For the last 15 years, I’ve owned a front projection system that beams images well over 100 inches diagonal, and once you have that at home, it’s hard to turn back! Today’s flat panel TVs provide truly extraordinary image quality, and although they keep getting bigger and bigger, models with a screen size above 90 inches remain prohibitively expensive. That creates a dilemma since not everyone can (or wants to) install a system with a projector mounted to the ceiling at the back of their room.
At this year’s CEDIA Expo in Denver, Colorado, I encountered multiple projector manufacturers showing alternative solutions. The most popular of these was the ultra-short-throw (UST) projector, an ingenious device that packs the projection system into a compact cabinet that sits on top of a shelf (or even on your floor!) and beams images at an upward angle. This design allows the projector to sit nearly right against the wall and deliver images that are much larger than what you can expect from a typical flat-panel TV. For this review, I had the chance to look at the latest entry in this segment, LG’s CineBeam HU85LA. Combining a three-laser light engine with DLP 4K XPR projection technology, the HU85LA beams images that range in size from 90-120 inches with one of the shortest throw ratios on the market. And at $5,999 retail, the price is dramatically less than what you’ll pay for the largest high-end flat-panel LCD or OLED TVs.
OFF THE WALL
This story is from the December 2019 - January 2020 edition of Sound & Vision.
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This story is from the December 2019 - January 2020 edition of Sound & Vision.
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The Big Clean
Chances are you probably do not think about the state of your electronic devices too often. Oh, you might think about all the upgrades you would like to make; where you would put those new tower speakers, or how a second or third subwoofer would really tame those bass modes in your room, or how much more cinematic a larger screen would be. Sure, you think about that part of your system. But how often do you think about the well-being of your system?
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