The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is a 4k HDR LCD projector. The projector has Epson's 4k PRO-UHD technology with a 3-chip design, allowing it to project colorful and sharp images with double the resolution of 1080p. It also comes with Epson's UltraBlack technology for enhanced contrast capabilities. It's fully 10-bit HDR capable and comes with manual focus and lens shifting options, as well as manual keystone correction. The projector has two HDMI 2.0 ports for full 4k @ 60Hz gaming, but no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth support.
Our Verdict
The Epson 5050UB is great for watching movies. It's bright, so it performs well in moderately lit rooms, but it's much better in dim or dark rooms due to its excellent contrast. The projector is bright enough to showcase its very wide color gamut, giving its image a vibrant look. The Epson's color accuracy is excellent out of the box, and it looks fabulous after calibration due to the projector's 11-point white balance and full color calibration features.
- Bright and colorful.
- Excellent contrast for a pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
Excellent color accuracy nearly out of the box.
- Very wide color gamut.
- No Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and doesn't have any smart features.
No Dolby Vision or HDR10+ support.
The Epson 5050UB is an okay big-screen gaming pick if you value image quality over responsiveness. Brightness is strong, and contrast is excellent for its class, so HDR worlds look rich, and dark scenes hold detail in a dim room. Plus, the projector is very accurate right out of the box, so your games look almost exactly like their designers intended. Still, it's limited to 60Hz, and its latency is functional at best, so twitch shooters or tight platformers feel better elsewhere, but it's okay for slower single-player titles. There's also no Dolby Vision support, so Xbox gamers will be sticking to HDR10.
- Bright and colorful.
- Excellent contrast for a pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
Excellent color accuracy nearly out of the box.
- Very wide color gamut.
Limited to 60Hz at all resolutions, and has no true 1440p support.
Input lag is okay for slower titles but isn't quick enough for anything else.
No Dolby Vision or HDR10+ support.
Changelog
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Updated Oct 03, 2025:
We made some minor adjustments before our official TBU 0.10 launch.
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Updated Oct 03, 2025:
We've added text to the Imaging, Optics, Noise, Supported Resolutions, HDR Format Support, 3D, Input Lag, and Audio Passthrough boxes as a result of our latest test bench. We've also added Gaming and Game Mode Responsiveness usages in the Verdict section.
- Updated Oct 03, 2025: We've converted the review to Test Bench 0.10, which updates our Design tests, and adds a whole new suite of Inputs tests. We also added new gaming-oriented usage scores in Our Verdict. See the 0.10 changelog.
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Updated Aug 13, 2025:
We mentioned the newly reviewed Epson Home Cinema 2350 and added a mention of it in the Differences Between Sizes and Variants section.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is a high-end model in Epson's mid-range 3LCD home theater line and serves as a solid option for home theater enthusiasts who don't want to splurge for a more premium unit. It uses pixel‑shift, has HDR10 and HLG support, and has motorized optics. In Epson's lineup, it slots above the basic Epson Home Cinema 1080 (which lacks HDR and smart streaming), the Epson Home Cinema 2350 (which adds pixel shifting, HDR support, and an Android TV dongle), and the Epson Home Cinema 3800 (which is brighter and has better contrast than the cheaper models). Here's how they stack up:
| Model | Native Resolution | Pixel-Shift (4K PRO-UHD) | Brightness | HDR Formats | Lens / Optics | Smart / Wireless |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epson Home Cinema 1080 | 1080p (3LCD) | No | 3,400 lm | None | 1.2× manual zoom; Throw 1.02–1.23; No lens shift | Built-in Wi-Fi 5 with Miracast screen mirroring; no Android TV |
| Epson Home Cinema 2350 | 1080p (3LCD) | 2-phase (1920×1080×2) | 2,800 lm | HDR10, HLG | 1.62× manual zoom; Throw 1.32–2.15; Vertical lens shift ±60% (manual) | Android TV dongle (Chromecast built-in); Bluetooth audio; HDMI ARC |
| Epson Home Cinema 3800 | 1080p (3LCD) | 2-phase (1920×1080×2) | 3,000 lm | HDR10, HLG | 1.62× manual zoom; Throw 1.32–2.15; Lens shift ±60% V / ±24% H (manual) | No Android TV; Bluetooth (incl. aptX) for audio |
| Epson Home Cinema 5050UB | 1080p (3LCD) | 2-phase (1920×1080×2) | 2,600 lm | HDR10, HLG | 2.1× motorized zoom/focus/shift; Throw 1.35–2.84; Lens shift ±96% V / ±47% H; lens memory | No built-in smart features |
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Popular Projector Comparisons
The Epson 5050UB is one of the best projectors you can buy. However, it's quite expensive, so you might be better off with something almost as good but for a much lower price, such as the Epson Home Cinema 3800. The 3800 doesn't look quite as good but is brighter, has speakers, and includes Bluetooth support. You could also opt for the XGIMI HORIZON Ultra, which has more features than the Epson projectors but with worse image quality. Still, if you're looking for the best, the Epson 5050UB is it.
See our recommendations for the best projectors for home theater and the best home projectors. If you're looking for something more general, look up our list of the best projectors instead.
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is slightly better than the Epson Home Cinema 3800. The 3800 has higher peak brightness than its more expensive sibling. Still, the 5050UB has slightly better contrast and a noticeably wider color gamut, so it's the better-looking of the two projectors when watching movies in a dark room.
For some purists the Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is a bit better than the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2, but the Valerion is the better choice for anyone else. That's because of the Valerion's versatility, as it has more modern features than the Epson, which doesn't have a smart OS, no casting support out-of-the-box, no wireless features, and no advanced gaming features. Still, what the Epson offers is extremely good image quality, as its contrast is much better than the Valerion's, and it's much more accurate out-of-the-box. Still, the Valerion has the edge for watching HDR content due to its much wider color gamut, alongside Dolby Vision and HDR10+; the Epson is limited to HDR10.
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is better than the BenQ HT4550i for watching movies, but the BenQ has the edge in gaming and smart features. The Epson has better contrast, so it looks better in dark rooms and is more accurate out-of-the-box than the BenQ. The BenQ, however, includes an Android TV 11 smart dongle with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, while the Epson has no smart or wireless features. The BenQ is also better for gamers with its 1080p @ 240Hz with low input lag capabilities.
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB is much better than the BenQ HT3550. The Epson is much brighter, with significantly brighter and saturated colors due to its brightness and excellent color gamut. It's also vastly more accurate before calibration and has fantastic accuracy post-calibration. The BenQ is smaller and lighter and has auto keystone correction on the vertical axis, so it's easier to carry around and faster to install.
We've independently bought and tested over 60 projectors, and we've published all the detailed results for each so you can decide which one to buy. These have all been tested under the same standardized methodology, allowing you to compare them side by side. We still have all these projects in our lab so we can continually go back and compare them to ensure our reviews are still accurate. All our test methodology is also public on our website, so you can validate the results yourself.
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Test Results
The Epson 5050UB's peak brightness is very good. It's bright and relatively colorful, so it looks fine in moderately lit rooms, but it looks its best when the lights are dimmed or off. Its brightness uniformity is decent; the sides of the projection are slightly dimmer than the center, but it's minor.
This projector has excellent native contrast, providing a very pleasant viewing experience in dark rooms.
The Epson 5050UB projector has excellent pre-calibration accuracy. Its white balance has minor accuracy errors, but it's great overall. The color balance is excellent, and the projector's color temperature is exactly on target.
The Epson 5050UB has full 11-point white balance calibration and color calibration. It looks spectacular after calibration, with excellent color and fantastic white balance accuracy, and its color temperature is still exactly on target.
The Epson 5050UB has a very wide color gamut. It covers almost all of the Rec. 709 color space used with SDR content and does a good job with the wider Rec. 2020 color space. If you're looking for a more colorful projector, especially in HDR content, consider the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 instead.
This LCD projector uses a lamp as its light source, which can last from 3,500 to about 5,000 hours, according to the manufacturer, after which you'll need to swap the lamp for a new one. It's not a true 4k projector, as it uses pixel shifting to create a higher-resolution image. This offers better quality than a pure 1080p projector, but it isn't as good as a native 4k projector.
This 3LCD lamp-based unit shows a broad, continuous SPD. The nice thing about this technology is that there's no laser speckle. Trade-offs are lower color purity versus RGB-laser models and gradual brightness/color drift as the lamp ages.
This projector has a flexible long-throw lens with motorized zoom and generous lens shift, which makes placement easy on a ceiling mount or rear shelf. Keep geometry optical and leave keystone off for best sharpness. Here's a quick throw distance guide:
- 80″ → ~7.8–16.5 ft
- 100″ → ~9.8–20.6 ft
- 120″ → ~11.8–24.7 ft
- 150″ → ~14.7–30.9 ft
- 200″ → ~19.6–41.2 ft
The Epson 5050UB is a massive projector, so it's not meant for portability. It lacks auto keystone correction, so you'll need to adjust the image geometry manually, and it also doesn't have autofocus. It also has no speakers, so if you move it, you'll need to connect it to an audio system or soundbar.
At maximum brightness, the fan is clearly audible in a quiet room but easy to mask with a soundbar or AVR.
The projector has a 2.0A DC Out USB port for power delivery, like for a streaming dongle. It also has a 12v trigger out port to connect your screen to it; this allows you to signal the screen to unfold when the projector powers on and inversely retract the screen when it's powered off. Unfortunately, the projector doesn't support Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
The projector supports a ton of different resolutions, but unfortunately, it's limited to 60Hz at all of them. This doesn't matter much for watching movies, which is what this projector is made for, but it's not optimal for gaming.
Latency is okay for many slower gaming genres; casual action feels fine, while competitive players will prefer a faster, high-refresh model. Still, there's no faster 120Hz or 240Hz refresh rate option, so you'll want to look elsewhere if you want a truly dedicated gaming projector.
There's no ARC/eARC or optical output on the projector. Route sources through your AVR/soundbar and then send video to the projector.
