#e-shift

In fact, Epson 5040UB and Epson 4010 marked the transition from Full HD to 4K in the evolution of Epson projectors. Аs known, Epson introduced Home Cinema 4050 4K PRO-UHD at September's CEDIA Expo. A few weeks later, the company unveiled a consumer version of this projector called Home Cinema 4010 (EH-TW7200), which was $ 200 cheaper than the HC4000 starting price.

The video at the end demonstrates this model. But in the same period, Epson 5040UB (EH-TW9300) rapidly increased its popularity in the market. These models had identical design, similar functionality and close specs. In fact, the company simultaneously presented two roughly identical projectors, but at a different price. Of course, there was a natural question about the ratio of their consumer qualities.

HC4010 vs HC5040UB

The HC4010 and HC5040UB have very similar main specs, including: - their lenses provide 2.1x zoom; - projectors have traditionally high quality components and assembly; - innovative 15 glass-element Epson lens; - 4K / UHD HDR content support with wobulation (4K-Enhancement or e-shift or pixel-shifting technology) - a wide range of lens shift; - memory for 10 lens position for CIH (constant image height) at widescreen screen; - dynamic iris to increase dynamic contrast in dark scenes; - 1080p resolution support in 3D mode. But, of course, the models HC4010 vs HC5040UB have a few minor differences, including brightness (2400/2500 ANSI lm), dynamic contrast (200,000: 1/1,000,000: 1) and price ($ 1,799 / $ 2,299 in 2018). But most importantly, the HC4010 uses second generation of 4K-Enhancement with 4K PRO-UHD name. According to the company’s information, their engineers have increased angle of the leading and trailing edges of the electronic shift pulse, reducing the delay between the bottom and the top of the pixel shift change. This engineer solution reduces downtime, increasing the light output, color accuracy, and performance, in general.

Dinamic contrast ratio and Black Level

In fact, the contrast can be considered the main and only significant difference between these models. Compared with the previous HC4000 model (contrast 140,000: 1, brightness 2200 ANSI lm), the HC5040UB showed significant advantage in black depth for a darkened room with a low APL (average picture level) in dark areas of the frame. Of course, this advantage decreased with increasing ambient light in the room. Unfortunately, HC5040UB vs HC4010 did not demonstrate practically any advantages in this aspect. However, in dark, complex scenes, it significantly exceeds the 4010 ( with on / off dynamic iris), showing finer differences between gray and black. In fact, the increase in dynamic contrast enhances the projector's ability to reproduce complex content in high quality. But this does not manifest itself in fairly simple bright scenes.

Resolution & Detail

As know, Epson originally used the name 4K Enhanced for its 1080p pixel-shifting technology. But after improvement, the company calls it 4K PRO-UHD technology. Technically, the company's engineers shortened the transition time between pixel shifts by increasing the duration of on-screen pixels.

According to the company, this upgrade improved rendering the picture detail. Moreover, Epson uses various degrees of image processing to improve the contrast characteristics. It depends on the selection in the range from Preset 1 (least enhancement) to Preset 5 (most enhancement). The degree of the edge enhancement processing provides optimization depending on the characteristics of the content. For example, videos with a frequency higher than 24 fps require lower presets. In addition, high presets can form spots in some unfocused areas in the frame. But reducing the preset to 2 eliminates it almost completely. But usually, Preset 4 or 5 provide excellent results. Testing with the 4K spiral pattern (SDR, 8-bit) showed almost identical results for both projectors when raising the settings from Off through Preset 5.

Image sharpness was tested using UHD demo disc from Panasonic with video of 4K resolution. For example, one clip contains a train movement in the autumn forest. A huge number of bright colorful leaves allows the projector to demonstrate its full potential.

Both models showed roughly the same quality with low settings. A slight difference in favor of 5040UB begins to manifest itself at Preset 3 and above. But frankly, it is very insignificant.

HDR Tone-Mapping

In fact, Epson 4010 and 5040UB only support the HDR10 standard without Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and HLG. As known, HDR content often uses peak brightness of 1000 nits or more. Of course, most modern projectors and even mid-priced TVs do not provide such brightness. Therefore, modern displays convert such content. Its processing algorithms narrow the content range to its own dynamic range. This technology is known as tone-mapping. Of course, it requires a compromise. For example, some frames after cropping will lose detail in bright image areas. Both models have manual HDR settings for four modes and two auto settings, which are activated when identifying HDR content. In fact, Auto 1 (Bright) corresponds to manual HDR 1, and Auto to HDR 2. Increasing the HDR mode number reduces the image brightness, ensuring the choice of the optimal mode for content and viewing conditions. For example, the first two modes are well suited for scenes with bright effects. But they reduce the detail around the image perimeter. Accordingly, modes 3 and 4 cut too bright scenes, keeping details in the shadows. HDR grayscale step pattern helps to assess the quality of the HDR modes.

In total, they showed about the same HDR rendering for both projectors. But Epson 4010 shows more confident tone mapping in 3 and 4 HDR modes.

Conclusion

Initially, models with 4K resolution began to actively displace Full HD format in the TVs segment. However, this process was slow enough due to several reasons. First, the small amount of 4K content significantly limited the development of this segment. Secondly, the difference is visually perceived only on large enough screens (50" and above). But the screens with a diagonal of 90" and above already perfectly demonstrate the difference. Of course, such model worth a lot. Therefore, projectors offer a very good alternative. But a few years ago, 4K projectors have also been very expensive. For example, the most affordable 1 chip DLP-projectors with a 4K resolution are only slightly cheaper compared to LCoS-models of entry level. But they have much less contrast, a strong rainbow effect, do not support HDR and 3D and usually do not provide real 4K resolution. Of course, the development of Pixel Shifting technology radically changed the situation. But the development of Pixel Shifting technology radically changed the situation. As known, it uses wobulation to increase the resolution. The device divides the original 4K signal into several arrays, shifts them relative to each other and sequentially displays several images with offset pixels (2 or 4 for Two-Phase or Four-Phase Pixel Shifting, respectively). Increasing pixel density on the screen and high speed create the illusion of increasing resolution. Today, several companies use this technology in their projectors under various names, including e-Shift or eShift (JVC), 4K Enhancement or 4KE (Epson), and TI UHD (Texas Instruments, informally). Of course, their real resolution is inferior to Native 4K. But a significant increase in visualization at a relatively low price ensured the immense popularity of these projectors.

Epson 5040UB (EH-TW9300)

Epson 5040UB (EH-TW9300) became the first model with 4K-Enhancement technology in the evolution of Epson Full HD/4K projectors. As the name implies (UB abbreviation), the projector supports, Epson UltraBlack technology, which uses a compensation filter to increase the efficiency of controlling the light polarization. In fact, it suppresses excess light in the signal, increasing the dynamic contrast ratio to an unprecedented value of 1,000,000: 1. Epson 5040UB has 2.1x zoom lens and amazing setting range, including Lens Shift of ±96% vertically and ±47% horizontally. Throw ratio of 1.35:1 - 2.84:1 (D:W) provides Image Size of 127 cm - 762 cm at Throw Distance of 3.1 m - 9.0 m. In fact, the projector provides 150" diagonal (for a 16: 9 format) from a distance 14.75 - 31 ft. But, of course, the zoom lens reduces the lumen output while increasing the distance. The loss of brightness at the maximum distance reaches 33%. The projector supports Vertical Digital Keystone. Input lag varies from 28 ms without FI (frame interpolation) up to 104 ms. Model also has Picture-in-Picture, Frame Interpolation and Lens Memory functions. Traditionally for 3LCD projectors, Epson 5040UB has low noise level, which does not exceed 20 dB in Eco mode on a 106-inch screen. The model also supports UHD Blu-ray format and modern Internet services, including Netflix, Amazon, Okko, etc.

Testing

Measurements of real brightness in different modes demonstrated the following values: - Dynamic – 3527 / 2719 / 2645 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) - Bright Cinema – 2401 / 1851 / 1801 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) - Natural – 1864 / 1437 / 1398 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) - Cinema – 1100 / 848 / 825 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) - B&W Cinema – 2194 / 1691 / 1645 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) - Digital Cinema – 1165 / 898 / 874 ANSI lm (High/Medium/Eco) Thus, the real brightness in Dynamic mode was significantly higher compared to spec (3527 vs 2500 lm). But, more importantly, the brightness with a more accurate color in Bright Cinema almost corresponds to the stated, reaching 2401 lm. Bright Cinema provides достаточно яркое изображение для 225" diagonal (16:9 image) at 2400 lm in a dark room. Of course, viewing HDR content requires a reduction in image size. Eco mode reduces lamp power by about 25%.

PROS & CONS

Of course, EPSON projectors need no introduction. As known, Seiko Epson Corporation is the holding company of the Epson group of the Japanese diversified concern Seiko Group. Company has production facilities in Japan, USA, Italy, Great Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. As known, the development of one of the main projection technology called Epson 3LCD became an important event in its history. Already in 1989 the company introduced the world's first 3LCD VPJ-700 projector. Today, three-matrix 3LCD technology successfully competes with DLP and LCoS (D-ILA, SXRD) technologies. Of course, over the past decades, the company has radically improved its projectors by developing a large number of innovative technologies. As a result, virtually all modern Epson projectors, including the 4K PRO-UHD series (5050UB and 4010) consistently included in the group of leaders in this segment.

EPSON innovations

4K PRO-UHD Projection This innovative technology includes a set of video signal processing algorithms. Of course, the increase in resolution due to wobulation (e-shift or Pixel Shifting or 4K Enhancement) is a major one. But new processing algorithms also improve color accuracy and color range. As known, 4K-Enhancement pixel-shifting technology divides the original high-resolution image into 2 or 4 pictures (Two-Phase or Four-Phase Pixel Shifting), shifts them relative to each other by half-pixel diagonally and transmits sequentially on the screen. High speed creates the perception illusion of these pictures as a single image. In addition, its resolution is perceived as the sum of all resolutions of these images due to their shift, which visually increases the pixel density. In this way, technology transforms Full HD resolution into pseudo 4K. This technology uses S2 Pixel-Shift Processor for precise control of each LCD chips. Moreover, it supports full HD resolution in 3D Mode. In addition, the Precision HDR Adjustment option very precisely adjusts HDR performance with 16-level discreteness. Digital Cinema mode provides the Extreme Color Gamut option to reproduce full DCI-P3 color space. According to the company, the increase in color performance reaches 50%. As known, Epson UltraBlack technology uses a compensation filter to increase the efficiency of controlling the light polarization. In fact, it suppresses excess light in the signal, increasing the dynamic contrast ratio to an unprecedented value of 1,200,000: 1.

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