The Optoma 4K550 and 4K550ST – Bright, 4K Resolution Projectors for Professional, Corporate and House of Worship Environments

Optoma is a major player in the projector game, manufacturing excellent projectors in both the home and professional markets. Optoma’s projector fleet has expanded to include two new projectors for professional, corporate, and house of worship environments: the Optoma 4K550 and 4K550ST. These lamp-based projectors are bright, have 4K UHD resolution, and can project a large image with vivid color. Let’s take a look at these projectors in detail.

The Projectors

These two new projectors from Optoma have many similarities, so we will start with those before getting into the differences. Both projectors sport 4K UHD resolution (3840x2160), have the expanded BT.2020 color space for deeper, richer colors than you get with the standard REC709 color space, and HDR10. All of this translates to a beautifully sharp, vibrant image with a lot of “pop and wow” factor for your applications.

The Optoma 4K550 and 4K550ST's 4K UHD resolution make them well equipped to handle detailed scientific and engineering renderings.

Though primarily positioned for professional, corporate, and house of worship environments, the Optoma 4K550 and 4K550ST have their place in the education market as well. With 5,000 and 4,500 lumens respectively, both are fully capable of performing well in lecture halls, university auditoriums, museums, and other large venue environments. I would even venture to say that the higher lumen projector, the 4K550, could be used in a smaller entertainment venue, such as those seen on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, CA.

Both projectors feature the Texas Instruments DLP chipset with XPR technology, and have installation flexibility, with vertical lens shift, a 12-volt trigger, and their own individual elements that we’ll get into in the next section. The 4K550 and 4K550ST are 3D ready with DLP Link compatibility, with great connectivity in terms of inputs and connectors – the layout is simple, but has everything you need for business and education applications.

There are two HDMIs – a 1.4 and a 2.0 with 2.2 HDCP – so these projectors will work with older HDMI sources and other related devices, as well as newer 4K-capable devices. That, along with a VGA (HD15) input and an S-Video port, makes these projectors great higher-resolution replacement models for aging projectors.

The projectors have the RS232c connector for old-school command, and networking via an RJ-45 LAN port. Both are compatible with Crestron, IP Link, AMX and PJ-Link protocols.

The Differences

The main difference between the two projectors is that the Optoma 4K550 is a standard throw projector with a 1.60:1 zoom lens, and the Optoma 4K550ST is a short throw projector (ratio of 0.78:1) that can project and image of up to 100” from just a few feet away. The only other differences are in price and lumen count. I have provided two charts below for comparison purposes.

Optoma 4K550

Price	$4,499
Resolution	4K UHD (3840x2160)
Lumens	5,000
Contrast Ratio	10,000:1
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Native)
Optical Zoom	1.60:1
HDR	Yes
Special Features	BT.2020 Color Space, HDR10, 3D + DLP Link, Vertical Lens Shift, Crestron, IP Link, AMX and PJ-Link

Optoma 4K550ST

Price	$5,499
Resolution	4K UHD (3840x2160)
Lumens	4,500
Contrast Ratio	10,000:1
Aspect Ratio	16:9 (Native)
Throw Ratio	0.78:1
HDR	Yes
Special Features	Short Throw, BT.2020 Color Space, HDR10, 3D + DLP Link, Vertical Lens Shift, Crestron, IP Link, AMX and PJ-Link

Where to Buy

The Optoma 4K550 and 4K550ST are available through Optoma’s network of authorized dealers, including online dealers like Projector People and Projector Screen.