Hisense’s newest triple-laser projector is making a very serious effort to balance high performance pictures with affordable pricing, giving consumers the chance to create a home cinema experience without breaking the bank.
The Hisense PT1 Triple Laser Cinema is an ultra-short-throw projector that ensures users have a lot of flexibility in terms of where they want to position it, with the ability to throw up images of anywhere from 80-inches to 150-inches at just a few inches away from the wall or projection screen.
It should be a pretty decent picture too, with the company claiming 2,500 ANSI lumens of brightness, which should be enough to enjoy daytime viewing – certainly with the curtains drawn, but perhaps not if the room is sitting in direct sunlight. In addition, Hisense claims it can cover an impressive 110% of the BT.2020 colour gamut (better than most TVs) to ensure extremely accurate colour reproduction and more realistic visuals, and specifies a contrast ratio of 3,000:1 – enough to bring out lots of detail in extremely bright and dark scenes.
The operating system depends on where you live, with the U.K. version of the PT1 Triple Laser Cinema running Hisense’s own VIDAA U7.6 software, and the U.S. model coming with Google TV – which should mean it’s one of the first projectors to get Gemini AI smarts, though that has not yet been confirmed.
Other features to know include support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and IMAX Enhanced, and surround sound in the shape of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, ensuring an immersive listening experience as well as strong visual clarity. Pumping out that sound is a pair of integrated up-firing speakers that deliver a total output of 46-watts.
Hisense said there’s a few AI smarts on board too, with DLP pixel shifting and its proprietary 4K AI Upscaler, which sharpens lower-resolution content to make it seem like 4K. Moreover, there is Filmmaker Mode for those who want to watch movies as the creator intended, and MEMC Motion smoothing helps to increase the projector’s versatility, adapting the picture based on the type of content, such as films, live sports or gaming.
Voice control is another cool feature, with the PT1 Triple Laser Cinema supporting both Google Assistant (at least until it’s replaced by Gemini) and Amazon’s Alexa. There are HDMI 2.1 inputs that enable the projector to support 240Hz refresh rates, VRR and auto low-latency mode, with an input lag of just 12 milliseconds, the company said. USB ports are also included, as is an Ethernet port. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. Compatibility with Control4 software means it can be used for smart home management.
What’s really startling about the Hisense PT1 Triple Laser Cinema is its price tag. As mentioned, we said Hisense’s intention was to avoid breaking the bank, and we think it can achieve that goal thanks to its listing price of just £1,999 ($2,999 in the U.S.). Even better, we’ve already spotted some retailers offering discounts that drop the price to a very reasonable £1,699, which makes it extremely competitive for such a powerful UST projector.
While a couple of grand is not “cheap” by most people’s standards, it’s important to realise that most UST projectors with similar specifications cost a lot more than this. A good example is Hisense’s higher-end L9Q Laser TV flagship model, which costs around £4,000 in the U.K. and around $6,000 in the U.S.
The L9Q is superior, with brightness reaching an eye-popping 5,000 ANSI lumens and images getting even bigger at up to 200-inches, but it’s probably not worth the investment, unless you happen to live in a huge mansion with sunlight blazing in through the windows all day long. If you do happen to enjoy such an abode, then the L9Q is probably within your budget, but if not, then the Hisense PT1 is likely to make much more sense.
