Those in the market for a high performance home theater projector or a UST (Ultra Short Throw) projector may want to tune in this weekend (December 10th and 11th, 2022) for the 2022 Projector Shootout. It's a 2-day event hosted by electronics retailer Value Electronics and B2B Tech publication Dealerscope. The event is designed to reveal the best UST projectors and long throw home theater projectors on the market today. Prices range from $3,500 to $6,500 for UST projectors and from $4,000 to $28,000 for long throw home theater projectors.
Master of Ceremonies for the 2022 event will be industry expert Philip Jones of Projector Reviews and Sound United. Mr. Jones is the publisher, technical editor and lead reviewer of ProjectorReviews.com. Jason Dustal, ISF Instructor and Engineer with Murideo will be leading the calibration team and operations during the Shootout event.
The event's creator, Robert Zohn, president of Value Electronics, had this to say about the 2022 Projector Shootout event: "This is a must-see event for all who are interested in the premium UST and Long Throw Projection systems. We are excited to have these two comparison events so the public can see how each projector compares."
Robert and his wife Wendy first started hosting TV shootouts at their shop in Westchester, NY in 2004 and have been holding the event every year since. The event expanded to projectors in recent years.
During the Shootout, top-performing projectors will be set-up side by side, calibrated for peak video performance and subjected to a battery of test patterns, video clips and stills each designed to highlight different elements of picture performance. Expert judges from the video and film industries will rank each projector on their performance on these tests. After all the votes are in, a new "King of Projectors" will be crowned for 2022. Well actually, there will be a few new kings crowned as there are separate shootout events for UST projectors and for traditional long throw projectors. The long throw projector shootout will be broken into different price range categories to ensure an even playing field.
Traditional long throw projectors require a fair amount of space between the projector and screen (usually at least 10 feet) in order to create a large screen image. These are the projectors we typically see installed in high-end home theater systems as well as in movie theaters. Long throw projectors are usually mounted on a ceiling or rear wall. With some exceptions, long throw projectors require dark rooms for peak performance as they don't always achieve high peak brightness.
UST (Ultra Short Throw) Projectors typically require just a few inches between projector and screen to create a large image. For example, the Epson LS800 requires only about a foot of space between projector and screen to create a 150-inch diagonal image. These projectors are frequently installed in brighter rooms like a living room where space is at a premium and the ability to compete with room lighting is a requirement. Most high-end UST projectors use a laser light source to create an image that is bright enough to be viewable in a well-lit room. Read more about UST projectors here:
Day one of the Projector Shootout (Saturday, December 10th) will feature five popular and highly rated UST projectors, priced from $3,500 to $6,500. Four projectors feature triple laser lighting and DLP imaging chips. The Epson LS800 features a Laser-driven 3-Chip LCD imaging engine. All UST projectors in the competition use some form of pixel shifting to generate their 4K (or 4Ke) image. Here's the full competitive lineup along with their current list prices (linked to ProjectorScreen.com or Amazon for more details):
Day Two (Sunday, December 11th) will feature nine long throw projectors, priced between $4,000 and $28,000. The event will be broken up into three price categories so it's a fair fight. In the $4,000-$7,000 category, we'll see four different imaging technologies on display. The Epson LS12000 uses three LCD Chips and a laser light source. The LG AU810PB uses a DLP imaging engine with dual laser lighting. The Sony VPL-XW5000ES and JVC DLA-NP5 each use their proprietary versions of LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). JVC calls theirs "D-ILA" (Digital Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier) and Sony uses SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display). All projectors feature 4K resolution with support for HDR (High Dynamic Range). All but the JVC use a laser-based light source for high brightness and long life. The JVC uses a traditional 265W projector lamp.
The higher price range portions of the competition will include only Sony SXRD and JVC D-ILA projectors. All of these more expensive units feature laser lighting and 3-chip imaging engines. The JVC projectors have 4K native resolution D-ILA chips, and use pixel shifting to upgrade the visible resolution. The Sony SXRD projectors use native 4K SXRD chips.
At the Shootout event, AVProStore will provide switching, distribution, and test equipment while MetraAV is providing HDMI cables (48Gbs/HDMI 2.1-compliant). Identical Seymour AV Screens with "Radiant White" screen material will be used on all long throw projectors to maintain an even playing field.
In an interesting choice, the UST projectors will also use standard projection screens (Seymour Screens Radiant White material) for the evaluation. While this does put all UST projectors on a level playing field, it is different from most manufacturers' recommendations. Most UST projector manufacturers recommend use of an ALR (Ambient Light Rejecting) screen specifically designed for UST projectors. This helps the projector compete with the ambient room light in most living rooms where a UST projector is likely to be installed and it prevents hotspots which can occur with traditional screens.
When asked about this, host Robert Zohn said, "The reasons for our decision to use white screen fabric is because it is best for critical evaluations to eliminate the screen effects and see how good UST projectors can actually look in proper room conditions. Introducing ambient light rejection features would complicate the comparison that won't be an issue with a reference white screen. We run all of our Shootout Evaluation events like a science lab with the latest and best state-of-the-art test and interconnect equipment and the best professional video experts to judge, set-up and present."
The Projector Shootout evaluation event will be webcast live both days on YouTube by user "TheRealShaneLee." Questions and comments will be moderated by YouTube channel owners with select questions read to the presenters. You can watch the live stream on December 10th and 11th starting at about 9:30 AM on both days here: YouTube.com/TheRealShaneLee
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