This is a continuation of “Which is better?” a series of reports where I test different types of technology. This time I’m comparing a 4K DLP projector with an OLED TV. (Full disclosure: The reviews in this series were paid for by the manufacturers.)
I’ve been carrying around a 4K DLP projector for about a year now. It’s from Foscam, a Chinese manufacturer. (I also had a DLP projector that I used a lot in college and I really enjoyed it.)
On the other hand, I bought an OLED TV from Vizio about six months ago. I like OLEDs a lot. But I’ve been debating whether to switch.
The 4K projector is significantly cheaper (although I do keep hearing about rumors of OLEDs becoming cheaper). It is also smaller, which some people will prefer.
Both the 4K projector and the OLED TV are higher resolution. But 4K has more detail, and thus more detail to cut off if you switch between devices (which I do a lot).
What I’m really concerned about is battery life, since I always carry it around with me. So far, the 4K projector has not only been better, but also last longer.
I’ll go through the results from both of our tests. The first test is about the image quality of both. The second test is about battery life.
Before we get to that, a bit of background about why we’re doing this test. There is a lot of debate about which is better: a 4K projector or an OLED TV.
Some of you have probably heard about our 5K vs 4K Projector vs TV debate. I can’t say that this test helps resolve that debate, since the 4K projector is what I’m actually using.
But I can say that the 4K projector is very good and one of the best values out there.
The 4K projector is a DLP (digital light processing), which is basically a projector with an LED backlight. (You can also have a projector with an LED lamp but they’re very different.)
Compared to a LED TV, the DLP projector gives off very little light, so it’s much more energy efficient. It also means the screen is much brighter, since LED TVs have very bright LED lamps.
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