Epson Home Cinema 3200 4K 3LCD Projector w/ HDR Expired

It only puts out 4.15 million pixels like all the epson "4k enhanced" models. Its 1080p x 2 pixel shift. Not 1080p x 4 pixel shift for 8.3 million pixels like the .47" DLP 4k projectors

Is it real 4K or pixel shift?

Edit: it's E-shift, so not real 4K.

Pulling a post I did at Christmas on another projector thread. There are many things to consider when getting a projector. This info should help people thinking up upgrading.

1. Light control - If you have a lot of light in your viewing area, or want daytime viewing, lumen is key. If you have a dark room, dark walls and ceiling, you'll get the most out of your picture. Contrast benefits just vanish once light leaks into the room. That said...

2. Contrast - No other spec has a greater impact on picture quality than ANSI (checker board) Contrast. This is why people rave about OLED. Don't believe the projector manufacturer contrast rating as they are mostly made up (save for JVC who seem to be honest and accurate). Find reviews on Native Contrast specs.

3. Screen Selection - After considering ambient light and contrast, the right screen makes a huge difference. In complete light control a Cine White screen is best. For mixed light viewing, look at a gray screen to gain back some contrast. To combat light during the daytime or with lights on, look at an ambient light rejecting (ALR) screen.

CLARIFICATION: Darker Screen materials don't actually enhance contrast, the lower black level. Black will look better, but you whites also drop, you lose pop.

4. Flexibility of Placement - Where you install the projector really depends on a number of things. It could be ceiling, shelf, table. But unless you built a room specifically to the geometry of projection, where the projector is dead center beam to screen, don't discount horizontal and vertical lens shift. Lens shift makes placement much more flexible and does not distort picture like Keystone Correction Does (LPT Don't use Keystone).

5. Intended Use - After the specs and logistics, the "best" projector for you comes down to use. Gaming favors input lag, sports benefits from motion performance and cinema contrast. Well, all use cases benefit from contrast, but I watch a lot of SciFi with space backgrounds.

Other considerations:

A. Noise - Some projectors, usually smaller ones, can get have a lot of fan noise on high lumen output.

B. Lamb Life and Replacement Cost - They can be pricey, official ones at least. Up to $300. For heavy use, take this into account.

C. HDMI 2.0 (18Gbps) - Most older projectors have HDMI 1.4a and can't do 4K@60Hz w/HDR. If you're a gaming, you want this. If you stream a lot of 4K, you may want this. If you are mainly Blu-Ray Disk, you may be fine at HDMI 1.4 doing 4K/HDR @ 24P.

D. Wireless HDMI - It's a gimmick. Save yourself the headache.

E. DLP vs LCD - DLP can have better contrast, usually better motion performance and smaller gaps between pixels, but have a light border around the outside edge of the screen. LCD, and we are mainly talking Epson, have equal white and color brightness, so they are good for fighting ambient light.

F. FauxK and Pixel Shifting - Most DLP shift 1080P x 4 to get the 8 million pixels for 4K. It's neat trick and definitely sharper than 1080P. LCD, again Epson, uses a 1080Px2 pixel shift for around 4 millions pixels. Not as "sharp" as native 4K or DLP pixel shift, but still a bump for 1080P. Both look great, and will probably not be noticeable different unless side by side.

G. HDR - On a proper display, with 1000+ nits brightness and appropriate color depth (10 or 12 BIT), HDR content can look amazing. This is on televisions, some monitors and very few mobile screens. Projectors just can't get this bright yet, unless you are looking at $$$$ lasers. But what you do get with HDR enabled projectors is increased color depth, which helps with gradients. Matched with good native contrast, colors can look good in HDR, nothing close to "good TV" HDR, but better than standard color on older 1080P Projectors.

H. Viewing Distance - With as big as projector screens can be, resolution is a factor. But the amount of money you spend to prioritize resolution over everything else depends on how far you sit from the screen (and your wallet). There are plenty of calculators and guides online for recommended viewing distance. I will leave that to you for future Googling.

TLDR: The Epson in this thread is a good projector and will perform well for mixed media consumption (video games, videos on YouTube, movies). The Eshift 4K will look good. Just make sure to control lights in your room the best you can.

If you want to get into projectors, this is a good starting point. If you already have a 1080P projector, and are happy with it mostly, save your money for a projector with better contrast (i.e. Epson 5050UB).