Shifting To 4K

Epson Home Cinema 4000 4K Enhanced 3LCD Projector

- Thomas J. Norton

NATIVE 4K IMAGING—WHERE the chips display all 8.3 million individual pixels (3840 x 2160) in each frame simultaneously—is still rare in an affordable consumer projector. Currently, the entry price is $5,000, for Sony’s new VPL- VW285ES. But last year, Epson introduced two 3LCD models that use pixel shifting to achieve an apparent resolution close to 4K. The less expensive of the two was the PowerLite Home Cinema 5040UB, still selling, as I write this, for around $2,700. (Its virtual twin, the Pro Cinema 6040UB, was reviewed in the October 2016 Sound & Vision.)

Epson calls their technology “4K Enhancement.” The imaging chips (one each for red, green, and blue) each provide 2 million pixels—standard 1080p. The 8.3 million pixels that make up each frame of a consumer 4K source are first processed down to roughly 4 million. These are then split into a pair of 2 million subframes. After the first of these subframes is displayed, the image is shifted diagonally by a microscopic amount, and the second sub-frame is displayed. The result: 4 million pixels are visible on the screen, displaced in time but flashed in sequence so quickly that persistence of vision makes them appear to be simultaneous.

JVC, of course, uses a similar technique in most of their LCOS designs, currently starting at $4,000. But now we have the Epson Home Cinema 4000, a pixel shifter at a very attractive $2,200. It offers most of the features of the 5040UB and brings 4K signal compliance, high dynamic range, wide color gamut, and Epson’s 4K Enhancement to more potential buyers than ever before.

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