Sony XW5000ES or Optoma UHZ78LV: native 4K and dim, or bright with rainbows

Hensas-Y

Member
Two projectors that launched at the same UK money and could not be aimed at more different rooms. The XW5000ES came out in 2022 at 5,999 pounds and has since been seen as low as 4,249, while the UHZ78LV is newer, sits at full price, and is not scheduled for the US at all. On paper the Optoma wins the spec sheet outright: HDR10+ and Dolby Vision on top of HLG and HDR10, an HDMI 2.1 input alongside two 2.0s, 4K/120Hz gaming, motorised lens controls, up to 300 inches. The Sony gives you HLG and HDR10, two HDMI 2.0 ports, 1080p/120 for gaming, manual lens adjustment, 200 inches max.

The part a spec sheet will not tell you is that these are native 4K SXRD versus pixel-shifted DLP, and the people who have sat in front of both keep landing in the same place. The Sony is sharper and more natural, better with motion, and dimmer. The Optoma is far brighter and more adaptable, can look overcooked with HDR10 and SDR, and carries the single-chip DLP tax of occasional rainbows.

So the room decides this, not the price. Dedicated dark space, mostly films, and the discount on a three-year-old Sony makes it the better buy by a distance. Windows in the room, or the projector doubling as a console display, and the Optoma's brightness plus that 2.1 port are things you will use every week. The rainbow risk is personal, plenty of people never see them.

Anyone here moved from single-chip DLP to SXRD or the other way round? Curious which compromise you regretted less after living with it a year.
 

WilliamP

Member
Rainbow sensitivity is the whole ballgame and you cannot learn it from a review. Borrow one, watch white credits scroll on black, you will know in about forty seconds.
 
Worth adding that a three year old model sitting at 4,249 is a signal as much as a bargain. No announced replacement I have seen, so factor lamp free hours and support life in.
 

fufuuf

Member
Native 4K versus shifted matters less than people insist at normal seating distance. Contrast and motion handling are where the Sony actually pulls ahead.
 
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