00:00What if I told you you didn't have to spend over $10,000 to get a 100-inch TV?
00:04Something that's been gaining a lot of momentum, especially recently, is laser TV projectors.
00:09But as someone who's had them on their radar for a while, I'm curious to see how a laser TV stacks
00:14up to a traditional setup. That's exactly what we're going to find out today with the Hisense
00:18L9H Ultra Short Throw Projector. Having used this for the past few months, I'll take you through the
00:23setup process, what I like, and some of the shortcomings that you can expect with this $5,000
00:28setup. Right off the bat, I was shocked by how large the box it ships in is. It wasn't heavy,
00:34weighing around 50 pounds, so it was pretty easy for my fiance and my dad to carry this down the
00:39front porch to the basement where we were installing it. Opening it up, you first find the
00:43projector in its own smaller box with lots of padding on each side. Underneath is another box
00:49for the 100-inch projector screen and all of its installation hardware. Starting with the projector
00:54itself, when we open it up, we first find its instructions, gloves for handling the projector
00:59screen, and its power cord. This is a 4K UHD projector with 3000 lumens, Dolby Vision and Atmos,
01:05and HDR10. It runs Google TV, which includes all of your favorite apps including HBO, Hulu, and
01:12native support for Netflix out of the box. No weird third-party installation required. Moving on to the
01:18larger box, this has several metal pieces and rods inside that, when put together, create the frame of
01:24the projector screen. And aside from the obvious of needing to have enough wall to actually install
01:29this on, there's a surprising amount of math and measuring also involved. All of this is to make
01:35sure that you have the precise amount of space between the bottom of the screen and the surface
01:39that you're placing the projector on. Altogether, this took up a very large chunk of our day, and
01:44that's with three people being involved. But we're gonna see if this extra effort was worth it in the
01:49end. Now, it's time to get surgical. We began by putting on the included white gloves, laid out this
01:54protective white sheet, and got to work. Things did look a little bit intimidating at first. Honestly,
02:00the included instructions could have been a little bit better as some of the steps for connecting the
02:04pieces were confusing, and we ended up watching their online installation video a few times to
02:09make sure that we were doing everything right. Although you could get by with assembling the
02:13entire frame on your own, having the extra set of hands makes things way easier, especially when it
02:18comes to moving on to the next step of installing the actual screen. Here, it was a big help to have
02:23that extra set of hands before I began to unravel it to make sure everything was in place. We checked
02:28our math one more time and then began to drill and attach the mounting hardware, which connects the
02:33two rods, which provide height adjustment. I'd say another big consideration if you're trying to
02:37decide if a laser TV projector is right for you is what it looks like when it's off. Especially
02:43against lighter colored walls, I found that the gray screen stuck out like a sore thumb.
02:48The black bordered frame doesn't really do it any favors either. A TV, on the other hand, while it
02:53would probably be a little bit thicker and stick out further from your wall, probably would be,
02:58I don't know, less of an eyesore in my opinion, just because it's one single color. Even though we
03:03finally have our screen installed on the wall, we're not quite done yet. We now need to go through
03:08the auto keystoning, which if you're unfamiliar, is its way of determining where the frame borders
03:14are so that the projector adjusts the picture to look upright and straight. It requires the use of
03:20your smartphone to take a photo, which you then upload to this web-based app, and then it's
03:25supposed to analyze it and then do the adjustments that way. But no matter how many times I tried it,
03:30the results just never worked. And so I had to rely entirely on manual adjustments using the four
03:36screwed on feet at the bottom to try and level the projector. Given that premium price tag of $5,000,
03:43this wasn't the seamless setup experience that I was expecting. Now moving past that, after we
03:48downloaded and logged into all our streaming accounts, we were greeted with the very familiar
03:53home screen that was snappy and already had all our recommended content to watch. I started by
03:58watching James Bond No Time to Die, and with all the lights turned off, you quickly forget that
04:03this is a projector. Out of the box, everything was bright and vibrant, and what was most surprising
04:08was how sharp everything looked on this massive screen. Having these action sequences fill up
04:13nearly an entire wall is incredible, and although its 40 watt Dolby Atmos speakers won't replace a
04:19dedicated sound system, for a built-in solution, it's quite good and better than most TVs.
04:25Even when we switched to the news, it felt more engaging when blown up to 100 inches.
04:36And with the lights turned off, I'd even go as far as to say that out of the box, it can be a
04:40little bit too bright, which again blew me away. Now when you're watching these examples, don't
04:45mind the purple lines that you may see on screen. That's just how the camera interprets that footage.
04:50Trust me, it looks completely normal. No issues. So things look great and incredible with the
04:55lights turned off, but how do they look once we start to turn our lights back on and open
05:00the curtains to let in some natural light? Testing this with the ABC murders, I noticed its advantage
05:05when watching it from more dramatic viewing angles off to the side of a room, and the consistency
05:10overall with its image, no matter where I was watching. I could see this making laser TVs like
05:15the Hisense L9H a really great choice if you have a big gathering, and you have a lot of people
05:20in different parts of your house while watching, say, the big game for the Superbowl. But as we
05:24continue to let in more sun and turn on more lights overhead, our image does begin to look a
05:30little bit more washed out now. And mind you, even though this was still a relatively cloudy day,
05:35it became quickly clear that this was an area that traditional TVs still have an advantage.
05:40And in all fairness, when you actually factor in the size of the projector itself and the stand
05:44or table that it's actually on, a TV would still have the advantage in terms of overall footprint.
05:50Moving on to gaming, this is definitely something I was really interested in testing out.
05:54Using its 4K 60Hz HDMI port, we started playing some Cyberpunk 2077. As much as I've already played
06:01this game in the past, both on my 49-inch ultra-wide and my 65-inch TV, it's a completely
06:07different experience when blown up to 100 inches. When you sit close enough, it really does fill
06:12your whole peripheral. It's incredible for story-driven games and some shooters,
06:16but I probably wouldn't use this for, say, a competitive FPS like Overwatch 2 because at that
06:22point, you're actually at a bit of a disadvantage having something this large. And at the same time,
06:27I would have actually preferred having higher FPS and a smaller monitor that was closer to me
06:32instead of that more immersive experience. Games like Alan Wake 2 are a perfect example of the
06:38kind of game that I think this projector is best for. Turn off the lights and it's instantly 100
06:43times spookier to play. And although I didn't get the chance to try this out yet, again,
06:48for larger gatherings, I think this would be the perfect choice for party games like Mario Kart
06:52and Smash Bros. So, after using the Hisense L9H 4K Laser TV for a few months, what do I think?
06:59Would I be willing and able to completely ditch a traditional TV setup in favor of this?
07:04When watching movies or playing certain games, especially with the lights off,
07:07I think the immersion and quality that you get at 100 inches, there's really nothing short of
07:12calling this exciting and amazing. That said, from this experience, I did learn that TVs still have
07:17the advantage in terms of ease of setup as well as picture quality, especially when the lights are
07:22turned on. But laser TVs are an enticing choice for the size that they offer as well as their
07:27lower price point. But there's a caveat here. In late 2023, this price advantage is quickly
07:34disappearing. Especially around the holidays, we've seen some really deep discounts like the 98-inch
07:40TCL S5, which is 50% off and goes for $2,499. And even Hisense's own 100-inch U8K 4K TV is 50%
07:50off, bringing its price to $5,000, which matches the price of its laser TV counterpart that we're
07:56checking out. Funny enough though, when I first started this project about two months ago,
08:00the value proposition for the L9H and other laser TVs was largely in their favor. I wouldn't be
08:05surprised though if Hisense soon discounted the L9H to make it once again the cheaper choice
08:10compared to TVs. And if so, it would be an easy recommendation for those trying to get one of the
08:14largest, most immersive at-home entertainment experiences that you can get while still trying
08:19to be price conscious. But let us know your thoughts on the L9H and other similar laser TV
08:24options. Is it something you'd be willing to switch for your dedicated setup? If you like
08:28these videos, be sure to subscribe and follow us at Tom's Guide. You can also follow me for a more
08:32behind-the-scenes look into how I make these videos and some of the other cool tech that I'm
08:36reviewing. This has been Paul. Until the next one, I'll catch you later.
Comments