On May 6, 2025 in Fremont, California, Taiwanese Optoma introduced the new GT4000UHD Ultra Short Throw (UST) 4K projector. The Optoma Technology, Inc was founded in 2002 and is a subsidiary of the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing Coretronica company. For over two decades, it has been successfully competing in this segment and is among the industry leaders. The company’s lineup includes all types of projectors, including ultra short throw (UST) and mid-focal models with Full HD (1080p) and UHD (4K) resolution with lamp, LED or laser light sources.
The new GT4000UHD can be positioned as an improved version of last year’s GT3500HDR. In turn, the GT3500HDR replaced the GT5600 (3,600 ANSI Lumens, Full HD), which was discontinued in Oct 2024. However, it’s still available for up to $ 1,400. The Laser Phosphor light engine instead of the UHP bulb became their main difference.
All projectors in this series are ultra short throw (UST) and have an identical form factor.
Dimensions and weight are also almost the same:
– (12 x 34 x 36 cm)@3.9 kg – GT5600;
– (11 x 33 x 33 cm)@3.9 kg – GT3500HDR;
– (9 x 33 x 33 cm)@4.5 kg – GT4000UHD.
Optoma GT UST projectors
The popularity of UST projectors is steadily growing as an alternative to traditional TV in the living room. Unlike mid-focal models, they are placed near the screen on the wall, which eliminates the problem of wires on the floor.
The formation of an image of 100″ or more in size from a distance of only a few tens of centimeters is achieved by re-reflecting the image using an aspherical lens.
As known, most modern projectors use light engines based on Advanced Laser Phosphor Display (ALPD) technology. Today, companies use several versions of them, including:
– ALPD 3.0 (Laser Phosphor) – relatively inexpensive with colour gamut up to 100% of Rec.709 color space;
– ALPD 4.0 (RGB triple laser) – 110% colour gamut in a wider BT.2020 standard, but with laser speckles due to interference.
Of course, companies are successfully combating this problem, but its solution increases the model price.
– ALPD 5.0 (hybrid LED/laser light engine) – expanding the colour gamut by 10-20% and increasing colour accuracy to unprecedented DeltaE < 1 'out of the box'. For comparison, DeltaE < 3 is considered good even after calibration. This version was implemented in Dangbei X5 Ultra (2023). Today, hybrid light sources are used in new NexiGo TriVision Ultra and XGIMI Horizon S Max.
Both Optoma models use ALPD 3.0-based Laser Phosphor light engine with full coverage Rec.709 color space.
Their brightness is 3,800 ANSI Lumens (ANSI IT7.228 Standard) of GT3500 vs 4,000 ISO Lumens (ISO 21118 Standard) of GT4000. Considering their ratio of 1 ANSI lumen ~ 0.8 ISO lumens, the difference reaches ~20%.
Resolution and image size
In addition to the increased brightness, the new projector offers 4K resolution instead of 1080p in GT3500HDR.
Just a few years ago, 4K models were positioned as premium and were very expensive. The development of pixel shift-based Xpanded Pixel Resolution (XPR) technology for Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) DLP chipset by the American Texas Instruments (TI) radically changed the situation.
In fact, projector divides 8 million pixels of 4K content into four parts. Then, the 2 million micromirrors of the 1080p chipset sequentially display four 1080p images, shifting them half a pixel relative to each other.
Of course, the projector displays only one 1080p image at any time. But due to the high frequency, the vision and brain perceive them as one picture with a higher resolution. The pixel shift is carried out by tilting the lens using 4 XPR module magnets.
The use of a relatively inexpensive XPR DMD chipset with native Full HD (1080p) resolution has significantly reduced the price of 4K projectors.
Despite this factor, the GT4000UHD launch price reaches $ 4,500 vs $ 1,500 of the GT3500HDR. But perhaps after a traditional correction the shocking threefold difference will be reduced to a more adequate level.
At 0.25:1 Throw Ratio, GT3500 / GT4000 create an image (80″-120″) / (100″-150″) from a distance of (0.4 – 0.7m) / (0.6 – 0.8m), providing 100″@~0.6m.
In addition, they have 1x 15W internal speaker, support Full HD 3D, Horizontal & Vertical digital keystone.
Key Features
In addition to increased brightness, the GT4000HDR has a higher dynamic contrast (700,000:1 vs 500,000:1). In general, contrast affects detail in dark frame areas and is calculated as the ratio of the max brightness to the deepest black.
It’s divided into static native and dynamic contrast. Native contrast is measured without turning on image processing settings and more objectively characterizes the model capabilities. Typically it ranges from 500:1 to (2,000-3,000):1. LCoS projectors offer superb contrast (20,000:1 to 80,000:1), but their price starts at $ 6,000.
Dynamic contrast changes the light source brightness depending on the scene (reducing in dark and increasing in bright scenes). But the method of calculating it’s not entirely correct. For example, with a max/min brightness ratio of 100 times, dynamic contrast = native x 100, reaching cosmic proportions.
In uniformly illuminated frames, the dynamic contrast is equal to the native one. In addition, it does not take into account ambient lighting and is ineffective in frames with contrasting areas (small dark objects on a light background or vice versa).
Like all Optoma projectors, the GT4000 has DuraCore laser light engine with up to 30,000 hours of maintenance-free operation. In fact, it uses highly efficient laser diode cooling technology and dust-proof optical module design.
Finally, it’s HDR and HLG compatible, offers four-corner correction, 360° and portrait modes, has superb input lag (16.9ms for 4K@60Hz, 8ms for 1080p@120Hz and 4.3ms for 1080p@240Hz), 2x HDMI 2.0 and supports FOTA (Firmware Over-the-Air – updating the firmware of devices using a wireless connection).
Unfortunately, the Optoma GT3500HDR and GT4000UHD are not ‘smart’ projectors, because they do not have on-board WiFi and player. However, the content can be streamed to the device, for example, from a Fire TV or Roku stick via USB port.
Conclusion
Optoma GT4000UHD – May 2025, $ 4,500, 4,000 ISO Lumens, Laser Phosphor.
High brightness competitors:
– Samsung The Premiere 9 LPU9D – August 2024, $ 6,000, 3,200 ANSI Lumens, RGB Laser;
– Hisense PX3-PRO – August 2024, $ 3,500, 3,000 ANSI Lumens, RGB Laser;
– Hisense PL2 – November 2024, $ 2,500, 2,700 ANSI Lumens, Laser Phosphor.
Mid-brightness competitors:
– XGIMI Aura 2 – September 2024, $ 2,700, 2,300 ISO Lumens, Laser Phosphor;
– Formovie Theater Premium– October 2024, $ 2,800, 2,200 ISO Lumens, RGB Laser;
– Hisense PL1 – June 2023, $ 2,000, 2,100 ANSI Lumens, Laser Phosphor;
– Formovie Cinema Edge – August 2024, $ 1,800, 1,900 ISO Lumens, RGB Laser.
Despite the impressive list of reputable competitors, the Optoma GT4000UHD looks quite competitive. It’s significantly brighter, which ensures high image quality even in diffuse daylight without additional dimming.
Of course, the threefold price difference compared to the GT3500UHD ($ 4,500 vs $ 1,500) seems excessive. But a higher resolution is necessary for a large screen. Given the max size of up to 150 inches, 4K resolution is quite relevant. Otherwise, the viewer will see the boundaries between pixels.
In addition, perhaps after a traditional correction of launch price the shocking threefold difference will be reduced to a more adequate level.
This video introduces the new Optoma GT4000UHD 4K DuraCore laser projector.