Televisions - Organizer

6:00 pm | November 12, 2022

Editor's note

• Original review date: November 2022
• Current entry-level Bose Dolby Atmos soundbar
• Launch price - $499 / £499 / AU$799
• Target price now - $399 / £399 / AU$799

Update February 2024. The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 remains the entry-level Dolby Atmos model in the company’s soundbar lineup, slotting in beneath the mid-range Smart Soundbar 700, which recently received an official price cut. The 600 has also been getting regular discounts, with the new price target sitting at $399 / £399, though its price remains the same as at launch in Australia. At its new discounted price, the Smart Soundbar 600 is an excellent value for a compact soundbar with upfiring speaker drivers that can deliver convincing Dolby Atmos height effects. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Bose Smart Soundbar 600: One-minute review

The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 ($499 / £499 / AU$799) is the company’s new more compact and more affordable Dolby Atmos model, slotting in beneath the Smart Soundbar 900 ($899 / £1399 / AU$799).

While it's priced around half as much as its larger sibling, the 600 offers up a mostly similar feature set, but from a more limited speaker array. A total of five drivers, including two up-firing ones, are used to deliver Dolby Atmos soundtracks, allowing the 600 to provide stiff competition to the best soundbars that use virtual Atmos processing in the same price range.

It may be small, and not that expensive, but the 600 sounds both bigger and better than one would expect. Overhead Atmos effects extend above the TV screen, and the audio presentation extends well out to the sides, in the way you expect from the best Dolby Atmos soundbars. Bass depth and power are not things you’d expect from a compact soundbar, meaning there’s not much of either, but the sound balance here is both natural and pleasing, while the imaging it manages with stereo music is surprisingly wide and precise.

As for features, the Soundbar 600 is fairly packed, with its Atmos support helped along by TrueSpace processing for music and regular stereo and 5.1 soundtracks. Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, and Bluetooth are all onboard for streaming, and there’s also built-in Alexa and Works with Google Assistant voice control support.

The Bose’s connection options go a bit further than some budget bars in providing both HDMI eARC and optical digital inputs. Everything can be controlled using the full-featured Bose Music app, and a basic hardware remote adds to the bar’s voice control capabilities.

Given the price, this is a solid, high-quality hunk of soundbar, with the sleek industrial design the company is known for. You have the option to extend it with a wireless subwoofer (or two) from Bose, along with wireless surround speakers, though at a fairly substantial cost.

Setup is easy and app-guided, and there are plenty of adjustments to tune the sound to your liking. Overall, this is a fine entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar option offering great value, and one you should be looking at if you want to add real Atmos sound to your TV without spending an arm and a leg.

Bose Soundbar 600 on TV stand with blue screen in background — Top-mounted drivers on the Soundbar 600 are used for Dolby Atmos overhead effects, while side-mounted speakers help to widen the soundstage. (Image credit: Future)

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Price & release date

Released in October 2022
$499 / £499 / AU$799

The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 was released in October 2022 and sells for $499 / £499 / AU$799. Sometimes, the latest Bose promo codes can bring prices down.

Pricing for the Soundbar 600 is slightly higher than for the Sonos Beam Gen 2, a model that Bose appears to be directly competing with. Similar to the Beam, the Soundbar 600 doesn’t come with a subwoofer for extended bass, but it does offer Wi-Fi for wireless streaming, as well as the ability to be paired with an optional wireless subwoofer and surround speakers.

Where the Bose beats the Sonos in terms of features is its inclusion of up-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos – the Bose, in contrast, uses virtual processing to simulate height effects in Atmos soundtracks.

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: features

Dolby Atmos with up-firing speakers
HDMI eARC and optical digital connections
Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Bluetooth wireless streaming

The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is a compact, all-in-one soundbar that supports playback of Dolby Atmos soundtracks and uses proprietary TrueSpace processing for upconverting both stereo and regular 5.1 channel sources for Atmos presentation. DTS:X is not supported. A remote control is provided, and both setup and control can be carried out using the Bose Music app. The Soundbar 600 can also be expanded via the company’s optional wireless surround speakers and subwoofers (up to two).

A total of five transducers are used in the Soundbar 600: two side-mounted ones that combine with a center-mounted tweeter to deliver an expanded stereo image, and two top-mounted ones for Dolby Atmos overhead effects. Both driver size and amplifier power aren’t specified by Bose.

Connections on the Soundbar 600 include an HDMI eARC port plus an optical digital audio input for connecting an older TV that doesn’t support HDMI ARC/eARC. A second HDMI input to provide a passthrough would be a nice addition, though that’s something that isn’t always found on budget soundbars – the Sonos beam doesn't include one.

Wireless streaming options on the Bose include Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth. The Bose Music app also integrates a range of services including Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, and Sirius XM for streaming over Wi-Fi.

Support for Alexa is onboard for hands-free operation over basic controls like volume and track skipping, as well as access to music apps supported by Alexa. The Soundbar 600 also works with Google Assistant, giving you similar functionality when a Google speaker is connected to the network. With the Soundbar 600 set up for Alexa support, you can also use its Voice4Video feature to control functions of a connected Smart TV – everything from turning it on and off to playing and pausing video playback and changing channels.

Along with Dolby Atmos, the Soundbar 600 features proprietary TrueSpace processing. This takes incoming stereo, mono, and 5.1-channel sound sources and upconverts them for an Atmos-like immersive presentation using the soundbar’s full speaker array.

Features score: 4/5

Bose Soundbar 600 underneath a TV in a beige room — (Image credit: Bose)

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: sound quality

Great dialogue clarity
Spacious presentation of Dolby Atmos soundtracks
Somewhat light on bass

Before I dove deep into evaluating the Bose’s performance, I simply used it as the soundbar for my TV setup in a relatively spacious room.

Basically, I had no serious complaints: movie and TV dialogue was routinely clear and full-sounding, music and sound effects were rendered in a spacious manner that extended the presentation well beyond the confines of the bar itself, and even music sounded well-balanced and with decent stereo separation – something many soundbars fail to deliver.

On action movies with Dolby Atmos soundtracks like John Wick 3, Bose’s bar created a believable sense of atmosphere in scenes with rain, the water appearing to fall from above the TV’s screen. Other demo-worthy Atmos scenes, like those from District 9 and Godzilla (2016), sci-fi films where there are plenty of helicopters flying overhead throughout, were well-served by the Soundbar 600, with the sound easily scaling up to match the onscreen action, and also extending above and beyond it.

While the Bose’s sound was mostly dynamic, even in my relatively large room, sound effects like the stomping of Godzilla through the streets of Honolulu lacked the bass oomph I know to be there – compact, all-in-one designs like the 600 can only do so much in the deep bass department. Even with that limitation, the bass the Soundbar 600 managed was clean and well-controlled, and it helped to add excitement to scenes from John Wick 3 where the protagonist fights would-be assassins in tightly enclosed spaces.

Music also sounded good on the Bose, and that’s not something you can say for every soundbar. Listening to the new stereo mixes on the just-released The Beatles' Revolver box set (streamed from Tidal to the soundbar from my iPhone using Chromecast), Tomorrow Never Knows had a dense, psychedelic, swirling presentation, and Good Day Sunshine had a full quality, with the Motown-esque horn section accompaniment sounding brassy and crisp. Overall, music had a too-crisp balance on the Bose bar, but I’d attribute that to the missing bass octaves, and I can’t say I found the sound to be fatiguing overall.

Sound quality score: 4/5

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Design

Basic, compact form-factor
Excellent build quality
Small, throwaway remote control

The Soundbar 600 has the basic bar-like form factor as many other soundbars, and comes only in a black finish. At 27 inches wide by 2 inches high and 4 inches deep, it’s a fairly sleek and compact design for an all-in-one unit.

Given the Soundbar 600’s approachable price, build quality is excellent: a metal mesh grille surrounds the bar’s front and sides, and the back panel has left and right ports (to enhance bass output) and a metal sink to prevent the built-in amplifier from overheating. Lifting the Soundbar 600 up in your hands, its impressive heft tells you it’s been designed to last.

Bose’s included remote control is a compact type with basic buttons to operate power, volume, mute, and input selection. Those same functions can be carried out via the Bose Music app, and there are also touch controls on the soundbar’s top that let you power it on/off and activate or deactivate the built-in microphone for voice control.

Bose Soundbar 600 rear panel inputs — The Bose's inputs include HDMI-eARC and optical digital connections. (Image credit: Future)

Design score: 5/5

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Usability and setup

HDMI eARC connection
App-based setup and control
No alphanumeric front panel display

With only HDMI eARC and optical digital ports available for connecting to a TV, setup is simple enough and will be based on which of those your TV provides. Using the HDMI eARC connection, of course, gives you access to advanced features like Dolby Atmos sound – something optical digital connections don’t support – and HDMI CEC control, which lets you adjust the soundbar’s volume level using the TV’s remote control, among other things.

Bose’s remote control is basic and tiny enough that it’s easy to forget about (there’s a high likelihood it will disappear into your sofa’s cushions at some point). For the most part, I used the Bose Music app for setup and control, which works well and is easy to navigate.

This guides you through initial setup, where you – annoyingly – first need to create a Bose account. Once that’s done, the app discovers your Wi-Fi network and links the Soundbar 600 to it. The next step is to add info to the app for any supported music services, a list that includes: Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, and Sirius XM. Other services not supported by the app can be streamed wirelessly to the Soundbar 600 using AirPlay, Chromecast, or Bluetooth.

App-based controls include center channel (dialogue) and height channel level, plus bass and treble adjustments. There’s also a wall EQ setting meant to adjust the sound for on-wall installations and a Dialogue Mode to enhance voice clarity on TV shows and movies if that’s ever an issue.

Like other budget soundbars, the Sonos Beam included, the Bose 600 lacks a front panel LED alphanumeric display, instead using color-coded lighting sequences to provide feedback to remote control commands. As usual, I couldn’t be bothered to memorize these, instead relying solely on the app for all of my adjustments and tweaks save for volume using the TV’s remote.

Bose Soundbar 600 remote control held in hand against green background — Bose's small remote offers basic controls, but you'll want to use the company's control app for setup and more advanced adjustments. (Image credit: Future)

Usability and setup score: 4.5/5

Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Value

Great overall value
Offers features the competition lacks

At $499, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is bumping up against some strong budget bar competition. The main one is the Sonos Beam Gen 2 ($450), but there are many others in the under $500 range from companies like Denon, Polk Audio, Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio.

Where the Bose distinguishes itself and provides value is its use of actual up-firing speakers to convey Dolby Atmos overhead effects, as well as its effective TrueSpace processing of sources with a lesser channel count. Its control app, while not at the same level as Sonos’ app, is also sophisticated, and there’s ample streaming support, with Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, and Bluetooth all onboard.

What’s lacking here is bass, which is something you can get with even modest soundbar systems that include an external subwoofer. Adding one of the company’s wireless Bass Modules ($499) should address that shortcoming, but then it bumps the system price up to $1,000 – a range where you can find other compelling options, including the all-in-one Sonos Arc.

Value score: 4.5/5

Bose Soundbar 600 on table under TV in living room setting — (Image credit: Bose)

Should I buy the Bose Smart Soundbar 600?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Also consider

First reviewed: November 2022
How we test: read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 projector review

1:00 pm | June 7, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Tags: HDR | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Current flagship Epson 4K projector
• Launch price: $4,999 / £4,499 / AU$8,999
• Target price now: $4,999 / £4,499 / AU$8,999

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 has remained the company’s flagship long throw 4K projector since we first reviewed it back in 2022. A 3LCD model with a laser light engine, the LS12000 delivers stunning picture quality for movies and gaming and still sits at the top of our best 4K projectors guide as the best overall option. The LS12000 doesn’t get discounted on a regular basis, although we did see it drop to £3,999 in the UK during Black Friday, so expect to pay full price outside of major sales events. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000: One-minute review

If you’re looking to find one of the best 4K projectors out there, you don’t have to look further than the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000. This machine is delivering powerful technology that shines an almost unbeatable image. It comes at a predictable high price, though, and Epson has gone all-in on the picture-side of the equation, leaving you to fend for yourself when it comes to video sources and audio.

The LS12000 is a beefy (we’re talking 50 pounds) laser projector with a 3LCD system inside. This combination provides a bright light source for both color and white output, powerful contrast, and no artifacts we could detect. It’s an immaculate picture that doesn’t struggle to overcome bright lighting conditions in a room and then can step up to simply blow us away when we turn out all the ambient light.

The sharp and colorful visuals are also easy to get just how we want them. With zoom, lens shift, focus, and keystone controls, all we have to do is set the projector where we want it and then move and adjust the image to our ideal size and position. There’s a lot of flexibility for big rooms and even bigger rooms, though we wouldn’t recommend going all out like this for a small space — this is a serious home theater projector.

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 won’t make sense for a lot of people. But those who want the best and will set out to complement it with a capable AV receiver and robust sound system will likely be pleased as a peach with the LS12000.

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 review: Price and availability

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 is available for $4,999 (£4,399, about AU$7,090), while the company’s lower-spec LS11000 (2500 lumen brightness and 1,200,000:1 contrast ratio) is available for $3,999 (£4,099, about AU$5,670).

Epson LS12000 remote control — (Image credit: Future / Mark Knapp)

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 review: Design and features

48Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports (1x eARC) with 4K/120Hz support
No Smart TV platform or speakers
Hardware zoom and lens shift

The LS12000 is a bit of a beast. This isn’t your little shelf-top projector you set at the back of the room for a casual home theater. This is a purpose-built machine for a next-level home cinema. It comes in a substantial housing that feels well-built, looks elegant, and is actually not overwhelmingly heavy despite its size.

The LS12000 is ready for a variety of setups and flexes to meet its positioning. We set our unit up on a mantel at the back of a living room, roughly 14 feet from the opposite wall. Thanks to the projector’s optical zoom, we can easily squeeze down the image to fit in the available space on our wall without sacrificing detail (as with digital zoom). From there, the wide vertical and horizontal lens shift range lets us further center the picture all without having to move the projector. Essentially, it’s easy to find a convenient place to set the projector and then use its powerful adjustment tools to project the image where it fits best. The projector doesn’t do this automatically, nor does it auto focus, but it makes the process fairly accessible without having to dive too deep into menus.

The package is pretty bare-bones for anyone expecting an all-in-one entertainment device. It’s a centerpiece, for sure, but you’ll have to build around it. The kit includes just the projector itself, a beefy remote control, a port cover that can snap onto the back, and a ceiling mounting kit. There’s no Smart TV operating system running onboard, and there aren’t even speakers. This is just your display, and you’ll very likely want to run it to an AV receiver because it only has two HDMI ports. Thankfully, they’re both high-bandwidth, 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports capable of 4K/120Hz (which the projector actually supports) as well as eARC on one of them.

The projector naturally has extensive support for the kind of high-quality cinema features you'd want from a device like this. It handles HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG with 10-bit HDR color processing. It has preset color modes as well as options to dial them in just how you prefer. It can send through a variety of Dolby and DTS audio signals over eARC. It will even let you turn motion interpolation on or off as you like.

The cherry on top is the powered lens cover that slides open when the projector turns on and shuts back up when it’s turned off, helping keep the optics clean and protected.

Epson LS12000 rear-panel — The LS12000's rear-panel is equipped with dual 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports. (Image credit: Future / Mark Knapp)

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 review: Picture Quality

3LCD system with laser light source
Huge, bright 4K pictures with vivid color
Rich detail across the spectrum

We’re inclined to say there’d be almost no reason to go out to a movie theater anymore when you can have a picture like this at home. The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 provides a staggeringly brilliant image that hardly cares whether we’re watching in the daytime but will reward us greatly for watching at night with the lights off. Epson isn’t playing games with its brightness claims. It has the projector rated for 2,700 lumens whether it’s showing all white or showing color. You’d think that brightness might mean a machine that runs hot and has loud fans as a result, but we don’t hear a peep of fan noise while running the LS12000.

Brightness is an important metric for a projector, but oftentimes they can manage an acceptable brightness while struggling to present compelling shadow details, making for an image that lacks in contrast. The LS120000 doesn’t. This thing is virtuoso for challenging imagery. In The Batman, even in a dark scene, the details on Batman’s and Catwoman’s black outfits are discernible. The fact the projector can provide such rich detail in shadows while blasting out vivid color is simply astounding. Given how bright the projector can get, it even impresses during daytime without doing much to subdue ambient light. If the sun is blasting through our windows, we’ll draw the blinds, but otherwise the picture is still stunningly acceptable even without ideal conditions. Mind you, this is all without a projection screen, which will dial up the visuals even further.

We recently tested the Hisense L9G, a premium ultra-short throw projector that performs stunningly. It’s a remarkable product that we can readily recommend, but even it looks feeble next to the sheer might of the picture coming from the LS12000. Where the L9G had to balance its $5,500 budget on the projection, audio, smart TV platform, and included projection screen, the LS12000 has all of its cost going toward the picture.

Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 specs

Given how bright the projector is and the fact it can support a wide variety of image sizes, it naturally has to be sharp. While the projector is using three LCDs with a native 1080p resolution, Epson’s dual-axis pixel shifting creates a proper 4K UHD image with no artifacts that we can pick up such as the dithering we’ve seen on some cheaper DMD-based projectors.

Now, the LS12000 provides a lot, but it comes at a steep price. Assuming a $15 ticket, you could go to the movie theater about 333 times before the LS12000 made more financial sense. But, the LS12000 could still be more practical than it seems at first. If you’d go every weekend for six years, you’ve evened out, and the 20,000-hour light source lifespan ought to last well beyond that. If you’ve got kids or a spouse coming along to the theater, you reach that return-on-investment even sooner. If you have to pay for parking at the theater, don’t forget to factor that in. And the fact is you’re getting more than just movies from your home movie theater. You can’t go to the theater to watch Law & Order SVU. You can’t go to the theater to stream every season of The Office. You can’t go to the theater to play 500 hours of Elden Ring’s New Game+.

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 is definitely an investment, and one you’ll have to build around with a decent sound system and potentially a setup that makes it easier to switch sources given the meager two HDMI ports. But for those looking to have the ultimate home theater, this machine will handily deliver the picture.

Should I buy the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 4K laser projector?

Epson LS12000 from above — The Epson LS12000's large size makes it best-suited for a permanent installation (cat shown for scale). (Image credit: Future / Mark Knapp)

Buy it if...

You want the ultimate home theater visuals

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 might not stream or output audio, but its picture is undeniably brilliant. Rich shadows, vibrant color, and dazzling highlights all come through wonderfully.

You don’t want to fuss with placement

If you’ve already got the perfect spot for setting a big projector, the LS12000 can likely adapt to that space. It has a wide zoom and lens shift range, letting you frame the image just where you want it.

You want it all

The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 brings the 4K picture, blasts the HDR visuals, explodes with brightness, sinks into darkness, goes smooth at up to 120Hz, tightens down to 50 inches or scales up to 300 inches. It’ll likely be some time before you’ll feel like this projector is missing something you’ve got to have.

Don’y buy it if…

You only have $5,000 to spend on a home theater

The LS12000 is amazing, but it is just a display. You don’t get sound and you don’t get a streaming or broadcast platform out of it. If you’re just starting an entertainment setup, you’ll need those as well.

You want more flexibility

The LS12000 can flex to a variety of setups, but it’s really the kind of projector you want to leave in one place. It’s big and hefty, so not likely one you’ll want to move frequently or tote along with you on a trip.

You’re not a die-hard cinephile

The LS12000 is a splurge when compared to the many projectors out there that you can get a large 4K picture from. Many do a great job for a night of entertainment and casual viewing if you remember to draw the blinds and dim the lights. Epson even has a $1,000 cheaper option in the LS11000 that sacrifices only a little.

TVs vs projector: which picture technology should you choose?

JVC DLA-NZ8 4K Laser Projector review

6:22 pm | April 1, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Tags: HDR, TV | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: April 2022
• Remains a current top model in JVC’s lineup
• Launch price: $15,999 / £15,800 / AU$25,000
• Target price now: $13,999 / £15,800 / AU$25,000

The JVC DLA-NZ8 rightfully retains its place as the best premium projector option in our best 4K projectors guide since no new long throw projectors have arrived that can match its performance. With advanced HDR and 8K support, this laser-based D-ILA model represents the state of the projector art, and has a price tag match. The DLA-NZ8 has gone down in price in the US since we first reviewed it, and can now be had for $13,999. That’s not cheap, but if you’re looking for the best projector for a bespoke home theater, the DLA-NZ8 is still king. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

One-minute review

The JVC DLA-NZ8 is the latest native 4K projector from the company, and unlike previous lamp-based generations it uses a BLU-Escent laser light source. This results in brighter images, greater consistency and a longer lifespan without compromising the black levels or increasing the fan noise. As a result, this excellent projector builds on JVC’s existing strengths, expanding them in some areas and adding a host of new cutting-edge features in others.

The native 4K images are detailed and precise, while the addition of 8K/e-shiftX processing helps make good content look even better. The overall picture accuracy is impressive, the SDR images are superb, and the HDR performance remains class-leading thanks to JVC's dynamic tone mapping and Theatre Optimiser feature. There's even support for HDR10+, plus 3D pictures that are bright, punchy and free of crosstalk.

In terms of other features, there are two HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for 8K/60p and 4K/120p. This will be welcome news for gamers, as will an input lag of 38ms. An added benefit of HDMI 2.1 is that the projector is also much faster at locking onto video signals. There’s an effective remote, intuitive menu system, and flexible installation – although whether stand or ceiling mounting, bear in mind that this beamer is big and heavy.

The NZ8 is also very expensive, although the pricing of JVC’s new line-up is intended to reflect the comparative cost of 4K laser projectors from Sony. Interestingly the NZ8 currently has no direct competitor, so if you want uncompromising performance, peerless HDR tone mapping, comprehensive features and a high degree of future-proofing performance, this remarkable projector is in a class of its own.

Price and availability

JVC’s new NZ series of laser-powered projectors include all the features found on the previous lamp-based generation, but add HDMI 2.1 inputs capable of handling 8K/60p and 4K/120p, 8K/e-shiftX with an actual resolution of 8K, improved optics, and support for HDR10+.

The new range is headlined by the DLA-NZ9, which is also called the DLA-RS4100 in some markets. This flagship projector will set you back an eye-watering £24,999/$25,999, but is state of the art, with a claimed brightness of 3,000 Lumens, a native contrast of 100,000:1, and a 100mm all-glass lens with ultra-high contrast optics.

The DLA-NZ8 (DLA-RS3100) reviewed here costs £15,800/$15,999, and is largely the same as the NZ9 but hits 2,500 Lumens, has a contrast of 80,000:1, and smaller 65mm all-glass lens. However it does have the same improved optical path, and other features found on the high-end model.

Finally, there's the DLA-NZ7 (DLA-RS2100), which retails for a slightly more reasonable £11,500/$10,999. This projector is similar to the NZ8 but doesn’t use upgraded optics, with a brightness of 2,200 Lumens, and contrast of 40,000:1. It also lacks the wide colour gamut filter found on the more expensive models, and uses the same bi-directional 8K/e-shift found on the earlier DLA-NX9, rather than the new four-directional 8K/e-shiftX employed on the NZ8 and NZ9.

The JVC DLA-NZ8 on a white background. — (Image credit: JVC)

Design

65mm all-glass lens
2 x HDMI 2.1 inputs
Backlit remote control

The JVC DLA-NZ8 looks identical to the previous generation, with the same matte black chassis and fantastic level of build quality. The only difference is at the rear, where there are slightly larger air vents and no removable dust filter. Despite its size, the design cleverly builds curves into the shape of the chassis to help offset the projector’s overall bulk.

It’s worth pointing out that the NZ8 is huge – measuring 500 x 234 x 505mm (WxHxD), and weighing in at a back-breaking 23.1kg. So it’s not the kind of beamer you whip out for movie night or to watch the big game. This is a serious product that’s designed for permanent installation in a dedicated home cinema, using either a stand or ceiling mount.

The new model contains the same 17-element, 15-group all-glass 65mm lens that was introduced on JVC’s previous generation of 4K projectors. However, it has been upgraded to improve the contrast performance by adding an inside coating designed to suppress any reflected light. This upgrade explains how the brighter NZ8 can have the same contrast ratio as the previous DLA-N7.

One of the biggest upgrades on this new generation of 4K projectors is the inclusion of HDMI 2.1 inputs, with JVC being the first manufacturer to do so. These 48Gbps ports accept both 8K/60p and 4K/120p, plus they support HDCP 2.3, 3D and high dynamic range – specifically HDR10, HLG, and HDR10+, with the latter also being a new addition. An unexpected benefit of HDMI 2.1 is that the NZ8 locks onto video signals faster than previous JVCs, which were painfully slow.

The provided remote is identical to the previous generation, which is welcome news because it's an excellent controller. It's comfortable to hold and easy to use with one hand, laying out all the buttons in a sensible manner. There's a dedicated backlight, which works really well because it illuminates the actual writing on the buttons, making them easy to read in the dark.

Features

BLU-Escent laser light source
Native 4K D-ILA chipset
8K/e-shiftX image processing
HDR Dynamic tone mapping

The JVC DLA-NZ8 uses the company’s BLU-Escent laser diode light source that was first introduced on the ultra-expensive DLA-Z1. As a result, the NZ8 has increased brightness, greater consistency, and a 20,000-hour lifespan. In practical terms that means you could watch a film a day for the next 20 years without worrying about dimming or having to change the lamp.

The NZ8 uses the same three-chip 4K D-ILA device as JVC’s previous generation, but also includes 8K/e-shiftX processing. When first introduced this feature shifted pixels in two directions to increase the perceived resolution, which the NZ7 still does, but the NZ8 and NZ9 employ an upgraded technology that shifts the pixels in four directions to display a full 8K resolution.

When it comes to HDR the NZ8 sports a number of class-leading features such as Auto Tone Mapping, which reads static metadata and immediately adjusts the tone mapping. There’s also Frame Adapt HDR, which analyses a signal and changes the tone mapping dynamically, while the Theatre Optimiser tweaks the HDR delivery to match your screen’s size and gain.

The NZ8 includes motorised focus, zoom and shift controls, which makes installation a doddle, and there are also lens memories for different screen aspect ratios. The menu system has been tweaked, and now has six settings for the Frame Adapt HDR features, while the Theatre Optimiser allows you to specify if your screen uses a 16:9 or 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

The laser light source has three LD Power options (low, mid, and high), along with two Dynamic CTRL settings that dynamically adjust the brightness of the laser. The laser is surprisingly quiet in operation, even in the brighter mid option, and the high mode isn’t significantly louder, making it a viable choice for those looking for a punchier HDR image or using a very large screen.

The JVC DLA-NZ8 setup in a home theater. — (Image credit: JVC)

Performance

HDR10/HLG/HDR10+ support
Wide colour gamut filter
3D with optional emitter and glasses

The JVC DLA-NZ8 delivers the kind of gorgeous film-like imagery for which the company is justly famous. The native 4K D-ILA chipset and 65mm all-glass ensure pictures so clear and detailed that even the most demanding pixel-peepers will be happy. The overall uniformity and geometry of the projected images are equally as precise, so all the basics are covered.

The colour accuracy is also exceptional, with a beautifully natural reproduction that hits all the industry standards right out of the box. The light path has been improved for greater contrast, and when combined with those deep blacks the benefits of a JVC projector are there for all to see, while the increased brightness of the laser light source produces images that really pop.

This projector is equally impressive with motion handling, producing buttery smooth pictures that are free of blurring and unwanted artefacts. The processing is also superb, taking lower quality content and upscaling it to the NZ8’s 4K capabilities, while the 8K/e-shiftX device is a revelation, shifting pixels in four directions to create images with a perceived resolution of 8K.

This projector is a stellar performer with SDR (standard dynamic range) content, but it’s with HDR (high dynamic range) that the JVCs are in a class of their own. Aside from having the necessary latitude from deep blacks to bright highlights, their cutting-edge tone mapping analyses the HDR content in real time, rendering it perfectly to match the increased brightness and wider colours.

These class-leading HDR capabilities are perfectly demonstrated in the film Allied, during the scene here Brad Pitt is watching an air raid. The combination of unrivalled contrast and flawless tone-mapping produce deep blacks in the night sky, and amazing shadow detail. The HDR also picks out the bright tracer fire and flak, allowing both to be highlighted against the darkness.

The NZ8 uses a filter to create a wider colour gamut, and this is perfectly demonstrated in The Greatest Showman, where the detailed 4K image pops with wonderfully saturated primaries. The HDR uses its increased dynamic range to great effect, bringing out all the details in the brightly lit scenes under the big top spotlights, and ensuring the specular highlights are never clipped.

The HDR is frequently breathtaking, retaining all the detail in the shadows and delivering bright pictures that are never blown out. The HDR images are clearly superior to SDR with saturated colours and a punchier dynamic range, while HDR10+ support allows the JVC to take advantage of the format’s added tone mapping information, ensuring content is perfectly displayed.

This added capability is expertly demonstrated in the film 1917, which includes HDR10+ dynamic metadata. The Oscar-winning 4K photography from Roger Deakins is beautifully reproduced by the NZ8, with every shot looking great, but it’s the nighttime scenes lit only by flares that really show what this projector can do with deep blacks and detailed shadows.

Although 3D is waning in popularity these days, there are still plenty of supporting Blu-rays, and the NZ8 displays them with pictures that are bright, accurate, and free of any ghosting. You’ll need to purchase the optional RF transmitter and glasses, but if you do decide to add them you’ll be rewarded with big screen 3D images that are probably superior to your local multiplex.

Finally, the NZ8 delivers a 38ms input lag with low latency turned on, which might not be as impressive as the sub-10 second measurements routinely delivered by TVs these days, but is good for a projector and results in some enjoyably responsive game play. Once you include the 4K/120p support and laser light source, the NZ8 makes for an excellent gaming projector.

Should I buy the JVC DLA-NZ8 4K laser projector?

Buy it if...

You want gorgeous 4K images with that elusive film-like quality
The combination of a 4K chipset and all-glass lens produces fantastically pin-sharp images, while JVC’s justifiably famous deep blacks and superior contrast performance result in that all-important film-like quality, separating this projector from the competition.

You want class-leading HDR tone mapping
The implementation of state-of-the-art dynamic tone mapping and a feature that optimises the overall performance for specific home cinema setups, produces stunningly detailed and impactful HDR images, making JVC’s projectors superior to any other manufacturer.

You want 8K/60p and 4K/120p support for next-gen gaming
The inclusion of HDMI 2.1 supports 8K/60p and 4K/120p signals, while the addition of 8K/e-shiftX image processing ensures the NZ8 can also project an 8K image with no perceivable loss in resolution. So despite its hefty price tag, this projector will remain relevant for years to come.

Don’t buy it if…

You want something small or portable for occasional use
The NZ8 is a serious home cinema projector, with a massive chassis and a high-end price tag. It’s designed for a dedicated room with a permanent installation using a stand or wall mount, and for the optimal performance you will need a proper screen as well.

You want a projector to use in a white room or during the day
While the NZ8 is bright, it will struggle in a room with white walls, windows or any other light source. The darker the room the better the results, because any reflected light will wash-out JVC’s class-leading contrast performance.

You want really bright HDR like on a TV
This really applies to all projectors, but none of them can get close to a TV in terms of their peak brightness for HDR. So if you’re looking for really bright specular highlights, you should be considering a big-screen TV rather than a projector.

TVs vs projector: which picture technology should you choose?

Hisense L9G TriChroma Laser 4K TV review

12:15 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Televisions | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: March 2022
• Still a current model
• Launch price: $5,499 (about £4,000, AU$7,500)
• Target price now: $2,799

Time flies in the ultra short throw projector world. Take the Hisense L9G TriChroma Laser 4K TV, for instance. Our review of this model appeared just two years ago, and it’s already selling for about half its $5,499 list price in the US. That’s a great deal for a tri-laser UST projector that comes bundled with a 100-inch screen. The HIsense L9G is still a current model for Hisense, although it doesn’t appear to be available outside the US, where some retailers have it on clearance. Time may be running out for the Hisense L9G, but we still think enough of it to have it listed as the best option for most people in our best ultra short throw projectors guide. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Two-minute review

The Hisense L9G is a revelation for the living room, but superior technology never comes cheap. This $5,499 (about £4000, AU$7500) projector packs in some primo features you’d expect out of the best projectors from its ultra-short-throw design, tri-color laser light engine, HDMI 2.1 ports with eARC, HDR support, an Android TV interface, and powerful 40W speakers.

A taste of the projector’s quality is on display right from the get go. It takes minutes to set up after getting it out of the box (though it’s an effort to get the box into the house), and the all-in-one nature of the projector simplifies the whole process. Most people will likely be able to just plunk it down in front of a bare wall and enjoy a monstrous, bright, vivid image.

Hisense isn’t selling this projector as a basic projector, though, but rather a laser TV. And in the pursuit of ensuring the premium picture quality to go with the price tag, Hisense includes an ambient-light-rejecting projector screen that’s meant to be permanently installed on your wall. This 100- or 120-inch (varies depending on the model of projector selected) will negate some of the minimalism of the setup by dominating a wall — it’s not a roll-up screen — but for those who demand the utmost from their image quality, it will reduce the impact of ambient light and cut down on any deformities in the wall shape that could impact the picture. Of course, for those who don’t care so much about the effects of ambient light or a little wall texture or who already own a quality projection screen, tough luck — the screen is included in the box and the price.

This projector is definitely for the dedicated cinephile.

However, as good as its picture performance is, the projector stumbles in a couple of places. For one with its attempts to adjust brightness on a shot-by-shot basis for some content, overcorrecting in a way that makes the lighting quite jarring. Its motion smoothing can also be trouble as it helps reduce panning judder sometimes but introduces some far more glaring motion artifacts for everything else on screen. Fortunately, the Hisense L9G has a ton of available settings to adjust these features and many more, effectively letting users dial in the display however they like. There’s also Filmmaker Mode to leave the settings in the professional’s hands.

There’s no denying the breathtaking quality of the Hisense L9G, but it’s a projector that takes a commitment to make sense for would-be buyers. It’s definitely less of a commitment than a 100-inch TV, though, as even the affordable models are multiple times the price of the L9G.

Price and availability

The Hisense L9G is available for $5,499 (about £4000, AU$7500) in a 100-inch setup and $5,999 (about £4400, AU$8000) in a 120-inch setup.

Compared to its competitors, the expense of the projector and screen combo is far higher. For example, the Xgimi Aura is also quite stunning at less than half the price, but not as bright or capable in daylight. Meanwhile longer-throw projectors like the premium Optoma UHZ50 (at half the price) or the Epson LS12000 (at $4000) can deliver premium pictures, a bit more flexibility in setups with some added complication, and more refresh rate options for gamers.

The Hisense L9G in a living room setting. — (Image credit: Mark Knapp)

Design and features

Compact, complete kit
Projection screen included
Mighty audio capabilities

At roughly 24 x 6.1 x 13.6” and weighing just 24.7 pounds, the Hisense L9G has packed a stunning amount of technology into a compact little package hardly bigger than a couple of shoeboxes. It’s a hair wider and taller but not as deep as the Xgimi Aura we recently tested, yet it’s every bit as lovely to look at and then some.

The unit looks a bit like a beefy, narrow soundbar, and you wouldn’t be foolish to think of it like one. It’s packing in its own set of Dolby Atmos-capable speakers with a combined 40W output that’s more than ample enough for a group movie night in a 200 or even 300-sq.-ft room. Despite the size of the unit, it seems to have next to no trouble keeping itself running cool with minimal fan noise.

The projector has a dark, somewhat-futuristic design that remains fairly subtle. It could fit well enough into a discreet setup, though it would be harder to hide the 100-inch, ALR (ambient light rejecting) projection screen that Hisense includes with the intention of it being a permanently installed feature.

Inside its meager frame, the Hisense L9G is packing a three-laser light source. This uses independent red, green, and blue lasers to create a bright and colorful picture, as much as 107% of the wide Rec.2020 color space, as light doesn’t need to be filtered out (thus reducing brightness) to create different colors. The laser light source also promises a longer lifespan than traditional projector bulbs, as long as 25,000 hours in this case.

Given the projector’s 3,000 lumen output and concentrated beam close to the projector lens, Hisense has built in a pair of proximity sensors that dim the display very quickly when anything gets close and will turn the lights off entirely if it continues to detect anything. It’s fairly sensitive, responding quickly to our presence in most cases, but it seems to be motion based, allowing the lights to come back on if we’re still, so it won’t protect your eyes if you’re calmly peering down into the lens. Curiously, it almost looks like the top of the projector has a slide cover to go over the lens when it’s not in use, but it’s just a non-moving part, and this leaves the lens-cover glass exposed to gather dust.

The system features Android TV and a Wi-Fi 5 or Gigabit Ethernet connection. Unfortunately, like a lot of implementations of Android TV by somewhat less popular brands, Netflix isn’t supported. The operating system’s performance occasionally hitches, too, but it’s largely usable.

Hisense has also included three HDMI ports, two of which support HDMI 2.1 and one offering eARC, offering ample options for high-quality video and audio signals. Bluetooth allows for connections to and from the system, allowing for external speakers or using the projector as a speaker. Optical audio and WiSA connections are also available.

One feature the projector lacks is flexibility. The lens has a fixed focal length. Too close to the wall or too far, and it starts to get blurry. While there’s some wiggle room, it’ll lose focus if moved too far or too close to the wall. This isn’t your ‘40-inches one day and 300-inches the next’ type of projector. It’s more portable than a 100-inch TV, but it’s meant to serve as a 100-inch TV. This makes the ideal distance from the wall for the 100-inch model about 11 inches, though we find it plenty sharp as close as about 8 inches from the wall.

Four adjustable legs on the bottom of the projector and an eight-point digital geometric correction can help properly square up the image, however, and that geometric correction can be done manually or automatically with a phone camera (in browser, even, so no app download necessary).

Picture quality

Big, bright 4K picture
Vivid color (107% Rec.2020)
Great out of the box with ample tuning options

There’s not much to gripe about with the Hisense L9G. This projector is using exceptionally capable technology and putting it to work. Even without the ALR projection screen, the Hisense L9G can create such a bright picture that we’re comfortable watching just about anything in our living room in the middle of the day. If it’s sunny, we might stick to cartoons, but with shades drawn or overcast weather, the L9G doesn’t struggle one bit to present a satisfying image.

For movie nights or game nights, the picture is a delight. The project manages exceptionally vivid colors alongside a rich contrast that makes scenes all the more dramatic. It’s all the more impressive how much shadow detail remains in the image. Even watching in daytime, the detail in dark clothing and characters' hair is largely visible.

All of this is coming through at a crisp 4K. Dune and Nightmare Alley blown up to the proportions the L9G is capable of makes for a movie theater-like experience with the benefit of pausing. Cartoons are lively with their colors. And the Japanese countryside in Ghost of Tsushima is stunning. The input lag is low enough even to tackle bosses without much trouble.

As good as the picture is, not everything is effortless perfection. The projector falls into some of the same pitfalls as TVs. Its attempts to smooth out motion can lead to a lot of buggy movements from characters and elements on screen, and brightness can shift dramatically as the projector tries to enhance the picture from shot to shot. The motion smoothing seems to help with judder for panning images at least.

These issues are generally just a little distracting out of the box, and you aren't stuck with them. Hisense offers a boatload of settings options, allowing for many different motion smoothing levels, lighting control, color adjustments, and the ever handy Filmmaker Mode. Settings can be saved for different input sources as well, letting users create a special profile perhaps for a 4K Blu-ray player and a separate profile for a game console or two.

Should you buy the Hisense L9G Laser 4K TV?

Buy it if...

You want a supreme home theater in a box
The Hisense L9G includes everything you need to get an incredibly enjoyable video setup with the projector, its speakers, its smart TV platform, and the projection screen all in the box.

You want a big, big picture
There’s no going small with the Hisense L9G. It’s built to deliver either a 100- or 120-inch image. While you can go a little smaller, it’ll get blurry before you get smaller than most TVs.

You want a finely tunable picture
While the size can’t change, the Hisense L9G has a wide color gamut and tons of options for tailoring the visual presentation to your liking.

Don't buy it if...

You want a projector for many different setups
The fixed focal length is a major limitation for the L9G. While it’s light enough to move from room to room, you’re always going to need to position it similarly and find ample space for its image.

You’re an elite gamer
The Hisense L9G is dazzling for games where visuals are a priority, but this is a 60Hz display that won’t satisfy competitive gamers looking for the fastest speeds. Some other projectors boast 120Hz and even 240Hz refresh rates, and they even cost less.

You don’t want the projector screen
The Hisense L9G absolutely doesn’t need the screen to get a brilliant experience, but it’s included in the box and the price. A big ALR screen doesn’t come cheap, so you might find better value elsewhere.

TVs vs projector: which picture technology should you choose?

Sony HT-A7000 Dolby Atmos Soundbar review

6:58 pm | March 25, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Soundbars Televisions | Tags: Dolby Atmos, HDMI | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: March 2022
• Current Sony flagship Dolby Atmos soundbar
• Launch price: $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$1,699
• Target price now: $999 / £1,299 / AU$1,699

Update: February 2024. The Sony HT-A7000 remains the company’s flagship soundbar, and the only all-in-one model equipped for 7.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos sound. It was initially pricey at launch, and remains so in the UK and Australia, though its price has seen regular drops in the US, with discounts from $1,399 to around $999 being common. That price makes it competitive with the Sonos Arc, the 5.0.2-channel flagship soundbar from Sonos. The Sony’s higher channel count, multiple HDMI inputs, and DTS:X support make it a superior option to the Arc, however, and the now under-$1,000 price, while still high, is a better value than at launch. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

One-minute review

The Sony HT-A7000 comes with a pedigree. It follows the Sony HT-ST5000 as the company’s new de facto flagship soundbar and it carries an air of distinction.

What helps elevate the HT-A7000 above its competitors is its integrated upfiring speakers that help it support true Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, with a sprinkling of Sony’s new 360 Reality Audio format thrown in, too.

There are other niceties thrown in at this price - such as the two HDMI 2.1 ports that will allow you to connect both your PS5 and Xbox Series X to the soundbar - and it even has room to grow thanks to an optional subwoofer and rear surround speakers.

At this price point we wish some of those optional extras were simply included in the box and that the height channels produced a more convincing soundstage, but what’s on offer is a powerful, room-filling soundbar that richly deserves a place amongst the best soundbars.

Price & release date

The Sony HT-A7000 Soundbar made its debut at the tail-end of 2021, effectively replacing the older Sony HT-ST5000 model that long held a position on our best soundbar list.

In terms of pricing, the Sony HT-A7000 comes in at $1,399 / £1,299 / AU$1,699 - and that’s just for the soundbar. If you want to add a subwoofer and rear speakers, that’s going to cost you an extra $300 / £449 / AU$599 and $350 / £449 / AU$649 respectively, depending on which of Sony’s two subwoofers you decide to use. (The more expensive subwoofer, the SA-SW5, costs $698 / ‎£699 / AU$899 by itself, so be prepared for that.)

For a soundbar, that’s a lot of money - especially if you plan on buying all the extras that go with it. Overall, that’s not a horrible price if this becomes your one home cinema purchase for the next decade, but most folks will want a more flexible option at this price point.

The Sony HT-A7000 Soundbar underneath a Sony TV. — (Image credit: Future)

Design

At roughly 51 inches long and three inches tall, the HT-A7000 is a pretty big ‘bar. It’s just the right size to fit underneath a Sony X95J TV or one of Sony’s new OLED TVs, but it could very easily block the IR sensor on TVs from other manufacturers or collide with the legs.

In short, it’s a long bar and probably not the best partner for any screen below 55 inches.

The good news is that big ‘bars like these often pack big drivers to go inside of them - and that’s absolutely what’s going on here. Inside the HT-A7000 are two upfiring speakers for overhead sound, two beam tweeters and five front speakers and a subwoofer that’s in charge of handling the bass for a total output of 500W.

Covering all those speakers is a mish-mash of textures and materials. On the front is a metal grille that covers all the front-firing drivers and a small LED screen, while on the top you’ve got a fabric mesh covering the upfiring drivers. There’s also a glossy finish on the top where you can find the touch-capacitive control buttons.

The LED screen certainly works well when you’re simply changing the volume, but it’s not the most helpful in showing you which format you’re working with: other soundbars will turn a certain color when they detect an Atmos signal or display it on the front LED. The A7000 does neither.

The included remote is straightforward to use, though you’ll be able to use your TV’s remote should you connect the soundbar via HDMI to your TV or AV receiver, which we highly recommend.

Features

If you have a TV with an eARC port, you should have next to no problem setting up the HT-A7000. It’s really as easy as plugging in the power cable and running an HDMI cable between the TV and the soundbar.

That being said, if you want a more in-depth setup and calibration process, Sony makes that relatively simple by building a basic UI into the soundbar itself.

The most basic step you can take to improve the sound quality of the soundbar is to run a basic room calibration test. This takes just 20 seconds and it will help the soundbar know how far away from walls it is and which channels need extra power.

You can manually adjust those settings for yourself in the simple UI Sony provides, but most folks should be fine with just the automatic calibration.

Also this UI is where you can select other sources for audio. The soundbar supports HDMI obviously, but also 3.5mm auxiliary, Bluetooth audio, USB devices, Spotify, Chromecast, Amazon Alexa and 360 Reality Audio via Deezer, Tidal and Amazon Music. It’s a very wide selection of sources, and allows you to have some flexibility in terms of what you want to connect.

Speaking of music, Sony also included its DSEE Extreme upscaling tech in the soundbar that helps restore details lost in the wireless transmission process. It’s something we’ve seen in the company’s flagship WH-1000M4 headphones, but not in a soundbar.

Performance

By itself, the Sony HT-A7000 is capable of producing a 7.1.2-channel sound. While that sounds like a lot of sound output - and it certainly is - it’s mostly focused around the mid-range if you don’t go in and manually change the EQ.

Out of the box, without any additional hardware hooked up, what you’ll hear is robust and clear dialogue. Throughout our testing, no matter the source, we were able to make out dialogue clearly, even when we changed the sound mode of the TV to something more dynamic, like, say the Cinema sound mode on a Sony TV.

The double woofers on the front of the bar do provide a bit of oomph - especially when you crank the volume up above the 60% mark - but they in no way replace what a discrete subwoofer can provide. The same can be said for the upfiring speakers and drivers responsible for surround sound that come off as a little weaker than what we’d like.

We also noticed that the soundbar cut out once or twice during our two-week testing period. It would happen without rhyme or reason and would momentarily cause the audio to stop before resuming - however, it was certainly annoying whenever it happened.

In terms of stereo imaging and soundstage, there’s a lot to like about the HT-A7000 - it’s a very musically talented soundbar. Testing out some 360 Reality Audio music, you get a real room-filling sound with a clear idea of where all the instruments are located.

Turning on some Spotify, we were impressed with the force of the soundbar and, again, that robust mid-range. Trebles could’ve been a little clearer and the bass - while easy to hear - just didn’t have the same depth that a separate sub can provide.

Overall, we feel most folks will be pleased with the sound quality the soundbar provides, but there is obvious room for improvement for whatever Sony designs next.

Should you buy the Sony HT-A7000 Soundbar?

Buy it if…

You want a full-range soundbar that can play Dolby Atmos content
While the height channels could stand to be a bit stronger, overall the A7000 is a powerful soundbar that hits most of the right notes. It gives you a bit of everything right out of the box, and then you can always add more oomph to the bass or surround channels by picking up additional hardware.

You have two HDMI 2.1 devices and you want to save some ports
One of the biggest gripes we’ve heard about some TVs supporting just one or two HDMI 2.1 ports is that one of those belongs to the eARC port on the TV. The HT-A7000 allows you to effectively use that one eARC port as two more HDMI 2.1 ports - which is a huge boon for folks who have two (or more) HDMI 2.1 devices that need to be plugged in.

Don’t buy it if…

You want a complete system in a single box
Unfortunately, if you want a complete system with a sub-woofer and surround units in a single box, the HT-A7000 isn’t for you. Yes, those things are available to buy separately, but they’re relatively expensive compared to some HTIB systems from other manufacturers.

You want the full Dolby Atmos effect from a soundbar
We’ve known for years that getting a full surround sound effect from a soundbar has been, well, difficult. As more manufacturers have figured out how to do it thanks to room calibration features, we’re now at the point where we’re seeing the same thing happen with upfiring Atmos speakers. They’re good - but they’re just not the same as discrete speakers.

Check out our guide to the best soundbars for even more options

Samsung The Freestyle projector (2022) review

1:19 pm | February 15, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: February 2022
• New 2nd Gen version launched in 2023
• Launch price: $899 / £999 / AU$1,299
• Target price now: $465 / £549

Samsung’s The Freestyle (2022) remains our top choice among the best portable projectors owing to its clever design, cool features, and good picture for the price. It’s since been replaced by an updated version, The Freestyle 2nd Gen, which adds Samsung’s Gaming Hub for cloud gaming via Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, and other gaming services. Although there’s a new model, The Freestyle (2022) is still available, and sells for $465 / £549. That’s a great price for a portable projector with auto-keystone adjustment that’s capable of beaming a 100-inch image, though gamers may want to spend more for The Freestyle 2023. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

One-minute review

It's no secret that the last couple of years have changed the way we socialize, with many of us opting to partake in the safety of outdoor gatherings rather than risk the spread of Covid-19 in confined, indoor spaces.

Perhaps sensing this trend would only continue to grow in popularity moving forward, Samsung has ingeniously delivered The Freestyle, a portable projector that's capable of producing admirable Full HD images at up to 100 inches in size – perfect for backyard movie nights.

With The Freestyle, Samsung provides almost everything you need for a night of entertainment, bringing the smart TV experience to any surface it's aimed at. It offers access to all of your favorite streaming services, a powerful 360° built-in speaker with smart assistant support, and even mobile mirroring functionality – all you need to provide is a power source (either via a nearby wall socket or a compatible power bank) and a Wi-Fi connection (or, failing that, a mobile hotspot).

Approachability is key for mainstream acceptance of any new product, and Samsung has nailed this aspect with The Freestyle. Simply put, any projector which is ready to go within minutes of being taken out of the box is a triumph of design and engineering, and should be celebrated.

That said, its execution isn't entirely flawless. Though The Freestyle's auto keystone feature worked well for the most part, it did have trouble registering the surface of our provided projector screen properly, leading to a skewed image that needed to be manually adjusted.

Additionally, we weren't too keen on Samsung's updated smart TV platform, which makes its debut on The Freestyle before rolling out to the rest of its 2022 range. It's not only sluggish, but also forces us to leave our content in order to perform simple tasks, like adjusting viewing modes.

Still, The Freestyle is by far the most user-friendly projector solution that this reviewer has encountered, offering better than expected picture quality, excellent connectivity and a variety of clever and endearing features.

Price and availability

Samsung's The Freestyle will release in the UK on February 16, 2022, and is set for release in Australia by the end of February 2022. Though a US release date hasn't been set, retailers are already taking orders for The Freestyle with an expected delivery date of March 31, 2022.

Pricing for The Freestyle has been set at $899 / £999 / AU$1,299, which is a little pricier than other portable projectors on the market. Of course, that should be expected for a product that offers far more functionality and polish than its competition. Taking this into account, we'd argue the price is quite reasonable for a 1080p HDR projector that delivers the Samsung smart TV experience on the go.

Design

Samsung's The Freestyle has been designed with portability in mind, and its compact size and cylindrical shape is a testament to that. It weighs just 0.8kg, and at 95.2 x 171.4 x 95.2mm, it's roughly the size of a can of dog food, meaning you can pick it up and toss it in your backpack without any hassle whatsoever.

The projector itself is propped up by a sturdy aluminum cradle stand with a flat base which offers well over 180° of tilt, making it easy to project an image on practically any surface.

While The Freestyle is primarily intended for use with a power outlet, The Freestyle can also be powered by compatible power banks which offer 50W/20V output and USB PB functionality, making it especially suited for outdoor settings.

As you'd expect, its 360° degree speaker wraps around The Freestyle's entire circumference, delivering audio in every direction. On top of the device, you'll find touch capacitive controls which allow you to power it on and adjust The Freestyle's volume without a remote.

Meanwhile, on the bottom of the device, you can see The Freestyle's passive radiator, which is used to expel bass, along with some pin connectors that will come in handy for future accessories, such as an already-planned battery pack.

Along the side of the unit, you'll spot a USB Type-C port for powering the device, along with a mini HDMI port (which you'll need in order to connect any sort of games console) and a toggle switch which shuts the device's mic on and off.

We really appreciate this last inclusion, because while The Freestyle is intended for use as a smart speaker, it's understandable that some people would just want to use it exclusively as a projector, without it listening in on every conversation.

Features

When it comes to functionality, you won't find a more feature-packed portable projector than Samsung's The Freestyle.

Not only is it a cinema which you can take anywhere, it's an Amazon Alexa and Samsung Bixby capable smart speaker, as well as a custom lighting solution that can change the atmosphere of whichever room it's in entirely.

But let's start with its cinematic prowess. The Freestyle offers Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution projection with HDR10 support at up to 550 lumens of brightness. On paper, that doesn't sound like much, but we were pleasantly surprised by the bright and vivid images it's able to produce.

Even when used during the day, and with indirect light from outside coming into the room, The Freestyle is able to project confident images that still exhibit an acceptable amount of contrast (depending on how bright your content is to begin with, of course).

We put this down to clever processing from Samsung's Hyper Real picture engine, which is able to automatically adjust color and brightness using its Smart Calibration feature.

One of The Freestyle's most talked about features is its Digital Keystone Correction functionality, which is able to automatically adjust your picture on the fly to present a perfectly squared image, even when projected onto angled surfaces. Adding to this is an auto-levelling feature which will get you a perfectly straight image, even when The Freestyle itself is placed on an uneven surface.

Of course, there's a limit to how much your image can adjust itself – look closely and you'll see a sort of boundary area in your projection, which your reshaped image has to stay within. While that obviously can't be helped, it's worth noting that the crazier your projection and surface angles are, the smaller your image will get.

Speaking of image size, The Freestyle is capable of projecting images starting at 30 inches (from a projection distance of around 79.5cm), all the way up to 100 inches (with a 2.6m projection distance).

As discussed earlier, one thing that gives Samsung's The Freestyle the edge over many other portable projectors is that it has a suite of streaming apps and other services built in from the word go.

Users can take The Freestyle out of its box and start watching the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and more within minutes – a setup process that's even faster and smoother when done via Samsung's SmartThings phone app.

Which brings us to one of The Freestyle's lesser known features; one which honestly makes all the difference in the world for those looking to use Samsung's projector as their primary home entertainment device – The Freestyle will automatically connect to compatible devices on your Wi-Fi network, especially Samsung ones.

Not only does this mean the ability to mirror our Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 to any projected surface (a feature that's also available to iPhones via AirPlay), The Freestyle also automatically connected to our Samsung soundbar (something which was discovered entirely by accident).

Movie and TV viewing aside, The Freestyle also offers a number of clever ambient modes which will bring a great deal of fun into your home. Sick of looking at a wall all day? Project a virtual window onto it with a beautifully picturesque (and animated) outdoor setting to look at instead. Or maybe you're having a party? The Freestyle will let you project a happy birthday message on your wall in neon, among other things.

Picture and audio quality

As we mentioned earlier, we were genuinely surprised by how The Freestyle was able to overcome the limitations of a 1080p maximum resolution, 60Hz refresh rate and just 550 lumens of brightness to produce impressively vibrant images.

The Freestyle offers three primary picture mode presets: Standard, Dynamic and Movie. In our testing, we did notice the brighter Dynamic mode brought about some motion smoothing, which makes us think it would be best suited to watching sporting events.

Our preferred setting, however, was Movie mode, which offered any experience similar to Filmmaker Mode on Samsung's premium television models, in which the image offers enhanced contrast and colors which are closer to the Hollywood standard.

After switching off all the lights in our living room, we kicked off our home movie by testing the bright and colorful Disney film Encanto, and came away very impressed with The Freestyle's picture quality. Color reproduction was strong and faithful, with a sufficiently good level of contrast.

Later, we chose to watch the dark and grimy action film The Raid, and were once again surprised by how well The Freestyle handled not just the more muted material, but also the aggressive motion and shaky camera work that the movie possesses.

It's worth noting that The Freestyle also offers a Game mode, which brings its latency down from around 70 milliseconds to 43.2 milliseconds. That's fine for casual gamers who want to play a bit of Mario Kart, though competitive players will probably want to steer clear of any projector.

As expected with portable projectors, The Freestyle's image sharpness decreases somewhat the larger you go, and moving it further away from your desired surface will also see a drop in brightness, but even then its images remain fairly crisp and viewable.

In fact, we'd go as far as saying that The Freestyle's picture quality becomes more pleasant the larger it goes, as the tighter its image projection gets (and the closer you are to it), the easier it is to spot a sort of grid-like, dotted texture to the image, which we imagine is a side effect of how the projector works.

Obviously, this texture would be even less noticeable were The Freestyle capable of a 4K image output (and we don't doubt to see that as a bullet point in future models), however, this model's 1080p looks perfectly fine at an optimal viewing distance of a couple meters or so.

If, like us, you were initially concerned about having to use The Freestyle's built-in 360° degree speaker as your home cinema's primary audio source, you don't have to worry – switching to our aforementioned soundbar in The Freestyle's quick settings menu allowed it to output full surround sound over a Wi-Fi connection, instantly allowing for a more traditional home theatre audio experience.

To be clear, you won't be able to produce full Dolby Atmos audio over Wi-Fi, however, you will get far superior multi-channel sound, which any cinephile will find to be an enormous improvement.

Conclusion

For the purposes of our review, Samsung was able to provide us with a 92-inch roll-up projector screen which gave us the opportunity to have a real cinema-style experience at home (minus the risk of Covid, crying children and exorbitant snack prices).

As for The Freestyle's auto keystone feature, in our experience it worked well in any instance in which the projector was pointed at a wall or ceiling, automatically levelling and adjusting its image into the correct proportions regardless of the surface's shape or angle.

That said, we did find that The Freestyle ironically had trouble registering the surface of our projector screen. Even with the projector pointed directly at the screen from a very central position, it always defaulted to a skewed image.

Additionally, there were some instances where The Freestyle was unable to settle into focus. Eventually, we ended up switching both features off, opting instead to manually adjust both the keystone and focus settings. Thankfully, doing so is a relatively straightforward process.

Our biggest bugbear, however, is the extreme sluggishness of The Freestyle's user interface. The new projector acts as the debut of Samsung's new smart TV operating system, and we must admit, it isn't off to a great start.

For starters, Samsung's new TV OS is now a full-screen affair, meaning you can no longer adjust settings on the fly without leaving the show or movie you're watching. This also means that reaching the (now not so) quick settings requires additional steps.

While the new OS is still based on Tizen, it often takes well over a second for individual button presses on the supplied remote to register on screen. This makes the act of simply navigating Netflix, or adjusting picture settings, an absolutely aggravating affair.

It's worth noting that the remote which was provided to us for review isn't the final remote that'll ship with The Freestyle, but rather the standard remote that ships with
Samsung's mid-tier TVs. Despite this, we don't think the remote has anything to do with The Freestyle's slow-moving navigation.

Issues like these obviously go against the effortlessness and ease of use that Samsung's The Freestyle is primarily being sold on, however, we imagine (and hope) that issues like these could be sorted with a firmware update.

should you buy the Samsung The Freestyle (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if…

What are the best 4K projectors?

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review

2:11 pm | December 6, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Soundbars Televisions | Tags: Dolby Atmos | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: September 2021
• Current entry-level Sonos Dolby Atmos soundbar
• Launch price: $449 / £449 / $699
• Target price now: $499 / £499 / $699

As the entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar in the Sonos lineup, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) offers a budget Atmos alternative to the flagship Sonos Arc, which costs almost twice as much. Prices for the Beam (Gen 2) were raised by the company after the initial launch, with the official price now sitting at $499 / £499 / AU$799. Beam (Gen 2) prices typically don’t budge much except during sales events such as Black Friday, when we’ve seen it dip as low as $399 / £379. But if you’re looking to buy Sonos’ budget Atmos soundbar outside of Black Friday, expect to pay list price for it. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Two-minute review

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a compact and powerful soundbar from multi-room audio giant Sonos. It's a significant improvement on the company’s original mini soundbar with virtual Dolby Atmos, HDMI eARC compatibility, and a refreshed design.

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) Specs

Size: 25.6 x 2.3 x 3.9 inches
Weight: 6.2lbs
Colors: Black and White
Speakers: 4 drivers, 1 tweeter
Ports: HDMI eARC, Ethernet
Audio formats: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus
Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n/ac, 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2

While it’s a little more expensive than the first Sonos Beam, the new soundbar offers excellent value. That’s why it’s one of our top picks in our best soundbars guide.

Thanks to its integration with the broader Sonos ecosystem, you can combine it with additional speakers to expand your setup. The Beam (Gen 2) sounds great on its own, but you can take the audio performance up a notch by hooking it up to the Sonos Sub or using a pair of Sonos One SL speakers as your rear right and left channels.

Setting up the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a breeze—you need the Sonos S2 app, and you’ll be able to connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi network and set up your voice assistant of choice. The S2 app also gives you access to the company’s TruePlay technology, which calibrates the soundbar’s audio to your room’s dimensions using its built-in microphones.

It’s a shame that TruePlay still only works with iOS devices, as it does make a difference to the sound. Still, you could borrow a friend’s iPhone for the setup process—and we think that’s worth doing.

Unlike its predecessor, the new Beam comes with eARC compatibility—a feature that fans of the original soundbar have requested for a while. This allows the soundbar to handle more advanced audio formats than before, including hi-res audio codecs.

a closeup of the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar in white — (Image credit: TechRadar)

However, the standout new feature for the Beam (Gen 2) is Dolby Atmos support. While the soundbar doesn’t contain the upfiring drivers you’d need for ‘true’ Atmos, it uses psychoacoustic techniques to give the impression of height from your movie soundtracks.

In theory, this should make it seem as though the sound from your films is coming at you from every angle; we weren’t entirely convinced, however. While the Beam (Gen 2) has a vast soundstage and powerful audio performance for its size, we didn’t experience the kind of overhead sound you get from its larger sibling, the Sonos Arc (which has those all-important upfiring drivers). You can read more about this more capable—and expensive—soundbar in our Sonos Arc review.

We’re hesitant to judge the Beam (Gen 2) too harshly for that, though. You’re still getting a far more immersive experience than you’d get from a non-Atmos bar, and there is a small amount of vertical information coming through—it’s just not as convincing as other virtual Atmos bars. Check out our Sony HT-X8500 review for a good example. Or take a look at our best Dolby Atmos speakers and soundbars guide.

Overall, if you’re looking for a mid-range soundbar that won’t take over your living room and you want the ability to upgrade it in the future with a subwoofer or rear speakers, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a great choice—just don’t expect a super-convincing Dolby Atmos experience. Read on for our full Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review.

the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar in white pictured on a TV cabinet under a TV screen — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review: price and availability

$449 / £449 / AU$699
Released in October, 2021

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) launched in October, 2021 for $449 / £449 / $699, which is more expensive than the original. At launch, the original Sonos Beam cost $399 / £339 / AU$599, though it’s often discounted these days. You can find out more about its predecessor in our Sonos Beam review.

For a cheaper alternative, take a look at our Sonos Ray review, which doesn't have the same performance but is much more affordable at $279 / £279 / AU$399.

For a soundbar with similar performance that's a little more expensive, check out our Sony HT-G700 review, which is available for $600 / £450 / AU$900, to see how it compares.

Although it isn't the cheapest soundbar available, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a huge $400 / £400 / AU$800 less expensive than one of TechRadar's best soundbars of the moment, the Sonos Arc, which delivers ‘true’ Atmos thanks to upfiring tweeters. You can read more about the Arc in our Sonos Arc review.

a close up of the back of the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar showing the soundbar's ports — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review: design

Compact build
New plastic grille
Touch controls

Like the original Beam, the new Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a compact soundbar that can easily fit under most TVs on a cabinet or be mounted to a wall to keep your living room clutter-free.

At 2.72 x 25.63 x 3.94 inches (H x W x D), it’s much smaller than the company’s flagship soundbar, the Sonos Arc, making it ideal for smaller spaces.

Like other Sonos speakers, the design of the Beam (Gen 2) is all about clean lines and subtle branding; this soundbar isn’t flashy, but it looks stylish, and as it comes in a choice of black and white finishes, you can find the right look to fit in with your decor.

One key difference between the new Sonos Beam and its predecessor is the design of the grille, which is now made of plastic rather than a woven fabric. This design choice is more in keeping with the Sonos Arc, and as the company points out, it’s far easier to clean than dust-attracting fabric. We asked Sonos whether the new grille brings any acoustic benefits, but the company told us it’s purely an aesthetic choice.

You’ll find a touch-sensitive control panel on the top of the soundbar. The capacitive touch sensors allow you to control your music playback, adjust the volume, and turn off the inbuilt microphones for extra privacy. We found these controls were very responsive, though you’ll probably find yourself reaching for your TV’s remote to do most of these things.

You’ll also find a small LED light strip on the top of the soundbar, which lights up as you interact with it, and another LED beneath the microphone icon to let you know when the soundbar’s mic is enabled.

Around the back of the soundbar is a port for plugging it into a power outlet and HDMI, optical, and Ethernet ports.

a closeup of the sonos beam gen 2 touch controls — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review: setup and connectivity

Works with wider Sonos ecosystem
TruePlay room calibration
Easy-to-use app

Setting up the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is very simple; you need to download the Sonos S2 app and follow the instructions to connect the soundbar to your Wi-Fi network and any music streaming services you’d like.

You’ll also then be able to choose between Alexa or Google Assistant. Thanks to the soundbar’s built-in microphones, you’ll be able to control playback using your voice alone, ask your chosen voice assistant questions, and control your other smart home devices.

Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to use the Beam’s room calibration feature, TruePlay, which tunes the ‘bar’s sound to the dimensions of your room.

As you go through the TruePlay process, the Beam plays out a series of beeps and ticks across the frequency range; you’ll then be prompted to walk around your room waving your smartphone around.

The S2 app uses the microphones built into your smartphone to analyze the audio; Sonos says it’s essential to cover as much space as possible and to minimize any other environmental noise that could affect the results. Unfortunately, TruePlay is only compatible with iOS devices currently, but it’s worth borrowing a friend’s iPhone to get the most out of your new Beam.

the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar on a tv cabinet under a tv screen — (Image credit: TechRadar)

The app also allows you to pair the Beam with any other Sonos speaker, such as the Sonos Sub, or a pair of Sonos One SL speakers that could be used as left and right rear speakers.

Integration with the Sonos network gives the Beam (Gen 2) something many other soundbars don’t have: an easy way to upgrade your home cinema system. While the new Beam works very well on its own, adding in a sub and rear speakers is a great way to add to your setup over time. If you already have a Sonos Roam portable speaker, you’ll be able to ‘throw’ your audio between the Bluetooth speaker and the Beam using the Sound Swap feature.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Beam (Gen 2) supports Wi-Fi and Apple AirPlay 2 with compatible iOS devices. There’s also the option to hook it up to your router with an Ethernet cable if you want a more stable connection to your home network.

One new connectivity feature for the Sonos Beam is HDMI eARC compatibility, which the company says will bring a “richer, more immersive, and higher definition sound experience”. Compared to the HDMI ARC connectivity found on the original Beam, eARC can handle more advanced audio formats and deliver superior audio quality.

It’s a shame there’s no HDMI 2.1 support, which would allow for 4K at 120Hz and even 8K at 60Hz pass through—which, in turn, would make the Beam ideal for 8K-supporting consoles like the PS5 and the Xbox Series X.

Still, the new Beam can cope with 32 channels of audio and even eight-channel 24-bit/192kHz uncompressed 38Mbps data streams. In other words, as well as supporting Atmos, it can play hi-res audio files of your favorite songs.

If your TV doesn’t have an HDMI port, you can connect the Beam via the optical port; Sonos provides all the cables you need in the box.

The S2 app also makes it easy to stream music, allowing you to add any music streaming platforms and navigate them without leaving the app.

A close up of the side of the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar in white under a TV screen — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review: audio performance

Wide soundstage
Great for music
Dolby Atmos could be more convincing

Despite its small size, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) delivers robust audio performance and is more than capable of filling your living room with sound.

We started by watching the animated sci-fi comedy Mitchell vs The Machines, in which the Mitchell family find themselves battling with electrical appliances (as well as an army of psychotic Furbys) in an abandoned shopping mall.

As washing machines drag themselves menacingly across the floor, the Beam (Gen 2) proved capable of handling rumbling low frequencies with real dexterity. At the same time, the soundbar’s bass prowess was even more evident as a giant Furby stomps toward our protagonists.

As the action intensifies and the family finds themselves in a full-blown melee complete with lasers, the dialogue remains clear and easy to follow.

the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar in white on a tv cabinet under a TV display — (Image credit: TechRadar)

While the general audio performance of the Beam (Gen 2) was impressive, we weren't fully convinced by the virtual Dolby Atmos. As vending machines propelled soda cans over the heads of the characters on screen, the sound did provide a sense of height, but we didn't get the feeling that it was coming from above our heads.

It felt like the virtual height channels cut out around the top of our ears. While this did feel more immersive than a non-Atmos soundbar, the effect wasn't as impressive as you get with the Sonos Arc, which features up-firing drivers.

These drivers are designed to bounce sound off the ceiling and back down to your ears, giving a real sense of sonic height to movie soundtracks and compatible audio files. Without them, the Beam (Gen 2) doesn't seem capable of providing the full Atmos experience.

Saying that we were very impressed by the width of the soundstage. You get the sense that the action onscreen is taking place all around you without adding additional rear left or right speakers, like the Sonos One SL.

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) also sounds great when playing music. Listening to Little Simz' Woman, the bass sounds deep and well-controlled, while synth strings are warm and rich. Simz's rap vocal comes through with clarity, while Cleo Soul's avant-soul melodies float sumptuously above the mix.

As capable as the Beam (Gen 2) is on its own, the bass is much improved by hooking it up to the Sonos Sub, which delivers better separation between the different frequencies and a more arresting, toe-tapping sound.

the sonos beam gen 2 soundbar in white in a living room on a tv cabinet underneath a tv display — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Conclusion

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) soundbar will work perfectly well on its own to add excellent audio performance to your TV, but it also fits in well with the wider Sonos ecosystem, and is the perfect playmate for the brand’s subwoofers and rear speakers.

There's no true Dolby Atmos here, you'll need upfiring speakers for that. We also wouldn't recommend it if you’re on a tight budget. The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is nowhere near the most expensive soundbar we’ve tested, but there are cheaper options.

If you're looking for powerful sound, the Sonos Beam (Gen 2) is a fantastic soundbar, and it sounds much bigger than its small size might suggest. Because it's compact, it'll squeeze into small rooms, and can be wall-mounted to save even more space.

Also consider...

If our Sonos Beam (Gen 2) review has you considering other options, then here are three alternative soundbars to check out.

First reviewed September 2021.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review

8:00 pm | June 18, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Newer BenQ X3100i now out
• Launch price: $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,599
• Target price now: $1,499 / £1,279

The BenQ TK700STi is a short-throw DLP model from a company known for its gaming projectors. It was relatively affordable for a 4K model at launch and at its current $1,499 / £1,279 price, is now an even better deal. (The TK700STi no longer appears to be available in Australia.) BenQ recently refreshed its short throw gaming projector lineup, with new models like the X3100i featuring higher brightness and built-in Netflix streaming. But the BenQ TK700STi remains in the lineup, and even though it doesn’t budge much from its current price, gamers looking for a projector that works well for both gaming and movies can look no further. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector: One-minute review

If you’re looking to lay a big load of cash on a projector, you can’t go wrong with the BenQ TK700STi. If you’re buying it for gaming, then that endorsement is even stronger. This unit supports 4K at 60Hz with an unsurpassed 16ms response time at that resolution, which is as low as response times get in a native 4K projector. If you want up to 120 inches of bright, crystal-clear game on your wall or screen, this sets a new benchmark.

What do those numbers mean in practice? It means a crisp 100 inch image with a smooth frame rate and utterly negligible input lag. With a 3,000 lumens brightness and HDR support – as well as a couple of purpose-suited game modes – the display absolutely sings. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X out in the wild now (albeit, still hard to find), this projector can actually take advantage of the new console generation’s performance advantages.

While 60Hz at 4K is impressive, the TK700STi will also support 120Hz so long as you’re happy to compromise on a 1080p output, and with three modes in the form of FPS, SPG and RPG, the display can be optimized according to the type of action happening on screen.

What does that mean for watching TV content? Not a great deal: you’re getting a brilliant image at 4K, though naturally the 120Hz capabilities, not to mention the low response time, aren’t going to make a big difference. This is a projector for someone who wants the best of both worlds, though if you’re never going to use it for gaming, and 4K isn’t a big deal to you, you can probably settle for something less expensive.

Not to mention that the bundled Android TV dongle – which needs to be installed manually, albeit easily – has a glaring omission in a dedicated Netflix app. Still, if you’re a console gamer, Netflix is available on everything except Nintendo Switch, and this model packs a lot of performance for the price.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Price and availability

The BenQ TK700STi projector is available for $1,899 in the US, £1,299 in the UK, and AU$2,599 in Australia.

Design and features

While other companies might be tempted to make their gaming projectors look like sci-fi obelisks, BenQ takes a minimalist approach to the TK700STi’s design – nothing about it screams 'gamer'. It’s a discreet white box with a black front, and it boasts a far more conservative design than its sibling model, the X1300i.

Analog zoom and focus dials are readily accessible at the top of the unit, as is the rest of the projector’s user interface: the power button, a directional pad for navigating the system’s menus, and a few quick access buttons for choosing display modes or triggering the Eco Blank functionality.

As for those zoom and focus dials, they allow for a lot of precision and stop very firmly in the desired location. There are also three thick bolts at the base which can be unscrewed in order to elevate the device slightly. This model comes with a remote control, which is highly recommended, as the buttons on the unit itself are unpleasant to use and require very firm presses to activate.

BenQ X1300i projector — (Image credit: Future)

As for connectivity, you’ve got two HDMI 2.0 ports (with ARC on the second port), an RS-232, audio out for 3.5mm and a sole USB port. The device comes packaged with a BenQ Android TV dongle which you’ll need to install yourself: this involves removing one screw from a protrusion on the back of the unit, and connecting the dongle to a hidden USB port inside. It’s a slightly inelegant solution – why not bake this functionality in? – but it’s a one-and-done annoyance.

BenQ TK700STi rear — The rear of the TK700STi with the included Android TV dongle attached. (Image credit: BenQ)

Elsewhere, you’ve air vents along the entire right hand side of the unit, as well as a fraction of the left, and a little at the front. The whole thing measures at 31x11x25cm, and it has a 5W speaker included, though very few people are probably going to use it: you can either use the 3.5mm jack or attach a sound system or soundbar via ARC.

That said, if you’re traveling and want to use it away from your home entertainment audio gear, it’ll get you through.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Picture quality

True 4K
Excellent 3,000 lumens brightness
120-inch picture at maximum

This short-throw projector requires at least two metres between the projector and the wall to reach the 100-inch mark, and while the TK700STi advertises a 100-inch maximum, we found that it could retain a perfectly viewable picture at 120-inches on the wall. In concert with its 3,000 lumens brightness – which is about as bright as you’ll want to get in a home environment – the 4K display is remarkably crisp and vibrant, thanks to its HDR10 support.

Still – and this probably goes without saying – you’re going to want a very dark room. In some ways HDR can be a drawback in environments with just a little bit of sun leakage: playing Housemarque’s dark and gloomy PS5 game Returnal with the blinds futilely drawn was not an enjoyable experience, and wasn’t conducive to winning. That effect is exacerbated with a projector, and worth keeping in mind as more and more next-gen games embrace deeper blacks and more blinding brights.

Aside from that point, the 4K image is bright and invigorating and, in some ways, quite jaw dropping. The 60Hz refresh rate may not impress by the standards of modern gaming monitors, but it’s hugely impressive in a native 4K projector. With the appropriate lighting (or lack thereof) the TK700STi’s display shines like a portal on your wall, though like its X1300i stablemate, you do tend to see blooming around any bright-on-dark areas of the display.

Meanwhile, if you’re planning to use the TK700STi for movies and streaming you won’t be disappointed: color and clarity is admirable, though of course, you’re probably going to want to use a better sound source.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Sound and gaming

While the gaming monitor market likes to promote the advantages of 1ms response rates, you’re getting nowhere near that with the TK700STi: in 4K it has a 16ms response time, while it can hit 8ms in 1080p.

It can’t be stressed enough, though, that these response times on a projector are very novel indeed, and given this is a projector with native 4K you’re not going to find better than this performance at the moment. All but a small number of inveterate competitive gamers (or dyed in the wool pedants) are going to notice any input lag. Basically, you’re probably not going to get better performance than this.

Still, given the emphasis Sony and Microsoft are placing on both 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rates, it’s a question that will arise, and the TK700STi’s 60Hz refresh rate at 4K – impressive only 5 years ago – might seem inadequate on paper.

Sure, if you’ve been gaming on a 240Hz monitor you may notice a difference in fluidity, but 60 frames-per second is a bar that consoles have only just gotten around to making (unofficially) standard: the likelihood of more than a handful of blockbuster games with 120Hz support coming out during the console generation seems low, as developers focus on the wow-factor of ray tracing, detail and resolution.

Of course, if you’re rocking this projector with a gaming PC those platform-oriented limitations are immaterial to you, and if a high-refresh rate is more important than resolution, then you probably aren’t seriously in the market for a projector.

For our money, playing through a selection of games on both the Xbox Series X and PS5 including Dirt 5, Returnal, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Forza Horizon 4 and Outriders, 100 inches of 60 frames-per-second next-gen goodness is undeniably impressive, offering a level of immersion no halfway affordable TV is likely to produce. Note that 4K offers a maximum 60Hz refresh rate, while 120Hz maxes out at 1080p.

Should you buy the BenQ TK700STi projector?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if

Best projectors, for gaming or otherwise

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review

8:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Newer BenQ X3100i now out
• Launch price: $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,599
• Target price now: $1,499 / £1,279

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector: One-minute review

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Price and availability

The BenQ TK700STi projector is available for $1,899 in the US, £1,299 in the UK, and AU$2,599 in Australia.

Design and features

That said, if you’re traveling and want to use it away from your home entertainment audio gear, it’ll get you through.

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Picture quality

True 4K
Excellent 3,000 lumens brightness
120-inch picture at maximum

BenQ TK700STi 4K gaming projector review: Sound and gaming

Should you buy the BenQ TK700STi projector?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if

Best projectors, for gaming or otherwise

Samsung Premiere LSP9T projector review

8:00 pm | November 12, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Theater Projectors Televisions | Tags: HDR | Comments: Off

Editor's note

• Original review date: November 2020
• New Premiere 9 model coming out in 2024
• Launch price: US$6,499 / £6,999 / AU$10,999
• Target price now: $4,499 / £3,118 / AU$5,995

The Samsung Premiere LSP9T was the company’s first ultra short throw projector and it remains in the lineup, now at a discounted price. That’s because the LSP9T is due to be replaced in 2024 by the Premiere 9, another 4K UST that Samsung says will have improved brightness and better sound with the addition of Dolby Atmos processing. Nonetheless, the Premiere LSP9T is an impressive projector, and at $4,499 / £3,118 / AU$5,995 it’s now a much better value. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

One-minute review

Samsung is back in the home cinema projector market, after more than a decade away – and its Samsung Premiere flagship beamer is certain to impress.

The Premiere LSP9T’s ultra short throw design, 2800 lumens of laser-driven brightness, support for the latest 4K and HDR picture quality standards, powerful built-in audio system, and built-in tuner and smart system make it a true rival for a king-sized TV – especially as it produces mostly outstanding pictures.

Brightness and color volume are both exceptional for a projector, getting maximum value from an innovative new laser light source design. Here, for once, is a projector that actually handles HDR content well – despite that content being designed for TV rather than projection technologies.

The Premiere LSP9T’s pictures genuinely look 4K too, delivering a dense, cinematic image free of visible image structure even at its 130-inch maximum image size.

It’s not quite as ready for next-gen gaming as we’d have liked, and some fleeting color striping noise and occasional black level shortcomings sometimes reminds you a bit too obviously of the mechanics of its laser DLP optical system. But as an ultra short-throw projector, this may be the best example we’ve seen so far.

Price and availability

The Samsung Premiere LSP9T is available across the world
£6,999 / US$6,499 / AU$10,999 price tag
A cheaper single-laser Premiere model, the LSP7T, is also available

Considering the two Premiere models are the first home entertainment projectors Samsung has released for over a decade, it’s impressive to see how widely Samsung is distributing them across the world. It’s a clear sign of Samsung’s manufacturing and distribution might – and, perhaps, its confidence in its new creation.

The flagship LSP9T’s £6,999 / $6,499 / AU$10,999 price looks high at first glance. LG’s similar Cinebeam HU85LS only costs £4,999, for instance, and the recently launched Optoma CinemaX P2 ultra short throw (UST) laser projector costs just £2,999. However, the Samsung model boasts an innovative triple laser design to boost color range and brightness, carries an unusually powerful audio system, and sports the most TV-like features and smart operating system of any projector to date.

Don’t forget, either, that Sony’s trailblazing VZ1000ES UST laser projector still costs £10,999, despite being available for around three years now.

Samsung Premiere projector — (Image credit: John Archer)

Design

Ultra short throw design lets you place it right up to your wall
Crisp, gloss white finish
Powerful speakers are built into its rear side

The optical requirements of an ultra short-throw projector limit what the LSP9T can do in design terms. Within those limitations, though, the LSP9T actually looks pretty nice.

Its gloss white finish looks and feels premium, and is offset nicely by the grey fabric that sits over the speakers. Its rounded corners are a welcome domesticated touch too, and build quality is impressive.

The Premiere is slightly smaller than many ultra short-throw laser rivals, making it easier to fit on a sideboard. Another nice touch is the way its ergonomic, button-lite ‘smart’ remote control continues the crisp white finish theme.

Connections are all tucked away on the projector’s wall-facing side, making it easier to hide potential cable spaghetti. The only catch is that, due to the projector’s ultra short-throw design, thick cables can be a bit of struggle to squeeze in.

Connections are eye-catchingly numerous, too. It’s particularly good to see there are three HDMIs rather than the normal two, and an RF input that – unlike most UST projectors, including LG’s HU85LS – the Premiere LSP9T carries a fully functioning digital TV tuner. This underlines just how much Samsung sees its new Premiere projectors as alternatives to huge and prohibitively expensive LCD TVs.

Samsung Premiere — (Image credit: Samsung)

One of the HDMIs supports eARC functionality for passing lossless Dolby Atmos soundtracks out to compatible soundbars or AV receivers, and you’ll get a digital optical audio output thrown in too. For many people, though, the 40W 4.2-channel speaker system built into the Premiere LSP9T may well be good enough – at least in the short term.

An Ethernet port, meanwhile, lets you hardwire the projector into your network if you don’t want to use the projector’s Wi-Fi capability. You will definitely want to get the Premiere LSP9T on your network one way or the other, though, because unlike most projectors, this one carries the same full online smart TV system you get with Samsung 2020 TVs – the Tizen OS.

The last connection of note is a powered (5v 0.5A) USB port for accessing AV files from USB storage devices, or letting you attach something like an Amazon Fire TV stick (assuming you can squeeze one between the projector’s connections and the wall, that is).

I guess it would have been nice if the LSP9T’s HDMIs supported next-gen gaming features such as 4K/120Hz, variable refresh rates, and automatic game mode switching. But no other projector currently offers such functionality either.

The Premiere LSP9T’s design contains a couple of cool hidden features. You can, for instance, connect recent Galaxy phones to the projector for streaming just by tapping the phone against the projector’s bodywork. There’s also built-in Bluetooth headphone support, and 4.2 channels of sound – but more on that latter point in our audio section below.

Smart TV

Straightforward TV-like interface
Comprehensive collection of content
Includes voice control and Android/Apple Airplay wireless support

Samsung Premiere specs

The Premiere LSP9T fully implements Samsung’s excellent Tizen smart TV interface – the one used on most new Samsung TVs these days. That means you get the same economically-presented menus at the bottom of the screen, complete with pop-up content views above selected apps.

You can even issue verbal instructions to the TV via Samsung’s built-in Bixby system (with Alexa and Google Assistant supported via external listening devices if you have them).

Samsung’s smart system covers all the key video streaming apps, from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video to Apple TV and Disney Plus, with impressively comprehensive catch-up services for whichever region you’re in (you get all the key terrestrial broadcasters in the UK, for instance).

HDR and 4K are well supported across the provided apps, too – and as noted earlier, there’s excellent support for using the projector as a wireless display or speaker for files on your smartphones. The LSP9T is basically a fully functioning smart TV in a projector’s body.

Picture quality

Exceptionally bright, colorful pictures
Impressive 4K sharpness
Some unexpected rainbow effect

The Premiere LSP9T has a number of unique picture quality features to its name that we’ll cover in the course of this part of the review – kicking off with its use of a triple laser system, where separate red, green and blue lasers create the picture without having to pass light through a color wheels as most DLP projectors do.

It’s this purity of the laser delivery, in fact, that makes the LSP9T’s pictures look even brighter in a dark room than the claimed 2,800 lumens would lead you to expect. This brightness is particularly helpful with high dynamic range sources, creating dazzling HDR images we simply haven’t seen on a projector of this price before. This holds true even with some ambient light in the room – a key achievement for a projector designed for the living room rather than a dedicated home cinema environment.

The direct RGB laser system ensures, too, that the projector’s extreme brightness is partnered by equally extreme color volume. Samsung claims that the Premiere LSP9T can cover 106% of the BT2020 HDR color range, and a massive 147% of the DCI-P3 color gamut used in digital cinemas – all powered by 16-bit 3D color mapping. With bright and mid-bright wide color gamut HDR movies, colors enjoy an intensity and range of tones beyond what we’d expect from a projector.

Normally, consumer projectors have to introduce a color filter to offer a wide color gamut, and these filters invariably lead to a much dimmer picture. Getting so much color with no loss of brightness on the LSP9T is therefore a sight for sore eyes. That’s especially true with the projector’s Dynamic mode, though saturation drops a little more than is necessary with the Standard setting.

Another exclusive picture feature of the LSP9T is its HDR10+ support. This means it can work with the extra scene-by-scene metadata the HDR10+ format provides, rather than merely the ‘static’ data you get with the industry standard HDR10 format. The result when playing HDR10+ sources is enhanced contrast (more distance between the darkest and brightest parts of the picture) and more detail refinement. As well as, more unexpectedly, reduced video noise in dark picture areas.

The LSP9T excels with native 4K sources. As usual with DLP projectors, it doesn’t carry a truly native 4K resolution in the way that Sony’s SXRD projectors do. Instead it uses Texas Instruments’ ultra-fast double flashing technology to get the mirrors on its DLP chip to deliver more than a single pixel of picture for each image frame.

This system is considered effective enough by the US’s Consumer Technology Association, though, to qualify as true 4K. And certainly 4K pictures look beautifully detailed, sharp and textured with the LSP9T. Not quite as pristine as the best Sony 4K models, perhaps, but a cut above most other ‘pseudo’ 4K DLP projectors.

It can retain that sharpness when there’s motion, too, thanks to the LSP9T carrying a projector-optimised version of the motion processing systems Samsung has been refining on its TVs for years now. You need to handle the motion processing with care, as the higher powered settings can cause distracting processing side effects. But the lowest setting does a good job of reducing judder without causing too many unpleasant trade offs.

Being able to take advantage of Samsung’s processing know-how also helps the LSP9T handle sub-4K content superbly well, too, adding density and genuine detail – to, say, HD sources – without the results looking forced or fake.

As spectacular as the LSP9T’s pictures are most of the time, though, they don’t completely escape the issues associated with the still relatively new world of laser projection.

For instance, very dark scenes can take on a rather grey appearance, especially if they’re in HDR and a bright highlight or two has to share screen space with darker patches of an image. This is especially true if you’re using the projector’s Movie or Filmmaker Mode picture preset, so much so that I don’t think many users will particularly enjoy either mode. Despite the UHD Alliance-approved Filmmaker Mode – the LSP9T being the first projector to be certified to use this – being designed to deliver a more accurate picture based on typical mastering standards.

Fortunately, contrast is better in the projector’s Bright or Standard modes. That’s probably because they make more aggressive use of a unique DynamicBlack feature that apparently amplifies dark video signals to boost bright areas before closing down the light source aperture to enhance the blackness of dark areas. The results still don’t deliver brilliant black levels, but they are good enough not to be a substantial distraction from all the (literally) brilliant stuff the projector is doing elsewhere.

Another issue that impacts the Dynamic and Standard presets is the loss of color finesse in very dark scenes. Skin tones and color blends can lose some of their subtle shading, looking a little rough and unnatural. However, content dark enough to really exacerbate this problem is pretty rare.

The projector’s input lag isn’t incredible, either, reaching a fairly average 56ms in its Game mode – but perhaps the most notable flaw is with the DLP rainbow effect.

This phenomenon sees stripes of color flitting over small, bright picture highlights, and is quite common to see on DLP projectors that use a color wheel. But of course, the LSP9T doesn’t use a color wheel! Whatever its cause, the rainbow effect is undoubtedly there – so if you know yourself to be particularly susceptible to seeing it (sensitivity varies from person to person) it’s definitely something to think about.

The key point to remember about the LSP9T’s picture niggles, though, is that they’re arguably a necessity with current affordable laser technologies, and a side effect of the explosive strengths of the projector’s impactful and remarkably TV-like pictures.

Audio performance

Audio beam technology for greater precision and a larger soundstage
40W of power in a 4.2-channel configuration
Sounds better than many TVs

The Premiere LSP9T’s built-in sound system impresses in a number of ways. First, the distance the beam-based speaker system casts the sound away from the projector’s chassis is remarkable. As a result, the sound never seems to actually be coming from the physical location of the speakers on the LSP9T’s rear. The effect is closer to a wall of sound, complete with significant height and width, that seems to elevate everything to match the position of the onscreen pictures.

Dialogue remains correctly placed at the heart of this elevated soundstage, while specific effects are accurately positioned in the audio wall to tally up with the onscreen action. Detailing in even very complex movie mixes is good, and treble effects are delivered without harshness or clipping.

Bass is a little limited. There’s still enough of it, though, to ensure that even action movie soundtracks don’t end up sounding thin or flat. The projector never tries to push bass deeper than its speakers can sensibly go, either, meaning there’s no buzzing interference, crackling or drop outs. The speakers built into the LSP9T class would be good by TV standards, but are truly excellent by projector standards.

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