Posted on September 1, 2022 By Kam Valentine
The Philips Screeneo U4 is a compact 400 ANSI lumen Ultra-Short-Throw (UST) 4LED projector with integrated speakers and retails for $669. Dan Mamane, President of Screeneo Innovation SA, stated, “After witnessing the runaway success experienced by the Screeneo U3, we understood from the get-go that the Philips Screeneo U4 would need to take ultra-short-throw projector technology further, all the while in a more compact design. We believe it ticks all the boxes for providing users picture precision and versatility, perfect for movie marathons and gaming sessions”.
Philips sent Projector Reviews a demo sample of the Screeneo U4 for this review. To test the Screeneo U4, I connected my Kaleidescape Compact Terra 6TB movie server, Kaleidescape Strato C 4K movie player, Apple TV 4K, PlayStation 5, and Razer Blade 17 4K – GeForce RTX™ 3080 Ti laptop to the projector via certified 48Gbps HDMI cables.
For this review, I projected onto a 110-inch Screen Innovations (SI) Solo Pro 2 Unity AT Pure White 1.3 gain screen and a 103-inch Elite Screens Aeon CLR® 3 Series ALR screen. Following Philips’ recommendation for the Screeneo U4, I projected an 80-inch image on both screens. My goal is to cover everything you need to decide if the Philips Screeneo U4 is the right projector for your UST projector needs by the time you reach the end of this review. As always, I will provide you with an independent and honest review of the projector.
With a retail price of $669 for the Screeneo U4, Philips targets those looking for a cost-effective, compact, and transportable UST projector. Philips states the recommended usage for the Screeneo U4 is in a dark room and an 80-inch image. Philips also says the Screeneo U4 can project 35-inch to 120-inch images and then adds, “We recommend to keep the image size at 80” for the best contrast and brightness.”I recommend following Philips’ recommendation and keeping your projected image at 80-inches or smaller. When I went above 80-inches, the image struggled with brightness and contrast, just as Philips forewarned.
The Screeneo U4 setup for this review was a breeze. The Screeneo U4 can be placed on a table, mounted to a tripod, or mounted to the ceiling, which makes for flexible setups in most rooms and environments. As usual, I started by placing the projector on a level surface. I tripod mounted the Screeneo U4 thanks to the built-in tripod socket located on the bottom of the projector. I then physically moved the Screeneo U4 until the image was perfectly aligned on my projector screen.
I took my time and did not have to use any of the keystone correction adjustments. I recommend spending a few extra minutes getting the alignment perfect by physically adjusting the projector’s position whenever possible. Using digital keystone correction slightly degrades any projector’s image quality and may negatively affect your input lag while gaming. I suggest setting the geometry correction values to zero to enjoy all of the resolution you paid for.
Although I did not need to utilize the Screeneo U4’s 4-corner geometry correction adjustments, it is nice knowing it is there if it were ever needed. For example, if I were traveling and forced to set the Screeneo U4 and a projector screen up on an uneven surface, I would appreciate having 4-corner geometry correction capabilities.
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