TVs have gotten smarter, sleeker and upped their aesthetics game over the last decade, blending seamlessly into our shrinking urban living spaces. The home projector has largely remained an outlier. Premium products in the category have stayed the preserve of select customers, often finding pride of place in larger homes with dedicated entertainment ‘dens’, while cheaper products can’t match the picture quality of large screen TVs in the Rs 1 to 2 lakh price range. ViewSonic’s X100-4K+ might have hit the sweet spot, it’s positioned as the World’s first LED home cinema projector with Wide Lens shift, and the promise of a cinema experience in your den or living room.
Setting up a home projector can sometimes overwhelm the average user, not the X100-4K. This one’s very easy to get running. First, it’s the array of ports that including a whopping 4 HDMI ports, and then it’s the wide lens shift range (H: +/- 25%, V: +60%). You can adjust the location of the projected image without moving the projector or altering the interiors of your living spaces. I mounted it on a table about 15 feet away from the projection wall and it worked seamlessly.
The Aptoide software marketplace is baked into the user interface. I was able to sign into Netflix directly from the device that hooked up directly with my Wi-Fi network. The Aptoide store isn’t very intuitive and doesn’t offer too many Apps but that’s hardly a problem given the wide array of ports. I was able to connect my Apple TV via one of the HDMI ports and get it rolling. The device fires up very quickly for a home projector.
Now, let’s dive into the image quality specs. The X100-4K is among a small list of LED home projectors that comes with 4K UHD resolution and an impressive rating above 1000 lumens. ViewSonic pegs this down at 2900 LED lumens or 1200 ANSI (American National Standards Institute) lumens. It supports HDR10 high dynamic range content and uses Texas Instruments’ XPR fast-switch pixel shifting to deliver 3840 x 2160 pixels on screen. ViewSonic adds that this projector will soon be able to support HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), the next wave in HDR standards, via a future firmware update.
The impressive specs walk the talk. Colours are brilliant not just in dark environments but also during the day when some sunlight filtered through the drapes. The overall visual experience with the default settings should please most users but serious videophiles might need longer to tweak the display settings and might not be completely bowled over by the black levels especially in a dark environment.
There’s in-built Bluetooth allowing you to team up the X100-4K with a soundbar or wireless speaker. I didn’t find the need to. The dual 20-watt Harman Kardon stereo speakers deliver stellar sound and can easily fill up even a large room. That’s one of the many handy touches in this device that also includes voice control through Alexa or Google Assistant. It’s also remarkably quiet, ViewSonic uses a pair of whisper fans in the X100-4K that keeps the decibel level down to 23 dB in full power mode. You can’t hear it even if you are seated really close.
The life of the LED light source or in simple terms the durability of a projector is a key part of the decision matrix especially when you’re stacking it up against a high-end OLED TV. ViewSonic promises 30,000 hours from the RGBB LED light source in the X100-4K. Even if you’re clocking 3 – 4 hours a day, you’re clearly covered. The ViewSonic X100-4K doesn’t come cheap but makes a strong pitch for a home projector with an immersive AV experience and ease of operation.
The ViewSonic X100-4K 4K UHD Home Cinema LED projector costs Rs 3,85,000/-
