WIf you want the really big home cinema pictures in 4K resolution, you need a daring hardware investment that likes to tear a five-digit hole in the hobby budget, right? Not quite: high-intensity short-throw projectors promise impressive performance at moderate prices and installation costs that are kept within manageable limits. Because the devices do not need ceiling mounts or special furniture for installation. They actually only have to sit a hand’s breadth in front of the screen and shine steeply upwards.
One of the youngest examples of this category is the 100L9G projector from the Chinese brand Hisense. We found this model interesting not only because of its technical equipment, but also because of the scope of delivery: the projector has a 100-inch screen, which defines a fixed image size with its black aluminum frame. Their coating can reflect the projection light particularly strongly, while directing ambient light out of the field of vision. This completes the basic equipment of the home cinema – at a price of around 6000 euros.
The projector generates the video images with three laser beams in the primary colors red, green and blue, a DLP chip reflects them and defines the brightness for each pixel. Hisense specifies the 4K grid 3840 × 2160 pixels as the highest resolution. However, the DLP chip only achieves these values through pixel shifts – a common trick in this device class. The data sheets mention 3000 lumens as the maximum brightness, a good basis for videos with high luminosity. External players dock via three HDMI interfaces, built-in tuners for all three TV transmission paths receive television programs. Streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video can be accessed via WLAN. A user interface, as known from smart televisions, sorts the offer clearly.
The beamer console reproduces the sound with loudspeakers built into the side. The electronics even process audio signals in Dolby Atmos. However, additional speakers would have to play along for their species-appropriate 3D reproduction. Setting up the projector requires the usual procedures, such as tuner search, data entry for the network connection and fine-tuning of the image parameters. The adjustment of the image geometry, a tricky matter with some short-throw projectors thanks to their complicated optical systems, proved to be undramatic here – mainly because the manufacturer requires an exact distance from the projection screen.
In practical use, the combination of beamer and projection surface proved to be a strong team, throwing bright, high-contrast and detailed images onto the wall even with moderate room lighting. This even applies to sources in HD resolution: the electronics upscale all videos into the 4K grid. And the sound to the picture? It’s fine for everyday use; for rich cinema sound, however, it needs external support.