AWOL LTV-3500 Pro Review: So Bright, So Expensive Leave a comment
Projectors might be a distinct segment choice in your front room, if solely as a result of they typically require loads of particular care that typical TVs don’t—like a separate reflective display screen, darkish curtains or rooms with no home windows, and sophisticated ceiling mount methods. The AWOL LTV-3500 Professional doesn’t remove these issues completely, nevertheless it considerably shifts the steadiness of these trade-offs. That comes at a worth, although.
The AWOL LTV 3500 Professional is a small improve over the LTV-3500 (7/10, WIRED Review), which I favored after I reviewed it in 2022. The newer model provides help for Dolby Imaginative and prescient and Control4 sensible house integration, however is in any other case largely the identical because the older mannequin. (In case you store used, you may have the ability to 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 worth level by being the very best it may be at completely all the pieces. Since it is a short-throw projector, it is easy 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 may possibly venture as much as a 150-inch display screen in full 4K readability. If you are going to spend this a lot on a projector, you might as nicely get your cash’s value.
Readability in Broad Daylight
Essentially the most notable facet of the LTV-3500 Professional is how impressively shiny 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, meaning 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 films 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 can be just a little washed out, which is to be anticipated. Nevertheless, with the blinds closed, even with vital gentle bleed from the home windows spilling in across the sides of the blinds, I might comfortably watch exhibits 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 speak and let it sit for some time. Then Netflix began to cycle via a slideshow of promos for its different exhibits, and when one with a predominantly white background appeared, it felt like an angel from heaven confirmed up, blasting our eyes with blinding gentle and telling us to be not afraid. Ultimately, my visitor requested me to easily flip the projector off.
I ought to word that I doubt this will likely be a lot of an issue for most individuals. I used to be utilizing the projector in a moderately small front room, and as such was possible sitting manner too near the display screen for its dimension. Think about sitting within the entrance row of a movie show, for instance. In case you plan to place this in a small area, you may wish to use the bottom brightness setting or place the projector to make the display screen as small as potential. That leads us to the second most notable facet of this projector.
Huge Display, Minimal House
Each time I had company over, they’d instantly ask the identical query upon seeing the display screen: “The place’s the projector?” Most projectors require mounting behind the sofa or on the ceiling, however the LTV-3500 Professional sits immediately 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 screen will likely be relies upon closely on how far you may put the projector away from the wall—which, in my testing, was tougher than it sounds. To get a 120-inch display screen (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.
