Best House Mapping Projector under $2000 – BenQ LH830ST or Epson PowerLite L210SF

What are the six differences between the two biggest projector brands when it comes to short throw projectors that can be used for house mapping? Which model is right for you?

House mapping is becoming a growing alternative for homeowners who are paying thousands every year to have Halloween or Christmas lights installed on their home. One of the most important parts of a house mapping setup is the projector, so we’ll compare two popular short throw projectors used in these setups, the BenQ LH830ST and the Epson L210SF. These two models are from the top two leading brands of projectors in the world. The Epson L210SF is “ designed to change the way you think about classroom displays” on their website, and the BenQ LH830ST is designed as a “short throw house mapping projector”. Both models use laser light engines, similar short throw lenses, 1080p resolution, and have three-year warranties, but the BenQ costs more than the Epson. So, what are the differences in features between using a projector designed for house mapping versus using a less expensive projector designed for a classroom? We’ll break down the differences so you can select the best model for your project. Here are the top six things we’ll look at in this article.

• Ease of Setup
• Dust resistance and maintenance.
• Color Accuracy
• SmartEco Technology
• Warranty considerations
• 4K Alternative models

The most important part of setting up a house mapping projector is getting the projector put in the right spot where the image can completely cover the entire home – right down to the bottom of your house and porch. While it may sound easy, many first-time house mapping users have never worked with a projector – or ever tried to setup a massive 30 foot or larger image before. There are key differences in how these two projectors are set up. Offset – what is it and why it matters.

Offset is a big issue both in golf simulators and house mapping for short throw projectors.  Most short throw projectors designed for classrooms are engineered to “throw” the image up from a table to a screen mounted at eye level, or down from a projector mount to an interactive whiteboard. For house mapping the image is about 4-5x larger than a whiteboard screen, and it’s essential that the image reaches the ground to create the realism needed to fool the eye. The BenQ LH830ST is designed with a low116% offset, so you don’t have to tilt it down as much. Every degree of tilting requires digital correction (the next section) to ensure that your Santa doesn’t end up looking like he spent all summer working out on a Peloton instead of making toys. The Epson L210SF has offset as well, but there is no offset specification on this model either on their website or documentation.

With short throw lenses, the image gets distorted when there is a tilt on the projector. It is especially noticeable when the image is 30 feet wide on a house compared to a whiteboard. To fix this, you need keystone correction, and BenQ LH830ST has twice as much vertical and horizontal keystone correction (30%) than the Epson PowerLite L210SF (15%). The BenQ LH830ST also has corner fit correction that enables you to drag the corners of the image exactly where you want them to properly fill up the screen. The BenQ models designed for house mapping feature a huge amount of corner fitting adjustments, which reduces the risk of having to remount the projector if you are off center or must avoid things like AC vents or electrical outlets.

While size and weight don’t matter much in an air-conditioned classroom, projectors used for house mapping must live in a rain proof enclosure. The Epson L210SF is almost twice as large (1.88x) as the BenQ LH830ST, which means you may have to buy a bigger and more expensive enclosure. The BenQ is also a couple of pounds lighter than the Epson, making it easier to handle during the setup process.

Dust can kill a projector. If dust gets on an LCD panel or on a critical lens, it can create a visual blob on your house map, and if too much dust gets into a filter, your projector can overheat. House mapping projectors live in an outdoor enclosure, which has much more dust risk than an air-conditioned classroom, so how do these projectors compare when it comes to how well they can handle the rigors of house mapping?

The BenQ LH830ST is designed for tough environments and has a laser light engine that is completely sealed and tested as dustproof using the industry standard IP6X test where the projector is stuck into a dust chamber and tortured with scientific dust to ensure that critical components are not harmed. It’s the same test that the Apple Watch goes through. The Epson PowerLite L210SF uses an open design that requires filters for dust protection and is not rated for dust resistance. That may not be an issue for a classroom, but it might be a big problem depending on the environment around your setup with car exhaust, lawn clippings, and other hazards of outdoor life.

Since the Epson L210SF uses paper filters, those filters need to be regularly cleaned, otherwise the projector can overheat. Depending on your environment, you may have to clean them as often as every month of use. This is because if the filter gets clogged up, the projector will splash a giant “Clean Filter” warning message right onto your house map, or the projector just might shut down and end the show. Because the BenQ has a sealed laser engine, there are no filters to clog up or clean. 

While both projectors have the same 4000 lumen ratings, the color performance of a projector is quite different for a projector made for simulation, projection mapping, and any immersive application compared to a classroom. The BenQ LH830ST is designed specifically for high color accuracy and uses the Rec. 709 color standard specification that is required in flat screen televisions. The projector supports HDR10 and HLD, and also has a simulation mode that enables brighter and more vibrant reds and yellows for projects using like Battle Kart Racing, where dozens of BenQ projectors are blended together to create a massive real life video game environment.  The LH830ST also comes pre-calibrated so that the white point is the same from projector to projector, which can save hours of work when blending a projector.  And if you’re thinking about blending projectors, the BenQ LH830ST has a “Blending Ready” button that resets the settings needed for blending, saving you time and headaches when creating a giant image from multiple projectors.

By contrast, the Epson L210SF only provides brightness ratings, and doesn’t have any color accuracy specifications. The Epson model also doesn’t support HDR or HLD so while your images may look nice and bright on the Epson, they not look as or realistic, especially for richer organic colors like grass, stone, and for Halloween – dried blood on zombies (yes-we do test for these colors).  There is also no white point factory calibration on this model, so you’ll have to purchase the equipment and manually calibrate each projector if you plan to blend multiple projectors.

If you’re planning to use the projector a lot, BenQ’s exclusive SmartEco technology enables you to save money on electricity – without losing brightness. When activated, SmartEco looks at the colors in the frame, and will reduce the laser automatically to enable the projector to render a darker scene to use less power. These little frame-by-frame savings add up over time. Projector Central tested this technology and found that the difference in brightness was insignificant and that the projector used less power than in normal mode. With both projectors running at full power, the Epson L210SF eats up almost 11% more power than the BenQ LH830ST, so with SmartEco turned on, you can save a lot more if you’re house mapping scenes have darker colors. 

Both projectors have a three-year warranty. But the Epson L210SF warranty is built around classroom use, while the BenQ LH830ST warranty is designed specifically for house mapping. There is a substantial difference the details of warranty terms for a house mapper that you should consider in deciding which one is the best long-term investment. Here are the major differences between the Epson and the BenQ warranty terms.

While the BenQ LH830ST is maintenance free other than keeping the air vents open, the warranty on the Epson PowerLite L210SF can be voided if you don’t clean the filters often enough and the projector is damaged.

Both the BenQ LH830ST and the Epson PowerLite L210SF will produce a pixel size on a 300-diagonal inch image of about 3.5 millimeters (a headphone jack), and stuff about 54 pixels in every square inch on your house. But with a 4K UHD projector you can create a Disney level house map with over 200 pixels in that same square inch, producing stunning detail and realism that holds your eye even when you get close. The new BenQ LK830ST is the big brother of the LH830ST with all the same features but higher resolution.  This model costs about $500 more but delivers unmatched realism. Epson doesn’t offer a short throw 4K UHD laser projector, only a less expensive WXGA projector that has a pixel size over 5mm and can only put 23 pixels into a square inch.

If you are only looking for the lowest priced projector, the Epson PowerLite L210SF is certainly cheaper. The BenQ LH830ST is purpose built for house mapping applications, and is designed for color accuracy, easy installation with lots of keystone and corner adjustment. It also has a dustproof laser engine that doesn’t require filters and is rated to the industry standard Rec. 709 color accuracy to ensure a realistic image on your house map. Keep in mind the Epson PowerLite L210SF also is bigger, uses more power, and has maintenance and warranty restrictions that may not work for some house mapping setups. Here’s a table that breaks down the biggest differences between these two models.

BenQ has projector experts and engineers that can help you with your meeting room, simulation, or mapping projects – including creating the technical drawings needed at no cost. Just let us know how we can help you.