Optoma UHD50X Cinema Gaming Projector Review – Hardware

Optoma UHD50X Cinema Gaming Projector Review – Hardware: ​Overview, Inputs and Connectors,The Lens, Control Panel, Remote, Menus

The Optoma UHD50X is a relatively compact and lightweight projector of 8.60 lbs. It can be physically placed in any traditional position, either mounted above, with an optional mounting plate, or placed on an accessible surface. This Cinema Gaming projector is designed to be easily moved and set up in a variety of locations. The included lens shift, both manual and digital, and the vertical keystone controls make the UHD50X simple to set up in a wide range of environments.

The UHD50X uses a lamp as the light source and can therefore generate a lot of heat. Optoma has built air vents all around the projector’s body to assist with the venting process. The lens focus control is located in a ring around the lens assembly on the front of the projector. Zoom controls, the manual lens shift dial, and the projector’s control panel are located on the top of the body. The input and connector panel are located on the rear of the projector.

Let’s take a quick look at the back panel of the UHD50X. There is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port for Video Graphics Array (VGA) service only, along with a 2x RS-232 connector. The UHD50X offers a variety of video outputs, including a VGA out. There is one HDMI 1.4a (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection [HDCP] 2.2 / 4K 30Hz compatible) connector and one HDMI 2.0/ MHL 2.1 (HDCP2.2 / 4K 60Hz compatible). The projector’s second USB port is for Power Out (5V/1.5A), allowing you to power smart devices up to 5V/1.5A like the Amazon Fire TV Stick or Roku Streaming Stick. The UHD50X sports a high-quality Sony/Philips Digital Interface (S/PDIF) connector, 12-volt Out for uses such as triggering screens, a 3.5mm audio input, and 3.5mm audio output. As this is a home entertainment projector, there are no networking ports.

The Optoma UHD50X has a manual lens with an outer ring to control focus, a zoom range of 1.3x, and a throw ratio of 1.21~1.59. The throw distances can quickly be calculated based on the screen width. For example, on a 100′′ wide image, the throw distance would be between 8.78 to 11.54 feet.

Since screen sizes are often listed as diagonal and to eliminate the need for algebra, we’ve provided this chart for easy reference.

Throw Distance for a 16:9 Screen

The UHD50X also offers vertical optical lens shift. This allows placement of the projector at the top or bottom edge of the screen with 105%~115% (tolerance ±5%). Like all projectors with vertical lens shift, moving the image in one direction limits the amount of shift available in the opposite direction.
The maximum shift in one direction comes when the other is perfectly centered. For example, if you were to place the projector at the top of the image, it would be ideal to center the unit on the width of the screen.

The vertical lens position adjustments are made using a dial located on the top front of the projector. The image moves accordingly as you turn the wheel, until you reach adjustment limits.

This ability to move the image location via optical lens shift provides the best image quality as compared to digital geometry adjustments. For a little more adjustability, the Optoma UHD50X also includes vertical keystone correction.

The Optoma UHD50X has a control panel with a simple configuration. Three indicator lights sit above a standard nine-button arrangement, with some of the buttons having dual functions. Those three indicator lights are for On/Standby, Lamp, and Temp. At the top left, there is the Power button, with the Information button directly opposite. On the bottom left corner is the Menu button. An additional IR sensor for the remote control is at the bottom right.

Four buttons surround the center (Enter) button in a plus-sign configuration. These are the directional arrow keys: Up, Down, Left, Right. They all serve dual functions. The Up and Down buttons are for adjusting the vertical keystone correction. The Left Arrow button also brings up the Source Menu, and the Right Arrow button is the Re-Sync button for syncing 3D.

The Optoma UHD50X comes with an easy-to-use remote control. It’s lightweight and fits comfortably in the hand. It has one-touch access to color modes and different input sources. The top row consists of two buttons: On and Off.

The first row of buttons is for accessing the three User modes, followed by Brightness, Contrast, and Mode (to change the Display mode). The second row of buttons is for Keystone Correction, Aspect Ratio, and 3D. The final row of this section has the Mute button, Dynamic Black button, and a Sleep Timer button.

The following section has four directional arrow keys surrounding a traditional Enter button. Each arrow serves a dual function: Volume + and Volume – or Source, and Re-Sync. On the bottom left, there’s also a Menu button for quick access to the menus.

The final section of the remote control has all of the source input buttons – HDMI 1, HDMI 2, VGA 1, VGA 2, Video, and YPbPr. Since the projector only has inputs for the HDMI’s, you won’t use most of these buttons.