Instant Theater

VAVA VA-LT002 4K LASER DLP PROJECTOR

- Al Griffin

VAVA’S VA-LT002 4K Laser DLP projector is the first product of its kind to arrive from a company that offers a range of lifestyle-type electronics such as camera/DVRs for your car’s dashboard and baby monitors. At the 2020 CES, the VA-LT002, an ultra short-throw model with built-in streaming apps and a 60-watt Harman Kardon stereo audio system, was the centerpiece of the company’s suite. Paired with a 100-inch projection screen and playing 4K nature footage, I found the image it beamed absorbing.

The subsequent arrival of Vava’s projector at my home for testing coincided with the start of pandemic-related stay-at-home orders. The timing couldn’t have been better. Working from home alongside bored kids who were regularly invading my domain, it was clear that a secondary entertainment space (my home theater is mine!) where videogames could be played, and YouTube videos consumed, would benefit us all. Accordingly, I arranged a space in my finished attic, set up a 100-inch screen, and placed the Vava on a low table in front of it. Voilà: instant home theater.

FEATURES

Vava’s ultra-short-throw projector uses the Appotronics ALPD 3.0 laser engine paired with a three-segment color wheel and 0.47-inch DLP XPR chip to beam images from 80 inches up to 150 inches diagonal. When installed with a 100-inch screen, the projector’s 0233:1 throw ratio allows for it to be positioned 7.2 inches away. HDR10 high dynamic range is supported, brightness is specified at 2,500 ANSI lumens, and Vava’s website claims a whopping 1,500,000:1 maximum contrast, though the projector’s manual states a more modest 3,000:1 (full-on/full-off). Color gamut coverage is cited as “85 percent+” for NTSC, meaning it’s not designed to reproduce the extended color in Ultra HD/ HDR sources, and also can’t hit the full-color range in regular HD ones.