Most home projectors, even portable ones, can do 150-inch screens with no issues, allowing you to enjoy big screen viewing without having to mount a gigantic screen up the wall. But what if you want something even bigger, so you can feel like you’re at an actual movie theater? Well, that’s when you get something like the Optoma UHZ36.
A 4K UHD projector, the device can beam cinema-size screens up to 300 inches, making it ideal for home theaters and setups requiring something much bigger than your typical TV. Sure, it’s overkill for most people, who might not even half the wall space for monstrous-sized images, but those who have a giant-sized wall waiting for a giant-sized will definitely find this perfectly suited to their needs.
The Optoma UHZ36 is a laser projector that beams images in 4K UHD resolution, allowing you to enjoy your favorite shows and movies with as much detail as possible. It has HDR support to ensure richer colors and deeper contrast (1.5M:1 dynamic contrast ratio), while also covering the Rec. 709 color space to capably reproduce colors as close the source as possible. For serious film buffs, there’s even a Filmmaker Mode that automatically adjusts colors, contrast, temperature, and gamma settings so that every scene is displayed the way the original filmmakers intended. Simply put, it seeks to recreate the cinema experience faithfully right from the comfort of your home.
The device uses a Duracore laser phosphor light source, which produces a whopping 3,500 ISO lumens, ensuring there’s enough brightness here that you can enjoy viewing without having to put up blackout curtains and turn off every light in the vicinity. Sure, it will still look better with the lights off, especially if you opt for a giant screen, but this is perfectly usable even in well-lit spaces. To get the full 300-inch screen size, by the way, you need a projection distance of 28 inches (it’s not an ultra-short throw), so it’s probably best to mount it up a ceiling, unless you’re fine setting it up on a nearby coffee table. It does offer 1.3x zoom manual adjustment for placement flexibility.
The Optoma UHZ36 has auto-vertical keystone correction, so it will automatically align the picture to keep everything looking level for the viewer. Do note, horizontal keystone is manual, so you’ll have to fine tune that yourself. It also gets the outfit’s PureEngine visual enhancement technology, which, they claim, will deliver improved color, luminance, detail, and contrast, all while eliminating any blur even during fast-paced action.
For gaming, it can produce the full 4K resolution at 60Hz, although response time isn’t ideal for responsive gaming. Chances are, you’ll have to drop down to 1440p or 1080p if you want to do any serious gaming on the big screen. Other features include a 15W mono speaker, 33 dB max operating noise level, an included backlit remote (runs on two AAA batteries), two HDMI 2.0 ports (one with ARC support), an RS-232 connector, a USB slot, and a 3.55mm jack. Do note, this doesn’t come with its own smart TV platform, so you’ll have to connect it to a streaming stick or another separate media source.
The Optoma UHZ36 is available now.
