3D Performance
As discussed elsewhere in the review, the 3D is very good. It's relatively free of projector induced crosstalk. The images above, I should note, are, of course 2D images, but from movies available in 3D, including a recent Spiderman, and The Hobbit.
Equally important to the quality of the 3D picture, is the brightness. Having that nice relatively bright 3D Dynamic mode gives 3D viewing some respectable color, but with the brightness you need to enjoy a long movie in 3D on a 100" diagonal screen without feeling that the picture is too dim to watch. In a good room (with almost no ambient light) you can push out larger in terms of screen size, but by about 120" diagonal many of us start feeling like the 3D is definitely underpowered.
At least this Epson has a goodly amount of lumens in 3D to start, which is more than most of the competition can claim.
Taking On The Competition
I should point out to those of you who skip around the review, that there is a lot more information about how the 4030 compares with projectors from other manufacturers on our Competitors page in this review.
Note please: The small images you see here do get truncated by this slideshow player. When you click to enlarge you will see the full side by side comparison images. With both pair, the Pro Cinema 4030 is on the left.
So, what is the serious competition? It's a short list of projectors that can even try to slug it out with the Pro Cinema 4030, without spending more: That list includes the BenQ W7000, the Panasonic PT-AE8000U, The Sharp XV-Z30000, the Acer H9500BD, and at least one very old Optoma that won't go away. One could even consider this projector competition for the Sony VPL-HW55 and the JVC DLA-X35 both being far more expensive.
There are plenty of notably less expensive projectors that could also be considered, including the Optoma HD25-LV, the BenQ W1070 and W1500, etc., but none of those really can be serious competition, due to issues such as brightness, image noise (HD25-LV), and most certainly; black level performance.
4030 vs. Epson UB Projectors
Pro Cinema 4030 (left) vs. last year's 5020UB
Generally its hard to tell these two apart. The more expensive 5020UB projector does slightly better blacks, but the exposures are different enough that you can't tell here.
Is the Pro Cinema 6030UB worth an extra $1000?
Good question. Are the slightly better black levels with the more expensive UB, worth it? Well, you also get lots of extra features, like CFI. Your budget likely will decide the answer.
