Optoma CinemaX P1 review: A stunning 4K projector with terrible apps

At the same time, they're relatively easy to install compared to a ceiling-mounted projector because you can place them on a table just inches in front of the screen.I was curious to see how they compare with 4K TVs and regular projectors, so I got hold of Optoma's $3,700 CinemaX P1 paired with its $1,300, 100-inch ambient light-rejecting ALR101 screen. Short-throw laser projectors promise fewer compromises than long-throw models, and Optoma’s $3,700 CinemaX P1 delivers on that. Lasers also deliver more consistent brightness corner to corner and have less of the so-called rainbow effect -- more on that shortly.As with other 4K DLP projectors in the budget category (yes, this one technically qualifies), it's equipped with Texas Instrument's XPR DLP chip, which has a native 1080p resolution. Still, if you're getting any short-throw projector and plan to use it in a room with ambient light, I'd recommend as large an ALR screen as you can afford. Also, I'd recommend two people to wall-mount the screen, as I dropped my test unit and scratched it slightly (sorry, Optoma).Then I needed to figure out how high the projector would sit and install the screen at the correct height to match. I also connected my 4K cable box to the back HDMI 2.0 connection and an Amazon Fire Stick 4K on the side port.The laser projector covers 87 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, compared to 95 percent for BenQ's HT3550, which has the same DLP chip. Still, this is about as good as you'll get in ambient light with a projector.Many long-throw projectors have a problem with the "rainbow effect," where folks see prism-like colors when they look away from the screen.