Tweet
The NEC NP-PH3501QL is a 4K laser phosphor projector with an internal chiller, allowing an all in one multiple laser solution. The projector utilizes direct Red and Blue lasers. Green is achieved by using a second Blue laser to energize a green phosphor. Typical with all Blue Phosphor projectors, red falls short of the P3 color gamut requirement for cinema projectors. P3 is also the minimal gamut for HDR source content. NEC's RB laser solution solves color balance issues common to Blue Phosphor projection. In doing so the color gamut expands well beyond P3 and much closer to REC2020 which is the standard for HDR. That's not all, the additional RED allows the projector to deliver a brighter image, in this case, the NP-PH3501QL delivers up to 40,000 center lumens, well beyond any Blue Phosphor projector at this price point. By maintaining the Green phosphor, laser speckle is reduced and no longer visible. The NP-PH3501QL is a multipurpose projector which includes 2 HDMI 2.0 inputs which can accept a native 4k input signal. I tested this input using an OPPO UHD Blu-Ray player and several 4k UHD Blu-ray titles. I experienced no HDCP handshake issues, well done NEC. Playback was flawless. The NP-PH3501QL surprisingly offers several settings and features dedicated to HDR, far more than any other commercial projector and exceeding many consumer projectors that claim HDR ready. The projector uses one of several lens options that cover a wide range of throw distances, all very high-quality offerings. Lens shift, up, down, left, right has a very wide range of travel and lens memory for multiple aspect ratios is included.
Light output can be reduced through an on-screen setting, this feature is very flexible.
I measured "native" contrast at minimal light output 1833:1 and at maximum light output 1809:1. These numbers are typical fall in line with all commercial projectors delivering very high light output. In addition to the native contrast, the projector offers a "dynamic contrast" feature. There is a setting for content in motion or static images. This feature uses laser dimming to achieve an increase in contrast up to 7500:1 when engaged.
You would expect a projector delivering 40,000 lumens of light output to be very noisy. To my surprise measurements came in at a respected 50db at 1 meter and 60db with the chiller engaged.
Experiencing the NEC PH3501QL, I am now a believer in RB laser technology, it is hard to ignore the benefits that far outweigh standard Blue Phosphor projection. NEC may be the first at this light level implementing RB laser along with an internal chiller for an all in one laser solution. The NP-PH3501QL delivers a very bright, smooth, analog image with very satisfying color. A job well done, congrats to NEC.