Home Cinema 5050UB 4K PRO-UHD 3-Chip Projector with HDR,White

I’ve been using this projector for a few weeks and it is excellent color and brightness for a living room with some ambient light. I don’t think there is any 4k(ish) projector which will display a better image in these lighting conditions. I was comparing to the BenQ HT5550 and the colors and blacks are so much deeper it’s baffling. This is definitely a viable option for true 4K gaming as well. I’ve been playing The Witcher 3 streaming from my PC over an Nvidia Shield at 4K with all settings maxed and its beautiful and VERY responsive. Granted, this is technically only a 2k projector up scaling 4K but with true 4K content it still looks amazing unless you are about 3ft from the screen. BenQ was definitely sharper pixels but much slower and dull compare to this projector. If you plan on gaming from your projector this is clearly the best option for the money. Why didn’t it get 5 stars? Well, take a look at the attached pictures and you can see a blue dot which is only visible VERY close to the screen and on near black images. I called Epson and they claimed it was defective and offered to do a return without any question. I’m trying to decide whether to do it through them or through Amazon but other than the defect it’s an excellent unit. I will definitely be getting another one. Edit: changing my review to 5 after getting a perfect replacement. I have been extremely happy with this purchase and I continue to stay informed on the competition with no regrets. This is definitely the best projector you can get for the money, especially if you need the extra brightness. I’ll be keeping this until laser gets more refined.

This is our second Home Cinema projector by Epson. This one is a good upgrade from our previous 5030. Great improvement in the picture quality and functionality. Starts up in seconds and the picture is high resolution with great color. Pleased.

I was surprised how much larger this was than my Mitsubishi HC – 4900, which had been a trusty steed for over 15 years in my theater. My ceiling mount was not large enough and probably was not strong enough so I ordered the PCMD Mount designed for this unit. It is currently sitting on a bookcase in my theater directly under where it will be ceiling mounted. I unpacked it, connected the power and HDMI cable coming from my Roku box via a receiver, turned it on. All I had to do was adjust the focus and zoom and I was watching breathtaking new detail and brightness in my theater. I guess this has incredible capabilities to fine-tune every little detail but I'm more of a turn on and enjoy guy. It's only been about two weeks but what used to be a place that we occasionally went to watch a movie is now about the only place we go to watch TV. Amazingly it looks as good as our one-year-old 65 inch Samsung in the living room. If it holds up half as long as the Mitsubishi I will be happy. For the first time I am searching for 4K content and if you get this definitely check out some of the planet earth stuff at 4K, absolutely incredible. And this was a pretty big splurge for me!

Thanks to the seller for quick shipping. Anyone considering this projector would not be disappointed. We previously had the Epson Home Cinema 3800 and while it served us well, we felt the need for an upgrade to get better picture quality. After careful research between the Epson models we decided on the 5050UB. We were immediately surprised by the picture quality with the lights on in our movie room. The quality got even better after I dimmed the lights. This is a great product for anyone looking for a home theater projector.

I purchased the LG HU80KA a year ago to test the practicality of having a projector set up within my living room. I also own the LG OLED65C7, which I use for viewing 4k UHD content in "beautiful" mode. The HU80KA has helped me realize that I have a reasonable amount of space for projector use; also, I quite enjoy 110" screen size versus a now-measly 65 inch display. It's hard to go back from that. With that said, I decided to get the 5050UB instead of the JVC NX7 due to zero JVC dealers within my area. I would have to hand-carry a unit onto a plane and bring it with me in order to acquire one. Furthermore, the price range is significantly higher than the Epson. The idea of carrying a 50-pound package (in the box, 44lbs for the projector itself) through customs and flights, getting jostled and possibly destroyed in transit meant that I wasn't sure the risk was worth the benefit. So here I am, watching Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 with the Epson 5050UB, mouth agape, and an unwillingness to stop watching anything and everything possible, all at once, out of sheer joy from my visual experience. If you want to know more about the HU80KA, I have an extensive review. Long story short, I like its portability with 4k HDR options, but the visual output/quality really frustrated me. The Epson 5050UB far exceeds my expectations. It is, in point of fact, good enough for me to consider abandoning my OLED 65-inch TV since video quality is good enough to more than satisfy me, but with sheer size of screen... it makes my LG feel a little irrelevant. Current playback gear: I am using the Oppo UDP-203 with 'video settings' tone mapping for a 250-nit display. I also have the Marantz SR-7011 receiver. I have a 110" .95 gain high contrast grey screen. Alright, onto the review! The Good Stuff: Pretty much everything. Especially coming off of my previous year's projector purchase, the Epson manages to smash and destroy any qualms I had about what projectors are capable of. Tone mapping: Ridiculous. I have had no sense of bloom, or macroblocking. I can even punch up the "HDR" iris settings to 3 or 4, get more brightness, yet retain black levels and color reproduction without bleeding brights, or milky blacks. Black levels: Deep, dark blacks. I don't catch a hint of crush, either. Out of the box, this projector is already real close to outstanding. I think most wouldn't have to adjust video settings at all. Color reproduction: Excellent balance across the spectrum. Flesh tones are quite natural. Colors for more showy movies - such as GotG V2 - have a lot of natural saturation, yet still retain a good natural "pop" without getting too muddled. Specular highlights: Very good. The OLED still holds the crown for bright speckles and reflections. A good example is on the 4k UHD of "ALIEN" when Brett walks into the water-ridden back room looking for the cat, Jonesy. As he walks in, just before he allows water droplets to fall on his face, the water gleaming off of the metal doorframe, mixed with the rust and texture are less prominent with the Epson. However, it's not so significantly lower-class that it upsets me all that much. "Black Hawk Down" also has countless moments of specular spectacularity, and the Epson does a very good job at trying to match my OLED, but doesn't quite reach the same levels of excellentness. Detail/clarity: I don't think that just because a projector is "faux-k" (pixel shifting), that it is a deal-breaker. Epson is known for having some of the best pixel-shifting technology for projectors, and they've pushed technology a step further with the 5050UB. I will say that the HU80KA always looked too soft, and even HDR content still looked like a "good" blu-ray. That sense of softness is wiped away with the Epson. It is not quite as sharp and pristine as my OLED, but gosh if there isn't a heck of a lot of detail. When I watched the sandstorm sequence in "Mad Max: Fury Road", I couldn't believe how much easier it was to notice all the singular specs of sand that kept flying across Max's face, and how the wear and tear on vehicles - or stitching in the clothing - presented itself in ways I couldn't as easily notice on a screen half this size (let alone on the previous projector). I give detail and sharpness an 8.5/10. Movies and shows that have film grain is nicely textured and well resolved. It adds to the film-like resonance that can already be associated with having a "movie projector" in the home. Brightness: This is listed as 2600 lumens. It's important to consider that every company measures their lumen output differently. Furthermore, different viewing menu options (Natural, Cinema, Dynamic, etc...) have different levels of brightness/output. Thus, the brightest mode for most projectors will look very green in presentation, and other lamp/video settings will be as much as half the amount of brightness. Using this projector in Digital Cinema is a little darker than Bright Cinema, and Natural is the brightest to my eyes. I will say that "Natural" mode still blows me away in color and black levels. It's very bright. I stick mostly to Digital Cinema mode for 4k HDR content. Colors are slightly better, but I think for most - and for those who love brightness - Natural is still a more than viable option! Lens shift/Positioning Options: Stellar. My HU80KA had no lens shift at all, and placing it directly parallel to the bottom of my screen (31.5 inches) meant that I was losing a seat for friends when they came to visit. With the 5050UB, I now have it placed LITERALLY straight in the middle to the position of my projector screen at 62" high. What's also great is that when there is no device outputting to the projector, when you adjust lens settings (focus; shift; zoom), there is a grid displayed. This is a massive help, and I was able to perfectly center the projector, adjust pitch and yaw, while moving slightly left/right to fix keystone all within 5 minutes. What a blessing! Zoom also allows for a lot of leeway. My projector is positioned 12' 4" from my screen, and it is using roughly 15% of the zoom. I could choose to place it a little closer, or much farther behind me should I decide to do so. This, combined with the lenient lens shift options means that there is a LOT of space for positioning. Excellent latency (for gaming): I have no issues about casual gaming on this projector. The latency is tested as 23-27ms, and that's darned good for a projector. I wouldn't use it for hardcore fps gaming, but it's awesome for single-player gaming and using the Switch with friends (as an example). It is quiet: I have read about some people complaining of buzzing in high lamp mode. I do not experience this at all. Take that for what it is. I watch movies with lower volume settings most of the time, and there is ZERO "buzzing". I sit about 1-3 feet to the side of the projector (it's just above my head), and the loudest it gets is like a very quiet fan blowing at low speed. It's July/August right now, and quite hot at home. I leave a fan on "low" while I watch movies, and I don't hear the projector's fan noise at all. I just hear the fan in front of me. The Bad: HDMI connection/handshake: It takes about 11 seconds for a 4k UHD to actually display on the projector after the movie starts. This means that I miss the first 11 seconds of the opening logo of a movie (oh dear!). One could always wait for the movie to start, then press PAUSE for 10 seconds and start the movie again, if it's that important for someone. For me personally, it's a minor qualm. However, others may be frustrated by it. Size: Yes, it's a large projector. However, I don't plan on moving it around, and it sits right behind me, positioned above my head and right in the middle of the screen (again, those awesome lens shift/positioning options can be beneficial). I wouldn't even consider this a "con" for the most part. Not only do I have the HU80KA for on-the-go use now, but ALSO, I don't consider a home theater projector as needing to be compact or portable. Usually, you intend to plant it somewhere, and let it sit. It's not "real" 4k: Again, many people seem hung up on faux-k being a deal-breaker for projectors. Hand on my heart, I think this projector has amazing clarity and precision. A true 4k projector costs a lot more, and in the end it will probably be 1) less bright, 2) have comparable and/or slightly less efficient contrast levels, 3) comparable or slower latency timing, 4) and cost a heck of a lot more. I would wager a 120" screen or larger, sitting 10 feet away might make a difference in native 4k. Maybe. CONCLUSION: I am quite impressed by this projector. Video quality is not quite as good as my 65" OLED, but it is a glorious projector that shoots out a bright, crisp, beautiful color and contrast presentation with deep and gorgeous black levels. Add to that the low latency, lower price point from native 4k projectors, excellent placement options, and ease of use, I really can't elaborate on how enthused I am by the Epson 5050UB.

I’ve owned this projector and used it for about a month. This review will probably repeat things given in previous reviews, but these are my opinions. PROS: A) motorized lens with lens memory. This was the primary draw for me to this projector. Being able to watch 16:9 ratio and 2.35:1 ratio without an anamorphic lens is exactly what I wanted. B) picture quality is really good. This projector used pixel shifting for 4K, but I can’t tell. I’ve also read reviews that DLP pictures are more crisp, but the picture on this projector is good enough that I’m not sure if I could tell a difference. Maybe with side by side comparison, but as a stand alone, it’s good. C) auto detect on sources. If something is 4K, the projector auto detects that to switch to HDR colors. CONS: A) unit is large. Weighs about 25 lbs. there are definitely mounts that will hold it, but if you are looking for easy mobility, this isn’t it. B) this could just be my unit, but the lens memory doesn’t save the picture at the same position as it was originally set. For instance, if I have the picture perfectly squared on my screen, save that to memory 1, then adjust the picture, often times when I hit memory 1 to go back to the original size, it isn’t exactly square with the screen. Not a huge deal. It’s not that far off, but it’s an annoyance. C) when shifting to or from 4K, the screen will black out momentarily. I’ve noticed it mostly when watching sources from Netflix. Start a show, screen blacks out for 15 or so seconds, then the picture reappears. Sometimes, it will do this a second time. I just pause the show when this happens, but it is another annoyance. The annoyances with this are the reason for the 4 star rating vice 5 stars. Based just off of picture and brightness, I would have given this 5 stars. Edit (4/11/21): I replaced my old HDMI cable with a fiber optic HDMI cable and that seemed to correct the issue I was having with a long delay of the screen being blank when shifting from HD to 4K content.

If you can get past the price of how astronomically much this costs which seems like a total scam at first, this actually is the best prosumer option for you. It’s rated highest by all the people in all the leading reviewers. This is my second Epson now. The main reason I get this is because of the quality and versatility. I have an offset layout of my house where I can mount the projector and typically you have to have something dead in line with the screen. This one has enough features to where is can adjust the image in all directions and the zoom/sides, too, which is important to size the screen borders correctly. The focus is super precise and is motorized so you don’t have to literally do it on a ladder and there’s a lens lock feature on the remote so you can’t accidentally change an otherwise pretty set picture totally mess it up without some effort. The best thing is that even if you do manage to lose or somehow break this lighted remote, there is a very small amount of controls hidden behind an easily accessible little door, plus the replacement remotes are readily found online for $75 or less. and The brightness of this newer model projector is only about 100-200 lumens which doesn’t sound like a lot but it’s actually really noticeable. I was surprised. I can comfortably watch it during the day with the blinds semi-closed and one window completely uncovered where before the picture was much dimmer. The picture is awesome since even though it is native 1080x1024 WUXA, it has this upscaling feature that does something with the pixels to change the resolution to 4K. This is a super quiet unit and the edge to edge focus on this is pretty much perfect. It’s got amazing contrast like it says and astounding brilliant color. There’s high speed processing of the images with no lag either. It’s like a magical box that costs $3,000.... yes, the older 5040UB is $1,000 less so you could easily get that one but I would say the detail compared to the 5040UB and this one is fairly noticeable and the light output is definitely noticeable. The lamps don’t last forever but I am a heavy tv and movie watcher and I haven’t even made a small dent in mine so far. It will last forever. 3 words of caution: this thing is more heavy than most machines out there but it’s also better. With that heaviness comes the fact that it’s a little bulky, too. The last thing is that to make sure you get the extended warranty you should do with all major electronics anyway (and keep track of when they expire). It’s well worth it and can make a difference. I had to have one replaced before and it was a godsend. All in all it’s a good buy if you are willing to shell out that much cash. It’s one of the best out there. There are some probably a little better, sure, but they also lack what this one has with the features. Not everyone has a dedicated theater room in their house. I don’t. You have to be practical.

The projector itself is a very good projector. Support, not so much. When I first hooked it up, it said it had no HDMI signal. So I called support. They suggested I move the BluRay player over next to the projector and see if that got a signal. It did, so they said the projector was fine, but I needed a shorter HDMI cable. My 60' HDMI cable from 6 years ago was too long. It was routed in the wall and ceiling. So I bought a 50', top quality, 4K HDMI cable and figured a new shorter route for it. It still didn't work. So I tried a 4K HDMI range extenter. It didn't work either. Then I tried putting the BluRay back in the rack and running it through the original 60' routed cable without going through the receiver and it worked. Tried the Spectrum DVR cable box the same way and it worked too. Of course, without the Yamaha Receiver, there was no sound. And naturally, I am relaying this daily to the Epson Help Desk. They suggested I get a new receiver. So I got on chat support with Yamaha and in a couple of minutes, they suggested HDMI Mode 2 instead of the default Mode 1, along with instructions on how to do that. That actually worked! I even called Epson support to let them know about Mode 2, but all they could say was that their projector was fine. I now love the projector. 4K is great and there is a lot of it on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Other features, including brightness are much better than my old HD Panasonic PT-AE8000. It's a shame I had so much hassle getting it to work and that Epson seemed to have no clue about the two HDMI modes on my Yamaha receiver. I hope this review helps others avoid the week of hell I went through.