Ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors have emerged as a popular option for home entertainment enthusiasts seeking a massive, high-quality image without the cumbersome installation of traditional projectors. Currently, several excellent models are available on the market, but how do you determine which one is best suited for your needs?

The Projector Reviews team evaluates several ultra-short-throw projectors every year. While specifications like brightness and contrast ratios can provide some insight, they rarely reflect real-world usage. Memory and measurements alone don’t capture nuanced differences between projectors.

This is why, for the second year in a row, Projector Reviews has collaborated with ProjectorScreen.com to host the 2025 Ultra-Short Throw Projector Showdown. This event offers a unique opportunity for a group of experts and video enthusiasts to evaluate several popular UST projectors side-by-side in a controlled environment. The goal of the event is to provide potential projector customers with the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions.

In this article, we will provide an overview of the event and share some insights I gathered while hosting it. For additional information about Ultra Short Throw Showdown, along with a detailed breakdown of the judges' scorecard, be sure to check out Detailed UST Showdown Event Coverage on ProjectorScreen.com.

Brian and his team at ProjectorScreen set up eight identical screens in their new facility in New Jersey, allowing the judges to compare several popular ultra-short-throw projectors side by side.  To ensure a level playing field, the room was outfitted with eight Spectra Projection Vantage 0.5-gain ambient-light-rejecting screens, all 100 inches in size.

Most projectors produce enough brightness to accurately reproduce the information found in SDR content even on a large screen. However, even the brightest projector cannot display the full brightness range of HDR content, which is mastered for flat-panel displays, so good tone mapping is critical.

There are three key elements when it comes to achieving a good HDR tone mapping. The first is the ability to deliver deep blacks while still maintaining shadow detail. The second element is the ability to deliver good onscreen brightness, and the third is the ability to do all of this without blowing out bright highlight detail when viewing challenging HDR scenes.

Before the event, I compiled a list of challenging SDR and HDR clips that were played back using the Kaleidescape Strato E and a Panasonic UB9000 Blu-ray player. The evaluations featured a curated list of movie scenes and test patterns. While we used some of the same demos as last year, we also included new ones. We will be share a complete list but below are some examples of the clips used and the tests they applied to:

The HDR tests utilized HDR10 content, as all the projectors supported that format. While all the projectors except for the Epson QS100 support Dolby Vision, and many also support HDR10+. However, issues are sharing the same dynamic metadata found in these formats with multiple projectors. It is likely that the dynamic metadata found in Dolby Vision and HDR10+ will deliver a noticeable improvement in the HDR picture quality of some projectors.

The evening before the event, an issue occurred with the unit (laser flickering, power issues, etc.). We replaced the unit with another one that was out of the Projector Screen’s stock and updated it to the latest firmware, as per NexiGo’s instructions. However, NexiGo did not mention that to ensure the firmware update is fully implemented, a factory reset is required.

During the event, several judges familiar with NexiGo noticed that the image did not match their previous experience with the unit. It was assumed that the visual difference was the result of the settings NexiGo had chosen for the competition. However, after lunch, when we factory reset all projectors for the Out of the Box judging, the NexiGo image quality seemed to improve,

The day after the event, when we reviewed the score sheets, it became apparent that there was an issue with the Aurora Pro MKII during the first half of the event. Its overall scores were surprisingly low, even in the HDR dark room tests, which is one of the projector’s known strengths.

Therefore, we decided not to include the Aurora Pro MKII on the final scorecard, as it would not be a fair representation of its true performance since the unit was not running the latest public firmware. We look forward to another opportunity to compare the Aurora Pro MKII to competitive UST models in the future. In the meantime, please check out our detailed product review and YouTube video review recap.

The main insight I got from this year’s showdown is that brightness is king. While many enthusiasts and reviewers focus on black-level and native contrast measurements when comparing projectors side-by-side, most people will gravitate toward the brighter image. While many people expressed disappointment with the projector’s native contrast measurements on several Enthusiast forums, the L9Q dominated the event.

I believe this is because the L9Q has a rated brightness of 5000 lumens, which is substantially more than most of the projectors in the Showdown. While 5000 lumens might seem like overkill on a 100-inch screen, the high brightness really makes HDR pop.

The new DCI standard for HDR projection specifies that an on-screen brightness of 300 nits is required to achieve optimal HDR performance.  This is because colors displayed at higher brightness appear more saturated.  Also, due to higher brightness, less aggressive tone mapping is needed for HDR content, so the picture is closer to the creator’s intent. To deliver this brightness on a large screen requires a lot of light output, which is why the Hisense L9Q and the Epson QS100 stood out from the crowd.

The HDR tone mapping and all the Hisense projectors at the showdown are outstanding. In addition, the L9Q did a good job of mapping the projector’s wide color gamut to accurately reproduce the Rec. 709 color space used in SDR content.

Yes, some projectors could deliver deeper black levels in super dark scenes from the Batman, and nope, but most judges chose the L9Q as your top Projector for both SDR and HDR.  While the L9Q did not have the deepest black levels, its higher brightness gave it higher perceived contrast, which was the main reason many judges said its HDR image looked closest to the reference OLED display.

While L9Q is one of the most expensive ultra-short-throw projectors on the market, its high brightness, white color reproduction, and excellent video processing make it worth the premium for those seeking the best image quality.

The first thing many judges said when they entered the room was that this year’s evaluation process would be far more difficult than in previous years. This is because the color reproduction of many of the projectors has improved dramatically. Most offered good HDR tone mapping and enough brightness to be usable even in a room with low ambient light.

The Showdown Event space was not a totally blacked-out bat-cave, but we worked hard to keep the black floor as low as possible under the ambient light from the other projectors. This sacrifice was necessary so the judges could evaluate all the projectors at the same time, in the same room, without having to rely on memory. However, the ambient light level was low enough for the judges to easily see the differences in the black floor, shadow detail, and contrast between the units. 

During the event, the judges tended to gravitate towards the brightest image with the most accurate color. This is why the L9Q did so well in the Showdown, even though it did not have the deepest black levels. The projector’s higher brightness produced greater perceived visual contrast, which is why the judges said it looked closest to the reference OLED display in most scenes.

While projectors with lower black levels should excel in absolute darkness, the judges prioritized overall picture quality and real-world versatility. These rewarding models maintained impactful images across a broader range of viewing environments. Yes, you could argue that the L9Q’s blacks weren’t as good as some of the other projectors when viewing super dark test scenes in Batman, but when viewing basically 90% of the SDR and HDR content you would watch daily, the benefit of the L9Q’s brightness and color capabilities is obvious. 

For some attendees, design, simple setup, and install flexibility are just as important as picture quality. High Performance is meaningless if your significant other won’t allow you to place the unit in your living room.