AWOL LTV-3500 Pro Review: So Bright, So Expensive
Projectors will be a distinct segment possibility in your front room, if solely as a result of they usually require loads of particular care that typical TVs don’t—like a separate reflective display, darkish curtains or rooms with no home windows, and complex ceiling mount programs. The AWOL LTV-3500 Professional doesn’t get rid of these issues totally, nevertheless it considerably shifts the steadiness of these trade-offs. That comes at a value, although.
The AWOL LTV 3500 Professional is a small improve over the LTV-3500 (7/10, WIRED Review), which I preferred after I reviewed it in 2022. The newer model provides assist for Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Control4 good dwelling integration, however is in any other case largely the identical because the older mannequin. (Should you store used, you would possibly be capable of discover the unique LTV-3500, however the Professional is what most retailers are promoting now.)
Like its predecessor, the LTV-3500 Professional makes an attempt to justify its value level by being the very best it may be at completely all the pieces. Since it is a short-throw projector, it is simple to arrange by simply placing it on an leisure unit (though it may be mounted to a ceiling). It supplies glorious, excessive distinction HDR image high quality, and it could actually challenge as much as a 150-inch display in full 4K readability. If you are going to spend this a lot on a projector, you could as effectively get your cash’s value.
Readability in Broad Daylight
Essentially the most notable side of the LTV-3500 Professional is how impressively vibrant it’s. The projector is rated at 3,500 ANSI lumens—for comparability, our high-end pick in our projector guide clocks in at solely 2,700 lumens. In sensible phrases, which means I used to be in a position to see the picture clearly even on the bottom brightness setting, and with ambient lights turned on.
In my testing, I might watch motion pictures and play video games in my front room, which has a big, sliding glass door that faces the dawn. With the blinds totally open, the image could be a bit of washed out, which is to be anticipated. Nevertheless, with the blinds closed, even with vital mild bleed from the home windows spilling in across the sides of the blinds, I might comfortably watch reveals or play video games and nearly overlook that I wasn’t watching on a typical panel TV.
If something, the brightness was nearly too overwhelming. As soon as, whereas having a visitor over, we sat speaking on the sofa within the night. We paused the present we might began watching on Netflix to talk and let it sit for some time. Then Netflix began to cycle by way of a slideshow of promos for its different reveals, and when one with a predominantly white background appeared, it felt like an angel from heaven confirmed up, blasting our eyes with blinding mild and telling us to be not afraid. Finally, my visitor requested me to easily flip the projector off.
I ought to observe that I doubt this shall be a lot of an issue for most individuals. I used to be utilizing the projector in a fairly small front room, and as such was possible sitting means too near the display for its measurement. Think about sitting within the entrance row of a movie show, for instance. Should you plan to place this in a small area, you would possibly need to use the bottom brightness setting or place the projector to make the display as small as doable. That leads us to the second most notable side of this projector.
Large Display, Minimal Area
Each time I had visitors over, they might instantly ask the identical query upon seeing the display: “The place’s the projector?” Most projectors require mounting behind the sofa or on the ceiling, however the LTV-3500 Professional sits straight on a typical TV stand—a feat that just one different projector in our Best Projectors guide can pull off—and tasks a picture straight up onto the wall.
How giant the display shall be relies upon closely on how far you possibly can put the projector away from the wall—which, in my testing, was more durable than it sounds. To get a 120-inch display (the utmost is 150 inches), I needed to put my leisure unit a couple of foot away from the wall and then place the projector as far to the very fringe of my leisure unit as I might whereas nonetheless balancing it safely.