The Truth about Switching to a Projector! [120” 4K Laser Ultra Short Throw] 

My experiences is: the wow factor is there for the "first time", but after minutes/hours you realize that TV is better in every aspect except in size.

Clicked the product link, and I must admit, that has been the quickest time I've closed a tab after seeing its price. But it's definitely gorgeous though.

I truly appreciate reviews like this. Honest reviews.

Wow, the projector game has really come up in the past 10 years. Had this set up first with my home computer windows 7 and bumping image up with crossfired cpu and graphics card ( both AMD) also a tv tuner card. Did this for 5 years. Was just difficult to rearrange the room and then after a bit it required an tv turner card that had to be authorized by cable company. Eventually went to a 55" tv.

Love my projector with 120” screen got it right after the pandemic hit and it’s been a life changing experience. I sit about 10 feet from it and the center point of the screen is almost at my eye level. The immersion is just unreal watching movies and tv shows. Don’t need to go to the movies anymore. My next upgrade will probably be something triple laser UST with 150” ALR PET Crystal screen. Thx for showing us this setup. 👍

I bought a projector Xgimi Horizon Pro (120") 4 months ago where I have my 3060ti connected to it and I love it. It's not the best in the daytime, but for me, it's more than usable, at night though it's an insane experience. It almost feels like having a cinema at home.

I got my first projector and 120" big screen a few months before covid and the lockdowns...absolute perfect timing for sitting in watching movies plus a renewed interest in gaming. I bought steering wheel/pedals/shifter and car games are superb on the big screen. I started out just stereo...then went 5.1...then went 7.1. I've heard some good 7.1 movies but the best 7.1 I've ever heard was in the computer games on PC...very immersive! I'm only 1080p with my current setup but I think 4k would have to be my next upgrade. Thanks for the video. 🤓

Its sweet. I have had a 120" wide projector setup since 2000 (yes, really). I changed out projectors once since then, still waiting on the 4k projectors. The ceiling mount is not a big deal if you know how, and if people are standing in the projector beam, they are usually blocking the screen as well. The daylight viewing got much better with the second generation projector, but (as you say), its much better with the curtains drawn, and I have done a lot to shut out light in that room (entry doors, blackout curtains, etc). I'm waiting for a true LCD solution for 4k, perhaps in vain! They are out there, but the cost is in low earth orbit.

I have the projector. Not into gaming, but for movies it is awesome. You can get special paint for a screen. The nice thing is that when you're not watching, it is just a blank wall instead of an eyesore. Getting good sound is key to the experience.

You were spot on when you said everything feels like an event. I loved my old LG 1080p projector until it died. I might get another one, just not this expensive.

As someone who lives in a pretty small apartment (and does not care too much about the finer details of the image), the projector absolutely wins out because it can provide an extra large screen without taking up so much space or requiring much setup. I bought the Anker Nebula Capusle II, a 720p projector for 600 USD a year ago and I've really enjoyed using it for both watching films and playing cinematic games that don't require split-second precision (like Red Dead Redemption or Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice). The projector is just the size of a beer can too (it's even shaped like one), and while it isn't a short-throw I can still get a huge image within a 2-meter range. Since I just project it directly on my wall with the blinds closed, the only extra gear I need are a couple of books to prop it up on my desk.

hello, huge fan of projector here. I bought my first projector 15 years ago with dvd player + amplifier + loudspeaker (5+1), I have a wall and I used a kind of special 'paint' for the screen/wall and this is a nice idea IMHO expecially when the projector is off. Some years ago I changed the DVD player and I bought a new Blu-ray player, both the players where 'SMART' so I have RU-vid and all the apps. Five years ago I bought a new projector (Epson). My 'screen' is about 120 inch and, after all these years I can't watch a TV anymore without thinking 'hey is small' :-) I must say I don't play videogames, maybe this is why I am so enthusiastic about this. nice video, bravo from Italy 🙂 PS: I know the kind of projector like the one on this video, yes 'plug and play' is nice but I am sure you must 'calibrate' again every time someone move the beautiful LG HU915Q ... IMHO is bettter to install only once 🙂

This is good if you have a job which offers regular transfers. Moving a TV is always a hassle. It may break sometimes. Great option when you move too much.

Optically, this appears to be an amazing engineering feat. I think there may be a lot to be done on the screen side, maybe playing with light polarity, to mitigate this issue with ambient lighting. The projection angle is so strong that very little ambient light comes from that angle. This could be leveraged in a smart way.

I had a large image projector once, and it was great because I could see it as well no matter what position I was sitting in.

I have a 70" LG 4K tv in my living room but a projector in my bedroom, it's currently on its last leg but offers 120" at 1080p and the built-in speakers are incredible and it was only $200 so we are looking to upgrade soon and you've sold me on this UST from LG since I am already familiar w/ the LGOS and apps. Definitely learned a lot about the screen type so I am going to have to get one of those as well. Might take a couple months to save up lol but this is a dream setup. Great video, very informative, was also cool to see someone in the UK play an NBA game haha

I recently changed from a 43" TV to a 100" projector. In games its just okay due to contrast in the day (I have a very sunny living room), but movies look exceptional at night! I am a contect consumer with casual gaming and I am 100% satisfied with the change. Hope you like it for future as well.

Impressed by how short the throw is. I would have gone bigger. My 1080p projector is almost floor to ceiling: its great. An added "bonus" is we are using it in the day

Thanks for sharing that looks brilliant. I did not even know this type of projector exist tbh. I will add ust projector to my wish list now

Just switched this year from my 42" Plasma TV, which had an awesome picture, to a UST projector with a $1500 VividStorm screen. Yes, I lost the beautiful picture of the Plasma, but I love the immersiveness of the 120" screen. I'm floored with how bright my room can be.

Have had a 1080p projector for over a decade. Still love it. Best setup imho is 65-85" thin TV close to wall and a motor projector screen in ceiling. Push a button and it lowers in front of tv when you want the big screen at night/movie. If your trusses are parallel to your wall. Otherwise mount to ceiling.

Hope they keep refining and making these better. I’d love to get one one day however the response time and HDR/lack of Dolby Vision related issues need to be ironed out first. Going from OLEDs perfect blacks is something really hard to go back on.

I've had a 120" projector setup since 2009. Pro tips: make sure the screen's center is parallel to eye view from the couch, and 9'-12' is the optimal viewing distance. Black diamond screens make the image pop, even if you take the screen out in the sun, it will still look like you're looking at a regular TV. The black diamond also drastically increases contrast. Lastly, Epson makes the best projectors, at a competitive price, and has the capability to convert ALL 2D content into 3D.

The clarity from it only being 2 feet from the wall is quite fascinating for a projector.

In 2018 I added a retractable 100 inch screen with a budget 1080p projector to my living room setup, which at the time had a 55 inch Panasonic VT65 plasma TV. I found myself hardly ever using the TV except for simple TV shows and was all in on the projector for gaming and movies even though the TV had significantly better image quality. Four years later I've upgraded the TV to a 65 inch LG C1 OLED, but that still doesn't get much use for gaming or movies because the 106 inch screen (largest that fits the room, and I'm sat pretty close) and Optoma UHD42 4K projector that replaced my first projector and screen are just gorgeous. Yes the OLED has better picture quality but the projector still looks amazing and the size difference can't be ignored. Love the TV but the projector is the first choice for just about everything. My projector setup was also much cheaper than the UST options and indeed the OLED - £1,200 for the projector, £250 for the screen, £50 for a long fibre optic HDMI cable, and about £25 for a ceiling mount. (For something of a best of both worlds, I have a 48 inch C1 in my office for up close PC gaming that fills even more of my field of vision than the projector does in the living room, but it's not quite the same as reclining on the sofa and still having a huge screen. Also not really suited to watching movies with others!)

I own an Epson LS500 without an ALR screen and the quality is great, even under daylight conditions (except when sun is shinning directly on it). Even gaming works well on this device. I'm very happy with my purchase (bought it a few months ago)!

have fun with this new equipment. sold my last TV....18 years ago. Since this time I'm using projector(s). What such more fun!

I have an Optoma laser at 100”. It’s perfect. Great with shades open and spectacular with shades closed. Vizio surround sound sound bar attached to a hdmi switch with audio extractor via toslink. It’s a great setup. Not a gamer but a sports viewer.

Contrast is very important to me. Hard to step away from that once you get an OLED. Mini LED TVs are also good options.

And if you go through the trouble of mounting it to ceiling it is even better. It takes no more room than flat screen TV. But the benefit a projector has over flat screen is : space or more accurately the lack of space it requires. With motorized roll up screen you can have the screen appear out of thin air to front of the window and disappear when you do not need it. But roll up screen absolutely suck with UST projectors. UST is really, really picky for the screen surface. Even tensioned screen will have waves and ripples in the screen pretty soon. And those are REALLY horrible for UST. And with laser it it so bight that you need grey low gain surface. Also the thing about Laser projectors they do never mention is that with the advertised 4 times longer "lamp" life than normal lamp projectors is not the life of lamp which in normal projector you can replace with few hundred dollar replacement lamp making the projector as good as brand new. In laser projector the "lamp" life is the life of the whole projector. You buy $25000 Laser projector which you get to throw away in 4 years once the laser dims in heavy daily use. As where lamp projector is running still running great after 30 years (like mine was) you just replace the lamp when ever you feel the image gets too dim.

I used projector only from 2009- 2013. Besides the fact that that particular setup required me to have blackout curtains only, I loved it when I was living in my bachelor pad.

Such a great video. You talk so naturally and clearly.

Great overview. The TLDR is if you care foremost about screen size, get a projector. But if image quality is your chief priority, then you shouldn't be looking at a projector anyway, unless $ is no object and you can spring for the best of the best. To achieve IQ approaching that of LG's flagship OLEDs, you'd need to spend between $30-50k on a top-flight projector. And even then, the black levels still won't be absolute black in order to achieve the (theoretically) infinite CR of the best OLEDs, and the response time (even with Game Mode active) will be higher than that of the best OLEDs. The average Joe may not be able to discern meaningful differences between the two display types, and ultimately may be over-wowed by the sheer size advantage of a front projection system, but if you're all about picture quality, the latest and greatest OLEDs offer the best bang for the buck as of 2022.

Nicely presented review. I have the ls500 without a screen as we seldom watch stuff doing day time, and it is bright enough that day time viewings are fine. Don't think a screen is that mandatory. I've tried a few projectors, he P2 and this one amongst them, and this tri laser proejctor still gave me rainbow effects which I'm unfortunately very susceptible to, so its LCD all the way for me.

I just purchased mine on Amazon. I can’t wait to make this as my theater

I’ve had a projector for nearly 7 years and I love it still.

You have convinced me that I can't afford neither... What I did is bought a roller stand for my 55 incher, and put it right in front of me, and it feels like a 120 incher

“77 inches, i know what you’re thinking, it’s too small” No one was thinking about that 😅

I game on a 175” screen…and yes TV has more backlight and it’s awesome…but you can’t ignore the level of immersion when gaming on a screen that’s floor to ceiling and wall to wall. It’s full immersion with your peripheral vision. It’s a addicting and so much fun.

Cool and précise, I like your style Sir ! Thank you 🤘

Makes me wonder if some of those down sides would be fixed/solved with a better/more expensive projector. My only experience was with a super basic $170 projector that I expanded to it’s limits (roughly 300 inches), projected on an old white wall riddled with nail holes that I painted over with white out, placed on top of a stool on top of a table, using envelopes and books to level the image. So, yeah, your set-up for me would be like going from an Atari 2600 to a PS2 lmao

For me starting out buying a cheap $60 projector for an all white bedroom was magical, I used it consistently putting live wallpapers up but was annoyed with the shadows from walking around, after buying a used vava 4k it is significantly brighter, shows up during the day and as far as display on my wall is a giant upgrade, it fixed the whole shadow thing and there really is nothing comparable to having a wall being lit up with abstract art especially when people don’t know where it’s coming from! I might have to buy a screen when I go to university but for right now it’s easy to move while I change rooms has been a life saver, the projection paint does help a little bit but ultimately I liked the white paint I used before and changed it back

Great honest review! Thanks

I’ve got an 120 inch motorised screen off eBay for £60 and it’s 3D ready. Bought my display model projector from richer sounds and saved about £200. All in I paid around £700 and my cinema room is absolutely boss. I don’t use it that much but when there’s a big game on or a superb film to watch it’s amazing

I have an Ultra Short Throw. We use it a few times a month and like it but prefer a regular TV 80-90% of the time. It’s great for big sporting events, movies with surround sound and watching music videos at night, but it’s more gimmick than something I’d want to watch daily. It’s a nice luxury to have though but would not recommend it for your main living area.

Another great thing with a projector/screen is that it can be very discrete. My screen is completely hidden behind a ceiling wood beam and it only rolls down when I turn the projector on. Even the projector isn't that visible between the beams. That means you don't have a huge ass tv looming over your living room constantly when maybe you actually only use it in the evening. Makes for a clean look.

Food for thought indeed. Thanks

Thank you for honest review. That 50ms input lag on games is a show stopper for me.

I think Im going to go for one of the cheaper (£3,000) ones with 100' screen. Just more fun! I spend most of my time on my computer and only really use the main TV for films anyway so the 'event' feeling is worth it. The tablet in the kitchen and TV in the bedroom will be enough for just the news etc. Plus the Hisense ones I looked at had a 16ms response rate at 4k so perfectly adequate for gaming for my needs! Cheers for the video!

I just always feel that projectors deliver more of a natural experience, even though they might not be as good as the tvs on paper.

That truck at 4:50 made me flinch lol

Thanks for the honest review!

I switched this year to projectors from oled also 120inchs love my awol 3500 it's not as black as oled but the size makes up for it.

This is actually a great review! A little bit pricey, yea, but I do think its very worth it for a home theater experience but OLED TV is much more cheaper. Projectors might be better than TV but it all depends on your preference and situation. I do hope that they evolve this thing because its actually a cool experience, especially when you have a small apartment, you can save much more space without having a hassle of moving a huge TV around.

Very good. I've been interested in the UST projectors for awhile. This one is out of my price range. If I were to buy one now I'd have to go with a single laser one at half the price of this LG. I'm currently using a 75" Sony that I plan to get .ore years out of but I will be keeping my eye on how UST develops & I can see going this route in the future.

Well done Great production

One of the problems with large screens and gaming is you end up doing worse because it's harder to see everything that's happening. You're head/eyes travel less far on a computer screen playing a FPS than a 120" screen. Just something to consider. I also wonder if watching movies has the same effect, IE two characters are talking but due to the large screen you only really see one at a time because of the separation, but the movie was made with the ability to see both's reactions at the same time.

I got a refurb optima cinemax p2 for 1500 and a CLR screen from ali express for 500. Honestly just as good as your setup in every aspect. I also agree the 50ms lag time kills a lot of gaming (for me mainly fighting games) and I look forward to upgrading next year to a lower lag projector as they come down in price.

God damn I was not ready for the time splitters split screen moment you just earned a subscriber

Nreal Air glasses. I have a 120" screen in my pocket. I put the cats in the backyard and the image was PERFECTLY bright looking at a shaded white garage. These things are incredible.

I think a projector is ideal for home theater, and the technology in these short throw laser projectors is awesome. But it makes placing a center channel speaker more difficult if you have a surround stereo system because the projector is blocking that spot. It also probably isn't ideal for bright rooms.

I have a 120" regular projector screen in my studio and it works well enough with my long-throw 1080p projector. I can only imagine how much of an improvement this projector would be, but sadly it is totally out of my price range...

great project for my family

Nice overview, thank you! I've been dreaming about getting a projector for years, but after seeing the picture quality and (very high) price, I think I'm more than good simply buying and mounting an 85" TV for ~$1300.

the tech involved with this has changed massively to what projectors were! fantastic piece of kit but too expensive

I certainly prefer movies on a projected image, and not because of the size. Our eyes see the world through reflected light and I feel projected images feel more organic over tv’s, which are essentially like staring at a light source. I’m not so fussed about all the technicalities, because the way it ‘feels’ to me is more important than how it technically looks.

Looks good. Need to paint that ceiling with a low reflectance black though.

I have never seen a projector so visible in such a bright room, I am converted. I am absolutely doing this since I wont need it for gaming. I just need a big screen and the theatre experience.

lol we know damn well it can't possibly be "better than an OLED TV" but good title, gotta grab them clicks

An interesting product because it can change dimensions and seems bright enough to be in a bright room. Wanna watch a movie, set it at 120 inches, want to watch tennis, set it at 60. Actually it would be great if it could more easily change the size. Also the screen has to match the wall color - with changing sizes you don’t want a border, you’d want some reflective transparent material/paint on the wall. This could be the ultimate tv especially if cost drops to 2,000. I might pick it over OLED especially if it supports 3d.

The touchsreen looks very amazy and comfortable!

I got what I'm looking for 😁😂.. thanks bro

This is fine if you're a vampire and only plan to use it at night.

I recently switched from a 65in OLED to a 77in OLED , when I moved to a larger house . While obvious looking at it hindsight; the 77in still feels same as 65in because of the larger living room … To think years ago I thought my 42in LCD was a big TV 😆 . We’ve all gotten spoiled by modern Tech

for ust projectors, ust screens are almost mandatory, because the surface is optimized for that source of light. standard screens are meant for perpendicular light sources, while ust screens are designed to block all sources but the ones that are coming from below

Its interesting, first time I've really discovered these to be honest in their newer setup, I had no idea you could get projectors where you can have them close to the wall and not have to mount them on your ceiling or anywhere else that could get people walking in front of etc.. so thats good. Also, I like how the HDMI's are in the back for firesticks or whatever as most apps aren't available on smart TV's and they're also sluggish to navigate. Definitely sounds like like you need a screen though but I've just seen some that come up from the ground which are pretty good. A little expensive though and from your review it sounds like they will improve but I can honestly see this being the way TV goes to be honest and it's good, as long as it matches the quality nicely for people 😊🙏🏼

The light from the window really washes out the onscreen image. It would have been interesting to verify how the image improves by dimming the light from the window. Also, the light intensity from the laser seems too average, maybe with more intensity models the washing out effect could be greatly reduced. Maybe it's time for a lego-like modular and huge TV screen to arrive to the market because I'm not quite convinced by the projection TVs.

Projector still doesn't beat TV. It's got its own place anyway. Great review as always Tom👍

I’d love to have one of these hope in the future they will be a bit more afordable.

I've got a lot of experience with projectors over the years, and find that they can't be beat for the movie or event experience (e.g. Formula 1). I never watch "background tv noise". For me, movies are an event and should be treated as such. Anyway, at the moment I'm building a new system for a new house and it will have a drop down electric screen which completely disappears into the ceiling. Thanks for filling the void about the types of material for screen and the possibility of Ultra Short Throw, which I had not previously considered.

Using Front Projectors with screens at least 96” feels much more like watching a movie in a theatre and no regular TV can replicate that. I’ve been using PJs for years now and theres just something about projecting the image in this manner that makes it far better, go ahead see for yourself. No idea if UST projectors work as well but they are very convenient.

I find 16×9 TV's so far to small for movies that are filmed in cinemascope 21:9 ratio. I would be very interested when they make a short throw projector with a 21:9 panel for my new place. My previous home had a custom 130"inch 21:9 screen for movies filed in cinemascope and the image size was re-adjusted for 16:9 viewing at 100inch 16×9 ratio via a remote control, exactly the sam as the movie theatre.. I did have black pillars on the side of the screen instead but JVC black levels are very good. I believe this is a better veiwing experience particular for movies.

I have the classic BenQ HT2050. I paid $699 for it and a 100 inch screen for a total cost of under $1000. That was 7 years ago. The image still impresses me to this day. Granted it's in my light controlled finished basement. Today I would suggest the new BenQ HT2060. It has very good HDR performance, fantastic contrast, 120hz, fast response time and LED light source for $1,000. If you pair it with an ALR screen you could get about the same experience you are getting with that laser projector all for under $1500.

Great tanks for advice will by the LG one. I am looking for a proyector like this for a small musical production that i want to take to bars and small venues where there is not enough range for a traditional projector. This looks great thanks

Would be really interesting to see how this compares to the TCL 98C735 => 98" UHD 120Hz for less money. Doesn't quite reach 120", but probably a lot better in many ways. :)

My wife and I have a relatively inexpensive 65” TV that we watch in the daytime. The picture is very good, albeit rather small for my liking. In the evening (starting around dusk), we drop down our electric (non-ALR) 120” screen over the TV, take our projector out of the lovely wooden box where it’s kept, place it on the coffee table, and enjoy a fantastic cinematic experience regardless of whether it’s TV, a movie, or a sporting event.(We don’t do any gaming.) It’s the best of both worlds and cost less than $3000. I highly recommend this kind of setup.

This is a pretty high end setup, but I got a BenQ DLP 1080p short throw project for my previous apartment about 10 years ago for about £500 and it was amazing for watching movies, TV shows like Game of Thrones and playing games. I projected directly onto a white wall that had textured wallpaper, so was definitely far from an ideal setup, but it was great. The best thing about the setup for me, as someone who doesn't watch that much TV, and tends to only watch stuff or play games in the evening when it's dark is that there isn't a big shiny black rectangle dominating the room the rest of the time, which in a small room is quite nice, as it could be completely hidden away in a few seconds when not in use. It's also way easier to move a projector around, though you are limited in where you can put it if you don't have a suitable surface to project onto. TVs are better I think, but I just love the giant image for high budget TV shows, movies and some types of games.

You've convinced me...I wish you would've zoomed in a little more on the ports on the back...I have an antenna for local TV and couldn't see if you had the port I need. Otherwise, fantastic review! Thank you

The immersion that a projector offers surpasses any TV IMO. I have an OLED, which I love, but the projector at my girlfriends parents house has converted me. I'll be buying a BenQ HT2050A soon. Are the blacks as deep? No. Do the colors pop quite as much? No. But the immersion that the big screen offers surpasses the TV easily. I never find myself wishing for anything when watching something on the projector, but I've often wished my TV was bigger. If you're able and willing to make your room dark when watching things, a projector is the way to go. TV's of course still have their place. In a brighter room, or at a closer viewing distance. But if you're trying to get the most out of a movie watching experience, buy a projector. You can't really comment on picture quality unless you've seen this stuff in person, videos will make it look way different.

There is no such thing as too big of a screen. I went from a projector to an LG OLED, and I miss the size like crazy, although my screen was 192" or 16 feet. Love the picture quality of the OLED, but thinking about switching back.

I’m thrilled to see the wallpaper I made on the thumbnail, you made my day before going to work. Question tho, did you got it from Wallhaven?

I would shorten the legs of the tv stand before I set a projector up to have the picture touching the ceiling. Nice review

Wouldn’t all these percents change depending on league size, scoring settings and roster configurations? So what setup are these numbers based on?

I loved this video a very comprehensive review, and I was almost sold on paying that much for a setup.. Till you got to the refresh rate. Having shifted from a 133hz down to a 60hz laptop just to get a second screen (ASUS Duo), I immediately felt the difference and hated it. If I'm paying that amount of cash, there is no way in hell I'd pay it for less than 120hz. I do agree for movies and watching love games etc, it's unbeatable.

Put the shades down with a dimmer layer and the room is popping with the projector screen 👌👌... If the eye doesn't notice that, the camera does👌

I need to go to a Best buy or something and see the quality for myself. I've never been super satisfied with projectors. I always thought they lacked that extra clarity and contrast compared to televisions. I recently went with an 83" OLED for about half the price of that projector and it is breath taking. I would like to go bigger and am waiting for that RU-vid video that shows projectors comparing well with OLED quality.

In my experience (with FullHD DLP projector) it completely replaced us TV for movies and TV shows. Setup's total cost was about $500 and it just feels so much better to watch movies on 2m diagonal. And eyes say me "thank you" every time after watching. We still have TV on the wall and unrolling projector screen right in front of it. And have to close windows to increase contrast, but damn, the movies look good with it.

I used 1080p Optoma projectors for over 10 years and I think they offer a much better experience than 1080p LCD TVs and it's not even close. When I decided to upgrade to 4K however I realized there wasn't a single projector within my budget (1500 euros) that came even remotely close to an OLED in terms of overall picture quality, contrast, HDR performance, refresh rate and response times. I would need to spend a lot more to get close and even then you're still making compromises. Going from 120" down to a 55" LG OLEDCX was brutal at first, not gonna lie, but after I rearranged my living room to sit closer to the TV and had some time to get used to it I definitely believe I made the right choice, it looks amazing. I will say this, if you're thinking about getting a projector don't do it unless you have a light controlled room with dark walls. Even an expensive ALR screen like the one Tom used isn't going to fully compensate for light reflecting off surrounding walls, which is quite obvious in this video.

Even on such expensive projector watching it during the day with sunlight never gonna be the same experience as on oled tv

Good video!