Reddit mentions of Epson Home Cinema 5040UB 3LCD Home Theater Projector with 4K Enhancement, HDR10, 100% Balanced Color and White Brightness, Ultra Wide DCI-P3 Color Gamut and UltraBlack Contrast

> I'm not the one actually buying the house, so I don't anything about escrow. I don't even know what that means tbh. My father is buying the house, which is something he's done often, so I have full confidence he's protecting himself.

Please do everyone a favor and confirm with your father that he is using an escrow account for the purchase, and a title company to perform the closing.

An escrow account is, basically, a bank account that is held by a trusted third party. For example, ABC Title Company in town. Your father gives them the money, and they write up a contract, and then the seller works with the escrow company to complete the sale and transfer ownership of the home. Once it's done, and everything checks out, then the Title company takes the money from their bank account and sends it to the seller.

As an aside, another scam is for the buyer to get a last-minute email saying he needs to wire (transfer) the funds to a different bank account. Buyer sends money and then goes to the title company. They ask where the money is, but the buyer sent it to a strangers account and it's GONE. Do not transfer any money to any accounts unless you verbally verify any last-minute changes with the escrow account owner.

> I've met the owner of the house. I've met his ex wife. He's listed at the owner at the tax assessors office, he's got his own picture up on his Facebook page, he's also the owner of a well-known business here in town. There is no way this is a scam.

Ok, that is much more reassuring.

You should follow through with the crime report.

And, FWIW, instead of paying $3k for a big screen TV, check out this projector instead. It's $2200, and is AMAZING. Just point it at a wall and you have an instant 114" or larger movie. Add a cheap surround sound system and you have a theater. I have one, and love it. We have movie night once a month for all the kids in the neighborhood and it's totally awesome.

What's your current projector?

As others have stated, the cheapest 4k (faux-K) projector is the Epson 5040UB at $2499 USD (accepts 4k signal, native display resolution is 1080p but it uses pixel-shifting downscaling technology to make the image look better) and the cheapest native 4k projector I believe is the Sony VPLVW365ES at $7998 USD.

I don't mean to presume anything but if your current projector can't pull off a decent image at 100", then it's either very old (aka 480p) or one of those silly $100 borderline-white-van-scam deals like this. Any legitimate brand-name projector, even an inexpensive one, would be able to pull of a reasonably clear image.

Also, no offense, it seems a little odd to me that you have a 9.2 setup with all those creature comforts but only a $1000 budget for a projector, a 4k one no less. Not to mention none of those retro consoles display anything close to 4k. Do you plan on purchasing a 4k blu-ray player? 4k blu-ray discs are the only place to get full bitrate 4k content (unless you're rich and can afford Kaleidescape or something).

If it ain't broken then don't fix it. You probably wouldn't get huge upgrades for upgrading. Maybe longer bulb hours depending on the projector and other additional features like the 'DarbeeVision' from the Optoma HD28DSE or the Rec 709 color from the BenQ HT3050. It's kind of a lot of extra $$$ for not huge upgrades from your current projector (they're still 1080p).

4k projectors are still expensive too. There is stuff like the Epson 5040UB (UB = Ultra Black). That isn't native 4k though and is $2,800.

I think you should really be looking at the 5040.

https://www.amazon.com/Epson-Home-Cinema-5040UB-Enhancement/dp/B01IO0QWJA

But yes everything is going to be better on the Epson vs a $700 Optoma.

• Projector: Epson 5040, its a pseudo 4K like the one recommended to you, but much better. It can be had for $2500 or $2800 if you want wireless HDMI. A step down from that (regular 1080p) will be the Epson 5030 with wireless HDMI for ~$2475 (non-wireless is actually more expensive, as limited stock).
  
  Actually, 5040 be too bright for the room, it is meant for >150" screens or rooms with tons of ambient light, get the 5030. It can be mounted anywhere from 11ft-17ft while still being bright. I would suggest just setting it to THX mode and seeing how dim that would be, with that doesn't work at 11ft, set it to Cinema mode. At worst, set it to Living Room mode. You don't want to pre-mount the projector if it isn't good in that spot obviously. While projectors state >2000 lumens, that's like the dynamic setting on tv's at BestBuy, an accurate picture will have less light output.
  
  A mount for these should run you <$150
  
  
• Screen: 110" SilverTicket fixed frame in grey (better black level) for $290.
  
  Now, that leaves ~$3300 for audio (forgot about the universal remote/app thing, it seems good enough, but I don't know enough about it, Logitech's Harmony set is what's usually used though).
  
  
• Receiver: Denon X1300 for $400 (usually $600). Much better than the S510 model.
  
  
• Fronts:
  
  
  • Option #1: The PSA's, 2 orders of these and 1 of these. Totaling, $2275. These are pretty much the baddest boys on the block, don't get much better unless you really get into the Hi-Fi stuff.
    
    
  • Option #2: For a cheaper option (but not a cheap option), with towers, I would recommend the HTD Level Three towers + center. Now, they are a Texas company, so I don't know if sales tax is applied, if not, they will cost you ~$1050-$1175 depending on color and shipping costs. Now, these are very, very good speakers in their own right, but those PSA's would work in an actual movie theater. However, "Are the PSA's worth literally double the HTD setup?", I would say no, I would say $1750-$2000 would be a better price for the 3 speakers.
    
    
• Subwoofer: Rhythmic FVX15 for $1000. If with the PSA's, get the HSU VTF-MK5 for ~$600.
  
  
• Surrounds: Really no money for surrounds if you get the PSA's (unless downgrade the receiver and/or subwoofer). If going HTD's, you would have enough to do 7.1 easily.
  
  For surrounds, what is your seating layout going to be? Will there be just 1 row of seating, or will you have 2?

I see your 1080p projector, peasant, and raise you...

Are the non true "4k" projectors worth it? Ones like these

I own it too. It is a wonderful projector. Nice and quiet in eco mode and plenty bright. I'd probably go for the new version that has 4K enhancement and HDR support.