It’s not quite the same as watching live sports in a crowded bar with your buddies rooting for your favourite team and yet watching India pull off a historic test triumph at the Oval felt even better on a large screen. It didn’t matter that screen was in my den rather than my favourite nightspot. As large screen entertainment moves to the comfort of your living room, brands have launched a slew of projectors across price points. ViewSonic’s PX748 delivers 4K entertainment from a projector with a relatively small footprint.
It weighs under 3kg, is 31cm wide and 22 cm long. This is remarkably compact and should be able to squeeze into the tiniest spaces in your apartment. This is not an ultra-short projector though. You will need to make provision for a projection – either from your ceiling or from a small table. This projector has a relatively short throw ratio allowing to you create a 100-inch projection from just 2.5 metres away. A few years ago, projectors like this one were more commonplace at boardrooms. The pandemic has changed all that. It’s good to see brands like ViewSonic respond to this market shift with handy features that make it easier to use.
A built-in USB power output (5V/1.5A) can be used to supply power to HDMI wireless dongles, like a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick. This eliminates the need for separate power adapters when streaming your favourite multimedia content. The other thoughtful addition is the projector’s USB Type-C connection that allows you to project content directly from your phone, laptop or tablet while also charging them simultaneously. Setup was a breeze. I used one of the two HDMI ports to hook up the projector with my Apple TV; I didn’t need to use the compact remote of the projector on a regular basis (once I adjusted the ‘keystone’ settings and preferred source) aside from powering the device on and off.
Picture quality is a big win for PX748. In addition to the vibrant and detailed images that true 4K resolution can offer, the projector also supports HDR and HLG content to produce more dynamic images and bring flat images to life with more displayable information in the darker and brighter parts of a scene. It manages to produce high brightness even during the day with 4,000 ANSI Lumens. The other thing I enjoyed was the 4.2ms ultra-fast unput and hyper-responsive 240Hz refresh rate. Motion blur due to input lag is almost absent making this really immersive for live sports or gaming. There’s a 10W built-in speaker that might work for you if you’re seated close to the projector; you’re more likely to rely on an external soundbar when you’re watching your favourite Netflix show or Avengers film.
One of the key deal breakers for projectors is the lamp life or lifespan of the projector. ViewSonic claims that its latest SuperEco+ mode extends the lamp life of the projector from 15,000 hours to 20,000 hours. That translates to 4 hours a day for more than 13 years with a significant impact on maintenance cost and effort. That’s one of the many attributes that makes the ViewSonic PX748 a strong proposition if you’re in the market for a 4K home projector and willing to spend upwards of two lakh rupees.
The ViewSonic PX748-4K home projector costs Rs 2,70,000
