Epson 6050UB refurb, or something new[er]?

If you are getting a 3yr warranty with the 6050 then without a doubt the Epson is the one to get.

Regarding grey vs white screen, I use to have white 16:9 100" screen that I swapped for a grey 2.35:1 112" which is almost the same width as a 120" 16:9, I haven't noticed a visual drop off in light output but I am sure a meter would say different. Depending on how far back your projector was from the screen you shouldn't have an issue dealing with SDR content on a 135" Grey screen even on LOW lamp mode but with HDR and using either 'CINEMA or DIGITAL CINEMA' image mode which engage the built in filter and cover the wider colour range I think you will be need to use MEDIUM lamp and might be approaching HIGH so might be worthwhile looking into making a hush box. One thing the grey will do over the white is improve your perceived contrast and give slightly better blacks, someone I noticed straight away.


My grey scope screen and below a couple of images from John Wick 2 (1080p)

The 6050 is in a different league compared to the other projectors you mention. They also serve different purposes. The UHD50X, which is actually old now and was replaced by the UHD38, and the TK700STi are gaming/living room projectors that are designed to combat ambient light and have higher light output at the cost of color fidelity and black levels. It sounds like you have a room that is treated decently well and will benefit from a higher contrast projector. If you want to go cheaper then the projectors I'd throw in are the HT3550 (dimmer but doable on 135"), the Epson 3800 (with a grey screen) and then at a higher price point the LG HU810P. Out of everything I mentioned I'd still go with the 5050/6050 due to the best black levels/contrast but there are reasons to pick any of the aforementioned. The LG is laser and has dynamic tone mapping which should help with HDR (although there are some reports of it not being the best, still better than Epson's static tone mapping). The Epson 3800 has great contrast for under $2k but does lack in color reproduction, put it on a grey screen and it will have the best black levels/contrast under $2k IMO. Then the HT3550 is the cheapest dedicated theater projector with really good color, better than expected black levels with its dynamic iris, and good static HDR tone mapping. There's also the Epson 4010 but you mentioned gaming and its HDMI 1.4 jack is a problem for that so I'll leave it out of the convo.

I do like a grey screen but it is projector/room dependant. I'm most likely going to switch to a white screen with my 5050 but that is because I have found it nearly impossible to find a good grey acoustically transparent woven screen. I'm using light silver spandex now and it has become too dim with the initial brightness hit the lamp in the 5050 took. Severtson has a grey woven fabric that I just got in a sample and I might go with it. Anyway, I wouldn't go with a grey screen with the HT3550 at 135", I for sure would with the Epson 3800 and I'd call it a toss up with the 5050....assuming the room is perfectly treated (i.e. velvet and no paint). I found that even flat dark grey paint reflects a lot of light back onto the screen and going grey helps a lot.