More capabilities include picture-in-picture, a Dynamic Iris for improved dark scene handling (but if you are serious, have some extra dollars, and have a great room – consider their HC5050UB to be a black level champ). CFI – “smooth motion” – for your sports and if you prefer, general viewing, but at least avoid using CFI for movie watching (not just Epsons). And an excellent remote control with HDMI Link, so you can control other devices with it.
Both versions accept 4K content – they are 1080p pixel shifters (1920 x 1080 x2), while the other 4K capable projectors are typically 1920 x 1080 x4 pixel shifters, which are called 4K UHD. When it comes to HDR, the HC4010 only supports HDR10, not the broadcast HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) – Epson’s slightly newer UB projectors support both. Note that HDR10 is by far the most widely used at this time.
Gamers rejoice – If you want to play 4K 60fps games, it can, but only with HDR off. There are some lower cost projectors like the BenQ HT3550 that can do 4K HDR at 60fps for gaming, but I can’t at the moment think of any that are really fast enough for serious gamers in terms of input lag. The Epson’s 27-28ms lag, however, is fast enough for just about all serious high-speed gamers. So, you can have great response time, but your 4K game will only be in Standard Dynamic Range.
Right out of the box, these Epsons look about as good and accurate in terms of color as you can expect. Only the brightest mode has pumped-up greens, and not nearly as bad as most projectors’ pumped-up greens. The rest look, at least, very good. Our calibration settings make small improvements in color accuracy and picture, but here’s a projector that looks great without messing at all. Only Sony does better at out of the box color, but their $1,999 VPL-HW45 doesn’t do 4K content, and their least expensive 4K capable is $4,999. ‘Nough said.
Because with HDR, the more lumens the better, you can use two of its 10 savable picture settings to have both a very bright 4K HDR mode with extremely good color, or a less bright mode (about 60%) with virtually full P3 color, something no competitor comes close too. You around 2,000 lumens in that beautifully tuned brighter 4K mode, and 1200+ in Dark Cinema with HDR. Speaking of Picture quality and HDR, This generation handles HDR far better than the first Epsons, and does a really fine job. Not overly bright (less HDR-ish) not overly dark (tons of pop but uncomfortably dim). The Epsons’ controls give you plenty of latitude, but they’ve got it right – you can just tune your EOTF (gamma) for your taste.
