Epson EMP-50: Endless Projector Lamps

The Epson EMP-50 is one of those classic projectors that will be etched indelibly into the minds of technology history buffs around the world for years to come. You see, the Epson EMP-50 was the first commercially available projector produced by Epson; a company that dominates the LCD market, producing over 50 percent of LCD panels worldwide (I’ll bet you didn’t know that). So, it was only natural for Epson, at the turn of the century, to debut an LCD projector and thus the Epson EMP50 was born.

The EMP50 or 50c as it is sometimes known, has solid specs, especially considering that his was Epson’s rookie debut. It features a 150W projector lamp (ID# ELPLP03) that produces 1000 ANSI lumens, (the projector lamp is available from myprojectorlamps.com for only $274.99!).

The unit also has a respectable contrast ratio of 400:1 and supports S-Video, HDTV and component inputs. When the EMP-50 first debuted in late 2000 it retailed for under $2000 USD; this was a huge selling point that catapulted the projector to the top of many �Most Popular Projectors� lists. With the 50c, Epson had made their mark on the projector world and because they produced LCD panels they weren’t about to shy away from the emerging market. The Epson 50c includes a native resolution of 1024x768 when functioning at its maximum resolution parameters.

We tested the Epson 50c with a viewing of Riding Giants, a movie exploring the history of big wave surfing and focusing on the life of one Laird Hamilton, a white kid from Hawaii who changed the surfing world on a beautiful day in Tahiti in the year 2000. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the projector was almost as good. The EMP50 has a zoom function that is adjustable via the remote control, enabling us to zoom in on Laird’s front hand when God decided to save him from the behemoth wave that was crunching down on top of him. The projector lamp was bright enough for us to watch this movie in the daytime and in the end we decided to keep the projector because we liked it so much. If you’re able to pick one up used on eBay or elsewhere I recommend that you do. Myprojectorlamps.com will always have an endless supply of lamps for you to purchase.