Optoma is now offering the UHZ35, a 4K home theater and gaming laser projector that eschews unnecessary features to deliver a high-quality experience at a competitive price.
Despite its modest design, the UHZ35 boasts impressive specs. It can achieve a maximum brightness of 3,500 ISO lumens with HDR10, so it’s great for daytime use, and it supports screen sizes up to 300 inches. Optoma promises a 500,000:1 contrast ratio, DCI-P3 color (though Optoma does not specify the degree of color coverage), and a game mode that achieves 4.4ms of latency with a 240Hz refresh rate at 1080p. The standard 4K mode is also fairly game-friendly, locking in at 60Hz with 17ms of latency.
The UHZ35 has a variable throw ratio of 1.4:1 to 2.24:1 with a generous 1.60:1 optical zoom. So, you can achieve a 100-inch image at a projection distance anywhere between 10 and 16 feet, making the UHZ35 a very accommodating option for the average living room, especially if you plan to place the projector on a bookshelf or some other object that’s up against the wall. Of course, those with smaller rooms should opt for a short-throw projector like the UHZ35ST (which, aside from the throw ratio, is practically identical to the UHZ35). As always, I suggest that you measure your room and use a throw distance calculator before buying a projector.
Many of the advanced features that we associate with high-end consumer projectors, such as auto-keystone and AI screen framing, are absent from the UHZ35. Optoma also went with a simple 15-watt mono speaker system, and it loaded the UHZ35 with a “dumb” operating system instead of Android TV. These omissions contribute to the UHZ35’s competitive price and appeal to home theater owners (like myself) who prefer to use a replaceable streaming device and a proper audio system. I should also point out that the UHZ35 supports WiSA wireless audio syncing, so it’s not completely void of conveniences.
You can order the Optoma UHZ35 today for $1,700 at Amazon, B&H, and ProjectorScreen. To reiterate, it does not include smart TV software, so you’ll have to buy a streaming stick separately.
Source: Optoma
