Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: which five-star 4K projector should you buy?

The Epson EH-LS9000 made quite the splash when it was released in September 2025, returning Epson to the serious home cinema market after its recent dalliance with coffee table models, and finally releasing a replacement for its multi-Award-winning EH-TW9400.

After rigorous, comparative testing, we gave the Epson EH-LS9000 a full five-star rating, as well as a coveted What Hi-Fi? Award.

But, given that we also raved about its even more premium sibling, the EH-QB1000, only a year earlier, you might be wondering what the key differences are – and whether the more expensive projector is worth the extra money.

As members of Epson’s family of 4K laser projectors, the two models do have a lot in common – but there are a few notable differences, and not just in price.

We’ll compare the two below to help you make the best decision for the all-important projector in your home cinema.

Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: price

There’s a pretty clear winner when it comes to price. The EH-LS9000 is the ‘entry-level’ model in Epson’s 4K laser projector lineup, with a price of £2999 / $3999 / AU$7299.

That’s still a substantial amount of money for most people, of course, but it’s a lot less than the cost of the EH-QB1000, which comes in at £4999 / $7999 / AU$11,900.

That’s a £2000 / $4000 / AU$4601 price difference.

Bear in mind, however, that both these projectors were rated five stars for their respective launch prices, and the extra cost of the EH-QB1000 is made up for in extra features and improved picture quality, as you’ll see below.

So whichever one you go for, you can sleep easy knowing you’re getting value for your money.

** Winner: Epson EH-LS9000 **

Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: build & design

As far as appearances go, the EH-LS9000 and EH-QB1000 are less brothers, and more near-identical twins. Both projectors have the same beefy dimensions of 19 x 52 x 45cm, and both are available in either a white or black finish.

The only discernible difference between the two is that the LS9000 sports a black ring around the lens, while the QB1000’s ring is gold. The QB1000 is very slightly heavier, too, by just 100g.

Both projectors are definitely on the bigger scale of home cinema projectors, designed for permanent placement, preferably in a dedicated home cinema space.

Both have a motorised lens cover too, preventing dust and damage when closed, but also giving a satisfying whir every time you turn the projector on or off.

From the outside, the EH-LS9000 and EH-QB1000 are almost indistinguishable – it’s what is under the hood that’s going to make the difference.

** Winner: Draw **

Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: features

Neither projector has a native 4K resolution – both achieve their 4K delivery through pixel shifting. In this technique, the projector overlays two 1080p images to create a higher-resolution image, roughly equivalent to 4K.

While this might sound disappointing on paper, we’ve been impressed by the sharpness and detail of pixel shifting time and time again – it’s proved to be an effective way to get a 4K experience at a lower price than is charged for native 4K projectors.

The most obvious spec difference between the EH-LS9000 and EH-QB1000 is in brightness. While the LS9000 can reach a very respectable claimed brightness of 2200 lumens, the QB1000 goes all the way up to 3300 lumens.

This is not to say that the EH-LS9000 is overly dark – it’s far from the lowest brightness we’ve seen on a home cinema projector and will be more than sufficient in a dark room (or, even better, a blacked-out home theatre) – it’s more that the EH-QB1000 is unusually bright for a home cinema projector.

The QB1000’s extra-high brightness is of a level usually seen in living room projectors that have to punch through ambient light, and that might be a benefit to those looking for a model to use in a mixed-use room. It also suggests that the QB1000 may be able to squeeze more out of the HDR signals that both it and the LS9000 are able to handle.

This is further backed up by Epson’s claim that the EH-QB1000 has a dynamic contrast ratio of 5,000,000:1 – a huge figure close to that of OLED TVs. For comparison, the EH-LS9000 has a claimed contrast ratio of 2,500,000:1. Most content won’t get anywhere near the EH-QB1000’s levels of contrast, though, so pay more attention to our real-world testing impressions below.

Talking of HDR, both support the standard HDR10 and HLG formats, as well as the more advanced HDR10+.

4K Frame Interpolation and Super Resolution are also featured on both, designed to smooth motion and sharpen the image respectively.

Gamers rejoice – home cinema projectors are starting to truly embrace gaming. Both the EH-LS9000 and EH-QB1000 include two HDMI ports capable of handling 4K/120Hz signals, so hardcore gamers should get a silky smooth experience with compatible games.

As part of the same family, both projectors unsurprisingly have similar features – but the more premium EH-QB1000 boasts a higher brightness and contrast, as well as the potentially useful Scene Adaptive Gamma feature.

** Winner: Epson EH-QB1000**

Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: picture

The good news is that both projectors come out all guns blazing and look fantastic.

Surprisingly, the Vivid preset worked best on the EH-LS9000. As we said in our review, “it produces a picture with quite exceptional vibrancy and three-dimensionality without making things look forced.”

A screening of Thunderbolts reveals awesome solidity and depth to the picture, with a notably sharp and detailed presentation.

Colours are both vivid and natural, and the shading is excellent, while a switch to Blade Runner 2049 proves the projector to be adept at handling tricky panning shots with plenty of naturalism.

The LS9000’s one weakness is a relative lack of black depth, with a lighter grey taking over shots that would ideally be brilliant black.

Switching to the EH-QB1000, the impact of the higher brightness is immediately apparent.

As we said in our review: “The QB1000 manages to imbue HDR images with way more brightness than most projectors manage. As well as selling the life-like benefits of HDR more successfully than the vast majority of projectors we’ve tested, this brightness also feeds into an exhilarating colour performance that manages to maintain fantastic levels of vibrancy and richness.”

While the QB1000 doesn’t deliver blacks quite as deep as some projectors (most notably JVC’s D-ILA models), they are much deeper and more impactful than those from the LS9000, and that’s particularly impressive when you consider the additional brightness it also offers. There’s excellent detail in these dark shadows and bright highlights, too.

The QB1000’s dynamic contrast feature is clearly having an effect here, adapting light output to optimise brightness or black levels without being distracting.

Our only niggle in regards to the QB1000’s performance is its picture presets. The Vivid mode is in most ways our favourite, delivering often astounding brightness, punch and dynamism, but it also occasionally produces colour banding and can look a little forced in extreme high-contrast situations.

The Cinema preset fixes these issues, but also somewhat subdues some of the projector's greatest strengths in regard to brightness and contrast.

Ultimately, we decide to switch between these picture modes on a per-movie basis, but it would be nice if Epson had provided a Goldilocks preset that combined the best elements of each.

You can tell the two projectors are from the same family, and in terms of sharpness, detail and colours, they’re remarkably similar.

But the QB1000’s additional brightness and black depth make quite a difference, and result in an altogether punchier, more dynamic picture.

If you can comfortably stretch to the QB1000, it’s certainly worth it, but by offering most of that core picture quality at a much lower price, we’re giving this round to the LS9000.

** Winner: Epson EH-LS9000**

Epson EH-LS9000 vs EH-QB1000: verdict

It might be tempting to give the win to the Epson EH-QB1000, as it is a great choice for those after a bright, mixed-use projector, and the extra nits do sell the benefits of HDR far better than most models we’ve tested.

But we review on a performance-per-pound basis, and it’s hard to ignore that the upgrades over the EH-LS9000 come with a very significant additional cost.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that, great though it is, the QB1000 isn't quite the best projector in its price range: if you’re looking to spend £5000 on a projector, we recommend the Award-winning Sony XW5000ES for its native 4K support and exceptional X1 Ultimate processing.

The LS9000, however, is easily the best projector at its price point, which is why it just won a What Hi-Fi? Award.

While it lacks the brightness and black depth of its QB1000 sibling, the LS9000 still delivers the core picture quality of its more premium sibling at a much lower price.

If you've got deep pockets and a strong desire for the extra brightness, the QB1000 is an excellent choice, but once value is taken into account, the LS9000 is the winner of this all-Epson head-to-head.

** Overall winner: Epson EH-LS9000**

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