Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (2025)

PERFORMANCE:

FEATURES:

EASE OF USE:

VALUE:

PROS

  • Best in class brightness with rated 3300 Lumens (up to 3500 measured)
  • New Dynamic Tone Mapping for HDR10
  • Great overall gaming performance and low input lag below 20ms
  • Image is nicely sharp and detailed
  • Quiet fan operation through most of the laser power range
  • Nice backlit remote
  • Superb Color Accuracy after grayscale correction
  • No RBE (rainbow effect) from being 3LCD
  • HDMI 2.1 40Gbps with native 120hz
  • Flexible motorized lens shift and memory for easy installation
  • Good quality native motion handling and motion interpolation processing

CONS

  • Still pixel shifting for 4K resolution in 2024/2025 though image detail is still very good
  • No 3D support at all
  • While dynamic tone mapping is new and an improvement, it could use some refining
  • Expected higher P3 gamut coverage than the 87% XY / 89% UV measured
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (1)

About The Epson QB1000

Epson’s $7,999 MSRP latest entry into the Home Theater Laser Projector market is a 3-Chip 3LCD projector rated for 20,000+ hours of laser life. This is a new step-up product from the previous LS12000 (which will continue to be available in the line up from Epson) which shares the same body. Compared to the LS12000, the QB1000 offers a 22% increase in lumens up to a rated 3300. In my testing the QB1000 exceeded this claim in its brightest mode. I measured 3526 lumens in Dynamic mode, and a still very good 2813 lumens in the more accurate Natural mode.

The other biggest difference from the LS12000 is the QB1000 now has Dynamic Tone Mapping. This will be covered in depth further in this review, and how much of an advantage that brings.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (2)

The QB1000 is powered by Epson’s QZX picture processing. This is a proprietary 32bit processor that handles the tone mapping, motion handling, upscaling, and more.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (3)

Epson is launching two additional models with the QB1000, which are the QL3000 and QL7000. The QB1000 is the only one of the three that has an integrated lens, and what Epson calls “UltraBlack Technology” for better contrast. The QL models require a separate purchase of a lens, and do not have the increased contrast from “UltraBlack Technology” though they are designed for installations requiring much higher light output from the projector.

The QB1000 “VRX Cinema” lens is a 15-element precision glass structure for outstanding image clarity and edge-to-edge focus uniformity. It has a 3 Axis motorized lens shift which can adjust up to 96% horizontally and up to 47% vertically without any loss in picture clarity or resolution. You can also set the zoom and focus electronically and store all the settings in one of 10 lens memory presets. Aesthetically there is a gold ring around the lens housing.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (4)

The Epson QB1000 offers an excellent gaming experience supporting 4K resolution up to 120Hz with ALLM (auto low latency mode) detection through 2x HDMI 2.1 40Gbps ports for an input lag below 20ms. It also supports ARC and eARC which allows the game console or PC to be connected directly to the QB1000 and be able to pass audio to your AVR or external audio source. The QB1000 also allows the Dynamic Tone Mapping to be active when gaming which gives it an edge for gamers over the previous LS12000 model by not having to adjust tone mapping settings on a per game basis.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (5)

Unboxing The Epson QB1000

Upon opening the box, in addition to the projector you will find a removable cable cover tray, a backlit remote, power cable and setup guide. The overall packaging seems well done and shouldn’t have many issues with shipping damage.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (6)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (7)

You will find adjustable and mounting holes on the bottom of the projector for installation on a shelf or ceiling mount.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (8)

At the front, the lens cover is motorized and automatic. A great feature to help keep the lens clean and free of dust.

There are also large venting areas for the cooling on each side of the projector. The fans are fairly quiet and didn’t exhibit any annoying tones in my testing. There are three fan profiles based on the laser power setting. At the lowest setting of 50, the projector can hardly be heard at all. From 50-85 is the second profile that is little more than a hum from about a meter away. Then once past 85 up to 100 is the full speed profile that is more noticeable but still not that intrusive sounding.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (9)

Along the back you will find all the connection ports including 2x HDMI 2.1 40Gbps with HDMI 2 being the ARC/eARC port. There are also full controls on the back of the projector which are nice to have during setup if the remote is out of reach or you prefer to use on unit controls. The power and source buttons are on the right side near the front of the chassis.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (10)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (11)

Initial Setup and Impressions

When first testing the Epson QB1000 in “out of the box” state, the brightness was an immediate stand out strength for this projector. I tested on a 100” unity 1.0 gain screen from 12ft away. For the amount of light output the QB1000 has, you would have to go to the next pricing tier (around double the price) to find another competitor with similar brightness. If you have a large (150”+) screen, this could be a strong option for you to consider.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (12)

During initial setup, there are multiple EDID settings you can change if you have a particular source (like an older cable box) that isn’t working correctly.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (13)

You’ll also find setting for Dynamic Range if you need to or want to set SDR, HDR10, or HLG manually.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (14)

You can see your full signal information, along with projector usage time from the Information menu screen.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (15)

There are four picture modes to pick from. Dynamic mode which is the mode with the highest lumens (3526 lumens), and least color accurate image. Vivid mode is similar to dynamic, but dialed back a little (3173 lumens).

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (16)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (17)

Cinema (2978 lumens) and Natural (2813) modes are very similar with just a few user adjustable settings configured differently out of the box. When calibrating the QB1000 I used Natural for SDR and Cinema for HDR, which will be covered below.

Dynamic mode is the only mode that has a “fade to black” feature where the light source turns off if the image is all black. However, if you care for image accuracy, I would not recommend using Dynamic picture mode as it cannot be calibrated as well as Natural and Cinema, and also has noticeable color banding / posterization issues. You can see the greenish and off-color rings around the glow from the fire in this scene from 1917 which is color banding from being in Dynamic mode.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (20)

There isn’t a “game mode” picture mode and instead is a separate setting called “Fast” or “Fine” with Fast disabling some image processing for lower input lag. This has an auto setting which uses ALLM to detect if a modern gaming system is being used to switch to the “Fast” setting, and will switch back to “Fine” when out of a game.

Aside from the picture mode, there are processing Image Preset Modes which are Off or 1-5. You can customize the settings in the presets, or use them as they are already pre-configured. As you go higher in the preset, the more processing is applied to the image which can cause it to look over processed with artifacts and ringing at the higher presets, or can be adjusted to a milder look. The presets have controls for Noise & MPEG Noise Reduction, Super-Resolution, and Auto Contrast Enhancement.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (21)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (22)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (23)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (24)

The quietest fan profile is only at 50% light output, the second fan profile is from that up to 85%, and the loudest third profile is above that up to 100%. With the camera exposure locked, here is an example of the light output difference from the three different laser levels.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (25)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (26)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (27)

For motion testing on the QB1000, I used the scene from Baby Driver as he walks around the city and the camera is constantly moving. Native 24Hz motion handling with interpolation settings off is excellent. If you like to have added interpolation with minimal or no visible Soap Opera Effect (SOE) even the lowest setting can’t do that. There is moderate SOE visible with the lowest setting that gets stronger as the setting is increased. However, if you like to have some SOE, it did so very cleanly with no visible artifacts until the highest setting. I used the rotating Luma Wedge on the Spears & Munsil benchmark disc and there wasn’t any break up in the wedges on low and only very minor on normal. The camera shows some Moire’ which isn’t an issue with this test.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (28)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (29)

The sharpness and enhancement settings also play in to how detailed the image can look. Surprisingly, setting them to 0 exhibited some artifacts on this Sharpness pattern. The rectangles on the side of the pattern shouldn’t be there.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (30)

I found a setting of 2 on the Sharpness and Super Resolution settings to mostly remove the rectangles with good detail and sharpness with no visible artifacts in real content.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (31)

The two biggest reasons to pay more for the QB1000 over the LS12000 is the increase in brightness, and the addition of Dynamic Tone Mapping (DTM). Of those two, the DTM is the most important addition to this projector over any previous Epson. I will show a variety of different scenes below four different ways to demonstrate why this is.

Many people confuse DTM with Tone Mapping as a whole. There can be Static Tone Mapping, which is what Epson had previously (and still is an option here) and there is Dynamic Tone Mapping which can adjust how aggressive the image is being tone mapped without you having to adjust any settings.

With the Static Tone Mapping on Epson, you can adjust how much tone mapping occurs across ALL scenes unless you change the setting. This can be adjusted from 1 through 16, where 1 will be as bright as possible and letting details be clipped, where 16 will darken the image a lot to show all details in the image.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (32)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (33)

Most of the time the ideal solution would be a setting somewhere in the middle, however no one setting would work best for all content. If you have a higher more aggressive setting for really bright scenes, then in a dark scene the image would be way too dark. You would have to be adjusting the setting constantly, or have DTM to change the setting for you.

In the examples below, the camera exposure was locked and I took the pictures with DTM on, then with DTM off and slider at settings of 4, 8, and 14. You can see how in every example having DTM makes the image viewable with plenty of detail. It doesn’t always pick the setting I personally would want, and will lean towards a bit darker of an image in brighter scenes to show more detail. But it is still very valuable to have and in most cases is a set it and forget it setting that works well.

In my test setup with a 100” 1.0 unity gain screen from 12ft away, the QB1000 was measuring 295 nits post calibration. EOTF tracked well until around 30% where it would start to roll off depending on the HDR setting.

Dynamic Tone Mapping alone is the biggest reason you would consider paying the price difference between the LS12000, which doesn’t have DTM, and the QB1000 which does.

The order of the following images (no menu on screen) is DTM On, DTM Off with STM set to 4 (brighter), then set to 8 (middle) and then to 14 (darker with more detail).

Road House (2024)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (34)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (35)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (36)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (37)

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (38)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (39)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (40)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (41)

1917

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (42)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (43)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (44)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (45)

Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (46)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (47)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (48)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (49)

The Batman

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (50)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (51)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (52)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (53)

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes Of Grindelwald

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (54)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (55)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (56)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (57)

If you are a gamer, Dynamic Tone Mapping also works in gaming and is a huge benefit for you. Here is an example from Hogwarts Legacy playing on the PS5 Pro with the HDR settings also at 4, 8, 14 and then with DTM On. With a game like this, you could set the peak brightness in the game and find a setting that would work for it without DTM. However, many games do not have a lot of, if any, controls for the HDR settings and would be much more difficult to get a good result. With DTM you can leave it on and have tone mapping for all games that don’t have in game or console level control. And if they do, you can set them with DTM still on and not be reaching for the remote every time you change a game.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (58)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (59)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (60)

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (61)

In game performance is excellent for a projector. Epson says input lag comes in under 20ms, and I experienced no noticeable delay when playing a variety of games. The QB1000 accepts 4K 120Hz, and ALLM. Image quality was very good, with good in scene mixed contrast, great color accuracy after calibration, and excellent brightness. With DTM on I was getting the expected highlight details in brighter areas, and had excellent shadow detail in darker areas.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (62)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (63)

Measurements and calibration were done using Colorimetry Research CR-250 spectroradiometer and CR-100 colorimeter, Murideo 6G pattern generator, and Calman Ultimate software.

I measured a native contrast range off the lens of approximately 4,500:1 to 9,000:1. The installation, room, and other factors will affect the native contrast you get. In my installation, I was able to get a native contrast of 5,577:1 measured on screen (0.0282 nits black floor, 157 nits white) at the lowest laser setting of 50 in SDR after calibration.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (64)

For SDR I used the Natural picture mode and was able to get a fantastic grayscale average dE2000 of 0.3 with a nearly perfect 2.4 gamma. An error of 2.3 or under is imperceptible to most, and under 1 is near reference. After doing this, I didn’t need to make any changes to the CMS (color management system) at all as the average error on a ColorChecker SG was already below 0.6.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (65)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (66)

While the native on/off contrast isn’t competitive in this bracket, there are many different aspects and types of contrast. Trying to put a number, or even a few numbers on it to describe contrast doesn’t really translate to real content. In the darkest of scenes, there is a notable difference in performance from a projector like this to a competing one with double or more native contrast. However, in most scenes with mixed contrast elements, they would perform much more closely, or could even reverse which has the lead.

I exposed the camera as best as I could to try and represent how these images looked in person. The more white area on the screen the more the black level would raise in to gray as it would on any projector to some degree. Then in the image from The Witcher which is a high contrast scene, you can see where the black bars lift a bit to become visible, but most of the scene still remains very contrasty and you wouldn’t have any complaints in person (in a dark room of course).

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (67)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (68)

Before calibration performance was not the best, but a few standard user settings can make a nice improvement. The gamma was close to 2.0, not 2.4, and there is too much blue through the grayscale in the 6500k setting. Setting the gamma to minus –1, reducing the laser power and adjusting only the gain brought the average grayscale error to 2.1, and gamma to a more acceptable 2.3. The rest of this correctable with the more advanced controls.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (69)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (70)

One area that Epson could improve is with the wide color gamut coverage. There was a small increase over the LS12000, but I would have liked to see over 90% of P3. Not reaching at least 90% of P3 in 2024/2025 shouldn’t be given a pass anymore, even if it isn’t a dealbreaker. Epson isn’t alone in this, as other long throw projector brands seem to struggle here as well.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (71)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (72)

Aside from the gamut coverage, overall color performance is very good. I didn’t notice any color banding or posterization issues in the Natural or Cinema modes. This HSV image from Spears & Munsil shows the P3 Gamut and could show posterization if there was any. Skin tones (also from Spears & Munsil) look correct and natural.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (73)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (74)

Overall HDR performance I experienced with the QB1000 was very compelling and well detailed. Even where color couldn’t reach wide enough in to P3 or BT2020 (the flowers next to the squirrel, and the red cactus are BT2020) it still looked plenty vibrant and saturated and most wouldn’t be able to tell the difference without a side-by-side comparison.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (75)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (76)

In SDR the QB1000 also does a fantastic job in being a very well-rounded projector. In my installation I couldn’t even reduce the light output enough to get down to 100 nits (could have with an ND filter or different screen). I also checked SDR performance in sports where the QB1000 continued to do well. It handled the 60hz motion excellent just like it does with film 24hz. Color accuracy was fantastic, and sharpness and clarity were great. In a room with ambient light, you could still get great performance from the QB1000 when paired with the right screen.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (77)
Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (78)

Settings

In SDR I would recommend the following settings:

  • Light Output – Set as needed; fan profiles set to 50/85/100
  • Picture Mode - Natural
  • Brightness/Contrast/Saturation/Tint - Default 50
  • Sharpness – 2/2/2
  • White Balance - Color Temp - 6500k
  • Frame Interpolation – Off or Low
  • Image Enhancement – Preset 1 – Noise/MPEG Reduction 0 – Super Resolution 2/2
  • Gamma - 1

For HDR:

  • Light Output – 85 or 100 based on fan noise
  • Picture Mode - Cinema
  • Brightness/Contrast/Saturation/Tint - Default 50
  • Sharpness – 2/2/2
  • White Balance - Color Temp - 6500k
  • Frame Interpolation – Off or Low
  • Image Enhancement – Preset 1 – Noise/MPEG Reduction 0 – Super Resolution 2/2
  • Dynamic Tone Mapping – On

Final Conclusions

The Epson QB1000 offers a compelling and fully featured package, especially for those needing a lot of light output to fill a larger screen or to use in ambient light. While the price difference over the previous LS12000 is a bit steep, there also isn’t anything else out there with comparable light output, feature set, and overall performance with Dynamic Tone Mapping. You would have to go up to the next tier which is about double the price of the QB1000 to look at something from competing brands with similar brightness.

I was very impressed in how good the color performance was after correcting the grayscale. While I would recommend you to get it calibrated, most will still be very happy with the color performance out of the box.

Gaming is where the QB1000 really shines, and if gaming is important to you, I would personally recommend the QB1000 over anything else up to this price range. Again, you would be looking at double the price to find a competitor with gaming performance on par with the QB1000.

For a darkened theater room, with a screen size of 135in or smaller, this may not be the best option for you. It’ll perform well in that scenario, but not where its best strengths are. If you are looking for a well-rounded projector to play games, view some content with some light in the room and still perform well in a dark room, it would be hard to find anything else that would be as versatile as the Epson QB1000. If you are pairing with a larger screen than that, it would be even harder to find anything else that could compete with the QB1000 for the price.

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (79)

Specs

Projector Resolution:

4K

Brand:

EPSON

Product Status:

In Stock

Lumens:

3300

Projector Type:

Standard Throw

Light Source:

Laser

Contrast Ratio:

5,000,000:1

Chipset:

LCD

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 [HD]

Throw Ratio:

1.35:1 - 2.84:1 (D:W)

Native Resolution:

3840x2160

Lens Shift:

Horizontal & Vertical

3D Support:

No

Warranty:

3 Years

Standard Lens Focus:

Motorized

Wi-Fi:

No

ARC/eARC:

eARC

This entry was posted in

Projector Reviews

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Posted by Cecil Meade Jr. - ISF Certified Calibrator

Thursday, January 23, 2025

Epson QB1000 3LCD 4K Laser Projector Review (2025)
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