CE Pro August 2021 - 58

CE Products
FIELD TEST | EDITOR'S PICK | NEW PRODUCTS
ViewSonic Serves Up
Solid Value 4K LED
Projection
by Arlen Schweiger
I REMEMBER JUDGING
OUR BEST Awards entries
last year and, being in the
market for a 4K projector,
ViewSonic's X100-4K stood
out. The company always
seemed like more of a
commercially focused brand
- I've been impressed by
their booth at InfoComm
shows - but the specs on
the home theater projector
ViewSonic had entered
caught my eye in terms of
being fully featured and
highly affordable.
As it turns out, I must not
have been the only one. Even
though the product did not
win the CE Pro award, when
I inquired about reviewing it
I was told it could be a while
because early units were
being snatched up quickly for
demos and sales.
Eventually, the X100-4K arrived
and after spending time
viewing the LED 4K Ultra HD
projector, I can see why it's
been a hot item for ViewSonic.
As an entry-level priced
solution, it provides attractive
big-screen entertainment
option for integrators who are
outfitting today's multipurpose
media rooms, rec rooms
and dedicated theaters at a
range of budgets.
Inputs/outputs and
zoom/lens shift controls
are low profile on the
projector.
Features & Installation
At a street price of less than
$1,900 at press time, you'd
be hard-pressed to find a
projector that offers much
more for dealers and their
customers in terms of features
and setup. For starters,
the X100-4K employs a DLP
LED light engine, so customers
need not worry about
replacing lamps and they
should expect the projector
to operate for many years
based on specs estimating
lifespan up to 30,000 hours
(maximized if using the eco
brightness setting).
ViewSonic states the pro58
| CE Pro August 2021
ViewSonic's X100-4K provides lots of functionalities and
features for sub-$2,000 LED projection.
jector offers 2,900 lumens of
brightness, Rec.709 compatibility,
1.03 billion colors and
3840 x 2160 resolution.
For installation flexibility,
the X100-4K provides vertical
(+60%, -0%) and horizontal
(+25%, -25%) lens shift,
+/-40-degree keystone, and
a 1.2x optical zoom capability.
I appreciate how the
company makes it easy to
find the manual adjustments
for those, and they are concealed
by an integrated panel
near the red/blue power
status indicator light.
ViewSonic specs the
image size range to reach
200 diagonal inches, with a
throw ratio of 1.2 to 1.44. In
my redesigned multipurpose
media space, the throw distance
was maxed out at only
about 10 feet and the projector
filled my 92-inch Elite
Screens 2.35:1 aspect ratio
screen (the zoom worked
out just about perfectly to
fill the CinemaScope ratio
when I played the super-widescreen
format).
Connections are stealthily
located on a side panel with
the power outlet on the
opposite side. ViewSonic
provides four HDMI 2.0 ports,
one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0,
one VGA, one micro USB,
two Ethernet LAN jacks,
12V triggers, RS232 control,
SPDIF audio out, and 3.5mm
audio out. If you aren't tying
the projector sources into an
audio system, your customers
can simply use the built-in
20-watt Harman Kardon
speakers for an easy room AV
solution.
Installation and setup of
the projector was straightforward,
and for testing out
in a manner I think users
will commonly approach it, I
basically kept my viewing to
the Sony Ultra HD Blu-ray
player I ran to one of the
HDMI ports.
Other features included
Amazon Alexa and Google
Assistant voice control support;
a suite of apps called
Aptoide on the X100-4K
home screen for content and
other web services; screen
mirroring capability via a
Google app; and file management
tools for local files.
I largely eschewed these
functionalities, but I did use
the file management when
I plugged into the USB 3.0
port an external hard drive
of mine that has AV content.
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CE Pro August 2021

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