Best in Class – Under $1000 Value Home Entertainment: Optoma HD143X/HD243X

The Optoma HD143X and the newer HD243X are 1080p DLP projectors with a street price of $499 ($449 for the older model). Both fall into the category of bright room projectors, and are incredible for gaming – but we’ll get into that in a moment. The pair has won the honor of our Best in Class – Value Home Entertainment Award in this year’s report.

I had reviewed the Optoma HD143X last year, right around the time I reviewed another gaming projector from ViewSonic – the PX706HD. Both projectors measured the same when it came to input lag, though I felt the picture quality and black level performance of the HD143X blew the ViewSonic’s right out of the water.

This is due to the fact that Optoma is known for having good to excellent out of the box color, as well as one particular feature that is present on both the Optoma HD143X and the Optoma HD243X: Dynamic Black. Dynamic Black mimics the function of a dynamic iris to produce deeper blacks, thereby improving black level performance.

The projector modulates the brightness of the lamp so that during dark scenes, the lamp is dimmed, and during bright scenes, the lamp is brightened. This isn’t as smooth or effective as a dynamic iris (which would’ve significantly raised the price!) but it does translate to deeper blacks, resulting in better-than-entry-level black level performance.

These projectors are 3D capable, so if you’re into watching 3D content – the HD143X and HD243X have got you covered. They have an RGBCYW color wheel, which allows for a broader reproduction of the color spectrum – and the W, which stands for white, lets the projector produce more white lumens, resulting in a brighter picture. There are also a few modes specifically for calibration, so while the projectors do produce a great image, you can definitely improve it to your fancy.