[hdmkv]

Given Epson's recent announcement, thought I'd start a thread to compile options under US$3K...


Epson 5040UB:
($2,999 retail price)

• Available in August
  
• 3LCD technology
  
• 4K and full 3D
  
• HDR
  
• HDMI 2.0a and HDCP 2.2
  
• Powered lens memory (poor man's way to enjoy scope screen for example)
  
• X/Y lens shift
  
• Wide Gamut, with full DCI color space
  
• Around 700 calibrated lumens expected (even though 2,500 lumens is claimed)
  
• Up to 1,000,000 contrast claimed
  
• Uses e-Shift* technology to achieve 4K
  

*e-Shift is regarded as 'faux' or 'fake' 4K by some, but as 'real 4K' for less than $3K likely won't happen until next year or so, e-Shift does appear easily better than 1080p. Some reasons why...

From ProjectorReviews.com:

Looking at the 4K content, it looked great, for, as I already learned from Epson’s LS10000, that while true 4K is true 4K, and this isn’t true 4K, pixel shifting combined with 4K content, and some great image processing can still deliver a picture this is immediately perceived as easily sharper and more detailed than anything pure 1080p. I’ve come to appreciate HDR from watching the Sony 4K VW665ES ($14,999), and the $3999 JVC, and it looked even better in Epson’s facility, because their “theater” is just superior to mine... Or more simply stated, The Home Cinema 5040UB or the Pro Cinema 6040UB, watching a movie like The Martian, from a Blu-ray UHD disc, with HDR, is going to be a dramatically superior experience to the older UBs doing a standard 1080p Blu-ray disc.... The bottom line, the Home Cinema 5040UB (being the less expensive of the two), is simply the lowest priced projector on the market that can handle commercial 4K source material, and more specifically including DCI color and HDR processing.

From ProjectorCentral.com:

Having seen the 6040UB set up side by side with a native 4K projector, I will say that the 6040UB's picture simply looks like native 4K when they are both fed a native 4K source. It is difficult to detect any difference at all in detail resolution between the two from a normal viewing distance. In fact if casual observers were shown this side by side demo and asked to guess which was the true native 4K projector, I have no doubt that half of them would guess wrong... The purist will argue that there must be some difference in resolution, as the 4K images achieved through pixel shift cannot possibly match the exact reproduction from native 4K chips. While this is technically true, if 4K enhancement has improved to where you can't see any difference from a normal viewing distance, what is more important -- how the projector does it or how much it costs?

looun's first-hand experience with HiMedia Q10 Pro connected to an Epson EH-LS10000 and Sony VPL-VW520.


Epson Pro Cinema 4040:
($2,699 retail price)

• Available in August
  
• 3LCD technology
  
• 4K and full 3D
  
• HDR
  
• HDMI 2.0a and HDCP 2.2
  
• Powered lens memory (poor man's way to enjoy scope screen for example)
  
• X/Y lens shift
  
• Wide Gamut, with full DCI color space
  
• 2300 lumens (just 200 less than 5040UB) ← Will this make a difference? I think not
  
• Up to 160,000:1 contrast ratio claimed (vs. 1,000,000 claimed for 5040UB) ← Will this make a difference? I don't know
  
• Uses e-Shift* technology to achieve 4K
  

JVC DLA-RS400U / DLA-X550R:
(Can be had for $3,530 off eBay; Epson announcement may push it below $3K)

• Available now
  
• LCoS technology
  
• 4K and full 3D
  
• HDR
  
• 4K@60p (up to 4:4:4) signal
  
• Full speed 18Gbps HDCP 2.2 HDMI inputs
  
• Powered lens memory
  
• X/Y lens shift
  
• 1700 lumens claimed
  
• 40000:1 contrast ratio claimed
  
• Uses e-Shift* technology to achieve 4K