Projectors will be a distinct segment possibility in your front room, if solely as a result of they usually require a number of particular care that typical TVs don’t—like a separate reflective display screen, darkish curtains or rooms with no home windows, and sophisticated ceiling mount methods. The AWOL LTV-3500 Professional doesn’t eradicate these issues solely, nevertheless it considerably shifts the steadiness of these trade-offs. That comes at a value, although.
The AWOL LTV 3500 Professional is a small improve over the LTV-3500 (7/10, WIRED Assessment), which I favored once I reviewed it in 2022. The newer model provides assist for Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Control4 good house integration, however is in any other case largely the identical because the older mannequin. (In the event you store used, you would possibly be capable to discover the unique LTV-3500, however the Professional is what most retailers are promoting now.)
Like its predecessor, the LTV-3500 Professional makes an attempt to justify its value level by being the very best it may be at completely every part. Since it is a short-throw projector, it is easy to arrange by simply placing it on an leisure unit (though it may be mounted to a ceiling). It gives glorious, excessive distinction HDR image high quality, and it might challenge as much as a 150-inch display screen in full 4K readability. If you are going to spend this a lot on a projector, you might as properly get your cash’s price.
Readability in Broad Daylight
Essentially the most notable facet of the LTV-3500 Professional is how impressively brilliant it’s. The projector is rated at 3,500 ANSI lumens—for comparability, our high-end choose in our projector information clocks in at solely 2,700 lumens. In sensible phrases, meaning I used to be in a position to see the picture clearly even on the bottom brightness setting, and with ambient lights turned on.
In my testing, I’d watch motion pictures and play video games in my front room, which has a big, sliding glass door that faces the dawn. With the blinds absolutely open, the image could be somewhat washed out, which is to be anticipated. Nonetheless, with the blinds closed, even with vital gentle bleed from the home windows spilling in across the sides of the blinds, I might comfortably watch reveals or play video games and virtually neglect that I wasn’t watching on a typical panel TV.
If something, the brightness was virtually too overwhelming. As soon as, whereas having a visitor over, we sat speaking on the sofa within the night. We paused the present we might began watching on Netflix to speak and let it sit for some time. Then Netflix began to cycle by means of a slideshow of promos for its different reveals, and when one with a predominantly white background appeared, it felt like an angel from heaven confirmed up, blasting our eyes with blinding gentle and telling us to be not afraid. Finally, my visitor requested me to easily flip the projector off.
I ought to word that I doubt this can be a lot of an issue for most individuals. I used to be utilizing the projector in a somewhat small front room, and as such was seemingly sitting means too near the display screen for its measurement. Think about sitting within the entrance row of a movie show, for instance. In the event you plan to place this in a small area, you would possibly wish to use the bottom brightness setting or place the projector to make the display screen as small as attainable. That leads us to the second most notable facet of this projector.
Large Display, Minimal Area
Each time I had company over, they’d instantly ask the identical query upon seeing the display screen: “The place’s the projector?” Most projectors require mounting behind the sofa or on the ceiling, however the LTV-3500 Professional sits instantly on a typical TV stand—a feat that just one different projector in our Finest Projectors information can pull off—and tasks a picture straight up onto the wall.
How massive the display screen can be relies upon closely on how far you may put the projector away from the wall—which, in my testing, was tougher than it sounds. To get a 120-inch display screen (the utmost is 150 inches), I needed to put my leisure unit a few foot away from the wall and then place the projector as far to the very fringe of my leisure unit as I might whereas nonetheless balancing it safely.
