This 4K laser device has excellent green credentials, but how do the other colours fare?
Projector | £1799| whf.cm/OptomaUHZ66
While we have seen the projector world take a few small eco-friendly steps in recent years, no single projector model we know of has ticked as many green boxes as Optoma’s UHZ66. From its easy-to-ship petite size and extensively recycled build materials through to its ultra-long-life laser lighting and mercury-free design, it seems as keen to save the planet as it is to give you king-sized gaming and movie images.
Worthy though all this ecological concern might be, anyone spending £1799 on a home entertainment product – even if that is quite reasonable by the standards of other LED, 4K-capable laser models – needs it also to have some serious performance chops.
According to Optoma, 50 per cent of the UHZ66’s chassis is made from consumer-recycled (PCR) materials; 97 per cent of the packaging is recycled; and that chassis is a remarkable 34 per cent smaller than that of its predecessor, leading to improved shipping efficiencies. Optoma rates its new projector’s lasers as good for up to 30,000 hours of life, too, meaning you won’t have to keep replacing bulbs at potentially hundreds of pounds a pop every 2000-5000 hours.
Optoma states, too, that the UHZ66 is completely mercury-free, and that its laser lighting system uses 45 per cent less power than regular lamp projectors.
The UHZ66 is crisply dressed in a sharp white finish, with extra style points earned by the relatively large scale of its lens, its rounded edges and corners, and the grilled finish that runs down its left and right sides.
There’s a fulsome but attractively integrated roster of control buttons on the UHZ66’s top edge, as well as a ‘window’ onto a rotating optical zoom ring above the lens barrel. The outer edge of the lens provides the focus control.
A drop-down foot under the front edge lets you angle the projector upwards if necessary to get the picture in the right place on your wall or screen. It’s a touch disappointing, though, that a projector at this price doesn’t include an optical vertical image shifting adjustment.
The UHZ66’s connections comprise two HDMI 2.0 ports, a 3.5mm mini audio output, an RS-232 control input, a USB-A LAN for power input/output and an RJ45 LAN port. The remote control is a very small, thin affair that you can easily lose between sofa cushions.
