What's up projection heads. It's Brian with projector screen.com and we are the authority on all things, projection. And I'm coming to you today with a brand new 4k ultra short throw projector to get excited about.
Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the brand new LG HU715Q 4k ultra short throw laser projector!
LG is known for producing high quality projectors. And they've done it once again here with the HU715Q.
Now this is LG's second 4k UST projector. Their first was the HU85LA, which was definitely much more of a premium option. The 715Q is an affordable alternative at $2,999. While it may not be as expensive as the HU85LA, this HU715Q is no slacker when it comes to performance. This laser TV is one of the best looking projectors that we've seen at this entry level price point.
But before we fire this bad boy up, let's talk a little bit more about the specs.
Unlike LG's last offer. This is a single laser unit bosting 2,500 peak lumens, putting it right in the middle of the pack in terms of brightness.
Now the LG HU715Q covers a solid 85% of the DCI-P3 color space. That puts it ahead of some units, such as the Samsung LSP7T. It still falls short of most of the other USTs currently available right now. That being said, this projector appears to be doing an outstanding job with color vibrancy. It also supports HDR10, HLG and HGIG four HDR gaming.
With a 0.22:1 throw ratio, this projector can sit closer to the wall than most other USTs and the variable focus of the HU715Q allows this projector to make a sharp image from 80 inches all the way up to 120.
The built-in soundbar contains two 20 Watt stereo speakers for a pretty good audio experience.
This laser TV also features three HDMI inputs one HDMI 2.1 with eARC support now.
While I love talking specs. I know you're not interested in watching me babble, on and on. You wanna see the HU715Q in action.
Well, you're in luck.
We've got this ready to roll paired up with this 100 inch Spectra Projection, Vantage UST ambient light rejecting screen, in this well lit showroom environment.
Y'all ready to watch some content. I know I am, let's let's do it!
Picture Quality
So as you can see, this picture looks great. Despite being in this well lit room, we are still seeing a clear and colorful image. This is partially thanks to the Spectra Projection Vantage projector screen that we're using here. This screen is an ambient light rejecting screen that is built to pair with ultra short throw projectors. It is definitely helping the LG HU715Q maintain a great image, even with the large amount of light in this room.
The projected image strikes me as being more celluloid, even in the standard mode. It just feels more like you're watching a film.
Brightness
This UST is rated at 2500 ANSI lumens in its “Brightest” Mode, which is aptly named. We ran through each picture mode to measure its ANSI Brightness, and this is what we measured:
SDR
Vivid: 2,129
Standard: 2,021
Cinema: 1,664
Sports: 2,131
Game: 2,128
Filmmaker: 1,667
Brightest: 2,493
Expert Day: 2,040
Expert Night: 1,663
HDR
Vivid: 2,075
Standard: 2,072
Cinema Home: 2,004
Cinema: 2,008
Game: 2,070
Filmmaker: 2,010
Colors
Despite only covering 85% of the DCI-P3 color space, this projector's colors still look fantastic and cover a wide enough gamut for most content available.
We measured the color gamuts to compare them to LG’s claim, and indeed we measured 85.46% of the DCI-P3 color space using the CIE 1976 u’v’ chart, as you can see below.
The measured BT.2020 gamut coverage was 66.35%:
Sharpness
Right now, the image of the HU715Q is sharp, crisp, and detailed, and that is difficult to achieve with these UST projector lens systems. The image just takes on this depth and dimensionality that few others in this class achieve. This seems to be part of a trend that the manufacturers are placing this larger emphasis on sharpness with their newer UST models.
Again, this picture is great, especially when considering the low price point of this projector.
We've been watching this with the lights on let's check out how this looks with the lights off.
Wow! With the lights off you can really see how this image pops.
Contrast Ratio
The LG HU715Q has a good looking native contrast with great shadow details in darker scenes. And it shows it in our initial measurements with a better than average 1700:1 sequential contrast ratio. This has the best contrast ratio out of all of the 0.47 inch chip DLP USTs that we've tested.
Black Levels
Part of what gives the LG HU715Q it's great contrast are the fantastic black levels. We measure the black floor to be around 0.088 NITs in its calibrated standard mode. This is very good for a DLP projector, but still in the darkest of scenes without any bright highlights, you will still get some loss of those dark details. The black levels of this LG laser TV, however, are still better than most of these lower priced tier class and projectors.
Setting Up The Projector
All right, let's turn the lights back on, on, as you can see, it looked fantastic in the dark, but it still looks great in the light.
One thing to note is that we did find it a bit challenging to properly align this projector. It does take a bit of patience to set it up correctly.
Motion Handling
Initially fast motion looks a touch juttery, but once you turn on the true motion processing, it is fully cleaned up, up without making it look like you're watching the soap opera.
Brightness Optimizer
The LG HU715Q comes with a cool feature. The brightness optimizer, this setting allows you to watch movies and TV shows with a level of brightness optimize for the level of ambient light in the room.
Video Gaming
The projector also has a game optimizer mode that allows you to better customize your gaming experience while it supports HGIG the 53.9 millisecond input lag is somewhat pedestrian and will not be good enough for you hardcore or competitive gamers. Also, even though the new LG projector has an HDMI 2.1 port, due to the fact that it's using the smaller 0.47 inch DLP chip, it will still be limited to 60 Hertz at the 4k resolution and not the full hundred 20 Hertz that the HDMI 2.1 port can support.
Summing It Up
Well, there you have it. Our first look at the brand new LG HU715Q ultra short throw laser projector.
Now alongside this UST, LG has also released a new laser standard throw projector, the LG HU710PW. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for our first look on that great new projector as well.
Thanks for watching. And if you have any questions about the brand new LG HU715Q projector or anything else, projection related, don't hesitate to hit us up at ProjectorScreen.com. You'll speak with a real person with real experience with the real products that could hook you up with the real deal.
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Once again, I'm Brian with ProjectorScreen.com. I want to thank you for watching and keep on projecting!