If you have the space and budget for a big-screen movie-theatre experience at home, a high-performance 4K projector is a worthy investment that can keep you entertained for years. Optoma UHZ50+ Projector is one of the better options because of its versatility, making it suitable for any type of room and content—movies, games, or everyday TV watching.
It’s not very difficult to find a bright 4K projector for gaming or sports but finding one that keeps it well below Rs 5 lakh could be a challenge. You must be wondering that’s quite an amount but given the screen size you can achieve (300 inches) and 4K resolution, it’s a reasonable ask.
Easy to install
All the ports are at the back but there is no USB-C
The Optoma device delivers a theatre-worthy image with great contrast, detail, and colour while also being bright enough for more casual, everyday TV watching. I got a chance to use the device for three weeks and the weekends were immersive. The best moment I had was watching the US Masters Tournament with Scottie Scheffler getting his second green jacket.
The laser light source should last through the next decade or longer, with no need for you to pay for replacement bulbs. It’s easy to set up, too, thanks to its easy adjustments. The projector uses DLP technology and offers UHD (3840x2160) resolution and a brightness of 3,000 lumens.
The design of the UHZ50+ is that of a traditional projector with the lens off to the right side when looking from the front and connections are placed on the rear of the unit along with the speaker. The body is sculpted plastic. To the top of the projector body there are manual controls for lens shift and zoom with focus achievable via the lens ring. Towards the rear of the top plate are manual keys for accessing the menu functions should you lose the tiny remote control.
The connections are placed at the rear of the projector chassis and they consist of two HDMI 2.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, one HDMI 2.0 (eARC), one S/PDF digital audio interface, a 3.5mm audio out, 3D sync and an RS-232 and 12V trigger.
Given the great quality of the projector, it was a disappointment to work with the remote control. Sure, it has all the function keys but it’s a thin plastic remote. Optoma should put more effort on this front even if that increases the pricing a few thousand rupees.
Setting up the projector took hardly seven minutes because one can take advantage of features like automatic four-corner adjustment and 2D keystone correction. There is also vertical lens shift.
Bright output
The projector is designed to be used in a home entertainment system. So it’s good for movie viewing as well as for sports and gaming. The portability and flexibility of the laser light source add to this use case. There is a Wi-Fi connector dongle in the box which helps with accessing the abundance of connected tech on the device.
All the manual controls are on top of the projector
The company is pushing the projector towards the gaming market with support for up to 240Hz smooth motion and an enhanced gaming mode, which optimises the projector for maximum contrast and vivid colours to capture every detail. It also reduces input lag down to as little as 4ms for fast response time.
When playing games, the projector easily manages to display dark scenes while retaining finer details. There is good colour management and even during long gaming sessions, there was no input lag.
The Optoma UHZ50+ projector has enough brightness to watch movies in a room with a couple of lights on. There is great colour reproduction and to get the best out of the machine, there is dynamic black technology, which gives more depth to your image by smoothly adjusting the lamp output, based on the brightness information of each frame. Bright scenes appear crisp and clear, while dark scenes remain detailed with deep blacks and exceptional light and shade detail.
The projector can manage up to a 300-inch screen with a maximum 4K resolution and 3D compatibility. The native aspect ratio is 16:9 which can be changed to 4:3 and 16: 10. Further, it can show HDR10 and HLG content. The company has added PureMotion frame interpolation to help in motion smoothing.
Getting a 300-inch picture is possible with Optoma UHZ50+ Projector
Should you buy it?
This is a great gaming as well as movie-watching projector. Plus, it’s light and can easily be carried around. I can manage with the speakers that come on the projector but what I found missing is USB-C input and Bluetooth connectivity.
But winning the machine brownie points is the easy-to-use OS. Out of the box Optoma UHZ50+ can produce a good image with very little adjustment and it impresses with its 4K tech.
The remote control has all the buttons but it’s slightly flimsy
At a glance
Device: Optoma UHZ50+ Projector
Price: Rs 4.25 lakh
High notes
Excellent 4K output
Easy to install
Bright enough for most rooms
Good gaming performance
Muffled notes
The remote control is flimsy
No USB-C connectivity
