What’s the deal with Ultra-Short Throw Projectors?

Lately, some Ultra Short Throw projectors have entered the home theatre projector market. We at Rapallo think this is something to be excited about. This is because it opens the option of having a projector to people who previously simply did not have that choice because of the area where they have their home theatre set-up.

So, the logical question to follow is: what is a (Ultra) Short Throw projector and why could it be the cats meow for you?

Here’s the deal: not all rooms are created equal and neither are all projectors.

When you toss up the idea of whether you are going to jump into the home theatre projector pool, you will have to make some tough decisions: Do you want a DLP or LCD or LCoS projector? Do you want a laser projector? What resolution will do the trick for you? What is the light output of the projectors you have shortlisted ? And also, what is the video projector’s throw distance capability.

What Does “Throw” Mean?

When projector manufacturers talk about the throw of a projector, what they’re really referring to is the amount of distance you’ll need to “throw” an image between the projector itself and the screen.

Depending on the throw of a projector, they are classified differently:

• A Long Throw projector: is capable of providing very large images, this type of throw is usually from projectors that are installed on the ceiling at a fair distance from the screen in a decent size room. Move them closer to the screen and the image shrinks, making it less useful in smaller projector home theatre setups.
• A Short Throw projector: generally refers to a distance between 1m to 2.5m away from projector to screen (more or less). Short throw projectors have lenses that can create a much larger picture from shorter distances. The obvious benefit of buying a short throw they are more suitable for smaller rooms
• An Ultra-Short Throw projector: refers to a distance between 0m to about 1.2m of distance between the projector and the screen. Unlike the Long Throw and Short Throw projectors, this type of projector does not need to be installed on the wall or the ceiling but can also sit on a table right in front of the screen, which opens up a lot of options to people who can’t have their projector on the ceiling for whatever reason.

Ultra Short-Throw projectors have some other benefits: They virtually eliminate shadows, making them very useful in an area with ambient light.

Unfortunately, the lenses that make an ultra-short throw possible require a higher quality glass, which makes them also quite a bit more expensive. This is why until recently, they were mainly reserved for business applications.

But further to the lens used in an Ultra-Short Throw projector, Long Throw and Short Throw projectors throw light onto the screen directly out the lens, but the light coming out from the lens from an Ultra Short Throw projector is actually directed away from the screen and reflects off a mirror with a specific size and angle that directs the image on the screen. It’s this lens and mirror assembly that determine the throw distance capability of the projector.

General consensus is that when you opt for an Ultra Short Throw projector that will be used in ambient light, this will have implications on the screen you choose. A white projector screen will produce the most uniform, reference looking image and deliver the most from your projector in a dark room.

However, if you like to watch with the lights on or you want to put a projector in a room that can’t be made dark then white might not be right. A white screen is easily washed out with even a little light in the room, causing contrast to deminish and blacks to disappear. Fortunately, some grey and black screen materials have a silver color to them and are designed to reject ambient lighting and deliver a great image while the lights are still on. (Both grey and black projector screens are available from Rapallo upon request.)

The fact that Ultra –Short Throw projectors can be placed extremely close to the screen has another bonus: it can l be very annoying when your friends or family get up for a snack and ruin the shot for everybody. The longer the throw, the more space you have between the projector and the screen, and the more likely it is that someone’s going to walk through the image path on their next trip in or out of the room. Not with an Ultra-Short-Throw projector….

It is good to note that although you can place short throw projectors within centimeters of the screen, the fact remains that as with all projectors, the closer you place your projector to the screen, the smaller the image will become.

We tested the below Epson short-throw a few days ago and to maintain our big screen image, we did have to place the projector about a meter away from the screen.

Epson is the uncrowned king of Short-throw projectors and at the end of 2017, they announced the Epson EH-LS100 UST laser projector, the first real affordable Ultra-Short Throw designed for home theatre use. It does a pretty decent job too. Smart move, Epson!

The brand new Sony VPL-VZ1000ES takes it another step further and adds native 4K and HDR compatibility. However, this 4K bonus comes with a hefty price tag.

If budget is tight, you can also consider the BenQ W1080ST 1080p Full HD 3D Short-Throw Projector with DLP technology, making it an excellent choice for gaming.

On a final note, we have a wee warning to issue: most video projector manufacturers will provide a chart that illustrates or lists the distance required for the specific projector to throw an image on a specific size screen.

Not that long ago however, we had some issues with a projector where the manufacturer clearly had taken some liberties with the maximum throw specs they provided. So, our advice is: always leave some room for error and never push it to the outer (or inner) limits of how big you can push your screen size relative to the throw distance.

And with that we send you off for another week with plenty of AV dreams.

Source: Lifewire, Gadget Review, Epson, Sony, BenQ, Optoma, Digital Trends