4K projectors remain expensive and may not be affordable for a few more years. The JVC DLA-Z1 has a very high quality lens with 18 lenses in 16 groups. It features a rich color gamut, Blu-Escent laser, and 20000 hour life expectancy. Price is expected to be around $38,000 USD (not yet confirmed).
Projectors
Canon REALiS 4K500ST Pro AV LCOS Projector
With a canon projection lens, a resolution of up to 4096 x 2400 and 5000 lumens of brightness, this looks to be a highly desirable projector. It will be interesting to see what its true dynamic range is.
Now for the bad news: “Canon REALiS 4K500ST has a suggested list price of $73,999.99 and is scheduled to be available through authorized Canon dealers by April 2016.”
It looks like affordable consumer 4K projectors are still several years away.
You can read more about this project in Canon’s brochure.
Panasonic PT-RQ13KU: Lightweight 4K+ DLP Laser Projector
With a 5,120 X 3,200 resolution and 3-chip DLP laser, the Panasonic PT-RQ13KU is an impressively small projector. Other impressive specs include: 10,000 lumens, 240 HZ, and a 20K:1 contrast ratio.
Read more about this projector on Pansonic’s website.
JVC 8K Projector
Pointing the way of the future, the above two pictures are of JVC’s 8K projector.
We only have a non-English link about this projector right now.
Sony’s 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector LSPX-W1S
Sitting less than one foot from the wall and projecting a 147 inch 4K image, this is an interesting projector for sure. At $50,000 it’s out of reach of most consumers but hopefully within a few short years there will me a more reasonable prospect.
This new projector utilizes laser technology rather than the conventional xenon lamps. Laser projection appears to have several advantages over xenon projection including better brightness, lamp life, and energy efficiency.
You can read more about this project on Sony’s page for the LSPX W1S.
JVC DLA-X500R 4k Projector
4K Projects will remain expensive for a while yet to come, but the prices have already began their decline. This project is no exception at around $5,000, and yet at that price it’s significantly cheaper than most of the competition. What’s the catch? It’s not true 4K. It uses the so called e-shift3 technology to combine three 1080p elements together into a single, uniform image.
JVC’s DLA-X500R projector has a resolution of 3840×2160 at 60p (and less) or 4096×2160 at 24p.
See hometheatrereview for their indepth review of this projector.