One thing's for sure: the price of pixels is shrinking. Just a few short years ago, you couldn't get a 4K Ultra HD home theater projector for under $15,000, and now ViewSonic is about to release one for a tenth of that price. The ViewSonic PX727-4K DLP projector is expected to begin shipping this month at a street price of just $1,499.
The projector uses a DLP imaging device with Texas Instrument's XPR technology onboard. XPR uses pixel-shifting to create a full 4K 3840x2160 pixel Ultra HD image on the screen from a lower resolution DMD chip. The PX727-4K is HDR (High Dynamic Range)-compatible with support for HDR10, and offers both Rec. 709 and Rec. 2020 compatibility as well as DCI-P3 coverage for a wide color gamut.
ViewSonic rates the projector at 2,200 Lumens of brightness and quotes a 12,000:1 contrast ratio. The projector even includes a built-in 10W speaker, so you can get both picture and sound right out of the box. As always, we'd recommend investing in a surround sound system, or at least a powered soundbar to improve the overall sonic experience.
The projector features a 1.2x optical zoom and a fair amount of inputs and outputs, including two HDMI ports (one HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2 and one HDMI 1.4/HDCP1.4), VGA Input, RS232, USB 2.0, Audio In/Out, and a 12V trigger for compatibility with home automation systems. The envionmentally conscious will appreciate the projector's energy-saving SuperEco mode that reduces power consumption and extends the lamp life to up to 15,000 hours.
Expect to see the PX727-4K start showing up online and in brick and mortar stores later this month.
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