The Casio XJ-A257 is a portable laser projector designed for business and education applications.  Its internal storage, onboard media player allowing PC Free presentations, the ability to function as both an access point and to connect to an existing network, and iOS and Android compatibility make this copy-paper ream sized projector even more portable.  Casio advertises a respectable 3,000 lumens for this “lamp free” Laser & LED Hybrid, with a lifespan of up to 20,000 hours.

This review will start with tour of the hardware, followed by an in-depth look at the special features.  We will discuss picture, video and audio quality, and along the way we’ll discover if it meets our performance expectations.  We’ll sum it all up on the final page; by that point, you should know if the Casio XJ-A257 Portable Laser Projector meets your needs for quality and portability.  Let’s go!

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors report.  

The Casio XJ-A257 is a 3,000 lumen projector with WXGA resolution (1280x800) and a hybrid Laser & LED light engine.  These lamp free light engines tend to offer a longer lifespan, and do not require the replacement of lamps every few thousand hours.  The Casio XJ-A257 light engine claims a lifespan of up to 20,000 hours.  That’s an incredibly long time; theoretically allowing this projector to run around the clock for more than two years and three months, or for 40-hour a week operation in a business environment, a theoretical lifespan of more than nine and a half years!  This projector should be obsolete long before the light engine quits.

Casio claims a respectable 3,000 lumens, which is extremely useful in boardrooms and classrooms where ambient light is a constant challenge.  Many classrooms, especially older schools that were built in the 1970’s or earlier, tend not to have blinds or window shades, and large windows near the ceiling or rear of the classroom.  A bright projector is essential, otherwise images will appear washed out and text will be very difficult to read.  3,000 lumen brightness ensures vivid color and readability from anywhere in the room.  We’ll discuss Casio’s claim of 3,000 lumen brightness, as well as our own measurements, on the performance page of this review.

The Casio XJ-A257 really hits a home run when it comes to portability.  This portable laser projector is the size and weight of a single ream of copy paper, comes with a soft carrying case, built in networking support and includes a wireless networking adapter to allow connection to an existing wireless network, or use it as an access point to connect your PC, Mac, iOS or Android devices.  The Casio XJ-A257 has internal 2GB of storage, and allows PC Free presentations through a versatile onboard media player, accepts the use of a flash drive or memory card reader through a single USB port.  This projector also supports connection to Casio’s EXILIM point-and-shoot camera line, and Casio graphing calculators (this is sure to be a favorite among math teachers!)  Instant on and off allows the projector to power up and reach its full brightness in 5 seconds, and power off immediately.

This projector allows for a projected image size of anywhere from 18 inches to 300 inches diagonally.  Automatic digital vertical keystone correction means that you can simply set the projector on a table top, turn it on, adjust the motorized optical zoom and focus for your screen and the adjustable legs (one in front and two in back) if needed, and not have to worry about finding just the right keystone correction.  While there are only a few connection inputs, they still provide plenty of functionality for the business and education market: HDMI, VGA, USB, Micro USB, and even connection to old-school AV/RCA devices.  The Casio XJ-A257 is Crestron compatible, and also allows command and control from a PC, smartphone or tablet through C-Assist.

This BenQ TK800 review has been a long time in the making. I got a look at a pre-production unit in April and published a respectable “First Look” review and a comparison between the TK800 and their HT2550 from the standpoint of which you should purchase based on your room and viewing habits.  We finally received at TK800 a few weeks ago.  I watched it a bit, took a few “out of the box” photos of picture quality, and sent it off to be calibrated.

Since then, I’ve put dozens of hours in watching the BenQ, replaying scenes, etc.  

Short story:  Want 4K capabilities, a very sharp image, a healthy amount of brightness for rooms with more than minimal ambient light, and a rock bottom price for all of the above?  The TK800 very likely will fit your needs.  There are a few competitors out there.  We'll help you figure out if this BenQ projector is the best choice for your setup.

Editor's note:  I was hoping to get this review published before leaving on an Alaska cruise.  That didn't quite happen so I'm publishing what I can from the ship, on the first full day of cruise'n.  

Regarding performance, here's a very short version.  The TK800 came in just a bit short of the 3000 lumen claim.  Eric came up with an eco (low lamp) best calibration with about 1000 lumens, and a 4K HDR mode was created with more emphasis on brightness, and that came in at 1933 lumens.  Impressive, considering the ending color results.   More when the page is up.  Sharpness is also on that page.  Suffice to say that the TK800 is a very typical 4K UHD projector - very sharp on 4K content.  If you aren't siting really close you probably can' tell the difference between the BenQ and an entry level true 4K projector.  -art

Yes the TK800 is near identical to its HT2550 sibling, and the differences so well defined, that much of this review is pulled directly from the HT2550, for example, only the color wheel and the front color of the projector differ regarding all the aspects of hardware.  But I watched and have written here about the TK800 a bit differently.  This time, because of the differences, between the two, I primarily watched the TK800 with some lights on, or some light coming in from partially or even mostly open shutters on my windows, sometimes a bit of both.  In other words, I have treated this BenQ as a “brighter room” projector, in that we’re talking rooms brighter than the traditional man cave/dedicated home theater.

The TK800 claims 3,000 lumens. 3,000 lumens which is a not uncommon number for 4K UHD projectors to declare and those like the TK800 have a “brighter” color wheel.

The TK800 is a physically small home theater/home entertainment projector. Optoma and other DLP manufacturers, just like BenQ, typically offer two models, generally identical regarding most things, except for using a different color wheel. (That’s the difference between those more expensive Optoma UHD60 and UHD65 4K UHDs.) 

The TK800 uses an RGBW color wheel (red, green, blue, and white slices (white is really a clear slice). This is a typical color wheel configuration found on most business and education DLP projectors.

Traditional home theater projectors avoid using a white/clear slice. The plus side is that with this color wheel, the TK800 gets a significant boost in white lumens (although color lumens suffer). 

When watching something like sports with a lot of amount of ambient light present, that extra boost of white tends to make the image look less washed out, provides more pop to the image, even if colors take a bit of a hit.

I will show you some comparison images of the same scenes on both, to further explain those differences.  The real trick for you is not whether to choose the TK800 over the HT2550, but whether to choose one of these, instead of a competitor. 

Blacklist streamed in 4K from Netflix

One difference that counts for BenQ is they priced both of theirs the same. Everyone else so far charges more money for the RGBRGB projector – the one claiming to be not as bright, but claiming the better picture.

There are plenty of preset color modes to choose from. We’ll discuss and show comparisons between them for those who love the details.

Overall I’ve been pleased with the TK800.  It does very nicely in its brighter modes when I have all my rear lighting on in the theater.  Or with my four window’s shutters open more than usual for sports viewing.

Let’s get this review moving.  Highlights!

Acer’s VL7860 4K UHD Laser Projector using DLP technology is hardly the first 4K UHD projector we’ve reviewed, (they keep showing up), nor is it the first 4K UHD projector with a laser engine here. If we count 4K UHD laser (fourth) and true 4K projectors with laser engines, that adds up to about 10. It is the thirteenth 4K UHD projector to cross my threshold.

The VL7860 projector, is the first 4K UHD one with respectable black levels that I've seen, and that makes it a strong, 4K capable home theater projector!

This review looks at the VL7860 as both a home theater projector and also one for commercial applications. Much of our conversation about things like color and black levels are more than what is needed for many business applications (though not all).  Hardware pages, Special Features and Performance pages, however, definitely have conversations that relate to non-home use as well as home theater.

This Acer is a good one! It has some real strengths and also a couple of rough edges. One thing I really like – we pointed out a couple of issues to Acer (discussed within), and they seemed very big on addressing them. We were waiting to see what they came up with.

I mention that because most companies sort of just want “issues” to disappear, and get addressed in the next generation products. Well, Acer will certainly earn a couple of well-deserved gold stars if they successfully improve in two areas.

Acer did not disappoint!

First, a quick clue or two: Mostly, I want to say that Eric calibrated the VL7860 and dropped it off two weeks ago. I was especially pleased with the color results that Eric obtained. When you calibrate projectors, you expect near perfect color, but the reality is always a bit less. This Acer, after Eric worked his magic, did about as good a job as any projector I’ve reviewed in the last year or more – with the exception of a few Sonys. That’s saying something!

To date, we have reviewed two really direct competitors to the VL7860 – both 4K UHD DLPs with laser engines: The Optoma UHZ65 and the Dell S718QL. Like the Acer VL7860, they sell at the $4K and up price point on the street.

Like most of these 4K UHD projectors – Acer, and other manufacturers just aren’t 100% sure who to sell them to. That is, they are all obviously built as business/education projectors, based on the feature sets provided, but in some cases, they may get an extra “home theater” feature to two not normally found on commercial projectors.

Truth is, so far, the demand for 4K content handling for business and education is just starting to grow. There’s little 4K content out there for commercial, although, of course, the home market is exploding, with 4K Blu-ray, 4K streaming… Still, this is a projector that easily would work in Higher education classrooms and labs (just not really huge ones), where the highest resolution is needed, such as scientific charting, renderings, detailed drawings, architecture, etc.

Ron, one of our reviewers, reviewed another Acer 4K UHD projector last fall. That one was more basic, lamp based, not as bright, and about half the price. Now, we get to see what the laser, and other features bring to the party.

Considering the Acer VL7860 for the home makes me first think of black level performance – handling of the darkest scenes.

Of the seven images in the photo player above, the first 4 are 4K content from Blu-ray UHD, then a 1080p image from The Hunger Games, followed by a couple of HDTV images, also at 1080 resolution.

The primary issue had been their Dynamic Black feature, which does “lamp dimming” in this case – “laser dimming” to lower black levels on dark scenes by behaving like a dynamic iris. I will describe the issue with the original unit. This update is added after Acer returned the unit with the fix. More on that in Picture Quality (Black Levels) and Summary pages. For here, let’s just say it’s definitely really good news.

Look for some detailed info on the Special Features page, and the Picture Quality page. This was one of those rough edges, but the good news is, it has “rough edges” where the competition has almost nothing – no edge at all, so to speak, and the review has been updated and finished to reflect Acer’s "spectacular" firmware improvements relating to black level performance.

The secondary issue, relating to calibration the projector, so not something on most people's radar, is discussed later: That is if Acer could open up the CMS (color management system) to all picture modes – not just the two ISF modes set aside for professional calibrators. They did not get done on the second projector. More on that later!

Like others, the Acer has a few features we expect to find on a good home theater projector but misses others. A pleasant surprise is CFI – also known as “smooth motion,” which several competitors skipped. But that is rarely a deal breaker for people – good for sports, generally bad for movies.  My point being that like most other 4K UHD projectors you can count it as a “crossover projector” – one built to sell to both business and home markets, but with more of a business/education pedigree than a home one.

And you regulars know how important I consider that.

The original unit I worked with tried, but failed. This is something I wasn’t concerned with because they had me ship it back for a firmware upgrade that they hoped would make it very effective. If they pull it off, (update, they did!) it will easily blow away the other 4K UHD DLP laser and lamp models we’ve reviewed to date.

The Acer earns a Hot Product Award, for a number of reasons.  Such as having a very good feature set, and respectable placement flexibility, but it is the black level performance that stands out!

The updated firmware for the VL7860 effectively uses their laser light engine as a dynamic iris to lower black levels.

Overall, it’s as good as any of the competition, and with their successful effort at dealing "taming" the Dynamic Black for good black levels, has this Acer in the running - a top contender - for one of our Best In Class awards in our annual Best Home Theater Projectors report, publishing August 2018.

Here are the key highlights. After you take a quick look, see you on our Special Features page where I’ll discuss that Dynamic Black, and a number of other features in more depth.

Today’s short, first look review, tackles two assignments: first of all, telling you about the capabilities of BenQ’s TK800, their newest (and fourth) 4K UHD projector launched in less than a year, and second, to help you choose between this and their own HT2550, a very similar and capable projector. This projector, the TK800, BenQ describes as a bright room projector – one suitable for living rooms, rather than dedicated home theaters.

Meet the TK800 – small, lightweight, 3,000 lumens – a pixel shifting 4K UHD resolution (1920x1080x4) projector, based on a single chip DLP design. It supports HDR, but like most 4K UHD projectors, does not attempt to handle the wider color space called P3/BT.2020, that provides better color like we're used to with movie theater projectors.

Like many of the lamp based 4K UHD projectors, the TK800 does do HDR to the best of its ability, but, as stated previously, makes no attempt to tackle BT.2020/P3 expanded color space. So you get half of the “promise” of 4K, but that’s typical. To do a good job with the expanded color space, you basically need a laser light engine (or, next best, an LED light engine).

HDR is a challenge for every projector on the low side of $25K. Projectors, like many 4K LED TVs, really aren’t bright enough to do HDR as intended, so must compromise.

One of these two projectors is going to be the better choice for your room conditions, and type of usage. My job here, after first discussing the TK800 projector on its own, will be to help you determine which of these is right for you.

• Your room or rooms have less control of lighting, and can get pretty bright
• You are more into sports viewing than movie viewing, or at the least, you are less critical of picture quality on movies than a home theater enthusiast (you care about the sports being viewed, not the projector)
• You are the person who has owned several LCD TVs (okay, the world seems to be calling them LED TVs lately), but rarely, if ever, played with picture settings options – that is, rarely attempted to see if you could improve the picture, just happy with what the TV produced “out of the box”
• You can choose a screen designed to work well with a “bright room” projector in fairly bright rooms

• Your room has better lighting control, and if possible, a darker color for your wall, ceiling and floor surfaces
• You are looking for the best picture quality when watching movies
• You want a setup that can handle really dark scenes at least fairly well
• You are never in a situation where the room is very bright, and there’s nothing you can do about it

The TK800 is a physically small home theater/home entertainment projector. In almost all ways, it is identical to their HT2550, but, it is brighter: the TK800 claims 3,000 lumens. 3,000 lumens is a not uncommon number for 4K UHD projectors to claim.

Optoma and other DLP manufacturers, just like BenQ, typically offer two models, typically identical in terms of most things, except for using a different color wheel. (Consider the more expensive Optoma UHD60 and UHD65.) The TK800 uses a RGBW color wheel (red, green, blue, and white slices – white is really a clear slice). This is a typical color wheel configuration found on most business and education DLP projectors.

Traditional home theater projectors avoid using a white/clear slice. The plus side is that with this color wheel, the TK800 gets a big boost in white lumens (although color lumens suffer). Still, when watching something like sports with a lot of amount of ambient light present, that extra boost of white tends to make the image look less washed out, provides more pop to the image, even if colors are a bit more subdued.

To accomplish this “First Look Review," which normally requires spending at least a little time with a projector in our own environment (not a fully black room at a trade show), I had an afternoon visit from BenQ. They brought over the TK800, which we fired up. Over a couple of hours, I got a good look at it handling content including (but not limited to) Passengers in 4K, Ghostbusters (4K), and some HDTV content. I also switched over to the Epson 5040UB, which I use as a reference projector – comparing everything that comes through here to that Epson, it helps me figure out how two projectors that were not here at the same time, compare. That should make sense to you.

For most of the viewing, I did have the room fairly dark, but also opened the shutters more to see how much ambient light the TK800 could handle filling about a 100” diagonal for HDTV, and about 116” diagonal on widescreen movies. Unfortunately, as I had other folks here in my theater, I did not have the time take photos of the TK800 projector in action, but I got a good handle on how it performed.

But, let’s say your room is a den or living room with just basic (not black out) shades on the windows. With higher overall ambient light levels (except maybe at night), this is when you want to consider the TK800. And you definitely want to be pairing it in such rooms with a proper screen that helps out dealing with ambient light. I'm talking either those already mentioned (ALR types - ALR = ambient light rejecting), or other screens which aren’t optically absorbing light, but still manage to keep a lot of that side ambient light from bouncing off the screen to your eyes. A screen such as Stewart’s Firehawk (which I used when I had my projector in my old living room). It and some other grey surfaced screens are often good at dealing with side ambient light and are likely to cost less than comparable quality newer ALR screens.

Before I get into picture quality, let’s talk briefly about hardware. The TK800 is laid out exactly the same way as the virtually-identical-looking HT2550. Both have a pair of HDMIs, two USB inputs, and a 12 volt screen trigger, in addition to stereo audio in, and out, and an analog computer interface (VGA) using the traditional HD15 connector.

Like the HT2550, the TK800 has the same 5-watt speaker system, which, naturally, BenQ hypes, talking about deep bass and “soaring highs.” Hey, this speaker system isn’t bad – for that movie night out in the back yard, or casually watching some HDTV.  And sure, it’s going to serve nicely, with enough volume for sports viewing, but, at the end of the day, it’s still a small 5 watt speaker in a small box, and no matter how fancy the equalization or how well the speaker cabinet design is (the projector in this case), it is not even close to the most inexpensive surround sound system, you can buy for under $200. If you are serious about sound, you’ll want a real sound system to complement this projector.

The images in the photo player immediately above, were taken using the HT2550 projector.  As I said, I didn't have time to do a photo shoot during the brief time BenQ was here with the TK800.  For a good look at sharpness and detail capability of either projector, check out the 3rd and fourth images (from Ghostbusters 2016).  The close-up shows the sharpness and detail capabilities of either the TK800 or HT2550, as there should be no sharpness difference between these models.

I got to do this quick "first look" review the TK800 projector in my home theater – daytime only. I have inserts for all my windows to do a great job of blacking out the room, but, as this is a “bright room” projector, I didn’t put them in, instead relying on the shutters on my four windows. They do more than a good enough job on the brightest days to enjoy any good sporting event.

Mind you, I was viewing the TK800 “right out of the box” – all default settings. Color, as I have come to expect from the better modes on a BenQ HT/HE projector, were pretty good – better than most, without any adjustment. I wasn’t really paying close attention to the individual modes other than to point out that the brightest mode wasn’t all that good, which is typical. It actually was a bit less strong green/yellows than most, but still, you’ll use it only as a “break glass in case of emergency” mode for the worst ambient light levels. The other modes were all rather good.

Bottom line on the TK800: It’s bright, it’s affordable, and it’s sharp. It is optimized for brightness, compared to the HT2550, which, by comparison, is "optimized" for (slightly) improved color, (neither projector can produce near as many color lumens (compared to white ones), but the HT2550 should have color lumens numbers closer to the white ones.. Still the TK800 projector's strength is that in rooms with more than a little ambient light, the extra white lumens can be a positive trade-off.

One last time, because this is important for "bright room" projectors:

Most important tip: Be sure to pair the TK800 with the right type of screen for your room. If your room does get fairly bright, go for an ALR type screen – designed to absorb, not reflect back at you, ambient light coming from above, below, and the sides. I use a Screen Innovations Slate ALR type screen in my very bright living room.  It is very effective, and I pair it with a projector that normally, during the daytime, I have set to produce about 2,800-3,200 good looking lumens. This BenQ can’t produce that many good-looking lumens, but then, my “bright room” projector is basic 1080p resolution, and three times the cost.

I plan to do the full review of the HT2550 sometime late June or early July (2018). I'm hoping to have an HT2550 here at the same time so I can do direct comparisons of the same content up on the screen. Stay tuned!  -art

Optoma’s new UHZ65 home theater projector is positioned at the top of Optoma's lineup of UHx6x models of UHD projectors sporting the first Texas Instruments consumer 4K UHD chip, and targeting home users. We previously reviewed the entry-level home theater model UHD65 (review is HERE) that is priced at $2000 less than the UHZ65 reviewed here.  The most obvious difference between these two models is the light source.  Instead of the lamp used in the UHD65, the UHZ65 uses a laser light source..

No matter where you are in the “FauxK vs true 4K” debate, one thing is for sure: The UHZ65 produces a visibly sharper image at $4499, than any 1080p projectors we’ve seen. That's even true for the 1080p pixel shifting models.

Without a doubt, the compatibility with 4K/UHD video sources combined the sharpness of the image along with the long-life laser light source are the highlight features of the UHZ65.

January 7, 2018 Update:  Some additions and corrections have been incorporated into this review since it was originally posted.  While the focus of this review has been expanded as the UHZ65 is is suitable for use in commercial applications, including business and education, and there is also a lot of home theater projector interest.   This update expands on both home and commercial capabilities and performance of the UHZ65.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors Report. 

As we see it, the competition to the Optoma UHZ65  comes in multiple flavors – at or near this price point you will find 1080p projectors with pixel shifting, while for an extra $500 we now have Sony entry-level native 4K projector (model VPL-VW285es reviewed - HERE).  Finally, there are the other DLP projector manufacturers, that are, or soon will be, offering up competition using the same TI 4K chip set combined with a laser light source (e.g., Acer VL7860).

When moving to UHD, there are 3 video enhancements that are offered.  Increased resolution is one, and the UHZ65 has that covered fairly well, even without having true native 4K resolution.   High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) are the other two UHD enhancements and while the lamp based DLP 4K projectors we have reviewed do support HDR, with some limitations, they have not supported displaying images with WCG.  WCG simply provides richer, more intense colors than the REC 709 standard we’ve enjoyed all these years for HDTV and Blu-ray movies. Just remember, almost all Blu-ray UHD movies support not only 4K, and HDR, but also that expanded color space of BT2020, or the more practical, obtainable DCI-P3 “subset”, as used in commercial cinemas.

Optoma says in some of the literature for the  UHZ65 that it:

"produces....striking, life-like colors courtesy of wide color gamut support featuring REC 2020 and DCI-P3 coverage."

For how well the UHZ65 really does for supporting WCG, we will cover that later in this review.

This is a slightly shorter than usual review of Optoma’s UHD60 home entertainment / home theater projector. A factory fresh UHD60 arrived here just two weeks ago, but only a day before a week's vacation.

Unlike our traditional reviews, this Optoma UHD60 review will be a bit different. That, of course, is because we already reviewed the near identical UHD65. I'll also be dropping in commentary about how it compares with several projectors both above and below its price point.

We'll help you figure out whether this Optoma, or it's big brother, the UHD65, is best for you.  The UHD65, it should be noted, also won one of our Hot Product Awards and also earned a Best In Class – Value award (projectors priced from $2000 - $3500) in our 2017 Best Home Theater Projectors Comparison Report.   One key difference in our analysis is that we did not calibrate the UHD60. (So, for those of you looking for them, there aren't any calibration pages.

This is our top regular award for projectors. We do offer additional awards in our special reports.

The UHD60 is a $1995 4K UHD projector using a single chip DLP based light engine. It claims 3000 lumens, has a manual zoom lens and perhaps most important to mention, it accepts 4K content, including HDR (high dynamic range) and like all lamp based projectors, attempts P3 color (part of BT.2020 color space), with its richer colors, wider color space, and greater intensity.  P3 is superior to the traditional REC709 standard from HDTV, and Blu-ray disc. From a practical standpoint, the ability to fully implement HDR and BT.2020 puts home theater projectors on par in capabilities with your local Cineplex movie theater, but like even cinema projectors I don't believe anything yet can achieve full BT.2020.

There are only three key differences between the UHD60 and its big brother. One is cosmetic – the UHD60 is in a white case (not black), as that would be considered the better match for a projector heading into a living room, media room, or family room environment. In theory, projectors designed for dedicated home theaters are typically black, which is the “color” of choice for the ceiling of a dedicated theater. (There are marketing reasons too!)

Second, and more important, is the choice of color wheels. The one for the UHD60 seems to be designed to maximize brightness with its color wheel which has red green, blue, cyan, and yellow filters, while the color wheel in its big brother is designed to maximize color accuracy and richness of those colors by using a color wheel which sticks to primary colors RGBRGB (also no clear slice).

A direct result in the difference in color wheels is the extra brightness. The UHD60’s claimed 3000 lumens is 800 lumens more than the UHD65’s 2200. The UHD60 (due to its wheel) makes spotting rainbows more common than the UHD65 for the small percentage of folks like me, who are "rainbow sensitive."

That pretty much covers the significant differences. Later, we will discuss the differences in the picture quality, including some comparison images between the two projectors.

That third significant difference, I already mentioned: It is that the UHD60 is $500 less at $1995.

I should note that I have both projectors running right now, one stacked on top of the other. You’ll see various pictures of both projectors in action, from the same source material, so that I can demonstrate the qualitative differences to you.

This page focuses on the UHD60 projector with a fresh Overview and Highlights section.  The second page of this review, however, talks about unique aspects of the UHD60 projector, and how it compares with its big brother, the $500 more expensive UHD65 which we have, as mentioned, reviewed in great detail.

In order to better address 4K content without the expense of creating projectors with true 4K resolution, Texas Instruments, the folks that bring us DLP, came up with a suitable compromise in the form of their pixel shifting 2716 x 1528 x2 resolution (the x2 is the pixel shifting). Although the individual pixels are twice the size of true 4K, those pixels overlap, which provides additional benefit.

There are a number of well known, or at least known, projector manufacturers that use TI’s DLP chips, Optoma being the best-selling brand of DLP projectors in the US, but you should recognize other names, which include BenQ, Viewsonic, Vivitek, Panasonic, Acer, and others.

Optoma, with their two models, the UHD60 and UHD65, have created two projectors aimed at slightly different buyers. The UHD60’s $1995 price is less than the UHD65, but more significantly, the 3000 lumen UHD60 is built for less than ideal rooms, while the 2200 lumen UHD65 is at its best in a dedicated theater environment.

The Acer H7550ST is a powerful little short throw, single chip DLP home entertainment projector. Claiming 3,000 lumens, it is a pretty decent bright room projector, though it did not reach its claim. Before my new screen was installed, we had a bit of fun at my house with this projector, seeing how big we could get the image to be on the wall. We managed to fill the entire wall, and it was awesome. The projected image can reach 300 inches diagonally, but that’s theoretical, and would require a pitch-black room.

When I first began playing with the H7550ST, the screen I had installed was for a review of Elite Screen’s CineGrey 3D material, which rejects 65% of off-angle ambient light. As a short throw, the Acer H7550ST is not supposed to be compatible with that kind of screen technology. For the few days that these two reviews overlapped, I experimented with pairing the Acer and the CineGrey 3D screen. After a bit of fiddling with the placement of the projector and its settings, I managed to get a reasonably clear and color-rich picture, with no noticeable vignetting (when the room was darkened), despite the incompatibility of these two devices. That's a win for the Acer.

Though not the brightest of all bright room projectors at this price point, 3,000 lumens is plenty for most living rooms, conference rooms or classrooms with a considerable amount of ambient light. I mentioned above that the projector fell short of that 3,000 lumen claim, but the brightness was sufficient for my living room, which has horizontal blinds that allow for extra light to bleed in around the perimeter of the window. I still found this projector was able to serve me as an “HDTV” during the day. Crisp, clear, and bright, this Acer can compete with other projectors at this price point.

The Home Cinema 3700 is one of three projectors launched in September 2016, replacing the older 3000 series.  There are significant improvements. Because it has what I felt was the best feature set and value proposition, we decided to review this one.  I'll mention below, the differences between models - some noticeable differences, and point out what types of viewers might prefer each model.  All have HDMI with MHL to support streaming sticks and other MHL compatible   All of these Epson's have two years parts and labor, and have a free (freight) rapid replacement program instead of repairing warranty failures.

The HC3700 - aka Home Cinema 3700 - is the middle priced model with a list price of $1499.  It claims a healthy 3000 lumens, internal speakers and improved contrast relative to its predecessor.  And, it has a healthy amount of vertical and horizontal lens shift, something not common on sub $2000 projectors (although a number of projectors in this range have a small amount of lens shift.) All three models are 1080p projectors.

For $200 less is the HC3100.  2600 lumens (making the HC3700 15% brighter, not huge but a respectable bump.)