The better the game graphics become, the more fun it is to game on large screens. And the more the market for big-screen movie and gaming experiences grows, the more attractive ultra-short throw projectors become, because you can enjoy images bigger than any TV can handle, at a fraction of the price (and the weight!) of a king-size TV.
Leading projector brand Optoma hopes it has found the perfect formula to capitalize on this meeting of trends in the unusual form of the new GT3500HDR.
Described as “a compact full HD 1080p ultra short throw projector for optimal gaming experiences, movies and home entertainment viewing”, the GT3500HDR seems truly designed and specified from start to finish with your living room and your daily lifestyle in mind.
The Optoma GT3500HDR is an HDR-compatible ultra-short throw projector intended for gaming and home use … [+]
For starters, its essential stats of 327(w) x 327(d) x 109(h) make it relatively compact by UST projector standards (it’s actually almost 30% smaller than its predecessor), meaning it can easily and unobtrusively fit is for a sideboard or deep bookcase, placed against the wall on which you want to display the images from the projector. Of course, the fact that it’s a UST design means that it doesn’t have to sit right in the center of your living space, as projectors with normal throw distances do.
It’s also quite light by UST projector standards, potentially allowing you to move it between rooms easily if you wish, and the crisp white finish will probably suit a typical living room decor better than either the usual black or gray.
A high claimed peak brightness of 3800 lumens, meanwhile, should be able to power images through even quite high levels of ambient light, eliminating the need for you to darken your living room every time you want to watch TV or play a video game reduced. The GT3500HDR’s high brightness level should also come in very handy when it comes to getting a decent impact out of the GT3500HDR’s high dynamic range video support.
The Optoma GT3500HDR can produce a 100-inch image from a distance of just one foot.
The GT3500HDR uses a laser lighting system that further enhances consumer appeal by extending the projector’s effective lamp-free lifespan by up to six times that of a regular lamp projector. The image performance of laser light systems also does not gradually deteriorate in the same way that images from lamp projectors do, while lasers can be driven hard/bright to combat ambient light without their lifespan being shortened anywhere near as drastically as regular lamps. when used in the same way.
While brightness is especially important for projectors aimed at living rooms rather than dedicated home theater setups, it’s of course not the only image factor that matters. So it’s encouraging to see that Optoma is also claiming a promising 500,000:1 contrast ratio for the GT3500HDR (although this will only have been achieved by employing various intelligent brightness manipulation techniques, rather than being a truly ‘native’ figure ).
Despite its relatively compact form, the GT3500HDR is capable of producing images of up to 120 inches, depending on how close you place it to the wall or screen, with a 100-inch image achievable from just half a meter away.
Top view of the Optoma GT3500HDR UST home entertainment projector.
As for Optoma’s claims that the GT3500HDR is a great gaming projector, in its fastest response mode it claims it takes just 8.6ms to produce 120Hz 1080p graphics feeds, and 17ms for 4K 60Hz inputs (but keep in mind that all 4K source images are displayed in Full HD resolution only).
Adding to the GT3500HDR’s lifestyle appeal is its surprisingly quiet claimed running noise of 27 dB (although this is only achieved in the projector’s lowest brightness, non-HDR Eco setting), and relatively easy to set up according to UST projector standards thanks to tools such as four-angle correction, horizontal and vertical keystone correction and even a portrait mode.
There’s also a 15W built-in sound system, and the GT3500HDR’s connections will consist of two HDMI 2.0 ports, a USB 1.5A power output, a 3.5mm audio input, an RS232C control port, an Ethernet network port and a 3D sync port – the latter of which actually points us to the projector’s last big feature: 3D display. Provided you also purchase compatible 3D glasses and have access to certain 3D content.
The Optoma GT3500HDR gaming and home entertainment projector is available now in the US and UK, priced at $1,499 and £1,499 respectively.
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