Hisense markets their line-up of ultra-short throw laser projectors as Laser TVs, which are designed to make front projection more accessible and appealing to a wider range of consumers. The term “Laser TV” has also been adopted by other manufacturers to describe projectors in this category. It is much easier than saying, “4K DLP Ultra-Short Throw Laser Smart Projector.”

Hisense’s goal was to build a line of projectors that could replace a TV in an environment where a large TV just will not fit. We reviewed Hisense Laser TVs in the past, and we have always been impressed by their picture quality and features. Check out my review of the Hisense 100L10E to read more about why we were impressed.

While previous Hisense Laser TVs delivered great performance, they were more expensive than many competitive manufacturer’s laser TV models putting them out of reach of many customers. With a retail price of $3999, the new 100L5F is the most affordable Laser TV that Hisense has ever offered.

The 100L5F ships with a 100” ambient light rejecting screen. The screen is optimized for an ultra-short throw projector, which improves the viewing experience during the day or when the lights are on. Since the 100L5F is designed to serve as a TV replacement, it includes most of the features that consumers would expect in a flat panel TV including a TV tuner, internal speakers, and of course, smart features.

Like a Hisense Smart TV, the 100L5F can be voice controlled using the included voice remote control that has a Google Assistant built-in. It also offers a wide variety of apps such as Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and Prime Video. Since the 100L5F is a DLP projector with a laser light engine, it should deliver years of maintenance-free operation, just like a flat panel TV would.

The Hisense 100L5F Laser TV is a 4K DLP laser ultra-short throw smart projector. With a current advertised price of $3,999, it is the most affordable Laser TV that Hisense has ever offered. The projector’s single DLP chip can reproduce 4K UHD resolution (3,840 x 2,160) via pixel shifting.

The projector's chassis sits just over four inches from the screen, so it can sit on a nice credenza or table in the front of the room. There’s even AV furniture designed specifically to hold the Hisense Laser TV Chassis.

The 100L5F, like previous Hisense Laser TV models, is bundled with a 100” ambient light rejecting screen design specifically for ultra-short throw projectors. The screen uses StarBright CLR material which rejects a lot of ambient light to deliver a good projected image during the day or in a brighter room.

You could easily make a case for utilizing a projector as a TV replacement, especially since projectors have the ability to produce a massive picture from a compact chassis, which makes them a great solution for an apartment, dorm room, or other small space. The Laser TV was not designed for a home theater, but for a living room, den, family room, media room, or anywhere you have some lighting control.

There are usually several shortcomings when you compare most projectors with a flat panel TV. For example, the lamp in a traditional projector dims over time and must be changed every few thousand hours. This is not only inconvenient, but it adds additional cost to operation. This shortcoming is eliminated by the Laser illumination found in the 100L5F, which can provide years of maintenance-free operation.

Also, while many projectors can deliver a great picture, most projectors are not very smart, and they lack capabilities such as streaming apps that are common on most flat panel TV’s today. The 100L5F utilizes an Android TV operating system, similar to what is found in many of their newest flat panel TVs. You also have all the apps and capabilities normally found in a Smart TV, including Google Assistant, which allows you to control not only the projector but a wide variety of compatible smart home devices using your voice.

The 100L5F is the first Hisense Laser TV compatible with both HDR10 and HLG content.

The Hisense 100L5F Laser TV combines all the smart capabilities of flat panel TVs with the long life of a LED light engine and 4K resolution to create a true flat panel TV replacement.

The Hisense 100L10E Laser TV is an HDR compatible 4K DLP ultra-short throw smart laser projector which currently retails for $6,999. It utilizes a single DLP (0.47” DMD) chip to reproduce a visible 4K UHD resolution (3,840 x 2,160). The unit’s laser light engine is rated to deliver at 3000 lumens for up to 25,000 hours.

Hisense markets their line-up of ultra-short throw laser projectors as Laser TVs. The 100L10E is part of the Hisense lineup of Laser TVs, which are designed to make front projection more accessible and appealing to a wider range of consumers. Hisense’s goal was to build a line of projectors that could replace a TV in an environment where a large TV just will not fit.

Since the 100L10E is designed to serve as a TV replacement, it includes most of the features that consumers would expect in a flat panel TV including a TV tuner, internal speakers with an external wireless subwoofer, and of course, smart features.

Like a Hisense Smart TV, the 100L10E can be voice controlled using the included voice remote control that has an Amazon Alexa built in. It also offers a wide variety of apps such as Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video. Since the 100L10E is a DLP projector with a Laser light engine, it should deliver years of the maintenance free operation, like a flat panel TV would.

The term “Laser TV” has also been adopted by other manufacturers to describe projectors in this category. It is much easier than saying “4K DLP Ultra-Short Throw Laser Smart Projector”

The Hisense 100L10E Laser TV is a 4K DLP laser ultra-short throw smart projector. The projector’s single DLP (0.66” DMD) chip can reproduce 4K UHD resolution (3,840 x 2,160) which currently has an advertised price of $6,999. The 100L10E is also compatible with HDR10 content.

You could easily make a case for utilizing a projector as a TV replacement, especially since projectors have the ability to produce a massive picture from a compact chassis which would make them a great solution for an apartment, dorm room, or other small space. The Laser TV was not designed for a home theater, but for a living room, den, family room, media room, or anywhere you have some lighting control.

The 100L10E, like most Hisense Laser TV models, is bundled with a 100” ambient light rejecting screen design specifically for ultra-short throw projectors. The screen uses StarBright CLR material which reject a lot of ambient light to deliver a good projected image during the day or in a brighter room. For those who are looking for an even larger image, Hisense also offers the 120L10E, which bundles the same projector with a 120" screen.

The projector's chassis sits just over four inches from the screen, so it can sit on a nice credenza or table in the front of the room. There’s even AV furniture from companies like Salamander Designs built specifically to hold the Hisense Laser TV chassis.

There are usually several shortcomings when you compare most projectors with a flat panel TV. For example, the lamp in a traditional projector dims over time and must be changed every few thousand hours. This is not only inconvenient, but it adds additional cost to operation. This shortcoming is eliminated by the Laser illumination found in the 100L10E, which can provide years of maintenance free operation.

Also, while many projectors can deliver a great picture, most projectors are not very smart, and they lack capabilities such as streaming apps that are common on most flat panel TV’s today. The 100L10E utilizes a version of the Hisense smart platform which are similar to the smart interfaces found on some of their flat panel TVs. You have all the apps and capabilities normally found in a Smart TV including Amazon Alexa, which allows you to control not only the projector but a wide variety of compatible Smart home devices using your voice.

The Hisense Laser TV models combine all the smart capabilities of flat panel TVs with the long life of a LED light engine and 4K resolution to create a true flat panel TV replacement.

Great picture, smart features, and low maintenance make the 100L10E a compelling alternative to a large flat panel TV, especially in room where space is at a premium

The Optoma CinemaX P1 is a smart home projector that I had long been very excited to review. It is one of the first of what should prove to be hot new projector category for the home: A 4K UHD laser TV. The P1 combines its 4K UHD resolution with its ultra short throw design that places it just below your screen and a less than two feet back from it.

Some may argue that to be a Laser TV, it should be complete – that is, come with a screen, although I don’t think so. I think having a choice on screen sizes and types makes for a superior big screen experience. Besides, there will be some folks who find a white wall is good enough. More on screens for the P1 later. I’ll just say now, you’ll want to get the right screen for your room and viewing goals.

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The CinemaX P1 and other “laser TVs” hitting the market offer you consumers a simpler solution to get the big screen experience into most rooms because the projector is close to the display, other equipment, and your sources

The CinemaX P1 claims 3000 lumens.  It supports HDR – both the primary HDR standard and also the newer HLG (hybrid log-gamma), which is more for broadcast and streaming.  And of course, it supports SDR (“standard dynamic range” – aka everything that came before HDR).

The Optoma P1 when not handling HDR content, offers multiple picture modes, including, of note, an HDR SIM mode.  It’s not the first projector to have one, but most home theater and home entertainment projectors so far, don’t offer processing to take your Blu-ray discs, and cable/TV 1080p content, and make the image pop like HDR.  I count that as a nice extra touch.

Optoma was one of the very first to ship a 4K UHD resolution laser projector – back in the fall of 2017.  And of course, they have a large number of 4K UHD projector models for home, business and educational use.  With that in mind, we start out expecting the P1 to have less “rough edges” than, the last 4K UHD Laser TV I reviewed, the VAVA.  That was pretty much their first projector period – and it turned out pretty good!  

The P1 at a glance would be a modest step up from the VAVA which sells for several hundred less.  The P1 can certainly be used in a home theater/cave, but will also perform very nicely in a living, family or bonus room, even a spare bedroom that’s not too tiny. Given respectable lighting control, of course.  Hint:  This is not respectably controlled lighting:

Pano of my living room at brightest time of day, west, sun pouring in. Not usable! Screen partially open, LG OLED behind it much better, but suffers from too much glare.

It is bright enough to handle modest to moderate amounts of ambient light for casual viewing.  If this is going to be your primary TV, you will want reasonable control of your room’s ambient light.  You’ll definitely want coverings on your windows.   Within this review, you will see several different photos of both successful and unsuccessful viewing conditions. 

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My living room is a projector’s nightmare in the daytime. But that makes it ideal for showing you what can, and can’t, be done!

Cloudy day/early evening. Even with lights on full, a bright saturated image. More than fine for sports, general viewing.

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Come nighttime, the P1 shines – and rather brightly, as seen in this photo: 

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Our next two pages take a look at some key “special” features. After that, we get into the general hardware, followed by picture quality, Performance. Additionally, we provide our calibration settings and notes. That is followed by our summary and specs pages (including datasheet).

The JVC LX-NZ3 is an HDR compatible DLP home theater projector that can deliver true 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160). With a retail price of $3,699 its 4K resolution combined with its laser light engine results in a great amount of performance at a reasonable price.

JVC claims it has 3,000 lumens, which is quite respectable. The laser engine is rated for 20,000 hours in HIGH POWER Mode which would allow use for several hours a day, every day for a decade. Even when Lamp Power is set to Eco, which reduces fan noise while extending lamp life, the LX-NZ3 is still capable of producing more than enough light for a dedicated home theater.

While all JVC NX Series projectors utilize JVC’s new 3^rd generation 0.69-inch native 4K D-ILA devices, the NZ3 is a DLP based projector. By utilizing a DLP chip, JVC can deliver 4K resolution with the low maintenance of a laser light engine at a price point below their NX Series models. While NX Series projectors offer deeper blacks and higher contrast, the LX-NZ3 is noticeable brighter which probably makes it a better solution for a room with higher ambient light.

I reviewed the JVC LX-NZ3W which is the white model, however there is identical black unit available called the JVC LX-NZ3B.

The JVC LX-NZ3 is a 3,000 lumen, 4K UHD resolution (3840 x 2160) projector, with a list price of $3,699. Most JVC projectors utilize D-ILA devices which have always offered great native contrast and black levels, the LX-NZ3 and the LX-UH1 are the only two DLP projectors in JVC’s lineup.

Except for the DLA-RS4500K, which retails for $29,999, the LX-NZ3 is also the only Laser projector JVC offers. Both models utilize JVC’s BLU-Escent ™ laser phosphor illumination which has a rated life of 20,000 hours (in HIGH POWER Mode). The LX-NZ3 can also deliver 3,000 lumens which is more than enough to produce a vivid HDR picture on a 120” screen and an excellent SDR image on screens that are much larger.

The LX-NZ3 is compatible with both HDR10 and HLG content. The LX-NZ3’s also includes a basic version of JVC’s Auto Tone Mapping feature. The projector can utilize the Max CLL and Max FALL metadata embedded in HDR content to automatically adjust dark/bright levels to try to optimize the unit’s HDR performance.

You can fine tune the look of HDR to fit your taste by using the MAPPING LEVEL ADJUSTMENT. The LX-NZ3 also has a new HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) picture mode to ensure that users are ready for live future HDR broadcast.

The combination of 4K DLP chip and laser illumination makes the LX-NZ3 a unicorn in JVC’s Home Theater projector lineup.

The Epson Home Cinema 3200 is a 4K HDR compatible home theater 3LCD projector with a rated brightness of 2,900 Lumens.  Epson has been a leader in projector technology for some time and they offer a wide variety of projectors to fit nearly any applications. The Home Cinema 3200 is the newest addition to their Home Cinema Series lineup which is designed to deliver great home theater performance at an affordable price point.

The Home Cinema 3200 is a native HD projector, but it is equipped with two 18 Gbps HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2) so it can accept 4K HDR content up to 60 frames per second. Epson's proven E-Shift technology to delivers a clearer, crisper image than a traditional 1080P projector and the Home Cinema 3200 is also compatible with both HDR10 and HLG content.

In addition to the Home Cinema 3200 (MSRP $1499.99), Epson has also introduced the Home Cinema 3800 (MSRP $1699.99). For an additional $200, the Home Cinema 3800 has a slightly higher claimed brightness of 3000 lumens and more than double the dynamic contrast. It also includes additional aspect ratio mode adjustments for compatibility with 3^rd party anamorphic lenses along with dual rear firing 10-watt speakers.

The Home Cinema 3200 walks a fine line between convenience, performance, and value. While it doesn't have some of the features normally found on high-end home theater projectors like Power Zoom and Lens Shift, it still includes several desirable features including Active 3D, Bluetooth, and wireless networking.

While Epson offers higher-end solutions for dedicated home theaters, the Home Cinema 3200 is a great option for someone who wants to enjoy HDR movies and high frame-rate gaming in a family room or multi-purpose space.

The Epson Home Cinema 3200 is a 4K HDR compatible 3LCD home theater projector rated at 2,900 lumens which is more than enough to produce a good HDR picture on screens up to 120” and an excellent SDR image on screens that are much larger.

As with all Epson 3LCD projectors, The Home Cinema 3200 produces as many color lumens as it does white lumens, which ensures bright, vibrant color which is critical for good HDR picture quality.

Epson claims that when the Auto Iris is enabled, the HC3200 has a dynamic contrast ratio of 40,000:1. While many higher-end home theater projectors like the Epson 6050UB can deliver much higher contrast, the HC3200 would normally be used in spaces like family and multipurpose rooms where the benefits of additional contrast would be negated due to higher ambient light.

The Home Cinema 3200’s native resolution is 1080P (1920 x 1080). To provide a crisp and clear picture, the projector can accept 4K60p content and is equipped with Epson’s PRO-UHD chip, which pixel shifts the image for 4K enhancement.

While the Home Cinema doesn’t include every feature found in a higher-end home theater projector, Epson worked hard to include many performance features. This includes 18 Gbps HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2) inputs to support 4K@60P HDR content from the latest streaming devices and gaming consoles. The Home Cinema 3200 also supports active 3D and aptX™ Bluetooth® for high quality wireless audio transmission to Bluetooth capable speakers and/or headphones.

Epson has long been known for offering excellent home-theater projectors at very reasonable prices, and the new Home Cinema 3800 is no exception. With a list price of $1699 and support for 4K/UHD and HDR, it offers a lot of bang for the buck.

The Epson HC3800 measures roughly 16" x 13" x 6.5" (LxWxH) and weighs a mere 15.2 pounds, making it easy to use in different locations or permanently mount in a home theater. The 250W UHE lamp is rated to last 3500 to 5000 hours, and the cooling fan generates noise in the range of 24 to 35 dB, both depending on the selected lamp mode—lower brightness means longer lamp life and quieter operation.

Speaking of brightness, the HC3800 claims a peak brightness of up to 3000 lumens—which, of course, will almost certainly be lower after calibration or even in its out-of-the-box Cinema picture mode. Even then, it might still be higher than most calibrated SDR projectors in order to display HDR effectively. If so, this projector is well suited for use in rooms with some ambient light, though HDR looks best in dark environments. You can also use an ambient light-rejecting screen in brighter rooms.

As Epson has touted for years, its peak-brightness specs apply to both white and color brightness—that is, the peak brightness as measured with a white test pattern and as calculated by adding the measured peak brightness of separate red, green, and blue test patterns. This cannot be said of many inexpensive single-chip DLP projectors, which sometimes include a clear segment (or other colors) in the color-filter wheel to boost the overall image brightness. Unfortunately, this can compromise the projector's performance with dimmer, less saturated colors in real-world content.

Three-chip projectors, such as 3LCD and LCoS, can inherently achieve equal white and color brightness. Most of Epson's models, including the HC3800, are based on 3LCD imaging, in which there are separate panels for red, green, and blue, with no other colors added to the mix. This allows equal white and color brightness since white is strictly a combination of the three primary colors.

Each of the three LCD imaging panels in the HC3800 has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Epson's 4K Enhancement technology quickly shifts each pixel back and forth diagonally between two positions, doubling the effective number of pixels on the screen. This is still not native 4K/UHD resolution, which has four times the number of pixels as 1920x1080, but good image processing—which Epson certainly has—helps make it look much sharper than full HD. Plus, projectors with native 4K/UHD resolution start at $5000.

Thanks to 4K Enhancement, which is part of Epson's 4K Pro-UHD suite of technologies, the HC3800 can accept and display 4K/UHD content from UHD Blu-ray discs and streaming providers that offer it. Most people can't see the difference between true 4K/UHD and 4K Enhancement pixel-shifting at normal viewing distances, especially with a high-quality lens. Epson touts its precision lens in the HC3800, which helps bring out the extra detail.

Another important feature offered by this projector is horizontal and vertical lens shift, which are not often included in projectors at this price point. This allows great flexibility in placing the projector while keeping its image aligned with the screen. Like virtually all projectors, the HC3800 also offers keystone correction to compensate for off-center placement, but this degrades the visible detail, wiping out the benefit of 4K Enhancement. I strongly recommend against using keystone correction if you can possibly avoid it.

In addition to lens shift, the HC3800 offers a zoom lens with a zoom ratio from 1.0 to 1.62 and a throw distance range from 1.32 to 2.15 times the screen width. That means the projector can be placed from 3.8 to 46.3 feet from the screen and create an image from 40" to 300" diagonally. I'd call that pretty darn flexible, though the extreme ends of those ranges would not produce good picture quality.

Like many projectors these days, the HC3800 supports high dynamic range in the HDR10 and HLG formats. Epson claims a fully 10-bit signal path with partial 12-bit processing, which should help eliminate any visible banding. Also, the dynamic contrast ratio is specified at 100,000:1 with the auto iris enabled. Manufacturer contrast-ratio claims are almost always wildly inflated, so I take this number with a big crystal of salt.

Many experts say that projectors can't do "real" HDR, because there is simply too little light coming off the screen. For example, Dolby Vision projectors in Dolby Cinema venues achieve a peak brightness of 108 nits on a screen measuring 20 or 30 feet wide, which is twice the peak brightness of a conventional commercial-cinema projector but only a tenth or less of what many HDR-capable LED/LCD TVs can reach. So, most people say that HDR projectors are more properly called "extended dynamic range" or EDR. I'm fine with that distinction, though the image quality of such projectors is still clearly better than those that reproduce only SDR.

3D might be gone from new flat-panel TVs, but it's still going strong in projectors. The HC3800 supports all 3D formats, though the resolution of 3D content is limited to 1920x1080. Viewing 3D requires optional RF-based active-shutter glasses, which are available from Epson and third-party companies like Xpand.

Epson claims the input lag is no more than 20 ms (4K @ 60 Hz), though we have measured the input lag of other similar Epson projectors at 27 ms at 1080p. In general, an input lag of 55 ms or less is acceptable, while a lag in the mid-30s is considered good. The HC3800's input lag of 20 to 27 ms is very good, which will please gamers.

The HC3800 offers two onboard speakers with a total of 10W of amplifier power. This is very handy if you routinely move the projector from, say, the living room to the bonus room to the back yard for outdoor movie night, and it's better than many projectors that provide only one speaker. But it's undoubtedly a far cry from just about any outboard audio system. Fortunately, the projector offers an audio-output jack that sends the audio signal to an external speaker system, which should give you much better sound quality.

In addition to the physical audio output, the HC3800 can send audio to an external speaker via Bluetooth using the high-quality aptX codec and A2DP profile. This eliminates the need for a cable between the projector and speaker, adding to its flexibility. This is a great feature I wish more projector manufacturers would adopt.

One feature that's missing from the HC3800—and, to be fair, most other projectors—is a suite of built-in streaming apps that can be found in so-called smart TVs these days. Optoma and LG offer a few "smart projectors" with streaming apps, but this is still fairly rare. Of course, most users get their online content from a streamer such as Roku or Amazon Fire TV, which can easily be used with the HC3800.

The HC3800 provides two HDMI inputs, both of which operate at HDMI 2.0's highest bitrate of 18 Gbps. This allows them to accept UHD HDR signals at frame rates up to 60 fps. A USB port labeled DC Out provides power (5V/2.0A) for things like streaming dongles, such as the Amazon Fire TV Stick and Roku Stick, which plug into one of the HDMI ports but require power from a USB port.

When Art Feierman reviewed the BenQ TK800 4K UHD DLP projector about a year ago, he found it to be an excellent performer, with impressive light output and sharpness, especially for the price ($1499 at the time). This year, BenQ has upped its game with an upgraded model, the TK800M, which carries a list price of only $1299. That's a mere $50 more than the TK800's current list price, though the earlier model is no longer in stock.

Because we reviewed the TK800—which won Best in Class for Bright Room Home Entertainment in last summer's Best Home Theater Projector Report —we probably won't do a full review of the TK800M, which is similar in many ways. Still, it has several improvements over the previous model, so let's give it a once over.

Like its predecessor, the TK800M is a home-entertainment projector through and through. Its single-chip DLP design offers full 4K UHD resolution using Texas Instruments' latest 0.47" DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) imaging chip, which has a native resolution of 1920x1080. Each pixel is quickly shifted between four different positions, which happens so fast that the eye simply sees a combined resolution of 3840x2160 on the screen. This is the same chip used in the company's highly regarded HT3550, and it avoids the light-border issue in the previous TK800.

Weighing in at 9.2 pounds, the BenQ TK800M is fairly portable, allowing you to easily set it up wherever the game-day party happens to be. And speaking of games, the new model is well-suited for video gaming as well. Art measured the TK800's input lag at 48ms, and we assume the TK800M has the same input lag as its predecessor, which is good news for gamers.

The new model's high dynamic range (HDR) performance has been improved with the addition of HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), an HDR format that is designed for live broadcasts. It joins HDR10, which is a common format for movies and streaming content. BenQ's exclusive Auto HDR Color Rendition is said to tame the oversaturated reds and greens common to other HDR-capable projectors as well as bring out dark details in HDR images.

- 3840x2160 resolution (1920x1080x4)
- 3000 lumens peak light output
- Offers HLG HDR in addition to HDR10 for greater HDR compatibility
- Auto HDR Color Rendition optimizes colors in HDR mode
- Color gamut increased from 92% to 96% of BT.709 thanks to new color wheel
- Lens quality improved with new 7-element 1.1x glass lens
- Improved 3D compatibility to support more 3D formats
- Sport and Football Picture Modes accurately render fast-paced action
- Onboard 5-watt audio system utilizes aluminum driver in the resonant chamber for better sound
- Auto Keystone makes it easy to align the image on the screen
- Like TK800, 40+ ms input lag in Game mode is fast enough for most gamers, but not the most fanatical (under 20ms ideal)
- 1.1x zoom allows a 100" image with a throw distance from 10.83 to 12.14 feet

The TK800M is touted as a "sports projector," with a dedicated picture mode for football and other sports. It offers a peak light output of 3000 lumens, though it will almost certainly be less after calibration. Thanks to a new RGBW color wheel, the color gamut has been increased from 92% to 96% of BT.709, resulting in slightly more vivid colors than before. Of course, it can't be considered to produce "wide color gamut," since it does not exceed BT.709. Also, the white segment in the color wheel punches up the brightness at the expense of black level. Still, both features allow the image to stand up to plenty of ambient light, which is perfect for your next game-day gathering.

Like all single-chip DLP projectors, the TK800M has no inherent alignment issues whatsoever. By contrast, LCD and LCoS projectors use three imaging panels, which are prone to misalignment that can soften the image. Also, its optical system uses a new 7-element, 4-group, all-glass lens with low-dispersion coatings to minimize chromatic aberration. Together, these components are said to produce razor-sharp images.

3D might be gone from new flat-panel TVs, but it's still going strong in projectors. Whereas the TK800 required manual setup of 3D over-under and side-by-side timing, the TK800M automatically selects the correct timing for 720p and 1080p at 50 and 60 Hz (side-by-side) and 1080p at 50 and 60 Hz (over-under). It can also display frame-sequential 3D up to 720p at 120 Hz and frame-packed 3D up to 1080p at 24 Hz.

The onboard audio system on most projectors is a joke, but BenQ has devoted some attention to it in the TK800M. The speaker incorporates an aluminum diaphragm with neodymium magnet inside a resonant chamber to enhance both ends of the sonic spectrum. A 5-watt amplifier drives the speaker, while custom-tuned sound modes and exclusive EQ algorithms enhance the sound quality even further.

Of course, the single speaker can produce only mono sound, whereas some competitors offer stereo or even stereo with surround effects. Still, no onboard audio system can compete with an external system, especially in the bass department, but the TK800M can serve up better sound than many projectors in a pinch.

If a projector can't be positioned so it's vertically aligned with the screen, the image is distorted into the shape of a trapezoid rather than the desired rectangle. The TK800M provides automatic vertical keystone correction that solves this problem, but I strongly recommend avoiding any keystone correction if at all possible, because it reduces the sharpness of the image.

Unfortunately, the TK800M offers no lens shift, which is a far better solution to problematic placement than keystone correction. Lens shift is uncommon in projectors at this price, though the HT3050 1080p model does offer vertical lens shift for $850, so it's a bit strange that the TK800M does not.

One feature that's missing from the TK800M—and, to be fair, most other projectors—is a suite of built-in streaming apps that can be found in so-called smart TVs these days. Optoma and LG offer "smart projectors" with streaming apps, but this is still fairly rare. Of course, most folks get their online content from a streamer such as Roku or Amazon Fire TV, which can easily be used with the TK800M.

The TK800M's connections include two HDMI inputs—one is version 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 copy protection, while the other is version 1.4. You must use the HDMI 2.0 input for UHD Blu-ray and other modern content; the 1.4 input is useful only for legacy players. I wish they were both HDMI 2.0; also, I wish there were three HDMI inputs, but very few home projectors offer more than two.

There's also a PC (VGA) input as well as Type-A and Type-B USB ports. The Type-A port is intended to provide power for things like streaming dongles such as Amazon Fire TV and Google Chromecast. However, unlike some projectors, the TK800M has no built-in media player, so it can't play content stored on a USB memory stick or hard drive. The Type-B port facilitates factory service. An RS-232 port and 12-volt trigger output support various control and integration systems. Finally, the back panel offers a 3.5mm stereo-audio input and a 3.5mm stereo-audio output.

The projector's remote is comprehensive, with dedicated buttons for many functions. The buttons are mostly the same shape and size, which makes them difficult to find by feel, but the remote provides a backlight, which lets you see them in the dark. Fortunately, the backlight is red/orange, which doesn't disrupt dark-adapted vision when you look at it. The top of the projector itself also provides some controls, but most people will probably use the remote, especially if the projector is mounted on the ceiling.

In the TK800M, BenQ has made some distinct improvements to the TK800 while keeping the price surprisingly affordable. As a home-entertainment projector—as opposed to a home-theater projector—it will likely perform better than most low-cost models in a room with ambient light, but not as good in a darkened home theater as models without a white segment in their color wheels, especially in terms of black level.

Keep in mind that few if any single-chip, lamp-based DLP projectors have good black levels. On the other hand, true home-theater models like the BenQ HT5550 have a dynamic iris that improves black levels, which comes at a price: The HT5550 lists for $2499, almost twice the price of the TK800M. Art is currently finishing his full review of the HT5550, so be on the lookout for that.

Of course, true home-theater projectors aren't as bright, so you need to decide what's more important to you. If sports in a well-lit room is your thing, the BenQ TK800M should probably be among your top draft picks.

The Hisense 100” Laser TV, as Hisense calls it, consists of an ultra short throw, very smart projector, combined with a 100” 16:9 screen designed for rooms with ambient light.  The combination is impressive. This model reviewed is the 100L8D, (the 100L8E version is shipping, this D version has received a firmware upgrade).

There are more Hisense Laser TVs getting ready to ship, including a larger 120” and a smaller one as well.  We’ll be posting about both.

The list price of this "D" model had, until recently, been $9999.   The new Hisense 100L8E version has been shipping much of 2018, but our D version (originally without Alexa) is all they had for us to review.  The good news, is that even the newer E version (currently shipping), has just dropped in price to $7999!  Nice.

Since this laser TV is based on a ultra short throw projector, you'll note in the photo player below, there's even credenza like furniture designed to fit the Hisense.  The convenience of ultra short throw (UST) makes projection practical in living rooms, dens, and other non-home theaters.  There are far more people interested in 100 inch images than there are folks willing to dedicate an entire room as a home theater, and that bodes very well for this Hisense Laser TV and other UST projectors coming out and designed for home use.

I should point out, that unlike most projectors, the Hisense does have a built in TV tuner. That truly does make it a laser TV, rather than a monitor, or "just" a projector.

The projector sits just over four inches back from the screen, so find yourself a nice credenza, or table.  There’s even AV furniture designed for this Hisense.  The system includes on board speakers, and also a separate, powered, Bluetooth subwoofer, which comes packaged in a separate box.  For this review, instead of them shipping me their screen, I’m using what I’m assured is the near identical Screen Innovations Black Diamond ALR screen (also 100”) which sits in my testing room.

Regarding the photos in this review: Some projectors do not photograph as well as others, when shooting scenes from movies, sports, etc.  Laser projectors for some reason, seem to give my Canon 60D (a semi-pro) dSLR fits.  In this case, the images are definitely exhibiting a noticeable purplish caste, that simply doesn’t exist when viewing the projector live. Or rather, any very slight such bias, is greatly magnified. I do not attempt to correct for such shifts, preferring to always show unedited color. –art

 Hisense is a pretty new name to projectors, but they have been in the North American TV market for at least a few years.  Since I’m pretty much projector focused, I would notice their rather massively large booths at major trade shows like CES.  Still, until they first announced this projector, they weren’t on my radar. For those not familiar, Hisense is a Chinese manufacturer with roughly $15 Billion (US) in annual revenues, focused on electronics including smart phones and even appliances.  For perspective in size, LG is just slightly larger (about $17 Billion US).  What that means, is that while you may not be familiar with Hisense, they are a serious player, and it is a name you will hear more and more of.

Enough background.  Below is a summary of highlights, and then we’ll talk about some special features on the next page, after that, hardware info and two picture quality pages.  Measurements and performance follows that, and a summary.  We also have calibration settings for this projector.

To start things off, though, I think the most surprising and impressive thing about the Hisense 100” Laser TV, is its effective “wow” brightness, thanks to the combination of a healthy amount of lumens, UST design and pairing with an ALR screen to minimize picture degradation due to ambient light!

The Optoma HD143X is a 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution projector with DLP technology. When I received the HD143X, I thought it was another business/education projector, as I tend to get sent more of those than home theater projectors. To my surprise, this is a low-cost home entertainment projector designed for gaming! Sweet. Optoma is known for having excellent gaming projectors, so I am eager to put this one to the test not only with HD movie and TV content, but with video games as well, and will be sure to include the projector’s input lag measurement in this review.

I’ll start this review with an overview of the Optoma HD143X home entertainment projector’s specs and features, expanding on those features on the second page. A tour of the hardware and menus will follow. Then we’ll take an in-depth look at picture, video and audio quality, discuss our findings, and find out if it performs as well as I expect. We’ll end our review with a summary page which will allow you to re-cap the highlights, pros and cons, and photos. Let’s get started!

The Optoma HD143X is a $499.99 DLP projector for the home, and a winner of our Hot Product Award. The Optoma’s native 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution provides a nicely sharp, clear image. This projector has a 3,000 lumen claim, making it well-suited for bright room environments where there’s not a lot of control over ambient light. The HD143X will also be fitting for Superbowl parties, as you will not have to close the curtains and have your party in a fully darkened room. Whether your using your projector in a living room, media room, or bedroom, you should find that the HD143X has enough lumens to go around for most environments!

This Optoma has a pretty impressive lamp life. Up to 15,000 hours is about as good as it gets for a lamp based projector, and seriously cuts down on the lifetime cost of ownership! Sure, lamps are pretty low cost these days – anywhere from $100 to a couple hundred dollars – but it’s not just about the money. With such a high lamp life claim, you’ll save many hours of your life over the course of a decade by not having to switch out the lamp every several thousand hours, if you ever have to at all before you replace this Optoma with a higher resolution model. Time is your most precious resource, my friends.

In addition to the Optoma HD143X’s lamp life being a time saver, the projector also has a number of other special features that we will discuss in detail on the following page. These are: Dynamic Black for improved black level performance, 3D capabilities, and ISF calibration modes – to name a few. This Optoma also has all the inputs and connectors you need for your home entertainment purposes, as well as a 10-watt speaker, adding to the projector’s portability. With a built-in speaker, you can easily move the projector from room to room, or take it outside for a movie night (weather providing, of course).

The Optoma HD143X also features a six-segment RYGCWB color wheel. This is not a typical color wheel we see on projectors these days – usually you’ll have an RGBRGB or an RGBW (red, green, blue, and a clear slice for white). This color wheel has red, yellow, green, cyan, white, and blue. But, it’s not about what kind of color wheel the projector has, or whether it’s unusual, but how it performs in terms of color. I’ll give you the full scoop on that when we get to the Picture and Sound Quality Page. Next up is an overview of the highlights, followed by a close look at the projector’s special features. See you on the next page!

The ViewSonic PX706HD is a DLP projector with 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution. I am particularly excited to be reviewing this ViewSonic, as it is a gaming projector, and I game. In fact, when I injured my hand earlier this year, my orthopedist prescribed several hours of video games each week for physical therapy. Cool doctor, if you ask me. Alright, on with the review.

I’ll start this review with an overview of the ViewSonic PX706HD gaming projector’s specs and features, expanding on those features on the second page. A tour of the hardware and menus will follow. Then we’ll take an in-depth look at picture, video and audio quality, discuss our findings, and find out if it performs as well as I expect. We’ll end our review with a summary page which will allow you to re-cap the highlights, pros and cons, and photos. Game on!

The ViewSonic PX706HD is a $785.99 DLP projector that designed specifically for gaming. Gaming projectors have a reduced input latency to allow for smooth gameplay and a high framerate – I’ll get more into that on the Special Features Page. The ViewSonic’s native 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution provides a crisp, clear image. This is a short throw, meaning the projector sits just a few feet back from the screen to produce up to 100” diagonal. That’s some immersive gaming!

The PX706HD claims 3,000 lumens, which is plenty bright for most ambient light conditions. That, combined with its portable nature, allows for this ViewSonic to be taken over to a friend’s house for some co-op gaming. Sadly, the days of split-screen co-op seem to be coming to a close.

The only games I still like to play that is split-screen co-op are Borderlands and Star Wars Battlefront 2 – most games that my friends and I like to play online with each other are single screen, and you need separate gaming consoles and displays to make it work. My friends and I discovered a pretty awesome workaround for that, which I will go into detail about on the Special Features Page.

Though primarily positioned as a gaming projector, the ViewSonic PX706HD will be just as useful as a home entertainment projector for watching movies, TV shows, and sports – I’ve included some images from such things in the slider above. The PX706HD has an impressive lamp life of up to 15,000 hours in Dynamic ECO Mode, so you have the potential to get many years of use from this projector before the lamp needs to be replaced, when using that power mode.

Next up is an overview of the highlights, followed by a close look at the projector’s special features. See you on the next page!