This is the Optoma UHZ55 projector. Optoma, if you're unfamiliar with it, is a brand that specialises in projectors. And pioneers when it comes to Digital light processing tech in projectors & have won awards for their projector tech.

So, of course, based on that fact, Optoma does have an edge in a few areas. Which we are as which we'll get into in this video.

It's important to know that Optoma has a wide variety of projectors in its catalogue. From professional cinema-type stuff to projectors for business environments.

 This one, The UHZ55, supports a 4K HDR, and it's kind of a hybrid between business and leisure, but it's more geared towards multimedia content. And it does have a secret weapon when it comes to this.

1. Design and Build Quality

 So, the UHZ55 is an upgrade from the very popular UGZ50. One of the design changes is the colour of the cabinet. The UHZ50 was white & the UHZ55 is now black.

 Although it's not designed to be a portable projector, with its weight coming in at around 4.8KG and its quite compact & roughly the size of a large shoe box. It will certainly be easy enough to move it around your house.

On the top, you get physical clicky buttons for power, vertical keystone corrections, the picture mode menu, your general options page, and a button for switching inputs.Optoma does, of course, throw in a remote, which is relatively small. It has all the controls you need, and the buttons have backlighting.

You got the lens with the 0.47" DLP laser light engine behind it. One advantage of DLP projectors is that they can output twice as many pixels as competitor 4K projectors. Around the lens is a manual focus ring. There's also a zoom lever up top, magnifying the picture up to 1.3 times. And there's also a nice height adjustment wheel to raise the projection up by 10% if needed.

There are vents down each side for dispersing heat, and it's worth noting that the fan noise is very quiet. Which is essential when it comes to projectors. You get three adjustable feet on the base to help you level out the projector. And there are threaded holes to fit a bracket if you plan on ceiling mounting the projector.

 Setup

Now, before we get into all the Important picture quality details. Let's run through the basics of the setup process & the software. The only cable needed to set up the UHZ is the power lead provided. Simply plug that in and power it up, and you can immediately start using the projector with content you might have on a USB hard drive or pen drive, for example. It runs on a stripped-back version of Android. So you will miss out if you don't connect it to the internet.

There are two ways to do this. You can wire in with an Ethernet straight from your modem and RJ45 supports up to 100Mbps. Or you could opt to sacrifice one of the two usable USB ports for the provided USB WiFi dongle in the box.

Once connected, you will have access to some smart features like Optoma Connect for screen mirroring and casting to the projector, and you will have access to some apps. Now, I personally think that when it comes to apps. If that is important to you, it might be by hooking up a third-party streaming device like a Fire Stick or Roku.

The software itself is not overly complicated and easy to use. There are several settings for straightening and levelling the projection, including auto keystone and the handy four-corner adjustments controls. Now, this is not a short-throw projector. The minimum throw distance is 1.2m, giving you approximately a 30" 4K display at 60Hz. The furthest throw distance is 8 metres; the UHZ55 can project a colossal image of up to 301".

 Picture

 So you might be wondering if it's capable of that. It must be a powerful projector, right? Well, it is. The UHZ55 has a Brightness rating of 3000 ANSI lumens. For context, a smaller movie theatre may use a projector that ranges from 10,000 to 30,000 lumens. So, assuming your living room isn't as big as a movie theatre, it should be more than enough…and if it is… lend us some money, will ya. And it might be worth taking a look at the Optoma ZK810T.

As I was saying, 3000 ANSI lumens are powerful for such a compact projector. Concern that you might have is the lifespan of the bulbs. So Optoma says that it will last up to 30,000 hours. That's 1250 days of continuous playback. So, to get a realistic idea of how good this is, I asked chatGPT. "If I have a projector that can last for 30000 hours, I use it 5 hours daily. How long would it last? "The answer is 16.4 years.

Probably about the same amount of time it'll take me to hit a million subs. But maybe you can help me with that. So, just before we get into the stand-out features and picture settings. It's essential to know about the I/0.

 Ports

So there are 3 HDMI 2.0, all of which have HDCP 2.2 support. HDMI 1 supports eArc and Arc, which means audio can be sent to a soundbar or sound system via this port. It's also important to note that HDMI 1 is the optimal port for gaming, and you'll see why in a moment.

HDMI 2 & 3 are better suited for TV and Movie content, and devices plugged in here can utilise Optoma pure motion settings. For example, this allows the projector to use frame interpolation to smooth out motion in sports. Each input can be set up using custom colour profiles.

As you saw earlier, there are 3 USB ports. They are all USB 2.0. One of which is the service port. There's also an RJ45 in, an audio Optical out & 3.5mm audio jack out… Now, I just want to pause here for a second. While the UHZ55 has built-in 10-watt stereo speakers, they are not ideal for proper cinematic content or gaming. They're about as good a stereo speaker that you might find built into a regular PC monitor. So, I would strongly advise anyone buying the UHZ55 to wire in external audio.

Last but not least, there's a VGA port & 3D sync port. So yes, the UHZ55 does output 3D, and you would need to get DLP link glasses for that separately.

 Gaming

Now, that secret weapon I mentioned in the intro, The UHZ55, can be found in the 4K projectors & the gaming projectors category on the official Optoma website. This is because gaming consoles and PCs connected via the HDMI 1 port can take advantage of the UHZ55's surprisingly low input response. It will vary depending on the input signal.

For example, a 4K 60Hz input will have a 17ms response, which is ok, but at 1080P 240Hz, the input response drops to a very impressive 4.2ms. Most multimedia projectors just cannot compete with this. So, this is a good option if you want a projector that's well-suited for gaming.

 Picture Quality

Alright, now the exciting stuff. The picture quality. So, the UHZ55 is a 4K HDR projector. Due to the nature of projectors, they will perform at their best in dark environments. It is even better to have a projector light rejecting the projector panel.

But even just against the white wall here in the studio. The picture is visible during the day thanks to its powerful DLP engine. But it is at night that its strengths really shine. The UHZ55 supports full coverage of REC 709 & 86% of the DCI P3 colour gamut, which is better than some more expensive projectors.

12 different colour modes & these options vary depending on the input source. It seems the most colour-accurate to my eyes. However, if you're a pro or have the proper hardware to calibrate the colours, you can dive into the settings and get it as close to perfect as possible.

 But even without doing that. The colours are strong and vibrant. Details are crisp and clear and significantly improve when watching in darker spaces. For faster-moving content the pure motion software does a great job, you’ll not notice a great deal of jittering in the picture. Everything just flows nicely. So overall, its picture quality and performance are impressive.

 Outro

So, the price of the UHZ55 at the time of this video is £1799. Of course, prices can change, so there is a link below for the latest prices.

I hope you got some value out of this video. And let me know in the comments what's the most important factor to you when it comes to buying a new Projector. If you have any questions about the Optoma UHZ55, let me know in the comments.