Epson Pro EX9240 Review

The Epson Pro EX9240 uses 3LCD projection technology and 1080 pixel resolution to produce an average image quality. Still, its combination of brightness, a wide variety of inputs, and decent portability set this projector apart from the rest of the business-class projectors.

Performance Comparison

Entertainment

The Epson Pro EX9240 isn't the strongest contender in a home theater setting. Its high brightness is one of its great strengths in the office, but it washes out the scenes in our favorite movies. This projector's undersaturated colors and subpar contrast result in an image that isn't optimized for recreational use.

While the EX9240 provides tolerable skin tones in movies, its color accuracy is lacking on the whole. This model consistently over-saturates the image in our tests, which is probably why the skin appears unnaturally warm. Still, it's far from Oompa Loompa status and outperforms many budget projectors.

Overall, the EX9240's color accuracy for movies is nothing to write home about, so we don't recommend it for home cinema use over other models. To make matters worse, it doesn't come with any nice-to-have smart features like native streaming apps that you'll find on more versatile projectors.

Business

The Epson Pro EX9240 is an excellent business projector. It has some of the highest brightness of any projector we've tested, which helps it perform well in brightly lit conference spaces and offices. The contrast ratio and colors on slideshows and spreadsheets are accurate as well, making things easy to read for your audience. However, we noted less crispness on small text compared to some other projectors and some loss of clarity at the edges of spreadsheets, but it was nothing too disappointing.

The EX9240 isn't exactly a mini projector, at 12.2"L x 11.2"D x 4.1"H and 6.8 lbs, but thanks to its sleek & slim design and included carrying case, we found that it was a breeze to pack up and tote around. It also has a nice selection of ports: 2x HMDI, 1x computer, 1x computer, 1x USB-A and B, 1x video, and an audio in/out. Although it comes with a handy (non-backlit) remote, we were most pleased to find adjustable zoom, focus, and a suite of button controls spread out on top of the projector for those times when the remote gets lost or left behind.

Contrast Ratio

The manufacturer claims a 16000:1 contrast ratio, but we measured the EX9240 at 778:30 in our ANSI contrast test. We observed a somewhat flat image as the lightest whites and darkest blacks are simply not far enough apart to impress. It also lacks the proper mid-tones to produce a super pleasing picture.

During our testing, we found that fonts as small as six points is still quite legible but has a slightly hazy quality. The whites behind the text are bright, but the blacks and shadows are not dark enough overall. In video tests, the EX9240 produces no distinctive highlights or transitional grey tones. The stars blur into white specs, and the background is not dark enough to create a decent contrast. Overall, our biggest gripe with the EX9240 with regard to contrast is that the darks need to be more profound.

Brightness

With its nearly top-of-the-heap brightness, this model is unphased by ambient light in the room. The manufacturer claims 4000 lumens for the EX9240, but we recorded it at an average of 2,378 lumens.

Compared to almost all its competitors in our test suite, this is still incredible brightness and plays into why the EX9240 is such an excellent option for the office. Most people do not want to turn the lights off during a presentation or meeting. With this projector, they don't have to.

Setup & Use

When it comes to setup and everyday use, the EX9240 does okay. It's relatively feature-rich for an office projector. It has auto and manual keystoning, screen zoom, intuitive focus, adjustable front and rear feet for leveling, and a built-in mounting solution for ceilings and tripods. It comes with a basic remote (not backlit) and a loud but low sound quality, 16-watt speaker.

We liked the quick drop front leveling leg for making quick adjustments, and we appreciate the zoom and focus wheels being accessible from the top of the projector for easy picture adjustments. The autokeystoning feature is also handy, but it typically takes a little fiddling with to get right.

Input Lag

According to our trusty video input lag test device, the EX9240 suffers pretty high input lag compared to a lot of the test group, but that's unlikely to be an issue for you if you don't plan to play video games with it. Response time shouldn't matter much unless you are a competitive online gamer trying to climb the leaderboards.

If you're looking for a projector with low input lag, the most basic projectors with less image processing seem to perform best in that capacity. If you want sublime image quality to go along with low input lag, your best is to seek out a premium projector with a dedicated gaming mode.

Should You Buy the Epson Pro EX9240?

If you're in the market for a fantastic, no-nonsense business projector, we think the Epson EX9240 is the one to get. Its portability, feature set, and high brightness are hard to beat. However, if you're on the hunt for a movie projector or something less business-oriented, you may want to explore some of the more recreational options in our test suite.

What Other Projectors Should You Consider?