projector
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Epson's excellent Home Cinema 4100 4K Pro projector is $500 off right now
If you've been looking to get a true cinema experience, Epson's Home Cinema 4010 4K Pro projector is now on sale for $1,500 at Amazon.
JMGO's O1 is a surprisingly affordable ultra-short-throw projector
JMGO, an up-and-coming Chinese brand, has significantly lowered the entry barrier for ultra-short-throw projectors, starting with the O1 and the Leica-branded O1 Pro.
ASUS' ZenBeam Latte is a coffee cup-sized portable projector
ASUS has launched a ZenBeam Latte projector with a coffee cup-sized design you can carry around the home.
LG's latest 4K CineBeam laser projector adjusts to your room light
LG just unveiled the CineBeam HU810P 4K laser projector that automatically adjusts to the light in your room.
Vava’s 4K ultra short-throw projector is $840 off at Amazon
It'll cost you 30 percent less than usual if you snap one up swiftly.
Vava's impressive 4K short-throw laser projector is $850 off at Amazon
Vava’s 4K UHD Ultra-Short Throw Laser is one of the better-reviewed models out there, having achieved an 84 score on Engadget, but it’s also a lot of money at $2,800. However, it’s now on sale at Amazon for $1,950, a significant $850, or 30 percent discount.
Vava 4K short-throw projector review: Home theater on a relative budget
You might not have heard of Vava, but its short-throw projector is surprisingly good and priced competitively.
Optoma CinemaX P1 review: A stunning 4K projector with terrible apps
The shiniest new toys in AV land are the short-throw laser projectors you might have seen recently, particularly at CES. They're cool because they give you a huge, bright image for a fraction the price of a comparably sized 4K TV. At the same time, they're relatively easy to install compared to a ceiling-mounted projector because you can place them on a table just inches in front of the screen. I was curious to see how they compare with 4K TVs and regular projectors, so I got hold of Optoma's $3,700 CinemaX P1 paired with its $1,300, 100-inch ambient light-rejecting ALR101 screen. For that sum, I could project a huge 100-inch image for a fraction the price of a 100-inch TV. At the same time, it promised much greater brightness and sharpness than long-throw projectors, along with built-in media powers. On top of reviewing this projector, I'm also reviewing the whole idea of a short-throw laser projector, from installation to day-to-day usage. I discovered a lot of important info and caveats, so hopefully you can learn from my errors and understand how these products fare in the real world.
The best portable mini projector
By Daniel Varghese and Adrienne Maxwell This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to portable mini projectors. A mini projector combines the portable convenience of a phone or tablet with the big-screen appeal of a TV. Although none of the 16 models we tested rivals the performance of a good TV or full-size projector, we like the Anker Nebula Mars II Pro the best because of its ease of use, great Android OS, solid battery life, and decent image quality. The Anker Nebula Mars II Pro delivers the best combination of features, performance, and ease of use of any mini projector we tested. It offers plenty of connection options, and it features an Android operating system to stream services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu. Its automatic focus and keystoning, its well-laid-out remote, and its intuitive mobile remote app make the Mars II Pro the easiest projector to set up and use, and its three-hour-plus battery life will get you through a long movie. None of the mini projectors we tested delivered a picture as bright, engaging, or accurate as the image from a good-performing traditional projector, but the Mars II Pro offers solid performance that's perfectly acceptable for casual viewing. The Mars II Pro is a bit larger than other mini projectors we tested (measuring 5.43 by 4.8 by 7 inches and weighing 3.94 pounds), but it's still smaller than a traditional projector and has a convenient carrying strap.
What we’re buying: BenQ’s HT3550 projector delivers 4K HDR on the cheap
This week, Associate Editor Steve Dent gives us his thoughts on BenQ's latest 4K projector.
How and why to buy a projector in 2019
A 100-inch 4K screen? To get that the usual way you might be looking at paying close to six figures. Luckily, there's another option that can get you even more, up to a 150-inch screen for a fraction of that price. Yes, film aficionados are increasingly turning their attention toward home theater projectors. You may think of projectors as either expensive, dim or janky, but with the latest technology, that's all changed. It's possible nowadays to find reasonably bright 4K HDR projectors with near theater-quality images for $1,500 or less. Before you start running to the store for popcorn, it's important to learn a few things and beware of the pitfalls, so we're here to help.
LG's new 4K UHD CineBeam projector is way more affordable
LG has debuted a new 4K UHD CineBeam projector along with its short-throw model at CEDIA 2019. It's not capable of delivering crisp images at just 7.2 inches away from the wall like its short throw pal, but it also doesn't cost $6,000. (That is, however, pretty inexpensive for a short throw model.) In fact, its retail price is set at $1,799, which makes it more affordable than the brand's first 4K model that debuted with a $3,000 price tag.
LG's CineBeam short-throw 4K projector is now available
On paper, LG's CineBeam Laser 4K sounds like a dream projector. 4K? Check. Massive image up to 120 inches on your wall? Check. It's also short-throw, meaning it doesn't have to be setup on the opposite side of the room. And it's got a discrete, fabric-covered design.
Celebrity holograms sketch me out, but are they the future?
Roy Orbison has been dead since 1988 but that didn't stop him from going on a North American tour last winter. Nor has it stopped Whitney Houston, Ronnie James Dio and the Notorious B.I.G. -- or at least their estates -- from reincarnating these deceased celebrities as holographic projections. And this is just the start. The technology is already seeping into sports, porn, even political campaigns. But is holographic technology the future of communications and entertainment or is it an exploitative sideshow leveraging the likenesses of dead celebrities for the profit of their heirs?
LG's Laser 4K doesn't need a lot of space for a big picture
LG isn't the first company bringing a 4K short-throw projector to CES and it inevitable will not be the last. What the company claims, however, is that with its subtle design and AI-powered voice control the CineBeam Laser 4K could realistically blend into a living room until you suddenly feel the need to watch a 90- or 120-inch display. Sure, you could always get a hideaway rolling OLED screen to do the same job, but even without revealing the price I'm going to assume this will be a cheaper option.
Anker’s new $600 portable projector ups the resolution to HD
It was two years ago that we first came across Anker's soda-can media center, the Nebula Capsule. The all-in-one entertainment device crammed a projector and Bluetooth speaker into a portable package with a respectable 2.5-hour battery life. Anker's now readied a sequel, and is showing it off at this year's CES. The Nebula Capsule II improves upon its predecessor in a number of ways. Not only is the projector running brighter and at a higher, 720p resolution, but it now features autofocus and a more powerful, 8W speaker. Android TV 9.0 running behind scenes means it supports thousands of apps and Google's Assistant, making it a better all-round nomadic entertainment option.
Optoma's P1 laser projector brings a 4K home theater anywhere
Optoma's latest projector joins competition like Hisense and LG by including everything you need for a home theater in one package. The P1 Smart 4K UHD Laser Cinema is not just a laser projector, as it combines the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control we've seen in previous Optoma units with a NuForce Dolby Digital 2.0 sound bar that has built-in woofers.
LG's Laser 4K beams a 120-inch picture from seven inches away
Just as surely as CES comes around, LG shows up with a laser projector to hopefully tempt you into ditching that TV. This year's attempt is another CineBeam model, and the Laser 4K is ready to compete with the likes of Hisense's home-theater-in-a-box projector and the ultra-expensive Sony projectors we've seen in past years. The HU85L doesn't list HDR support, but it has a "wide color gamut" and can project a 120-inch screen while placed just 7 inches away from a nearby wall, floor or ceiling, or a 90-inch screen from 2 inches away. There's no word on a price or release date, but it is, of course, equipped with the company's ThinQ AI for natural language voice control and a Magic remote with gesture control. With 2,500 lumens of brightness it's intended for use in more than just darkened home theater rooms, but we'll need to see it in Las Vegas to know how good it really is.
Fujifilm's rotating lens projector adjusts to your viewing space
If you need to adjust your projector to get a better picture or beam to a different part of the room, you don't have many choices -- you might only have slight adjustments to the lens itself, and might have to move the entire projector in some cases. And that's assuming you can move it at all. Fujifilm will soon have a solution, though, as it's developing the first projector with a two-axis rotatable lens. The design lets you not only fine-tune the placement, but dramatically change the direction without having to move the whole unit. You could project on the living room wall for movie night and switch to the ceiling when you're resting on the couch, or stuff a projector into a narrow space while maintaining a horizontal aspect ratio.
Epson's latest LCD projector does 4K for $2,000
If you need another option for a 4K projector that won't completely break the bank, Epson recently introduced this Home Cinema 4010. Like the BenQ HT-2550 projector we reviewed earlier this year, it's doing a bit of trickery to hit that 4K-resolution number. While Epson uses three LCDs instead of DLP, it's still applying "pixel shifting" to the output of three 1080p microdisplays. I haven't seen this projector or its slightly pricier Pro Cinema 4050 sibling introduced at CEDIA, but in my experience, it's very difficult to tell apart from native 4K projector technology in practice.
