Optoma UHZ35 High Brightness 4K UHD HDR Home Theater and Gaming Laser Projector

Update: I left my original review below for Optoma fans to read. As for me, I had a problem almost the same day that I wrote the review. The projector started flickering in monochrome colors and did not respond to the remote to turn it off. It turned off on its own after about a minute. Then the blue & red LEDs for status began blinking together to form "purple". I had to disconnect the power cord after letting the lamp cool to get the unit to restart and it did. I looked to see if others had a similar problem on forums. A few people did and one guy suggested blowing out the lamp compartment with compressed air. That did NOT sound like a good idea so I contacted Optoma. The tech was very brief and curt in his reply. He told me to press "sync" if it happened again. I looked that up since I recalled "sync" only helping with 3D issues and this had nothing to do with a 3D Blu-ray disc. This happened again several times and after an additional attempt at getting a reply from Optoma support I finally decided to return the unit. I had been reluctant to switch from LCD to DLP technology originally but reviews seemed enticing. Wish my experience had been better. Maybe this was just a bad unit as noted in at least one other review but the support was so poor I did not want to continue down that path. My previous experience with a SONY and an EPSON projector did not involve service issues of ANY kind for more than 8 years for either unit. Note that this unit is only about one month old as I write this update. Hope someone at Optoma learns from this review.If you need a short throw projector or want to move the projector often keep looking. My review will only cover this projector in a dedicated home theater with no windows and a 120 inch fixed screen with plenty of length and height for projector and screen placement. This is my third projector with the first being a 1999 model Sony 720p unit that cost $6,000. The second was the much-lauded Epson 8350 3-LCD and 1080p projector that cost about $1000. (This unit is about the same price corrected for inflation.) The built-in speaker is about what you would expect but why would someone create a dedicated home theater and not include at least a decent 5.1 surround system? Here is why I bought this projector after considering about 20 from four manufacturers. The picture is sharp, crisp and has much more color saturation than my previous projector. I have native HDR without settling for 1080p resolution units that are "compatible" and able to process HDR input. The HDR is manipulated to make it specifically function with this unit according to reviews and the results seem good as you will see from my sample snapshots taken with a Motorola Moto G Power phone that has a good but not great camera. The picture mode is set to Cinema as recommended in reviews and brightness is Eco and that works well in a dark room. Any additional brightness would cause eye strain in my opinion. Color saturation seems very good in this mode to me and is miles ahead of my previous projector. The images are free of rainbow effect that some people associated with DLP. There are no screen hot spots unlike what I encountered in some bright scenes with the Epson. So far, all action shots seem very smooth but I have not watched football as of yet. Where I always noticed jutter with the Epson when the credits roll there is a slight hint still there but I have to look for it. Credits with small print are much more readable. I did increase brightness and contrast AFTER taking the shots above but only by a couple of points and far from a major increase. This was as a matter of curiosity almost as much as any perceived necessity. The first picture, from TAXI, is from an old 4:3 DVD that is not Blu-ray and it was upscaled dramatically. The DVD player is a SONY UBP-X700 connected over a good HDMI cable 30 feet in length. The rest of the pictures are from Life in Color (4k & HDR) and played through a Roku 4k/HDR 8310X stick since I don't have my 18Gbps cables for input from my DVD yet. My screen, for now, is an off-brand, inexpensive-but-surprisingly-good outdoor unit mounted in front of my $1100 21-year-old Da-Lite fixed screen that has seen better days. It supposedly has a 1:1 gain so consider the image quality with the projector settings + the screen properties. The center of my lens is within 1/2 inch of the 13 ft - 10 in calculation that leaves the lens adjustment centered between left and right adjustments. Also, the lens center should be 3" above the top of your screen's final white edge for ceiling mount and 3 inches below for an upright mount at floor level. I spent less than 10 seconds focusing the lens with text on the screen and I am pleased with the results. Note that the Optoma calculator yields the shortest throw for a given image size and then shows the total amount back from there that will work for the lens. That means you need to divide that max offset by 2 and add the result to the dimension shown to get the ideal location. Don't forget to also add the offset between front of projector and mounting screws for your ceiling mount. I used the back 2 screws and that added another 8.5 inches as I recall to that 13-10 dimension. I took time to calculate all this because the most technical reviews said that using keystone and offset corrections results in small-but-measurable picture distortions. My images seem clear to my eyes over all the way to the corners of the screen. In summary, it took me several days to come up with my choice but once I put my must-haves at the top of the list and checked again in my mind how important those were, I came up with this choice. Btw, I did consider another 1080p projector based upon some discussions but decided this was the way to go and I am very glad I did. Keep in mind that I cannot comment on reliability or Optoma support since I have had this unit less than a week.

I was replacing an Infocus SP7205 projector (720P picture quality) from 2004. Wow, what a difference. I was saving up to actually purchase an Ultra Short Throw Optima projector but the one I had planned on purchasing was discontinued. I already had some wiring from the old projeector in place but had to run a high-speed HDMI cable to the projector location to get the best quality.Man, and this projector projects picture quality. I went back and forth as to which model to purchase because my old projector was 13 feet from the screen in my home-theater. Most projectors have a shorter throw so I wasn't sure if I could use this. My basement has about a 3 foot bulkhead just behind the seats and the old project was at the back of te bulkhead plus it had more of a zoom to set the size to the screen. So I wasn't sure about the distance. Figured I would get this, try it, and if it didn't work, I could return it. Plus this projector was less expensive that the Ultra Short Throw.So I received the projector and couldn't wait to hook it up and see the quality. Picture was perfect. I was able to attache a ceiling mount (not included) to this unit and mount it upside-down on the ceiling. Had to adjust for keystone and I was just amazed. I've had it for a couple of months now and still, every time I turn it on I think to myself, "AMAZING".Brightness is great even with ambient light. Plenty of adjustments for whatever you need. Just make sure to get a high-quality cable. I needed a 25 foot cable and wanted to make sure the signals were strong enough when they got to the projector. True 4K.The only thing that I wish was a little better is that the remote needs to be pointing directly towards the projector. Te senso on the projector requires that the remote be pointing directly at it. This is a tiny issue since you only need the remote to turn it on/off (after initial setup).I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase and I think anyone who purchases this will undoubtedly be happy with the results.Way to go Optoma.

After paying $2700 in January 2024, I returned this projector for the following reasons:1) When using this projector as a computer monitor, text is very clear and detailed in the center of the image, but is fuzzy on the perimeter.2) This projector has no built in "smart features".One of the trade-offs when selecting a projector with a short throw lens is that the image will be a little distorted at the perimeter. This is barely noticeable when watching a movie, but it becomes more noticeable when gaming, and nearly intolerable when using this projector as a computer monitor. Buyers should give adequate consideration to how they plan to use the projector, and how the lens distorts the image, before purchasing a short throw or ultra-short throw projector.After purchasing this projector for $2700, I began comparing this projector to others in the market and determined there was not enough value to keep it. Thus, I wasn't surprised when the price dropped to $2100 two weeks after my purchase.Apart from the cost, the lack of smart features, and the lack of detail on the perimeter, this is an awesome projector. Having a very bright image makes it suitable for daytime use, including rooms that have moderate amounts of ambient light. The size and weight of the projector makes it very portable. The laser light source should provide many years, if not decades, of daily use with minimal degradation in brightness and color. However, at a $2700 price point, this projector is definitely not the best overall value in 2024. Even at $2100, I cannot recommend it for the reasons cited above.