Advantages of UST Projector vs. Big Screen Television
Larger Screen Sizes The largest diagonal screen size conventional television model which is currently available to consumers located in the USA is the TCL 115QM891G 115 Inch QM8 Series 4K QD-Mini LED Smart TV. By contrast, the best and brightest triple-laser 4K ultra short throw projectors are designed to easily project a beautiful ultra high definition image up to 120, 130, or 150 inches diagonal.
HUGE = Much Cheaper The previously mentioned TCL 115 inch Mini LED television is priced about $20,000 USD. Samsung’s 146 inch The Wall 4K modular Micro LED display [Samsung link] which must be professionally and permanently mounted on the wall is $219,999 NOT including the cost of installation! By contrast, bundles which include an ultra short throw projector together with a 120 to 150 inch diagonal ambient light rejecting projection screen start under $3000 and are all priced well under $10,000 (without a stand or cabinet).
Variable Image Sizes A big screen television can only ever produce an image of a single size, while the majority of 4K ultra short throw projectors can clearly project a wide range of image sizes depending on how closely the UST projector is located to a screen or the wall. For example, AWOL Vision’s 4K ultra short throw projectors are capable of producing an image ranging from as small as 80″ diagonal to as large as 150″ diagonal.
UST Projector = Portable The previously mentioned TCL 115 inch TV arrives at your home in an enormous 500+ pound crate measuring about 114″ x 72″ x 14″. The television screen itself is about 101″ wide, 59″ high, and weighs a hefty 221 pounds — hardly portable! By contrast, 4K ultra short throw projectors typically range between 20 and 30 inches wide, from about 12 to 17 inches deep, between 4 to 7 inches high, and weigh from about 20 to 30 pounds. Want to temporarily move your UST projector to another room in your home, take it outside for backyard movie night, or transport it to someone else’s home to show it off on a bare wall? No problem!
3D Blu-ray Compatible I don’t know of any TVs currently in production that are capable of handling 3D. By contrast, many but not all of the best 4K ultra short throw projector models are capable of displaying 3D when connected to a 3D-ready Blu-ray Disc player, playing a 3D Blu-ray movie, and wearing active shutter 3D glasses.
Less Visual Fatigue Because the image created by an ultra short throw projector is actually projected AWAY from your eyes onto an ALR projection screen, your viewing experience is created from indirect, reflected light instead of direct light such as from a TV, with the resulting benefit of reducing eye strain.
Lower Energy Bill Lastly, ultra short throw projectors typically use less wattage to operate compared to the largest televisions, saving you money on your monthly electric bill.
Advantages of UST vs. Regular Short and Long Throw
Easier To Wire Because an ultra short throw projector is typically located in the same general area of the room as a television (unless it’s ceiling-mounted above a screen), it is wired similarly. Because most people locate their source components and home theater receiver on a shelf near their UST projector or TV, HDMI and other AV cables can be much shorter, creating less wire clutter. Same goes with power cords which are easy to hide behind a UST projector cabinet, stand, or table. Regular short throw projectors are often placed (often temporarily) smack dab in the middle of the room, which can create tripping and other safety hazards with dangling wires, power cords, and even extension cords. Regular short throw projectors and long throw projectors are most often ceiling-mounted from up above the seating area or wall-mounted up high on the back wall of the room. This requires a (really) long HDMI cable for proper home theater setup, as well as an AC power outlet located near where the projector is ceiling mounted.
No Image Blocking Because an ultra short throw projector is located near the front of the room similar to a television and beams its image a short distance onto an ALR projection screen located less than a few feet away, you won’t have any issues with shadows caused by people standing up and walking around the room and blocking the projected image as is common with typical regular short throw and long throw projector and screen setups. With UST projectors, there is also no worry about obstructing the projected image by ceiling fans and low hanging light fixtures. (Are chandeliers a thing anymore?)
Eye Protection Adults, children, and pets can potentially accidentally damage their vision looking back towards the lens of a regular short throw or long throw projector. By contrast, an ultra short throw projector is located near the front of the room aimed towards a nearby screen that’s located at most a couple feet away from it, and being set up as such the probability of accidentally looking directly into the lens of the projector is minimized. Not only that, should it happen, most UST projectors have an eye protection feature that temporarily shuts off the projection if it senses someone getting too close to the lens while it’s in operation.
Some Potential Disadvantages and Drawbacks to UST
No “True” Blacks Due to the nature of projector technology, you will never experience the blackest of blacks that you might be accustomed to when viewing high-end LED and OLED TVs. As such, image contrast from a UST projector and ALR screen may never quite match what’s possible from the best televisions UNLESS you set it up in a super-dark, light-controlled room.
Center Speaker Location A complete surround sound audio system requires a dedicated center channel speaker to anchor the dialogue near the screen. Because an ultra short throw projector needs to sit about a foot to a foot and a half or so underneath the bottom of the projected image, this is typically the same general room location where you might place a center channel speaker. UST ALR screens are generally not acoustically-transparent, but some electric motorized floor-rising and drop-down screen models have perforated masking that potentially allows placement of a center channel speaker (or soundbar) behind the screen. Another possible workaround would be to configure your home theater speaker system perhaps as 4.1-channel surround with a “phantom” center channel which splits the audio signal from the non-existent center channel speaker equally between the front left and right speakers.
Furniture Considerations Because an ultra short throw projector typically needs to sit about a foot to a foot and a half beneath the bottom of the projection screen, the cabinet, stand, or table it rests on usually needs to be shorter than most regular TV stands, even more so as your screen size gets larger. Also, depending on how large your screen will be, you may need to move your UST projector stand out a few feet from the wall unless it’s got a built-in slider tray which moves the projector away from the screen to the proper throw distance. You can also separately purchase an add-on UST projector slider tray that can be mounted to the top of your pre-existing furniture.
Projector On Floor? If you go with one of the biggest screen sizes, especially an electric motorized floor-rising ALR screen, you might want/need to place your ultra short throw projector directly on the floor. This could create a potential tripping/safety hazard (especially in a darker room) because the projector will likely be on the floor just a few feet away from the wall. Consider the optional AWOL Station for an AWOL Vision UST projector and their 120″ floor-rising ALR screen.
Higher-Priced Screens Cinematic/lenticular and daylight/fresnel ALR screens designed specifically for use with ultra short throw projectors are more expensive to manufacture, and as such, cost more than standard matte white projection screens. Matte white screens only work well with UST projectors inside a pitch dark room with virtually no ambient light. The best solution to save some money is to buy your ultra short throw projector and ALR screen together at the same time for a discounted bundle price!
This page was last updated on August 7, 2024.