When comparing Epson Home Cinema 5040UB vs LG PH300, the Slant community recommends Epson Home Cinema 5040UB for most people. In the question“What are the best projectors?” Epson Home Cinema 5040UB is ranked 2nd while LG PH300 is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose Epson Home Cinema 5040UB is:
When playing 4K content, this Epson has an amazingly detailed picture. 5040UB uses pixel-shifting, which approximates the image of a native 4K projector. It does not produce an actual 4K picture like a 4K projector does, but it makes the content look much sharper than 1080p.
Specs
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Pros
Pro 4K content support
When playing 4K content, this Epson has an amazingly detailed picture. 5040UB uses pixel-shifting, which approximates the image of a native 4K projector. It does not produce an actual 4K picture like a 4K projector does, but it makes the content look much sharper than 1080p.
Pro Amazing picture
The 5040UB is bright, at around 2500 color brightness and 2500 white brightness, thanks to its 3LCD technology. It has vibrant colors and a bright picture and an outstanding contrast ratio of 1 000 000:1.
Though the number is boosted by the dynamic iris (regulates light output actively), the native contrast ratio is still 4600:1, ensuring a detailed picture also during darker movie scenes.
Pro Convenient set-up
Exceptional set-up features ensure the picture is always in line with the screen. Powered lens position with 10 presets give you different settings to choose from. Motorized focus, 2.1x zoom, and ultra wide lens shift let you set up the projector easily. The picture is easy to position on the screen.
Pro Quiet fans in Eco-Mode
The fans on 5040UB can be just a bit noisy in performance mode. In ECO mode they produce only 20dB of noise, which is barely noticeable.
Pro Low input lags for gaming
The input lag on this Epson is only 30.8 milliseconds, beating most of its rivals. If you want to use your projector for gaming, 5040UB is the best option.
Pro No rainbow effects
Like all LCD projectors, the Epson 5040UB will not show you any rainbow effects.
Pro Great picture for video content
LG PH300 has a native 1280x720 high-definition resolution with a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is great for playing video content. For a pico-projector, the PH300 also has very decent black levels (the contrast ratio is 100 000:1).
Pro Very small and light
This LG is only 2.5 x 3.5 x 4.5 inches in size. It weighs just one pound.
Pro Everlasting lamp
The lamp lasts for up to 30 000 hours, so you probably will never have to replace it. Replacement lamps for PH300 are hard to find anyways.
Pro Low input lag for gaming
It has a 33ms input lag, meaning you can take it to a lan-party or play video games on a big screen while travelling.
Pro Rather quiet fans
The fan noise is a high-pitch whiny noise: 26 dB in normal mode and 28 dB in high brightness mode. The projector is rather quiet, but you can still hear the fans buzzing.
Cons
Con Average lamp-life and expensive lamp
The lamp life is 3500 hours, though it can go up to 5000 hours when used in Eco-Mode. Replacement are available for $300, which is on the expensive side.
Con Bad motion handling in 4K - blurry picture
Creative Frame Interpolation technology (fixes motion blur) does not work with the pixel-shifting technology. In other words, the picture might still get blurry during fast motion, when watching an enhanced 4K picture.
Con Poor sound quality
It’s not recommended to use the built-in audio system. These one-watt stereo speakers have disappointing sound quality.
Con Rainbow artifacts
It is a single-chip DLP projector, so you might experience a rainbow effect on the screen every once in a while.