If your budget is between $2,000 – $5,000 you are sure to find a quality 4K capable projector for your home theater. There are several projectors in this price range that will deliver excellent picture quality, good black levels, strong sharpness, and still leave room in the budget to buy quality accessories to support your total home theater experience.
Improved 4K pixel shifting, HDR compatibility combined with high brightness provided by its laser light source makes the Home Cinema LS11000, which retails for $3999, an amazing value. The Home Cinema LS11000 provides a good balance of performance and value. It proves that a good projected image doesn’t have to be overly expensive. Just add a projection screen, and for under $5000 total, you can bring a compelling home theater experience to any room.
The projector’s ability to deliver a rated 2500 lumens ensures that HDR and SDR content looks good even in rooms with higher ambient light. While the blue laser phosphor light source delivers high brightness, the 3LCD panels used in the LS11000 produce better black levels than most DLP projectors and excellent shadow detail.
PROJECTOR SPECS
Specification
Description
Price
$3,999
Technology
3LCD
Native Resolution
1920x1080x4
Brightness (Manufacturer Claim)
2,500 Lumens
Zoom Lens Ratio
2.1:1
Lens Shift
Yes
Lamp Life
20,000 Hours
Weight
28 lbs.
Warranty
3 Years
Epson’s proven pixel shifting technology has been improved to deliver more visible resolution than a standard 1080P 3LCD projector. A new Precision Shift Glass Plate is quicker, so the LS11000 can reproduce 8.3 million pixels on-screen, which is double that of older Epson pixel shifting Pro Cinema projectors like the award-winning 6050UB and LS10500. The pixel shifting is so fast it is difficult from a normal viewing distance to differentiate between a native 4K projector and the LS11000.
LS11000 has dual HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps), so it can accept 4K/120fps HDR content. It can also playback not only HDR10 and HLG but also HDR10+ so that you can enjoy both prerecorded and live HDR content.
Epson’s ultimate goal is to deliver the best bang for the buck, and I believe they succeeded, Due to its performance and feature set, we highly recommend Epson Home Cinema LS11000 for anyone looking for a high-quality laser-based home theater projector for under $4000.
Like in the LS11000 (above), this projector’s improved 4K pixel shifting, HDR compatibility combined with high brightness provided by its laser light source makes the Pro Cinema LS12000 a great value. The ability to deliver a rated 2700 lumens ensures that HDR and SDR content looks good even in rooms with higher ambient light.
While the blue laser phosphor light source delivers high brightness, the high contrast 3LCD panels produce a great black level and excellent shadow detail.
LS12000 has dual HDMI 2.1 (48Gpbs) so it can accept 4K/120fps HDR content. It can also playback, not HDR10 and HLG but also HDR10+ so you can enjoy both prerecorded and live HDR content.
PROJECTOR SPECS
Specification
Description
Price
$4,999
Technology
3LCD
Native Resolution
1920x1080
Brightness (Manufacturer Claim)
2,700 Lumens
Zoom Lens Ratio
2.00:1
Lens Shift
Yes
Lamp Life
20,000 Hours
Weight
28 lbs.
Warranty
3 Years
The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 includes most of the features that customers looking for a premium home theater would need at a price far lower than the competitive Sony and JVC models. Currently, you would have to spend double the price of an LS12000 for a native 4K LCoS laser projector like the DLA-NZ7. Epson’s ultimate goal is to deliver the best bang for the buck, and I believe they succeeded.
Overall, the LS12000 provides a good balance of performance and value. It proves that a good projected image doesn’t have to be overly expensive. Just add a projection screen, and for under $6000 total, you can bring a compelling home theater experience to any room.
The LG HU710PW is a 4K DLP projector that retails for $2,499 MSRP. It utilizes a single DLP (0.47″ DMD) chip to reproduce a perceived 4K UHD resolution. The HU710PW employs the new LG LED light source supported by laser technology to provide a measured 2,181 ANSI lumens of brightness for enhanced brightness and dynamic colors.
This new light source system uses a blue laser plus red and blue LEDs, providing up to 20,000 hours of operation in standard light mode, which means several years of worry-free operation. This hybrid LED laser light source is more sophisticated than the blue laser phosphor systems utilized in many home theater projectors that cost significantly more.
PROJECTOR SPECS
Specification
Description
Price
$2,499
Technology
DLP Laser and LED Hybrid
Native Resolution
1920x1080x4
Brightness (Manufacturer Claim)
2,000 Lumens
Zoom Lens Ratio
x 1.6
Lens Shift
Yes
Lamp Life
20,000 Hours
Weight
14.3 lbs.
Warranty
1 Year Parts and Labor
The HU710PW offers accurate, out-of-the-box color reproduction, Dynamic HDR Tone Mapping, and HGiG. It is also equipped with the latest HDMI 2.1 features, including eARC and ALLM.
The HU710PW has horizontal/vertical lens shift and a combination of 4, 9, or 15 points geometry correction to provide exceptional installation flexibility.
The HU710PW is built around the latest LG webOS 6.0 operating system. Smart features are incorporated seamlessly, and the menus are easy to navigate and well laid-out. The HU710PW is loaded with many of the most popular streaming apps, including Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and many more.
The HU710PW has all the smart features customers expect from a smart TV. You can use the smart remote for voice control with its built-in microphone to control basic projector features and control a wide variety of compatible smart devices via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. It also provides comprehensive support for the iOS platform, including Airplay and Homekit.
The HU710PW supports HGiG, which enhances HDR gaming, a nice feature to have.
The LG AU810PB is a 4K DLP Laser Smart projector with a suggested retail price of $3999. This projector offers a great deal of performance and numerous advanced features for its price. It has a rated brightness of 2700 Lumens, and its Laser-light source is rated to last up to 20,000 hours.
The LG AU810PB combines all the Smart capabilities of flat-panel TVs but with the high-quality, maintenance-free Laser-light engine and 4K resolution to make it a true flat panel TV replacement.
The LG AU810PB delivered a great picture and is packed with firsts, which is why we gave it a Projector Reviews Hot Product Award.
The AU810PB offered accurate out-of-the-box color reproduction, and it is one of a few projectors with Dynamic HDR Tone mapping and HGiG. It is also one of the first projectors equipped with the latest HDMI 2.1 features, including eARC and ALLM.
Since the AU810PB was designed to replace a flat panel TV, it has all the Smart features customers expect from a Smart TV. You can use the Smart remote for voice control with its built-in microphone to control basic projector features and control a wide variety of compatible Smart devices via Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
The AU810PB is also the first projector we have reviewed that is WiSA-compatible so that it can broadcast sound to multiple wireless speakers. This eliminates the wires and the A/V receiver, so it is easier for anyone to set up a stereo or a full surround system.
The BenQ HT5550 is a 4K DLP projector part of BenQ CinePrime series projectors designed for home theater applications where deep blacks and accurate colors are more important than maximizing brightness.
It is also one of the least expensive 4K HDR-compatible projectors to sport a dynamic iris to improve black levels and optical lens shift. The HT3550 won one of our Best Value Awards due to its good black levels and accurate color reproduction at an affordable price
If you are looking for a good HT projector under $3000, like the DLP look and feel, have excellent color, and have a good room where you can appreciate how much better dark scenes look when a projector has really good black level performance, this might be the projector for you!
The projector’s six-segment RGBRGB color wheel combined with a built-in cinema filter can reproduce 100% Rec.709 color gamut and 95% DCI-P3. The HT5550 supports both HDR10 and HLG, using auto HDR tone mapping to maximize the projector’s brightness.
This BenQ is a top candidate for the best bang for the bucks in terms of picture quality. You can find great color elsewhere, but not combined with impressive black level performance.
The HT5550 is geared toward serious movie enthusiasts who care about picture quality enough to optimize their rooms for the best picture. The HT5550, like all BenQ CinePrime projectors, works best in rooms with little or no ambient light. The unit’s cinema filter expands the color gamut at the expense of some brightness, but the HT5550 can project some colors that other projectors in its price point simply cannot.
The Epson Home Cinema 5050UB offers capabilities rivaling many much higher-priced competitors. And, they offer dramatically more capabilities than any 4K capable projectors currently listing less than $3,000.
Great in a dedicated home theater, and it works well in media rooms, living rooms, dens, and family rooms (thanks to 2600 max lumens) as long as you have some reasonable lighting control. With its expansive and capable feature set, few projectors anywhere near the price can take on this Epson feature for feature.
We reviewed this projector in May of 2019 and were impressed by its high performance at an affordable price point. The HC5050UB had good color reproduction “right out of the box”. The black levels were better than most competitive home theater projectors.
The HC5050UB supports HDR (high dynamic range) both the HDR10 standard for 4K UHD Blu-ray discs and streaming as well as HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) which is optimized for live broadcast.
When it comes to placement flexibility, you will be hard-pressed to find any projector offering more vertical and horizontal lens shift even at twice the price.
These Epson projectors are great examples of getting the biggest bang for your buck. Razor-sharp 4K content, stunning P3 color, HDR reproduction, and an extensive feature set, truly sets the 5050UB apart from the competition. For a list price of $2999, owners will get to enjoy some excellent picture quality, with best in class black levels for great handling of really dark scenes.
With proprietary dedicated processors for resolution enhancement, HDR, and image processing – the result is incredible brightness, color accuracy, and image detail – faithfully displaying all your favorite content from the classics to the latest blockbusters.
The LX-NZ30 is a follow-up to the LX-NZ3. You can click on the link to read our full review of that projector. The JVC LX-NZ3 is a high-performance 4K UHD/HDR home theater projector using JVC's BLU-Escent laser light source technology. The LX-NZ3 has a brightness of 3,000 lumens, designed to cut through ambient light effectively, so there is no need to pull the curtains when watching television or movies. The laser also removes the need to be concerned about lamp life as it offers 20,000 hours of long life. The projector has many performance and convenience features, including JVC's original Auto Tone Mapping, high-quality optics, and excellent contrast designed to deliver the best possible image in almost any environment.
At first glance, the JVC LX-NZ30 appears to be the same projector as the previous model, the LX-NZ3. But when I started looking closer, it became clear that the new LX-NZ30 is, in many ways, a significant upgrade in features and performance over the LX-NZ3. Let's get into a little more detail.
To start with, JVC has upgraded the projector BLU-Escent laser light source. This new projector features an upgraded 105-watt BLU-Escent blue laser diode that outputs an additional ten watts over the previous model. This boost in power enables the light output of the NZ30 to increase to 3,300 ANSI lumens, 300 lumens more than the previous model's 3,000 ANSI lumens of rated brightness. You may be rolling your eyes and thinking, "Phil, who cares about an additional 300 lumens of brightness?". Three hundred lumens of additional brightness when a projector is already in the 3,000-lumen range can sometimes result in a visible difference in luminance, color, and contrast. This brighter light source also improves peak brightness when projecting HDR content.
The LX-NZ series has consistently delivered high-quality video, even in rooms where ambient light can't be fully controlled, but the new LX-NZ30 takes this one step further.
One of the most significant changes to the LX-NZ30 4K laser projector is that JVC has tossed its hat into the gaming segment with a compelling performance boost. JVC has improved the LX-NZ30 to support 120 Hz and 240 Hz gaming at 1,080P. In addition, the projector's lowest latency mode is less than 1.5 frames (at 4K 60 Hz), enabling smooth, low-lag images even on screens much bigger than 100 inches, offering large-screen gaming to what was already a high-quality home theater experience. The LX-NZ30 supports input lag ratings such as 4K 60@25 ms, 1,080P 60@25 ms,1,080P 120@12.5 ms, and 1,080P 240Hz@6.25 ms.
The Pro Cinema 6050UB is one of the most versatile and capable projectors around. Excellent color – best in class (by far) black levels, great placement flexibility is why the Pro Cinema 6050UB, or the less expensive HC5050UB will remain our top recommendations in this price range.
The Pro Cinema 6050UB is Epson’s flagship home theater projector. Black levels are excellent for the price. Of lower-cost projectors, nothing but the 5050UB comes close to the 6050UB’s black levels. The great blacks truly enhance those really dark scenes and separate “serious” projectors from merely “home entertainment.”
Epson Pro Cinema 6050UB includes a spare lamp, a ceiling mount, a cable cover, and a loner 3-year replacement warranty are not included with the HC5050UB.
Epson’s UB series (Ultra Black) projectors use special high contrast 3LCD panels that aren’t used in any of Epson’s other home or commercial projectors, except the near-identical Home Cinema 5050UB. Epson Pro Cinema 6050UB includes a spare lamp, a ceiling mount, and a cable cover, and those goodies are not included with the HC5050UB. The Pro Cinema 6050UB also gets an upgraded warranty – three years parts and labor with a rapid replacement program.
The Pro Cinema 6050UB had good color reproduction “right out of the box.” The black levels were better than most competitive home theater projectors. The PC6050UB supports HDR (high dynamic range), both the HDR10 standard for 4K UHD Blu-ray discs and streaming, and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), which is optimized for live broadcast.
When it comes to placement flexibility, you will be hard-pressed to find any projector offering more vertical and horizontal lens shift even at twice the price.
These Epson projectors are great examples of getting the biggest bang for your buck. Razor-sharp 4K content, stunning P3 color, HDR reproduction, and an extensive feature set truly sets the 6050UB apart from the competition. For a list price of $3999, owners will get to enjoy some excellent picture quality, with best in class black levels for great handling of really dark scenes.
With proprietary dedicated processors for resolution enhancement, HDR, and image processing – the result is incredible brightness, color accuracy, and image detail – faithfully displaying all your favorite content from the classics to the latest blockbusters.
Due to its performance and feature set, the Pro Cinema 6050UB or the less expensive HC5050UB will remain our top recommendations in this price range.
The LG GRU510N is an HDR-compatible DLP home theater laser projector that retails for $3999. It utilizes a single DLP (0.47” DMD) chip to reproduce 4K UHD resolution (3,840 x 2,160). The unit’s laser phosphor light engine can deliver 5,000 ANSI lumens of light output and has a rated life of 20,000 hours in Standard (high power) mode.
The GRU510N is part of LG’s ProBeam series of projectors, which were initially developed for professional applications. The GRU510N is nearly identical to the LG BU50NST business projector we reviewed earlier this year. The only difference between the two units is the model number, and the BU50NST has a longer 3-year warranty.
The LG GRU510N is a 5000-lumen UHD (3840 x 2160) DLP projector with laser-phosphor illumination rated to deliver 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation with no lamp replacements. It offered accurate out-of-the-box color reproduction, and it is one of a few projectors with Dynamic HDR Tonemapping.
The combination of high output, high resolution, and smart wireless capabilities present a great value along with a very pleasing and flexible image. Compact size, HDBaseT, horizontal and vertical lens shift backed up by 12-point geometry correction combine to provide exceptional installation flexibility in this projector class.
Over the past ten years, JMGO (pronounced J.M. Go) has brought a range of projectors to market, including two ultra-short-throw projectors I have reviewed, the JMGO 01 PRO and the JMGO U2. Check out the reviews by clicking on the model number links.
The JMGO N1 Ultra is the company's most powerful and feature-rich projector. The N1 Ultra also continues JMGO’s efforts to create projectors with visually compelling designs that stand out from mainstream projection offerings and enhance the user experience.
The N1 Ultra projector features integrated gimbal solutions for optimum adaptability. Its Ultra-Thin 2-axis Gimbal System allows up to 135° vertical adjustment and 360° horizontal adjustment. I cover this more in the HARDWARE section of this review, but this projector offers an attractive and functional design that I like very much.
The N1 Ultra is a Digital Light Processing (DLP) projector using a 0.47-inch Texas Instruments Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) with Extended Pixel Resolution (XPR) technology. The DLP chip is a (1920 x 1080 x4) imager and can display a 4K image.
The N1 Ultra also fully supports 3D for both movies and gaming as long as the user has a compatible pair of 3D glasses which JMGO sells as an option.
The N1 Ultra features a discrete RGB triple laser light source called NUMB12T. This high-tech laser was developed In collaboration with Nichia using an industry-leading 9-chip laser, the first of its kind to successfully integrate multiple RGB laser light sources. Compared to existing 14 or 28-chip lasers, the NUMB12T offers higher optical efficiency, a 40% smaller package size, and better heat dissipation at a 30% lower cost.
The W4000i/HT4550i is the first 3200lm 4LED Android TV 4K home cinema projector powered by BenQ's exclusive 100% DCI-P3 CinematicColor and HDR-PRO technologies for under $3,000. Designed for AV content fanatics and movie aficionados, the W4000i delivers 4K image quality with cinematic color reproduction. The W4000i can display 120’’+ 4K HDR pictures with unrivaled, long-lasting HDR color accuracy and greater detail in bright and dark scenes.
Designed to bring users an immersive big-screen experience for movies and gaming into the living room. Packed with an impressive list of features and powered by BenQ's cutting-edge technologies, this projector offers users a cinematic experience at what looks to be a very competitive $2,999 MSRP.
The BenQ W4000i's 4LED light source really is the heart of this new projector providing a wide yet accurate color capability. BenQ says this new projector shows true colors as originally filmed. BenQ calls this CinematicColor an exclusive design that provides users with accurate color reproduction. BenQ is also providing users with a new WIDE COLOR GAMUT (WCG) mode that, when enabled in HDR mode, reproduces 100% DCI-P3 color performance that is 1.3X wider than other DLP 4K projectors with Rec. 709 color gamut. Whether you're watching movies or your favorite shows, the picture quality is top-notch, with vibrant colors and incredible detail in bright and dark scenes.
ver the past few years, BenQ has pushed the envelope with its 4LED technology's ability to produce higher and higher brightness. The W4000i exceeds their award-winning X3000i gaming projector by offering a manufacturer rated 3,200 ANSI lumens of brightness. BenQ has not only increased the brightness of the W4000i but has done so while using a larger 0.66" DLP imager.
The new DLP imager used in the W4000i I achieves what BenQ calls true 4K that displays 8.3 million distinct pixels regardless of the number of native pixels on the DMD chip. This larger chip must only double the DMD's native 2,716 x 1,528 pixels, unlike 0.47" DLP imagers that must quadruple 1,920 x 1,080 pixels to display 8.3 million pixels on the screen.
Whether you're watching movies or your favorite shows, BenQ's exclusive CinematicColor and HDR-PRO technologies should provide accurate color reproduction and an exceptional range of brightness in both bright and dark scenes. This is accomplished by leveraging BenQ's enhanced HDR tone mapping via the company's DYNAMIC BLACK technology. While most modern 4K DLP home projectors support correct HDR specs, BenQ goes much further on the W4000i by adding their Dynamic Black technologies to increase contrast and dynamic range in HDR mode.
The BenQ X3100i is a 4LED, 4K UHD (3,840 x 2,160p) 0.65" DLP short-throw flagship gaming projector. The X3100i offers a BenQ-rated 3,300 ANSI lumens of brightness, displays vibrant colors that cover 95% of the Rec.709 color gamut, 100% DCI-P3, and supports super low latency gaming with speeds as low as 4.2 ms (1080p 240Hz). The X3000i fully supports HDR for gaming, HDR10, and HLG content, all at an MSRP of $2,399.
The X3100i assumes the top spot in BenQ's X gaming projectors, directly above the award-winning X3000i gaming projector. BenQ has increased the X3000i's brightness, kept the high performance 0.65 inch DMD for improved contrast, and added a vertical lens shift in an X Series gaming projector for the first time.
The X3100i is a gaming-optimized home entertainment projector packing many powerhouse features. BenQ has added Cinematic Sound to accompany the company's audio and video preset modes and treVolo-tuned audio. Cinematic Sound is designed to help tune out the distractions and pull you deep into the game.
BenQ produces three distinct projector series designed with gaming in mind: the X Series, TK Series, and TH Series.The X3100i is one of three new X Series projectors now part of BenQ's Console Gaming Projector Series. X Series projectors, such as the BenQ X3100i, are designed for cinematic immersion in gameplay with 4LED HDR-PRO for authentic colors with dynamic virtual 3D sound from various directions. The X Series projectors are designed with premium gaming consoles such as the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Nintendo Switch in mind. The new X3100i adds to all the best technology from previous projectors in the series, creating the most immersive gaming experience available on a BenQ gaming projector.
BenQ has upgraded the X3100i's light source from lamp-based technology to a modern 4LED light source. This new 4LED light engine produces 3,300 ANSI lumens of brightness, which is more than enough to create an excellent picture in a range of spaces, from light-controlled rooms to rooms where lights-on viewing is required.
LED light sources, especially BenQ's 4LED light engines, offer incredible perceived brightness. Because LEDs appear but don't measure brighter than other light sources, many manufacturers have developed a new LED lumens rating to avoid pre-judging an LED-powered projector based on its ANSI lumens rating. At Projector Reviews, we only calculate and report brightness in ANSI lumens. With the introduction of high-brightness projectors like this one, the performance gap between LED and laser light sources is rapidly closing.
The ViewSonic X2-4K is a 4K (native 1440p) HDR-capable, LED DLP gaming projector that retails for $1,599.99 MSRP. The X2-4K's state-of-the-art RGB LED light source produces 2,000 ANSI lumens of manufacturer-rated brightness and comes with an integrated Harman Kardon sound system designed to elevate the projector's sound performance.
After a highly rigorous testing process, the X2-4K was designated by Microsoft as the world's first "Designed for Xbox" projector. This projector can easily display games on screen sizes up to 120" with a native 240 Hz refresh rate. The ViewSonic X2-4K is the largest Microsoft-certified Xbox gaming display available today.
I will start with a brief overview of the X2-4K, followed by some of the projector's notable features. I will then take you through the projector's hardware and discuss performance. From there, I will sum it all up for you on the last page. Hopefully, by the end of this review, I will have given you the information needed to decide if the ViewSonic X2-4K is the right projector for your console gaming, home theater, and streaming needs.
