Comparing Premium Home Theater Projectors: BenQ HT4550i vs Epson LS11000

2024/06/06

4K DCI-P3 Home Cinema Projector

Home theater rooms are the most popular way to replicate the cinematic viewing experience that’s traditionally found at movie theaters. To create the ultimate home theater room, you’ll need the best home theater projector to transcend conventional viewing forms and create larger-than-life visuals. You’ll also need one that can meet the digital standards of content today, with 4K viewing, stunningly clear visuals, and vivid color contrast. But the question we’re left with is, “How do I pick the right home theater projector?” In this article, we will help you decide by comparing the BenQ HT4550i to the Epson LS11000.

Projector Summaries
Side-by-Side Independent Testing Conducted by The Hook Up
Which projector should you buy?

Projector Summaries

With both brands working hard to create the ultimate, immersive home theater experience, reviewing what each projector has to offer is crucial to making the right decision. As a home theater projector, the focus should be on visuals, color contrast, streaming compatibility, enhanced audio, and connectivity accessibility. Budget plays a key factor as well, but price does not always indicate the quality of the projector. Provided below are comprehensive overviews of both projectors, with key features and unique technology highlighted.

BenQ HT4550i: The BenQ HT4550i is a True 4K HDR LED home theater projector that generates 8.3 million distinct pixels with 100% DCI-P3, 1.3x zoom, 2D lens shift, and lens shift. It offers innovative cinematic visuals and immersive entertainment supported by BenQ CinematicColor and HDR-PRO technology, which employs Tone Mapping, Leading Local Contrast Enhancer, and Dynamic Black. The projector guarantees out-of-box color accuracy with an individual factory calibration report assuring 100% Rec.709 Delta E<3. It supports Filmmaker Mode, 24P Playback, and 30,000 hours of LED light source life. With universal ports, such as HDMI 2.0, SPDIF, and eARC, it transmits audio and visual content seamlessly with a single cord. In their comparison video, The Hook Up stated, “It had my favorite image when display both SDR and HDR content with extremely low input lag and a very flexible optical system with optical zoom, vertical and horizontal lens shift, and it’s got the added benefit of a Netflix compatible Android 11 built-in streaming dongle.” The HT4550i has an MSRP of $2999.

Epson LS11000: The Epson LS11000 is a 4K PRO-UHD laser projector featuring an Epson Picture Processor to produce 3,840 x 2,160 pixel on-screen images. It maintains precisions shift glass plate technology and a laser array light source to transform any room into the ultimate home theater experience. The projector utilizes an Epson Cinema Lens with real-time scene adaptive correction that’s powered by their Picture Processor, for high color and contrast. It supports HDMI 2.1 for content up to 120 Hz, and ARC and eARC compatibility. Additionally, it has motorized lens flexibility with 2.1x zoom. In their comparison video, The Hook Up stated, “With high brightness and contrast, good color accuracy, adjustable tone mapping, decent input lag, and most importantly, a great motorized optic system you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who would take an issue with the image produced by the LS11000.” The LS11000 has an MSRP of $3999.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Home theater projector technology has come far, but with all these specs to review, it can become difficult to interpret which offers the best experience. Below is a side-by-side comparison chart of the most important specs to review.

Let’s break down what each of these sections means. The information provided comes from tests were independently conducted by The Hook Up.

Brightness: The HT4550i has a higher brightness, especially in bright mode, so you can utilize it in rooms with ambient lighting without issue. However, the LS11000 maintains brightness across picture modes without extra settings.

Throw Ratio: The LS11000 has more flexibility with its placement, as the HT4550i needs to be closer to the screen, but both should be in a fixed position for a theater room.

Screen Size: The HT4550i offers a larger picture size range for various types of rooms, but both can produce a 300in image without issue.

Projector Lens Shift: The LS11000 has more installation flexibility thanks to its lens shift, while the HT4550i has a smaller lens shift range. Ideally, the projected images should be aimed directly at the screen and the projectors should be in a fixed position.

Chipset: As both chip technologies are unique to the brands, it’s difficult to provide an accurate comparison. Both have benefits and can create 4K images with ease.

Light Source: The laser light engine technology in the LS11000 is technically able to produce sharper images, however, the HT4550i is color calibrated and has a wider color gamut range for cinematic colors as directions envisions.

Color: The Hook Up’s testing unveiled that tThe HT4550i covers 10099.4% DCI-P3, while the LS11000 only covers 91.90% DCI-P3. 910% is a noticeable color difference for projected images, and with the HT4550i’s HDR-PRO Local Contrast Enhancement, it provides the best detail definition and enriched 4K image

*These tests were based on the out-of-the-box built-in presets. With the highest scores, the HT4550i does not require calibration or extra color turning, but it offers the best options for adjusting color.

Contrast Ratio: The LS11000 has a much higher contrast ratio than the HT4550i, as shown in the graphic.

Input Lag: Both projectors have incredibly low input lag times, but the HT4550i has the lowest input lag time which makes it ideal for any viewing experience.

Price: The HT4550i has an MSRP of $2999 while the LS11000 has an MSRP of $3999.The HT4550i is $1000 cheaper than the LS11000, has higher lumens, a wider color gamut range for vibrant images, and a lower input lag.

Which projector should you buy?

After reviewing this information, you may still be unsure which to buy. “Both of these 4K home theater projectors provide an absolutely incredible images on your projector screen,” says ProjectorScreen.com, “Each one has significant advantages compared to the other.” Selecting the right projector should be determined by your needs, budget, and available space.

The HT4550i is perfect for a mid-sized home theater room (100in @ 9.5ft), provides the most accurate color with 99.4% DCI-P3, has a wider color gamut, higher brightness, includes the convenience of an Android TV streaming dongle, an easy installation process, and overall provides and incredibly detailed and colorful experience. The LS11000 is great for a larger home theater room (100in @ 9.8ft), provides sharper images, more brightness adjustment options, has strong 4K details in the dark, and good image contrast for high quality content.

Check out the full comparison video from The Hook Up here: PREMIUM Home Theater Projector Comparison. BenQ HT45501, Epson LS11000, Optoma UHZ50

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Comparing Premium Home Theater Projectors: BenQ HT4550i vs Epson LS11000

Projector Summaries

Side-by-Side Comparison

Which projector should you buy?