The Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350 ($1,299 direct) isn't the least expensive home theater projector you can find, but it's Epson's lowest-cost 1080p model and certainly priced low enough to count as affordable. It also offers some useful features that less expensive projectors leave out, most notably vertical and horizontal lens shift. (Lens shift features let you move the image without moving the projector, giving you more flexibility in where you can place it.) Most important, it offers a reasonably high-quality image. Add all of these features together, and it's an easy pick for Editors' Choice.

The 8350 has a distinct family resemblance to two other Editors' Choice Epson projectors, the PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 ($1,499 direct, 4 stars) that it's replacing in Epson's line and the more recent PowerLite Home Cinema 8700 UB ($2,199 direct, 4 stars). As with its siblings, the 8350 is LCD-based. It also shares the same white color, a similarly large size at 5.7 by 17.7 by 15.5 inches (HWD), and a nearly identical weight, at 16.1 pounds.

View All 4 Photos in Gallery

The back panel also offers a similar assortment of connectors, including two HDMI ports for video or data signals. In addition, there are three RCA phono plugs for component video, a VGA port for a computer only (it doesn't support component video), both composite video and S-Video ports, a 12-volt trigger you can use to automatically lower and raise a screen when you turn the projector on and off, and an RS-232 port that lets you control the projector from a computer. There are no audio connectors, because there's no built-in sound system.

Setup and Performance
Setup is standard fare, except that the combination of the lens shift features and a 2.1 to 1 manual zoom make it particularly easy to find a convenient spot for the projector. If you want to put it on an empty shelf in the back of the room, for example, it doesn't have to be at a particular height or right at the center line of the screen. The horizontal lens shift can move the image roughly half a screen width left or right from the center position, and the vertical lens shift can move it almost a full screen up or down.

Epson rates the 8350 at 2000 lumens, which is unusually bright for a home theater projector. In fact, it could easily be too bright in theater dark lighting for the size image you'd likely want for a home theater. On the other hand, it means the projector is bright enough for, say, a family room with typical levels of ambient light. For traditional theater dark lighting, various preset modes as well as an Eco mode let you adjust the brightness to a more appropriate level if you need to.

Of course the key issue for any home theater projector is how good the image looks. As you might expect from its low price, the 8350 isn't a match for even moderately priced projectors like the 8700 UB, much less more expensive choices. However, it's certainly more than acceptable for watching full length movies or TV.

In my tests, the projector did a good job with skin tones and with maintaining details in both dark and bright areas, even in scenes that many projectors have problems with. I saw no motion artifacts, posterization, or other obvious image flaws. Blacks weren't the deep dark black that some more expensive projectors offer, but they were dark enough so I wouldn't count this as a serious problem.

3D and Other Issues
One issue that demands mention, as 3D is creeping more and more into the mainstream, is the 8350's lack of 3D support. You'll find 3D in many DLP projectors today, but not in the 8350 or in any other LCD projector as yet. So if you can't wait to watch movies at home in 3D, the 8350 would be the wrong choice.

On the other hand, inexpensive DLP projectors are subject to a rainbow effect, with light colors breaking up into little red-green-blue rainbows when you shift your gaze or something moves on screen. Some people are more sensitive to this effect than others. But if you, or anyone who might be watching with you, are sensitive to it, you'll want to avoid single-chip DLP projectors for watching full length movies. For the moment (for low-cost projectors at least), that means doing without 3D.

As long as you don't include 3D as a requirement, the 8350 is one of the most, if not the most, attractive home theater projectors at anything like the price. Its combination of 1080p resolution, 2.1 to 1 zoom lens, lens shift features, brightness suitable for use with relatively high levels of ambient light, and, above all, image quality, should be enough to grab your attention. It is more than enough to earn it Editors' Choice for a low-cost 1080p home theater projector.

More Projector Reviews:
•   Sony Xperia Touch
•   AAXA P300 Neo Pico Projector
•   AAXA HD Pico Projector
•   NEC Display Solutions NP-ME401W
•   Casio XJ-UT311WN
•  more