Canon REALiS WUX450ST Projector - Summary

The Bottom Line

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The Canon REALiS WUX450ST is an very good performer that produces a very sharp, bright image with good out-of-the-box color fidelity in the Photo/sRGB image mode.  Further improvements should possible to any of the factory image modes using the projector's comprehensive grey scale and color management adjustments.  I found skin tones to be very natural with the out-of-the-box settings for Photo/sRGB image mode and for business presentations the WUX450ST projects a very sharp image with excellent text readability when displaying our standard text test image.

This a short throw projector with a fixed focal length lens.  As a result, the projector will need to be placed 0.56 times the screen width back from the screen.  However, the WUX450ST does have optical  lens shift which helps with integrating the projector into the installation.  The Photo/sRGB image mode is well suited to presentations/displays that require accurate colors for displaying photos or videos. Brighter, but less accurate, picture modes are available that are suitable for typical business presentations or specialized commercial applications, such as for digital signage.  As for black levels and contrast. while not in the same league as a good home theater projector, they are very good for a bright business/installation class projector.

The WUX450ST has built-in support for both wired networks (Ethernet) and also HDBaseT (for networking/audio/video over a single cable).  While there is no wireless network capability built-in, that capability can be added via an optional Wi-Fi adapter.  Mangement and control of the projector are supported over the network from a computer running PJLink software.  The projector also supports connections to AMX and Crestron control devices.

Multi-projector setups are supported with built-in support for edge blending and geometric corrections to seamlessly join together the images being projected by two or more compatible Canon projectors.  This can be useful for extra large, high resolution displays for commercial promotions (e.g., at trade shows) or digital signage and also perhaps for museums needing a high-impact display in conjunction with an exhibit.

While this a short throw projector with a throw ratio of 0.56:1, Canon offers otherwise similar projectors with the same 1920 x 1200 resolution, such as the WUX500 that comes with 1.8x zoom lens that covers throw ratios from 1.39 to 2.51:1.  If that's not adequate there are other installation projector models from Canon, such as the previously reviewed WUX6000 (review HERE), with optional interchangeable lens available that cover a very wide spectrum of installation needs, ranging from short throw up to long throw.

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Pros

• Short throw lens works well for certain specialized applications
• Fairly high brightness
• Very sharp image with good upscaling performance
• Good out-of-the-box colors in Photo/sRGB image mode
• Vertical and horizontal optical lens shift helps provide for mounting flexibility
• Can be positioned at any angle
• Supports multi-projector installations with edge blending, geometric adjustment and color matching for adjoining images
• Support split-screen mode for projecting images from two sources
• Good support for network-based management and control of the projector
• Support for AMX and Crestron control devices
• HDBaseT support for a single wire solution for carrying network/audio/video signals

Cons