If you issue within the worth of the tickets for all the flicks you see in theaters (plus the over-priced popcorn and snacks), then the price of upgrading your private home theater with a projector doesn’t really feel as budget-breaking because it in any other case would possibly. Particularly when firms like Optoma are releasing full 4K options for lower than two grand.

Last November, we drooled over the Optoma UHZ50 4K projector that provided options like coloration compensation when utilizing a painted wall as a display and a laser gentle supply that pumps out 3,000 lumens of illumination. Less interesting was the projector’s $2,799 price ticket, which was $1,000 costlier than different 4K choices already in the marketplace.

The new Optoma UHD55 manages to hit a extra affordable $1,799 worth level whereas truly outperforming the laser-based Optoma UHZ50 in sure specs, nevertheless it does so with a couple of compromises in different areas. For occasion, it gives 3,600 lumens of brightness, which signifies that it ought to present a really viewable picture even in the course of the day, assuming the display or wall it’s projecting on isn’t bathed in direct daylight or synthetic lighting. But as an alternative of lasers or LEDs, it makes use of a extra conventional incandescent bulb as its gentle supply, which signifies that it can must be changed after 15,000 hours of use (or as quickly as 4,000 hours if at all times used at full brightness). While operating, it can additionally generate extra warmth, requiring a extra intense and louder fan to maintain the unit cool.

Optoma guarantees a distinction ratio of 1,200,000:1, however reaching that may drastically depend upon the surroundings the projector is being utilized in: a darkened theater with a top quality reflective display can be preferrred. If you’ve nonetheless acquired some 3D Blu-Ray discs kicking round, the UHD55 will nonetheless allow you to take pleasure in them, and avid gamers can activate a particular 4K mode that guarantees to cut back enter lag to lower than 16 milliseconds. As Engadget points out, regardless of together with two HDMI ports, neither one helps HDMI 2.1, so 4K content material received’t run at 60Hz. But when related to a PC, the projector might be dropped to 1080P resolutions to hit a 240Hz refresh fee, so your PowerPoint slide transitions will play as easy as butter.

The UHD55 features a built-in 10W speaker, however given Optoma doesn’t go into much detail about it on its website, don’t count on it to interchange a soundbar or a devoted encompass sound system. The similar goes for the inbuilt media participant, which may play content material from an hooked up USB storage machine. Unlike most of the extra reasonably priced all-in-one projectors we’re seeing in the present day, the UHD55 doesn’t run Google TV. To entry all of your favourite streaming companies, you’ll must pair it with a devoted streaming dongle or field.

The guide focus wheel can also be a little bit of a bummer right here, as with the ability to make minor focus changes from a wi-fi distant is at all times most well-liked. But total, for $1,799, Optoma has put collectively a strong possibility right here for these lastly able to transition to a really huge display residence theater expertise.