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If you have ever gone shopping for some serious home theater technology, you already know that the selection of 4K projectors is vast. Narrowing it down is quite challenging. However, we have compiled a list of some of the best projectors that will make your viewing at home feel like a movie-theater experience.
By description, a projector is an inverted camera that spits light out of a lens instead of receiving it. The 4K projectors serve a similar function to a TV or computer monitor while simultaneously offering several benefits that include increased portability, larger image sizes, and flexible installation possibilities.
These projectors exist in four main categories; multimedia, pocket, large venue/fixed installation, and home theater. Notably, not all models will fit in one specific category, but the overlap offers excellent functionalities and experiences.
In this article, we’ll bring you the five best 4K projectors that are ranked highly by most users in the current market. Whether you are an aspiring movie lover or you are casually looking for a way to enjoy your video streams better, a 4K multimedia system will never disappoint.
Pros and Cons of 4K Projectors
Several years ago, acquiring a 4K projector was a luxury due to its cost/price. Nevertheless, times have now changed, and so has the way people view movies and TV shows.
With many things arriving connected, and the TV no longer the only watchpoint in homes, a 4K projector has turned into an excellent choice for some households. Just like all other tech devices and accessories available today, 4K projectors also have their pros and cons.
Pros
The main advantage of the 4K projectors is their size. Both projectors and TVs are available in different sizes. However, the difference is their limits. While the 4K TVs seem to rise to about 85 inches, the 4K projectors usually go up to 300 inches. Moreover, it is not just their size but also their adaptability.
A 4K projector can be adjusted to meet the needs of the room and occasion at hand while the TV remains the same size throughout. But, size and adaptability are not the only reasons for you to go for the projectors.
Their larger screening comes with more benefits that include less strain on the eyes. Hence, they are a healthier option offering viewers a suitable distance away from the screen. These larger screens also come with great resolutions. The projectors have display capabilities that show off the 4K resolution.
In the case of projectors, size matters, and it directly impacts most of the other benefits that come with the super-sized screens.
Cons
The main drawback associated with the 4K projectors is cost. Although the projector prices have reduced in recent years, 4K TVs are also relatively cheaper. For instance, you can get a 4K projector for around $1,000, but you may even get a 4K TV for less than $500.
Resolution is also a shortcoming associated with the projectors. Although all 4K TVs usually output 4K now, the same cannot be said for the 4K projectors, at least, not technically. The projectors suffer in resolution since manufacturers are now relying heavily on extra technologies like 4K upscaling.
Instead of giving a real 4K experience, some of the devices just emulate it by taking a lesser resolution and then fill in the details. Though upscaling is a lesser challenge now, ensuring a projector outputs a true 4K picture is necessary, just like contrast and brightness to ensure that you get value for your money.
Projectors come with the extra issue of the environment affecting brightness. As the industry shifts into the connected home age, most TVs come with rich user experience. Over time, 4K projectors are also getting smarter. Nevertheless, their interface and smarts still fall behind their TV counterparts.
Top Rated 4K projectors
Optoma GT1080HDR Short Throw Projector (Perfect for Gaming)
Price range: $800 – $900
This Optoma projector comes packed with HDR10 technology (with 4K input) that offers deeper blacks, brighter whites, and greater color depth for your exquisite viewing experience. Its fast response time gets you in the game with Enhanced Gaming Mode. You are guaranteed to enjoy lightning-fast, 8.4ms response time enhanced with a 120Hz refresh rate for a lag-free gaming experience.
If you are seeking bright, razor-sharp images to complement your viewing, the Optoma GT1080HDR Short Throw Gaming Projector is your perfect solution. It features 3,800 lumens of brightness, full HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution with HDR10, and an astounding 50,000:1 contrast ratio. Thus, it brings gaming, movies, and sports to life.
Its short-throw projection capability allows you to enjoy a big 120″ image projected from 4 feet away. The short-throw lens enables you to place the projector close to the wall, which is perfect for smaller spaces since it is also easy to install.
Optoma GT1080HDR gives flexible connectivity, letting you connect to media players, gaming consoles, and other HDMI devices like Amazon Fire Stick, Google Chromecast, and Apple TV. The inputs comprise of dual HDMI (1.4a 3D support).
This 4K projector is perfect in various environments, including theater rooms, family rooms, and game rooms, as well as different outdoor spaces like camping, backyards, tailgating, and much more.
The vertical keystone correction +/- 40 degrees enables the GT1080HDR to even be off-center without the need for elevation to project the image perfectly on the screen. Hence, it is easy to install and use it with its highly flexible image set-up.
If you are looking for longevity, this projector is perfect for you. You can enjoy around 15,000 hours of lamp life, translating to an average of 4 hours of viewing time daily for over ten years. Its powerful 10-watt built-in speaker simplifies set-up without any need for external speakers.
Optoma HD27HDR 1080p 4K HDR Projector
Price range: $630 – $690
Picture quality is excellent when you use this 4K projector. You are guaranteed to experience incredible color and detail in your home theater entertainment. Its Reference Display Mode and BrilliantColor integrate to offer bright and accurate colors with a high contrast of 50,000:1.
The Optoma HD27HDR 1080p 4K HDR Ready Home Theater Projector has several energy-saving features that support high performance and low maintenance with up to 15,000 hours of lamp life. Thus, you can use it for even ten years before replacing it.
If you are a gamer, you have come to the right place. The projector lets you immerse in the game with a lightning-fast response when you connect it to the HDR-ready gaming PCs and consoles. Its enhanced gaming mode is compatible with 1080p HDR sources, ensuring that input lag is reduced to 16ms.
It is time to embrace HDR technology coupled with large screen experiences using this 3,400-lumen HD27HDR 1080p home entertainment projector. Its HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 input accepts HDR10 content offering brighter whites and deeper black levels with clarity and unrivaled 1080p viewing experience.
ViewSonic PX747-4K Projector with 3500 Lumens HDR Support
Price range: $1,090 – $1,150
The ViewSonic PX747-4K projector comes with an Ultra HD resolution coupled with a high brightness of 3,500 lumens giving you an incredible home entertainment experience. You can use it at day or in the night, in bright rooms or in the dark.
With HDR compatibility, true Ultra HD 3840 x 2160 resolution, and exclusive SuperColor technology, this projector gives you the high-quality home cinema experience that matches movie theaters but at an affordable price. Its high brightness and room-filling sound give you bright visuals and immersive audio in almost any room or environment.
This ViewSonic 4k projector provides you with extreme mounting flexibility. Its wider optical zoom gives you many mounting options than the standard 1.2x optical zoom. Thus, the more flexible mounting options translated to minimal installation hassle.
Integrated with an advanced DLP 4K Ultra HD chip running on XPR technology, the projector offers 3840 x 2160 distinct pixels for the real 8.3 million pixel 4K UHD resolution.
If you want to experience extensively detailed video playback, this 4K projector is your ideal selection. It can decode HDR video signals, and its colors are brighter and quite vivid, giving you a more vibrant contrast that is more detailed.
Coming with such levels of image reproduction enables the ViewSonic PX747-4K projector to display all videos as they were intended to be seen. You will undoubtedly enjoy a fuller and more immersive viewing experience. It gives you bright images in any environment. But, to use it seamlessly, the video source must also have had HDR content support.
The Dual HDMI inputs on this projector enable you to connect to various HD devices, including Blu-ray players, digital cameras, gaming consoles, laptop PCs, and many other devices for a high-definition experience.
The ViewSonic PX747-4K projector is packed with a powerful 10W speaker enabling it to combine enhanced screen performance with room-filling sound for an intensive and immersive multimedia experience.
Its backlit remote control has illuminated buttons that enable you to use it easily and conveniently, even while in the dark for excellent nighttime viewing. Fixed with an energy-saving SuperEco feature, the projector consumes less power, which translates into extended lamp life of up to 15,000 hours. However, the lamp life varies depending on the usage and other factors.
KODAK Luma 350 Portable Smart Projector
Price range: $290 – $320
This 4K projector serves as your all-in-one portable cinema. It comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity coupled with USB and HDMI inputs. The Projector is powered by Android. Thus, you can download your favorite apps and stream the best shows without touching your phone.
The projector lets you locate any viewable files, including videos and photos, by plugging in your USB drive to the USB port. If you are on-the-go, the projector also comes in handy. The KODAK Luma 350 Portable Smart Projector offers cinema-quality imaging right at your fingertips.
The miniature 4K projector integrates almost all of the popular media options available in the current market. It had Bluetooth, onboard Wi-Fi, mobile-to-screen mirroring, together with HDMI and USB hookups for extensive compatibility. By using its in-built 6.0 interface, you can stream Netflix and Hulu, browse the internet, and even access popular content, including games.
Whether you decide to watch movies while at home, delivering a keynote presentation in front of hundreds of people, or leading a meeting at the office, the projector’s 350-lumen powerful lamp projects images with high-quality brightness. It offers and throws 16.7 million colors and crystal-clear 4K detail to an impressive 200 inches.
Just pop the 4K projector in your pocket, and all your favorite games, TV shows, streaming apps, and movies are a simple click away; you can access them onboard or on the sleek remote control.
The projector operates on Android 6.0.1 with a battery capacity of 7500 mAh. It is designed with 0.2” WVGA DMD DLP technology giving you a contrast of 3500:1, 200 Ansi Lumens in brightness, an aspect of 16:9, and 30,000 hours of LED life. Kodak Luma 350 has an 854 x 480 [4K] resolution with a display of 16.7 million colors.
To enjoy the services of this 4K projector, you need to power it and face a flat-screen or wall. You can then connect, mirror, plugin, or even play directly from the app store. Use the onboard buttons or remote control from a distance. When used correctly, you are guaranteed to enjoy massive movie magic experiences.
Sony VPL-VW695ES 4K HDR Projector (or simply THE BEAST)
Price range: $9,900 – $9,990
Coming with more than 4X the resolution of Full HD, the projector comes with native 4K capabilities that offer 8.8 million pixels (4096 x 2160) for a picture that brings life into your viewing. Whenever you have a Sony 4K HDR Home Theater Video Projector (VPLVW695ES), it seems like you are looking at the real thing enabling it to deliver the resolution defined by the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiative) for theater distribution.
Installing the projector is easy since it has a 2.06x motorized zoom with a wide lens shift range. You can adjust the position of this device up to 31% horizontally and 85% vertically to get the right angle for your viewing. Its 1800 lumens generates the needed brightness for vibrant images on screens up to 300″/762 cm.
Sony has packed the projector with a 280-W ultra-high pressure mercury lamp that offers up to 6,000 hours of viewing while in low mode. This means that you will need fewer lamp swaps and simpler maintenance translating into more economical running costs.
Sony’s unique Reality Creation technology meticulously analyzes images up to the pixel level. Then, it implements pattern-matching algorithms developed over the years of movie production to enhance details without increasing the digital picture noise. The projector also has the ability to upscale existing Full HD Blu-ray Disc and DVD movies to near 4K quality.
The three SXRD imagers installed in this projector provide you with full-color brightness. These panels deliver high-quality contrast and native 4K resolution providing you with rich, inky blacks, precise cinematic motion for smooth imagery, and viewing.
Picture Position Memory technology stores all your settings for up to five screen formats for easy recall. The technology stores key settings enabling you to quickly watch movies in the perfect format. Match aspect ratios that include 16:9 and Cinemascope store all these settings in the projector.
The VPL-VW695ES is HDMI 18 Gbps capable of offering smoother expressions of image gradations. Its Motionflow provides smooth and clear motion when viewing even 4K content. It adds frames to minimize blur while maintaining brightness, which makes the projector perfect for fast-moving sports content. If you are a cinema purist, you can select True Theater mode to retain the original 24fps.
A dynamic 350,000:1 contrast coupled with Advanced Iris makes every scene spring to life with fine, exquisite detail and realism. The VPL-VW695ES incorporates TRILUMINOS™ color, which reproduces more tones and textures than the standard projector system. With all these features and functionalities, the landscapes and seascapes in your videos look more vivid, and skin tones are perfectly reproduced.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) capabilities bring a wider contrast range for improved realism, delivering images perfectly as intended by the content creator. The VPL-VW695ES comes with an in-built 3D transmitter that supports 3D video in various formats that can convert 2D videos to top-quality simulated 3D immersive videos.
The 4K projector enables you to choose from nine calibrated picture modes that include TV, two theater film modes, photo, game, theater digital, bright cinema, reference, and bright TV. Its advanced HSV (Hue Saturation Value) color tuning tool provides you with more control of your viewing experience.
Summary
Getting the best 4K projectors can be quite challenging. However, selecting the best projector can be easy when you have the right information. Although there are limitless options in the current market, if you are familiar with the fundamental prerequisites, you will get exactly what you are looking for.
Whatever 4K projector you want to get for your home, you are assured to enjoy clarity, quality, and top-notch viewing experience at home matching what you get at the cinema theaters.
Whichever model you go for, ensure that it offers the real 4K resolution and features to provide value for your money. If the projector you go for is not bright enough, the image quality suffers. If it throws wrong-sized images, the viewing experience will suffer significantly.
4K Projectors vs. 4K Televisions
4K TVs are available with some huge screen sizes. However, none of them, even the biggest and most expensive models, can match the size of a projection display space. The current 4K projectors sold for the home can reach up to 300 inches.
But, before you get any of these two 4K display device types, you have to consider other functionalities like contrast, smart features, high dynamic range, resolution, color, and usability.
Thus, do thorough background checks to ensure that you get the best 4K projector to fit all your needs. Here are some of the frequently asked questions.
4K Projectors FAQs
Is It Worth Getting a 4K Projector?
If you have the necessary content, the setup, and the budget, then it is worth getting a 4K projector. It is simply astounding, providing excellent viewing qualities on the big screens. On the other hand, if you do not have the budget, 1080p is fantastic. Also, please note that the price of 4K projectors puts them in immediate competition with the 1080p projectors that generally have additional features and better contrast performance.
Are 4K Projectors as Good as 4K TV?
The best 4K projectors are even better than TVs. A 4K projector can be adjusted to meet the needs of the room and occasion at hand while the TV remains the same size throughout. Most of these projectors generate the nearly same projection brightness as 4K TVs.
Why Are 4K Projectors Expensive?
The 4K projectors have a higher light output. Thus, they generate a lot of additional heat as a result of the process that goes on there. Moreover, they produce lower noise while simultaneously offering excellent and unmatched image. All these premium features and functionalities are guaranteed to add on the prices, which make the projectors significantly expensive.
Do 4K Projectors Upscale?
Some of the 4K projectors offer real 4K functionalities and capabilities. Others are designed to upscale HD videos to 4K Ultra High-Definition resolution for sharper images coming from existing video content. The 4K projectors display a staggering 8.3 million pixels offering perfect detail and picture quality. More pixels translate into better details for high-quality viewing.
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