set it to bright the fan will kick up speed and you’ll hear it if you’re sitting near the projector but even then it isn’t very bothersome. Especially if you have nice speakers connected to the projector. It has two HDMI ports, VGA and audio out.
The built in speaker doesn’t sound very good but it is fine if you’re in a pinch. You’re going to want to connect a good speaker for home entertainment anyway. I was on the fence for about two weeks between this projector and two other brands of DLP projectors great claimed to be “gaming” projectors and I am very glad I decided to go with the epson projector. I binged movies and tv for 7 hours the first night I set it up 😀 .
I also tested it with the Nintendo switch and gaming on it was fine. Epson states that it has a 29.2 ms “input lag” and it honestly felt responsive. I played Mario Kart with no issues. It might not be good for hardcore gamers but I would compare it to playing on a tv with game mode turned on. I think it will be just fine for shooters and fighting games too. The pictures I am sharing are about a 90/100” picture on a plain white wall. I don’t have a screen set up yet and as you can see, picture quality is still very good! I highly recommend this projector if you are looking for a very good “affordable” projector.
Pros : Bright and vivid picture quality Great contrast Vertical and horizontal keystone adjustment Vertical Lens shift Good for gaming 4500-7500 hour projected lamp life No rainbow effect WiFi , Bluetooth and miracast
Cons : built in speaker isn’t very good
By Pons at Best Buy
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