ProjectorCentral, "The World's Largest Projector Resource,"™ and online retailer ProjectorScreen.com have shared new details about their previously announced Laser TV Showdown that will face-off more than a dozen 4K ultra-short throw laser projectors to establish the leading performers in the category.

LaserTVShowdown sponsors 6judges

The one-day, non-public event will take place at ProjectorScreen.com's headquarters in Pompton Lakes, NJ on August 4, 2022, with results and rankings to be released immediately following the Showdown. Video highlights will be shared shortly after. Six expert judges have been recruited from the calibration and A/V editorial communities, including the following respected reviewers:

Signal distribution manufacturer AVPro Edge is co-sponsoring the event and will supply its high-bandwidth HDMI distribution amplifiers and matrix switchers for the effort, along with Bullet Train high-speed HDMI cables. AVPro Edge sister company Murideo will provide an 8K-SIX G signal generator and 8K SIX-A HDMI analyzer for distribution testing and projector calibration. German instrument manufacturer JETI, also a co-sponsor, is supplying a Spectraval 1511 HiRes Spectroradiometer with a narrow 2 nanometer optical bandwidth suitable for precision calibration of laser projectors. Additional co-sponsors include Kaleidescape, which will provide one of its award-winning movie servers to help speed and automate the evaluations, and Spectra Projection, which will supply eight matching 100-inch Vantage lenticular UST ALR screens with a 0.5 gain and 95% rejection of overhead light to optimize black level and contrast.

The projectors will be fully calibrated in advance for dark-room SDR and HDR viewing modes, while a preferred "Daytime" picture mode for each projector will be selected out-of-box and subjectively tuned to room conditions to provide the best image for ambient-light viewing. Calibrations will be conducted over several weeks by A/V expert Dave Harper of HarperVision, LLC—an ISF-trained calibrator, Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) and reviewer for ProjectorScreen.com—in association with ProjectorCentral staff.

Projectors will be evaluated using test patterns and movie/TV program clips that will challenge their color accuracy, dynamic range, resolution/detail with still and motion video, image scaling/processing, and brightness. Separate evaluation sessions will be held for projectors with a single blue laser+phosphor architecture and for premium, triple-laser projectors offering dedicated light sources for the red, green, and blue color primaries.

The tentative list of projectors participating in the Showdown, subject to change, is as follows:

Single Laser

  • BenQ V7050i
  • Epson LS500
  • Hisense 100L5G
  • LG HU715Q
  • Optoma P2
  • Samsung LSP7T
  • ViewSonic X2000B-4K
  • XGIMI Aura

Triple Laser

  • AWOL Vision LTV-3500
  • Formovie Theater
  • Hisense PX1-PRO
  • LG HU915QB
  • Samsung LSP9T
  • VAVA Chroma
 
Comments (11) Post a Comment
Mike Bauer Posted Jun 30, 2022 5:44 PM PST
It would be interesting to have a TV there. The new 98 inch TCL is a candidate.
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Jun 30, 2022 5:50 PM PST
Thanks Mike, we are considering whether the best reference would be a good state of the art high-end long throw projector, perhaps one of the LCoS-driven JVCs or Sony's, or a decent size panel TV. There's no question a TV would produce brighter highlights if nothing else, and we are slowly getting to where a 100-inch panel may start getting competitive with these laser USTs. (The new LGHU915QB at $6500, for example, probably costs the same as the $8,000 TCL you mention after you add a screen.) But the vast majority of USTs out there are still way more cost effective on a per-inch basis when you get to 100 inches or more, and for now I think we're mostly interested to see how these USTs stand up to state of the art projection. I suppose we could consider having both, though we are ultimately limited on space and the logistics of handling a 138 pound TV could be challenging.
Mike Posted Jul 1, 2022 3:48 AM PST
August 4th is marked on my calendar! Looking forward to the results!

Still wish there was more than one screen material available. With the loss of 50% of your brightness, the high output projectors will have an advantage.
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Jul 1, 2022 3:50 AM PST
Mike, it is definitely true that our Bright Room tests will throw an advantage to the brighter projectors. The thought right now is that we're going to turn on the lights, seek out the best-looking (most subjectively accurate) out-of-box mode for each projector, and just do some tuning on the basic controls (Brightness, Contrast, Color Saturation, maybe Color Temp and Gamma) to make them look as accurate as possible with flesh tones and nature colors. But my experience so far is that the 0.5-0.6 gain screens actually look the best even in ambient light because they reject more of the overhead light (95% typically) and produce a deeper black than any of the higher gain UST screens. It's counter-intuitive, but less gain seems to result in a more viewable/palatable image. I suppose if you pour enough light into the room, the brighter projectors will have an advantage provided their brightest modes are reasonably accurate. If they are not, we're going to zero in on the modes that provide a more decent image in light.
Paul V. Posted Jul 1, 2022 7:15 AM PST
Is the Formovie Theater the really well reviewed Fengmi T1? Would love to see that included if not, but if it is - I'm excited to hear how it performs overall.

Also, wondering if throw distance for the screen is specific to a angle, or if it will have ideal working conditions for different throw distances? I know that was brought up in another UST shootout that a couple of the projectors had a different throw distance which could make the screen have a significant impact on the image quality produced.
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Jul 1, 2022 9:01 AM PST
Hi Paul. Yes, the Formovie Theater is the US version of the T1; basically the same projector as I understand it.

As you know but some readers may not, the throw distance with these USTs is dependent on the fixed throw ratio of the lens, which varies based on the manufacturer; shorter throw means the projector sits a bit closer to the screen. But we are really talking about a difference of inches at best, so I'd be surprised if, for example, the short 0.19:1 throw ratio on the LG tri-laser USTs gave it much more advantage in brightness than a similarly rated projector with the more commonly found 0.23 to 0.25:1 we see on a lot of the other projectors.

More to your point, I would also seriously doubt that the very slight differences in the upward angle of incidence of the light hitting the screen caused by the different throw ratios on different projectors has any noticeable affect on how the screen behaves. Granted, these lenticular screens do have a sawtooth construction and the angle of the reflective ridges that bounces light from below out to the viewer is fixed, so theoretically there would be some perfectly ideal throw ratio for any given lenticular ALR UST screen that I suppose would most fully optimize the brightness. But all these screens have a minimum recommended throw as well as a maximum throw that should not be exceeded; presumably somewhere near the max is where the performance degrades to the point of being noticed. The Spectra Projection Vantage screen material we're using for the Showdown has a recommended minimum throw ratio of 0.1:1 and I can't find a max throw ratio in their specs. But this material is essentially equivalent to the Elite CLR material, which, just to give you an idea, can be used from a 0.1:1 to 0.6:1 throw. That's a pretty wide range, and if we assume that we're operating between 0:19 and 0:25 for most of the projectors, I'm guessing they are all pretty close to the screen's sweet spot, so to speak.

Kevin Prouten Posted Jul 1, 2022 12:00 PM PST
Will you be testing 3D content
Rob Sabin, Editor Posted Jul 1, 2022 12:03 PM PST
No, I'm afraid not. Many of these projectors don't do 3D, but more than that it'll be time constraints that prevent us from pursuing that.
Mike Posted Jul 1, 2022 6:49 PM PST
As an aside, when viewing in rooms with ambient light, it would be really useful to understand what the actual ambient light levels are measuring at and the direction that the light is coming from (most indoor venues will have overhead lighting, but many homes have windows that provide ambient light from the side.

Some kind of luxury measurement of the ambient light at the viewing position and hitting the screen would be a great comparator to what we can expect to see at home.

Thanks much!
Brock Posted Jul 5, 2022 9:10 AM PST
Pls also mention DV if available in the above units. With the L9G just getting certified, im assuming some of the above may follow suite sonner than later.
Mike Posted Jul 28, 2022 4:15 AM PST
Looking forward to next week!

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