Epson Pro Cinema 6040UB 3D LCD Projector Review Test Bench

Test Bench

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 17,600:1

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Pre- and post-calibration measurements were made with the Epson’s Cinema preset active. Maximum contrast measurements were made with the ECO lamp mode and High Speed Auto Iris setting active. With this configuration, taking measurements directly off the screen, the Epson’s black level measured 0.001 ft-L and peak white 17.86 ft-L for a contrast ratio of 17,600:1.

Highest peak brightness was delivered by the default settings in the Dynamic preset: a whopping 99.6 ft-L. Fan noise in this and other presets with lamp mode set to High was noticeable in a quiet room at my 6-foot seating distance from the projector.

With the Epson calibrated for high dynamic range in its Digital Cinema mode using an HDR test disc (supplied by Samsung and not commercially available), light output on a 100 IRE window pattern was 29.5 ft-L. At this setting, with the Power Consumption adjusted to Medium, the projector was able to display white and color detail from its Clipping & Tone Mapping test pattern corresponding to the 1,000-nit marker (75 IRE brightness) on the test disc. Black levels with these settings proved too elevated for HDR, however, so I ended up switching to ECO Power Consumption mode, which had the added benefit of reducing fan noise and ultimately still displayed the 1,000-nit marker.

Before performing the 1080p/Rec. 709 calibration in Cinema mode, the Epson’s color temperature default preset delivered a fairly accurate grayscale with the Delta E averaging out to 3.5. Calibration improved that figure to 1.6, with a high of 3.8 at 20% brightness. (Delta E is a figure of merit that indicates how closely a display adheres to the Rec. 709 HD color standard. Experts generally agree that levels below 3 are visibly indistinguishable from perfect color tracking.)

The Delta E of the Epson’s color points in the Cinema mode’s default settings averaged out to a reasonably accurate 3.1. Calibration using the projector’s color management system adjustments delivered about the same result. With the projector calibrated for DCI (P3) color space in Digital Cinema mode using the patterns on the Samsung test disc and the P3 target in the CalMAN software, the Delta E of the Epson’s color points averaged out to 8.5.

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With the 0 Gamma preset selected, gamma in the Cinema mode (1080p/Rec. 709) averaged 1.8 and displayed relatively poor tracking. Post-calibration, gamma was slightly more linear and averaged 1.9 with a high of 2.2 at 100 IRE. Although the Epson provides custom gamma controls, these proved mostly ineffective in making changes to the projector’s performance.

Picture uniformity was excellent, with gray full-field test patterns showing no visible tinting. The Epson performed unevenly on our suite of video processing tests. Clipping, luma, and chroma resolution all checked out fine, but the 6040UB tripped up on our 3:2 and 2:2 pulldown patterns.—AG

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brenro's picture

Where is the Texas Instruments 4K UHD chip announced last year?

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