Hisense L5H 100 inch ALR screen deal!

[Hetfield]

I have been looking to go to 100 inches since we bought a house with a very nice room for a "home theater". Was looking at a few TCL 98 inchers, Hisense TV's 100 inch but a liked the Hisense L5H 100 Laser TV too. On Thursday I saw it for a ridiculous price on the Costco website. 999.99 with free installation which is bonkers in my opinion. Its on the Hisense website for 1,000 off 2,999.99 and Costco had it for 999.99. I'm confused but happy about the deal. Is the screen easy or hard to put together? The free installation is interesting but seems its kinda hit or miss with scheduling and everything. I may try to do it myself. What do you think overall of this projector and screen? ALR screens are supposed to be awesome.

 

[BMXTRIX]

It's a good deal if you have a proper room to put it in. The big reason that these are selling for so cheap is that at $2,000+ they make almost no sense when the 100" TVs are now competitively priced. A TV is brighter, and is native 4K resolution. You may also find HDMI 2.1 inputs with proper 120hz support for gaming as well.

So, while I am a huge fan of front projection, Hisense locking in these projectors to only 100" diagonal image sizes is a tough sell these days. It's not a bad deal if you only have 100" to work with in your room, but in a lit room, I'd go for a TV every day of the week.

 

[dolynick]

The screen shouldn't be too bad to assemble. You just have to make sure that you get all the wrinkles out and a decently tight stretch without marking the material.

Be aware that because it's an ALR, it will have a relatively narrow viewing field where it looks best. That's the nature of ALR as they simply limit the directions of the light bounce back out into the room. This usually means that they will work better on the narrow wall of a longer/deeper room. It also means that there is going to be an orientation to the screen for a short throw from the bottom, so make sure you pay attention to any indicator for which way the screen should be mounted.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Be aware that because it's an ALR, it will have a relatively narrow viewing field where it looks best.

Just FYI: This is only true with the Fresnel UST screens. The more standard lenticular sawtooth design has a wide viewing angle due specifically to the flat ridged design. It isn't as bright as the Fresnel screens tend to be, but they have a much wider viewing angle.

Up/down definitely has a more narrow viewing cone, but side to side the lenticular screens are a solid choice for wider viewing angles.

This information isn't always published by smaller manufacturers, but DaLite has a UST material which is a lenticular design. They claim a half angle brightness of 85 degrees which is really solid. They also show some off angle photos of the screen and talk about the wide viewing angles specifically....

Short Throw | Screen Innovations

Short Throw uses nearly invisible lenticular optics to reject light from above and out in the room, accepting light from directly below the viewing surface.

www.screeninnovations.com

This is one of the reasons I would typically use a lenticular screen over the brighter Fresnel screen. I would rather have a wide viewing cone without image uniformity issues.

 

[Hetfield]

We will pretty much be dead center to the screen. Not off to the side really at all. We should be pretty much right in the middle of screen and middle high. I'm hoping I made the right choice here, it seems like negative feedback here on this UST and screen.

 

[dolynick]

We will pretty much be dead center to the screen. Not off to the side really at all. We should be pretty much right in the middle of screen and middle high. I'm hoping I made the right choice here, it seems like negative feedback here on this UST and screen.

I wasn't trying to be negative on it. Just point out that by their nature, ALR's limit light output in certain directions. That's how they achieve the ALR function. There are different types of ALR material setups, usually tailored to the style of projector they're matched to.

You'll probably get a lack of enthusiasm for this type of TV in general though as overall projection seems to be out of favor for the most part. Large TVs are generally better overall in performance. These short throw laser projectors probably still hold some pricing advantage yet over the very large format TVs that are starting to become more common, so I get why someone might be attracted to one still.

 

[Hetfield]

I wasn't trying to be negative on it. Just point out that by their nature, ALR's limit light output in certain directions. That's how they achieve the ALR function. There are different types of ALR material setups, usually tailored to the style of projector they're matched to.

You'll probably get a lack of enthusiasm for this type of TV in general though as overall projection seems to be out of favor for the most part. Large TVs are generally better overall in performance. These short throw laser projectors probably still hold some pricing advantage yet over the very large format TVs that are starting to become more common, so I get why someone might be attracted to one still.

It's all good. There are good and bad points to everything, just seems most of the feedback here is kinda bad, negative and not exactly positive. I was looking at it like 999.99 for 100 inch. Not a big deal we'll see.

 

[BMXTRIX]

It does sound like the 100L5H comes with a Fresnel screen due to the high gain that it advertises. So, great that you are sitting on center. Projector Reviews talks about it being about a 38 degree half gain viewing angle. So, that is pretty tight and typical of higher gain Fresnel screens.

With the $1,000 price point, it really is quite the deal and you should be really happy with it overall. Especially after dark.

Post some photos once you have it setup!

For what it is worth, I'm a huge fan of projectors, but I prefer to see them setup in theater spaces where they can perform their absolute best and at sizes that are 120"+. Often people drop $2,000+ to just get 100", and with the price of 100" TVs, it makes no sense to me. But, at $1,000, that's a good deal on a solid projector.

 

[Teetertotter?]

It's all good. There are good and bad points to everything, just seems most of the feedback here is kinda bad, negative and not exactly positive. I was looking at it like 999.99 for 100 inch. Not a big deal we'll see.

People point out things you might want to watch out for. Their not saying do not buy, but might want to look more into it, before buying. There are knowledgeable people on this forum, to give direction to consider. Yes, please give your feedback on the setup and performance.

 

[Hetfield]

It does sound like the 100L5H comes with a Fresnel screen due to the high gain that it advertises. So, great that you are sitting on center. Projector Reviews talks about it being about a 38 degree half gain viewing angle. So, that is pretty tight and typical of higher gain Fresnel screens.

With the $1,000 price point, it really is quite the deal and you should be really happy with it overall. Especially after dark.

Post some photos once you have it setup!

For what it is worth, I'm a huge fan of projectors, but I prefer to see them setup in theater spaces where they can perform their absolute best and at sizes that are 120"+. Often people drop $2,000+ to just get 100", and with the price of 100" TVs, it makes no sense to me. But, at $1,000, that's a good deal on a solid projector.

Oh you bring up an interesting question I forgot to ask. They have this same set up in a 120. Inch. I assume it's the same projector just a bigger screen and out a little further from the wall? So if I did want to go to 120 I could do that at some point just get bigger screen?

 

[BMXTRIX]

Oh you bring up an interesting question I forgot to ask. They have this same set up in a 120. Inch. I assume it's the same projector just a bigger screen and out a little further from the wall? So if I did want to go to 120 I could do that at some point just get bigger screen?

My understanding is - No.

These projectors have fully fixed optics in them which can be moved around for a larger/smaller screen. They aren't just the same projector, one with a bigger, one with a smaller, screen. They are specifically designed for the screen size they are using and can't use a larger/smaller screen at all. I thought it was super weird when I read about it, and I still kind of feel that way. So, if you buy one of these, I don't believe you have any flexibility whatsoever in your screen size. At least, that's what I recall when I dug into them a bit.

 

[Hetfield]

Well Costco and Hisense screwed me! The shipment was just the screen not the projector but it was supposed to be. Back and forth with Costco and they won't get the projector to me. They talked to Hisense and they won't help either so I returned it. I want 100 inches minimum so I'll probably buy a 100 inch TV at some point. I ordered a RSL 10E sub to go with my 12S. RSL recommended it actually. I always thought mixing different size subs was a no-no but they recommended this combo.