Optoma - Uhd50 4k Dlp Projector With High Dynamic Range Review
Optoma UHD50
Pros
- Very good overall 4K prototype with HDR
- Many connections
- Competitive cost
- Backlit remote
Cons
- Mediocre blackness levels
- Brightness much lower than what is claimed
- High input lag
- No Alexa support
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Last year Optoma presented two new pixel shifting 4K projectors using Texas Instruments 0.47″ DLP chipset and while both of them at start glance looked very similar in specs and features there were a few primal differences that set them autonomously. The projectors we are talking well-nigh are UHD50 and UHD51A. A few months agone we had the pleasure to examination the Optoma UHD51A which left united states of america very good impressions and while nosotros are a fleck late to the political party now we got the chance to endeavor our information technology's twin brother, the UHD50.
What became immediately obvious was that the UHD50 is a more than "light" version of the UHD51A we tested before. And while their key characteristics remain the same the more budget friendly UHD50 is missing a few features of information technology'southward twin brother. So at present is the fourth dimension to ostend their similarities, signal out their differences and decide if the omission of these features make justice of the lower toll the projector asks. Is the more basic UHD50 worthy or information technology's more advanced brother is the better choice? Proceed reading our Optoma UHD50 review to find out.
Design
The full general wait of the UHD50 is non going to concenter whatsoever attention with it'due south uninspiring plastic encompass and while the cover of the UHD51A had at least the interesting black color with argent strip or white color with golden strip variants hither we go only white color with a argent strip that travels from one side of the projector and finishes on the other side. The plastic cover combines glossy and textured surfaces in order to make the overall design a flake less ho-hum but don't expect anything fancy in this regard.
There are plenty of ventilation holes all around the projector'southward body meaning that heat dissipation is pretty adept with the internal cooling fan blowing out all the hot air and keeping the unit of measurement's temperature relatively low. The fan is very quiet and Optoma rates the projector at 28db with this number going as low as 25db in Eco way making it a actually tranquility one. Fifty-fifty in relatively silent films we could not hear the fan working which was very pleasant.
The projector measures 15.four" x 11.one" x 5.1" (392 mm x 281 mm x 118 mm) and weights 11.75 lbs (v.22kg) making it exactly the aforementioned as it's twin blood brother and we would categorize it as a middle-sized 4K pixel shifting projector making it relatively easy to place it in smaller than usual media rooms. Looking the projector from the front we run across the lens being placed slightly to the right while to information technology's correct we find the IR sensor. Manual focus is washed past turning the lens butt for easy adjustment.
The UHD50 comes with a 1.3:1 zoom which we consider acceptable for this kind of cost and offers the projector a scrap more than flexibility compared to a few other projectors in this price range that offer only 1.2:1 zoom. What nosotros definitely love is the inclusion of a 15% vertical shift, something extremely useful and i characteristic that many other cheap projectors don't come up with.
For those that don't know what vertical shift stands for is that a projector without this characteristic has the lesser of it's image exactly at the lens middle. With a 15% vertical shift it means that the UHD50 can move it'south epitome 15% above information technology's centrality offering more liberty when calibrating the paradigm without any paradigm loss. Both lens shift and zoom can be calibrated by adjusting the 2 knobs that are placed on summit of the lens.
On the meridian of the projector other than the ii knobs that are placed exactly above the lens we get a group of command buttons placed in a rectangular shaped pattern and include the usual navigation buttons too as power, lamp and temperature control lights. The back of the unit of measurement is where we get the sum of the projector's connections that we will talk about a fleck subsequently in our review. Lastly the projector comes with iii screw-adjustable anxiety, one at the forepart and two at the back making it easy to level the unit if you opt to identify it on some furniture instead of ceiling-mounting it.
As for information technology's lamp life the UHD50 is rated exactly every bit the UHD51A and this is normal as we are talking substantially near the same hardware and lamps. As such Optoma rates the UHD50 at iv,000 hours in Brilliant mode while enabling the ECO mode will extend that to 10,000 hours. There is as well a Dynamic mode with a fifteen,000 hours rating only as this drops the lamp ability mode downwardly bold that you leave the projector ever on is non a practiced measuring feature. But 4,000 for Bright and 10,000 for Eco mode is much better than average and a very crucial point for those that will look at every last cost before buying a depression priced projector.
The unit comes with dual five watts speakers and while these cannot offer any kind of immersion in a domicile theater they definitely increase the mobility value of the projector. If y'all want to take it to your friend'due south house to spend a dainty sports friction match evening you will not have to worry most having to bring a pair of speakers besides. Of course for anyone planning to use this in a dwelling house theater setup a dedicated audio system is a must.
Looking at the remote of the unit we find the first big departure between this projector and the UHD51A. While the UHD51A came with a small remote that had only very few buttons and reminded us very much of an Apple tree Tv set remote the one we find in the UHD50 is a more than fully featured remote with all the office and input buttons you lot will need. Ane thing that we definitely liked in this 1 compared to the UHD51A'south ane is that this 1 hither besides offer backlight function which is surprising to be offered in such a low cost model.
Video Quality
Technology used
Under the plastic cover the UHD50 is powered by exactly the same hardware every bit nosotros had seen in the UHD51A showing how like the ii projectors are. As such we find the familiar by now 0.47″ DLP chip from Texas Instruments that comes with pixel shifting capabilities. If yous are unfamiliar with the term pixel shifting, it is a technique that is used by almost inexpensive 4K projectors and what information technology basically does is to utilize their native 1920 ten 1080 pixels and by moving them and fire each pixel four times nosotros become the total of 8.3 meg pixels required by a 4K paradigm. The move is washed at such a speed that is practically invisible to the eye.
Something that needs to exist cleared is that at that place are two different DLP chips that support the pixel shifting technology. The i that is used in the UHD50 too as in it's twin brother, the UHD51A, has a 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution with a quad pixel shifting while there is some other with 2,716 10 1,528 resolution with a dual pixel shifting. 1 projector that we had tested in the past with this later chip was the BenQ HT8050 but information technology also comes with a higher price. The 0.47″ DLP chips have managed to offer very good epitome quality and in addition to the very low cost of these pixel shifting projectors makes them ideal for anyone that wants to have a good 4K experience without destroying their wallets.
4K UHD / HDR Content
For our kickoff examination we tried out the 4K UHD disc of Pacific Rim: Uprising and we were very pleasantly surprised how a projector that costs close to the $ane,300 mark could produce such a sharp and detailed epitome. Even pixel shifting models have come a long fashion and the kind of quality we are getting here is really amazing even if nosotros are talking about not native 4K resolution. These DLP chips from Texas Instruments are really making miracles with their operation.
There were and so many details visible on screen like the scratches on the metal armor of the Jaegers or small-scale imperfections on the actors skin that fabricated the picture so much more alive. Nosotros peculiarly liked the Jaeger duel on the snow as the image felt virtually three dimensional with then many details on screen. Amazing performance by such a low cost projector.
The UHD50 likewise has HDR support and Optoma has added 4 modes with different results. What we got is Bright, Standard, Film and Details and each of them was making the images darker or lighter affecting shadows detail separation. There is back up for the standard HDR10 protocol used in UHD playback simply unfortunately no HLG or Dolby Vision support which was to be expected. In general we are extremely pleased with the projector's 4K performance besides every bit it'south HDR capabilities.
Full Hard disk / SDR / 3D Content
The projector is able to produce very skilful 4K images just when it comes to HD/SDR it also managed to astonish united states. We tested a few Blu-ray discs and the quality was superb with very make clean epitome, low image dissonance and no noticeable artifacts. In that location is also SDR and HDR auto switching that is very practical and is a feature that some other more expensive projectors don't accept as the switch must exist done manually. Good piece of work from Optoma hither.
Initially the UHD50 had no frame-pack 3D capabilities but it seems that since and then Optoma has added this 3D functionality with a firmware update (C07 to be precise) pregnant it could at present play 3D Blu-ray discs. Of class you will demand DLP Link active shutter 3D spectacles that are not supplied and then this can be an extra cost if yous have a large family. Unfortunately we couldn't endeavor this out equally we didn't accept any 3D content bachelor at the fourth dimension of writing this review but information technology's skilful to know that Optoma added such functionality to the unit.
Color Coverage
The UDH50 supports wide color gamut with 100% coverage of the REC.709 color space with the projector as well supporting the wider DCI-P3 and REC.2020 color spaces. As such the projector is able to reproduce colors more closely to how they should be and intended by the managing director.
Brightness / Contrast
The UHD50 is rated by Optoma at 2,400 lumens which makes this a very brilliant projector given it's toll. Having tested the UHD51A, which is basically the same projector, nosotros know that true numbers are much lower than this and nosotros were curious to come across if we would get similar numbers every bit it'south twin brother. Of class we cannot expect exactly the same results as this depends heavily on how many working hours the unit has only nosotros were hoping that we would get some similarities betwixt the two.
At that place are five picture modes that you can select from being Bright, Picture palace, HDR, HDR Slim, Game and Reference as well as a User mode for manual scale. Naturally the virtually brightness we saw using the Bright setting with the projector reaching one,740 lumens and although this way offered the most bright epitome we saw the aforementioned greenish tint when using it as nosotros had seen in the UHD51A so we would advice not to use it.
For 4K with HDR viewing our recommendation would be to utilize the HDR setting that outputs i,350 lumens or Cinema mode with about ane,160 lumens as both of them show the most authentic colors. Equally for Hd/SDR content we would suggest to use the Reference style as is the most authentic even if effulgence is much lower at 820 lumens. With SDR content brightness needs are much lower and the Reference style offers more than adequate for that.
Blackness Levels
One of the major issues of cheap 4K pixel shifting projectors is how they cannot display very deep blacks something peculiarly visible when you are viewing in a completely dark surround. If this is your first projector or in general you lot don't have much experience with projectors then this probably will non be a problem to you. Likewise if you are going to use this unit with at least some dim lighting and so the problem is even less visible. Taking all the above into consideration the projector's black levels may not be very practiced but at least are adequate for the cost you pay.
If you desire deeper blacks unfortunately don't expect to pay anything less than $two,000 every bit more than or less from what we have seen in this projector's price range black levels performance is similar. The UHD50 has a characteristic called Dynamic Black that uses lamp dimming to brand the epitome more nighttime if in that location are no particular bright objects on screen and information technology may improve things a scrap without being nowhere near equally good as dynamic iris is.
Input Lag
As far as Input Lag we were left a chip disappointed as we measured the projector at 59ms which is not as good as we would like and although for movies it's perfectly fine for serious gaming information technology may make things a bit unresponsive. For well-nigh coincidental gamers as we are it volition not be a problem as we tried a couple of games on our PS4 and nosotros didn't had any problems during our sessions just in fast action games that yous need carve up second response it may feel a bit slow.
Move Performance
In the motion department the UHD50 offered very good results that are on par with other projectors in this price range. Optoma has equipped the unit with CFI (Creative Frame Interpolation) that they accept named PureMotion and what this basically does is to shine motion that is most notable when camera moves fast. In that location are various options that yous tin can use with low being the best for mixed utilize. For movies nosotros would suggest either turning it off or using the low setting while for sports you could use a higher setting.
In this unit we find the aforementioned 2X colour wheel that we saw previously in the UHD51A and due to this some people may meet rainbow artifacts. For those unfamiliar with this effect what basically happens is that when very bright objects move against a night scene rainbows may appear. This is not affecting everyone, in fact only a small portion of people are sensitive to this merely if you don't know if you can see this or not we would suggest you lot to effort the projector first earlier you determine to purchase information technology. During our testing we did come across this rainbow effect but never plant it too distracting from the viewing experience.
Inputs
Connections are as well a chip unlike compared to the UHD51A although many of the ports follow a similar configuration. Equally such the UHD50 comes with 2 HDMI ports with one being HDMI i.4a and the other beingness HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 support in guild to be able to display 4K@60fps, HDR and Wide Color Gamut. Next to the HDMI ports we find a VGA port and an RS-232C port while on the right side in that location are ii USB ports with 1 of them existence used only for updates, a digital optical audio output, two 3.5mm jacks one for audio input and ane for output and lastly a 12V trigger port for use with motorized screens to open and close automatically.
The obvious omission compared to the UHD51A are the Ethernet port and 2 additional USB ports but even like this we feel that this low cost projector has everything you will demand to brand all necessary connections to your home theater.
OS, Apps and Features
Initial setup was smooth and easy as we used the threaded anxiety to level our projector correctly. The unit also comes with ±forty° keystone correction only we would advice against using information technology as it lowers prototype quality and you wouldn't want to do that when y'all buy a 4K projector.
Menus and settings are very piece of cake to find and accept been separated into categories depending their functionality. Even if you have very piddling feel y'all will not have a problem to find the setting you are looking for. Navigating through the diverse options and menus was fast and smooth. No problem there.
The UHD50 has a built-in media player and by connecting an external flash drive into the USB port you lot tin can stream either Hard disk drive or 4K content with HDR. Trying a few videos nosotros didn't encounter any issues and everything seemed to work flawlessly.
Some other difference that we institute in the UHD50 compared to the similar UHD51A was that this unit has no Alexa or Google Assistant support so you cannot control it with voice commands simply in all honesty in this price we cannot complain about such a missing characteristic.
Terminal Thoughts
The UHD50 managed to perform admirably during our 4K testing past offering very clear and sharp images, information technology has great HDR capabilities, motion performance was very skilful, it has plenty of connection ports, a very nice remote with backlight function and all this at a cost that is very shut to the $1,300 marker.
Of grade pushing the cost and so low it means that some aspects of the projector could not be equally good as we would like. Black levels are average and if you are going to use the projector in a consummate nighttime surround then this will more obvious than in dim lit situations. If yous desire deeper blacks then yous will definitely have to become into a more expensive category. Input Lag also was not very good and if you want the projector for some serious gaming then we would suggest to try it out start to determine if information technology'southward adequate for you lot. Lastly nosotros see that this model completely strips Alexa voice control functions while for Blu-ray 3D playback you will take to update your unit to the latest C07 firmware.
When comparing the UHD50 with it twin blood brother, the UHD51A, it comes down to this. Both projectors offer well-nigh the aforementioned functionality with the UHD51A offering additional Alexa vox command and a few extra connection ports. On the contrary the UHD50 comes in our stance with a better remote that has added backlight function. Merely the UHD51A as well comes with a higher price that at the moment of this review was around $200. Is this higher cost worth it? Information technology depends on what yous want. If phonation command and a few actress ports are important to you go for the Optoma UHD51A, otherwise the UHD50 is the better option and you save a overnice amount of money.
At that place are so many things nosotros liked in this budget friendly projector that information technology can exist an excellent choice for anyone that have extremely limited budget or they are just showtime their dwelling theater feel. The Optoma UHD50 is one of the best performing 4K pixel shifting projectors close to the $1,300 toll tag making us give it our highest recommendation.
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Specifications
- Attribute Ratio : 16:9
- Audio : two ten 5 Watt Speakers
- Brightness : 2,400 ANSI lumens
- Color Wheel : RGBRGB 6 segment color wheel
- Compatible Aspect Ratio : 16:9 (native), 4:3 and LBX compatible
- Connections : HDMI 2.0 (westward/ HDCP 2.2, MHL 2.1), HDMI i.4a, VGA-in, audio-in (3.5mm), audio-out, S/PDIF out (optical), USB two.0 (service port), USB power, RJ-45, RS-232C, 12V Trigger
- Contrast Ratio : Up to 500,000:ane with Dynamic Black
- Display Technology : Unmarried 0.47" TRP S450 4K UHD DMD DLP Engineering science by Texas Instruments
- Displayable Colors : 1.07 billion
- Image Size : 34.1" – 302.iv (34.1" to 140" optimal prototype size)
- Keystone Correction : ± forty° Vertical
- Light Source Blazon : 240W
- Light Source Life : 4,000/x,000/xv,000 (Vivid/ECO/Dynamic)
- Lens Shift : Vertical: +fifteen%
- Maximum Resolution : 4K (4096 10 2160) @ 30Hz
- Native Resolution : UHD (3840 x 2160)
- Dissonance Level : 25/28dB (Eco/Brilliant)
- Offset : 100% (see Vertical Lens Shift)
- Operating Temperature : 41–104°F (v–twoscore°C), 85% max humidity
- Ability Consumption : 317W typical (Bright mode), 348W max (Bright mode), 259W typical (Eco+ mode), 285W max (Eco+ mode)
- Power Supply : AC input 100-240V, 50-60Hz, auto-switching
- Projection Distance : 2.9' – 34.89'
- Project Lens : F=2.5 – three.26, F=20.91 – 32.62 mm manual focus
- Project Method : Forepart, rear, ceiling count, tabletop
- Projection Screen Size : 34.1" – 302.4 (34.one" to 140" optimal image size)
- Remote Command : Total Office Home Remote Control
- Throw Ratio : i.21 – 1.59 ( with tolerance ±five%)
- Uniformity : 80%
- Zoom Type : 1.3x optical (manual); 0.viii – ii.0 digital
- Reckoner Compatibility : 4K UHD 2160p, WUXGA, HDTV 1080p, UXGA, SXGA, WXGA+, WXGA (1366×768), WXGA, HDTV (720p), XGA, SVGA, VGA, PC and Mac compatible
- 3D Compatibility : Frame-pack: 1080p24, 720p50 / sixty, Side-past-side: 1080i50 / 60, 720p50 / sixty, Over-under: WUXGA24, 720p50 / 60
- Horizontal Browse Rate : 31.000 to 135.000KHz
- Optional Wireless : No
- RoHS : Compatible
- Vertical Scan Rate : 24Hz to 120Hz
- Video Compatibility : 4K UHD 2160p (24/50/60Hz), 1080p (24/50/60Hz), 1080i (50/60Hz), 720p (50/60Hz), 480i/p, 576i/p
- Security : Kensington® lock port, countersign (OSD)
- Dimensions : xv.4" x 11.ane" x 5.ane" / 392 mm ten 281 mm x 118 mm
- Weight : 11.75 lbs / 5.22kg
Source: https://h-m-entertainment.com/optoma-uhd50-review
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