2019 Holiday Guide To Five Great Home Theater Projectors Over $2000 - Part 2

We have two very different projectors at different price points on this page, as we start with my favorite under $5,000 DLP projector, the BenQ HT5550 (at half that price), and one of the hot new laser TVs – a smart ultra short throw projector from LG, which we also reviewed.

Both of these won one of our Hot Product Awards, and both also won additional awards in our 2019 – 2020 Best Home Theater Projectors Report. That is to say, two excellent options! Let’s take a look, see which works for you.

Let’s start off with BenQ’s HT5550. At $2,499, it may be the best home theater projector at or below its price. One reason is this:

The HT5550 is one excellent projector, and an even a better value. For 2-3 years now, many of us home theater enthusiasts have longed for a solid DLP projector that is capable of some respectable black level performance. Short of some far more expensive projectors, this is the first 4K UHD projector with a dynamic iris that produces “ultra-high contrast” performance.

BenQ always was the pioneer of using dynamic irises in DLP projectors. I know, I owned three different ones back about a decade or so ago. They were all great in their day!

Yes, there are other DLPs with dynamic irises (they are relatively rare), but, nothing near this price that can do as well on dark scenes – even including the less expensive iris equipped HT3550 featured in our Under $2000 Holiday Guide for projector shopping.

BenQ has long focused on color performance. No question, of the usual suspects on the DLP side, I would say BenQ projectors tend to have the best “right out the box” color. The HT5550 proves no exception. The HT5550 delivers on really good color, and even better with calibration (or use our published settings).

Speaking of calibration – remember, we publish our calibration settings on our site, in our reviews. “Help yourself.” Score that BenQ HT5550, set it up, then go to our calibration pages, drop in our numbers into your new projector and enjoy even more. True, the BenQ starts with some really good color, so the improvement isn’t really huge like it is on some projectors, but, hey, the calibration settings are free. If you find them to work great, drop a comment back in the review so others will know.

The HT5550 not only has the color and the deep blacks that really improve any dark scene, but it also has an impressive feature set, with more zoom lens range and more lens shift (way more) than almost any other DLP projectors without spending more than twice as much!

Speaking of spending more than twice as much, if you have the budget and want to move up your performance a whole other level, check the next page where we feature BenQ’s HT9060. Yes, it’s pricey, but has a compelling story.

Meanwhile, back at the HT5550, this $2,499 projector delivers the picture. Its black levels give it a definite advantage over the competing 3LCD projectors at its price, notably the Epson PC4050. And, it has most of the flexibility those 3LCD direct competitors.

These assorted photos from 4K movies and other content, should convince you that the HT5550 should be on your short list, if I haven’t already convinced you, here’s a link to my full review!

Prior to about a year and change ago, there were only a couple of “Laser TVs” on the market, from about $10K to Sony’s $30K UST. At the 2019 CES show, though, we saw a number of brands announcing UST projectors for “later this year.” Well, the LG HU85LA is one of the first of those new ones to ship, several months ahead of models from Optoma (just starting to ship), VAVA (see our new review), and Epson (the Epson is on the next page, but that projector isn’t expected to ship until sometime Q1 2020).

Before I tell you more – back in 2018, we reviewed LG’s first laser projector, which was purely home entertainment – lots of cool design features, and fun to watch, and versatile, but picture quality wasn’t serious home theater, the HU80KA.

This LG HU85LA is serious home theater. What a difference a year (and a couple of thousand dollars) makes. The list price is $5,999, so this is not only a serious projector, but it’s at a serious price point. Let’s start with the basics – this is an ultra short throw projector (UST). It sits only inches below and back from your screen or viewing surface. Note: For a projector at this price point and quality you do want the proper screen, not a wall!

The HU85LA claims 2,700 lumens, which isn’t as much some UST projectors, but the LG delivers on lumens, not only beating its claim, but producing over 1,700 calibrated lumens. Not many projectors can claim that. That gives it the muscle to work in brighter rooms. Warranty is two years.

The HU85LA is more fun, as it is also about as smart a projector as exists. That should be no surprise, since it has essentially all the same smarts of an LG OLED TV. Pick up the remote and hit the mic (or use other Google Assistant, Alexa etc. devices to control your laser TV). Change channels, inputs, power, and plenty more control, far more than most “smart” projectors, as very few projectors (other than LG’s) have been at all smart before 2018). The HU85LA has far more smarts than any other projector we’ve tested so far.

There’s rather excellent color, as you can see from the movie photos here, to go along with all that brightness, and the convenience of ultra short throw – like not walking through the beam of light, and having the internal speakers facing you…

The LG is rather unique – three separate lasers. The lower cost competition from Optoma and  VAVA, for  example, are single laser  units.  No time to point out the advantages here, but let’s just say – it maintains more brightness when producing its best color, and that is one, very noteworthy advantage.

The 2019 Holiday Guide to Five Great Home Theater Projectors Over $2000 - page 3:

Including: BenQ HT9060, Epson (UST projector): Pro Cinema LS500, and ALR Screens Feature

The 2019 Holiday Guide to Seven Great Home Theater Projectors Under $2000