Quacks Like A 4K-Enhanced Duck

FOR Crisp detail; handles whites well; intuitive control

AGAINST Blacks lack insight; brash colours

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. However, if it’s called “4K-enhanced”, as Epson’s EH-TW9300W projector is, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily getting a native 4K image.

The EH-TW9300W uses some complex processing to upscale Full HD video into 4K. It isn’t the first of Epson’s projectors to feature ‘4K-enhanced’ technology – the EH-LS10000, which was out in 2015, also had it – but for those hoping to get a true 4K-quality image at a lower cost, this isn’t it.

Clear compromise

The TW9300W will accept native 4K content but without a native 4K chip, it takes the incoming Ultra HD signal and downscales it to Full HD. It doesn’t give you as sophisticated or insightful an image as a true 4K projector, but with those starting at around £6000 there’s a clear compromise between cost and performance – and the TW9300W’s upscaling does look good, combined as it is with a HDR colour range.

Digging into the specs, the TW9300W can shine 2500 lumens onto your screen, with a claimed 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. That’s considerably more than the 1800 lumens and 120,000:1 ratio of the Full HD Sony VPL-HW65ES, our current favourite at this price point.