Optoma UHD35 Gaming Projector Review

It seems like only yesterday I was reviewing the Optoma UHD50X projector. When you look at the UHD35 on paper or even at the projector out of the box, you would be tempted to think that Optoma just slapped the same components into an almost identical box. Maybe they did, but the performance of this projector is not a carbon copy of the UHD50X. The internal components may be identical, but the picture is different. Different good or different bad? You are going to have to read on... Like its older brother, the UHD35 is a gaming projector, and, like the UHD50X, it shares a lot of amazing specifications and technology.

As a gaming projector, the Optoma UHD35 core components operate at much higher levels of performance than a standard projector. Some of the key differences include the projector’s refresh rate, low input lag, and the ability to produce superior contrast. This level of performance provides the gamer with the ability to identify objects in the extreme ranges of bright and dark or to keep from getting killed by another player. Projectors like the UHD35 are optimized to work better with gaming consoles and high-performance gaming computers. This better performance is a result of being able to display a higher dynamic range of colors, higher resolution, and much faster refresh rates. Sound quality is also critical and in this review, I’ll let you know how the UHD35 does on all those fronts. Put simply, gaming projectors do more than offer a bigger and better television screen, they offer performance at a level that, until recently, was only available by owning a high-performance gaming display.

Optoma says that the UHD35 is the next generation of 4K UHD cinema gaming projectors. I paraphrase.

As with its previous UHD projector offerings, Optoma is focusing heavily on both the input lag rating of the Optoma UHD35 and its 4K cinema performance. When it comes to gaming, Optoma publishes a specification of 4.2ms vs the UHD50X input lag of 15.7 milliseconds in Advanced Gaming mode. This lamp-based DLP projector uses a Texas Instruments .47 DMD imager with TI’s proven pixel-shifting technology. This technology allows the Optoma projector to display true 4K resolution onscreen by using a single mirror to create multiple pixels of data, faster than the human eye can see.

Optoma says they want their users to be able to immerse themselves in a world of Ultra HD gaming, live sports, TV shows, and movies. The UHD35, like its predecessors, is designed to deliver impressive cinema-quality images, all with 3,600 Lumens of brightness. That’s the manufacturer’s claim. Since I don’t have the ability in my lab to measure input lag, my editor, Phil Jones will be testing this feature and adding an editor's addendum to this review. Like the UHD50X, the UHD35 offers a refresh rate of 240Hz with the exact same limitations. The UHD35 can project images up to 300-inches and, at least on paper, should be quite a projector at its price point.

The UHD35 is packed with Optoma’s latest technology and features. It boasts High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) compatibility, Full 3D, and two HDMI 2.0 ports.

The Optoma UHD35 has a manufacturer Lumens rating of 3,600 ANSI Lumens, an increase of 200 over the UHD50X, and a contrast rating that is nearly double that of the UHD50X at 1,000,000:1. The UHD35 makes use of Optoma’s BrilliantColorTM technology and an 8 segment color wheel that Optoma says will produce, “the truest and most accurate colors,'' presumably in this class or price point. You better believe that we’re going to check it out. Finally, Optoma is touting the UHD35’s HDR 10 & HLG support, which the manufacturer claims will provide, “the brightest whites, deepest darks, and lifelike color.”

As always, my goal is to provide you with a good idea of how the Optoma UHD35 lives up to the manufacturer’s claims, and if this projector is the right choice for your home entertainment/gaming needs. And away we go!