Optoma UHZ55 projector review

Finding yourself a gaming projector used to be a bit of an oxymoron, but today you can get projectors that speed along with ridiculous 240 Hz refresh rates, and a super low 4 ms input latency. The Optoma UHZ55 is one of those. It's built around competitive gaming, but it's not the only one out there today. It does a lot, and it does it well for the price, but the question is whether it stands up against the rest of the top tier projectors on our best gaming projector roundup on specs other than speed. Because, let's face it, not everyone needs a superspeed projector. And not everyone has the cash to spend on often-wasted refresh rates.

As it turns out, it's a pretty close call. But there's a couple of things holding the Optoma UHZ55 back.

Out of the box, the Optoma UHZ55 is pretty understated. No flashy design, just your average black projector with a hatch of wide slits on the sides for exhausting all that air. And it needs them, because this thing really blows at higher refresh rates. You definitely notice it fire up when you switch up into gaming mode. Which isn't so fantastic when the projector is placed right by your head.

Thankfully the keystone correction and vertical lens shift make it a lot easier to project from an angle other than directly in front of your chosen wall. Not only are there digital and physical controls for zoom, focus and lens shift, all are easy to set. It's important to note, however, that the keystone or «geometric correction» can't be changed once you've set the lens tilt. Moreover, in gaming mode, the keystone resets so you kinda do have to put it behind your head or get it rigged up to the ceiling if you want the full speed the beamer offers.

Projector type: DLP
Lamp type: Laser
Resolution: 1080p
Image size: Up to 300-inch
Refresh rate: Up to 240Hz
Response time: 4ms
Throw ratio: 1.21:1 ~ 1.59:1 (Long throw)
Brightness: 3,000 ANSI lumens
Inputs: 1 x Ethernet, 1 x HDMI 2.0 (eARC), 1 x RS232, 2x HDMI 2.0, 3 x USB Type-A, 1 x 3,5mm Jack, 1 x