The Optoma Short Throw Projector is a value-focused, mid-range projector with great specifications for the money. It brings premium features such as laser projection (which greatly improves longevity versus traditional lamp-based projectors), HDR support, and even a 120Hz refresh rate, all at mid-range pricing. It’s one of the best short throw projectors on the market, marrying great value with great specs, though it does have a few issues that make its price point apparent.
Why We Like It – Optoma Short Throw Projector
The Optoma Short Throw Projector (GT1090HDR) is an ultra-short throw projector perfect for mid-range home theater setups thanks to its HDR support, a slew of video inputs, and high brightness. While it’s not perfect, it’s a very respectable machine that’s overall well worth its asking price.
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- HDR support
- High brightness
- Good longevity
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- Suffers from rainbow effect
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Performance/Resolution Etc.
Picture quality is, for the most part, excellent on the Optoma Short Throw Projector. It’s similar to what you’d find on the Optoma UHD50. It soundly beats out the BenQ TH671ST thanks to its higher refresh rate, higher brightness, and support for HDR, and it overall provides very solid picture quality for the price. Contrast is good but not excellent, and the only real fault in image quality is something many users won’t notice.
The projector is susceptible to what’s called the rainbow effect, commonly experienced with some projectors based on how they function, which affects a small number of viewers; some with very sensitive eyes might see a rainbow hue on parts of the image as the projector cycles colors to display the image, but most won’t notice this, and many who do likely won’t find it to be distracting.
Brightness/Lumens
Sitting at 4,200 lumens, the Optoma Short Throw Projector is excellent for dark and dim rooms. Bright ambient light sources will cause the image to appear dim and washed out, but it’s not as bad as dimmer projectors, coming in significantly brighter than even premium options like the VAVA 4K Projector. Image quality is great regardless of what content you’ll be watching; it’s a great projector for both movies and gaming thanks to HDR support, a high refresh rate, and overall solid picture quality.
Projectors with lumens above 4000 already have an advantage over low-lumen projectors, as you’ll see in our reviews of the Optoma S334e SVGA projector, Cibest projector, and the Asus Zenbeam E1.
Adjustability/Viewing Angle
Adjustability is decent on the Optoma Short Throw Projector. It features vertical keystone correction and zoom options, and screen size can be adjusted via the projector’s distance from the wall; picture quality begins to degrade after 150”, which is achieved when the projector is around 5 feet and 6 inches away from the wall. However, for easy setup anywhere, try the Crosstour Mini Projector, it comes with a few features to make installation simple
Durability
Thanks to its laser technology rather than traditional lamp-based projection, the Optoma Short Throw Projector is very durable, rated at 30,000 lamp hours. Its chassis is a standard thick plastic shell that houses the lens and the projector’s internals, providing sufficient protection so long as the projector isn’t badly manhandled. It should greatly outlive the BenQ TH671ST, which is only rated for 15,000 hours with the caveat that it can only theoretically achieve that number when kept in eco mode, which reduces image quality.
Value
At $1,399.00, the Optoma Short Throw Projector provides decent value, though it sits at an awkward price point. Its predecessor, the Optoma GT1080HDR, comes in at almost half the price, while offering the same HDR support and 120Hz refresh rate. The GT1090HDR, however, offers much better longevity thanks to its laser technology, and it has a brighter image. Whether cheaper models provide better value than this model is, ultimately, up to the buyer; its perks over cheaper options are numerous, but if image quality is the sole thing you care about, cheaper options might be more appealing just for the major savings.
Optoma Short Throw Projector Wrap-up
The Optoma Short Throw Projector is a great mid-range option for buyers with a bit of money to spend. While some of its features, like HDR and its high refresh rate, can be found for cheaper, its blend of display quality and longevity makes it a very alluring option at its $1,399.00 price point. It’s not strictly the best value on the market, but it’s excellent even at the price it goes at so long as you’re not susceptible to the rainbow effect.
