Projectors have been the only affordable solution for years if you want to go for a 100-inch or larger image. And with the arrival of Ultra Short Throw projectors, it has become a lot easier to set them up in the living room. The Hisense 100LG9-B12 can really serve as a replacement for your TV.
Hisense 100LG9-B12
Recommended retail price € 4799,-
What Ultra HD DLP projector with laser light source and 100” ALR screen
Setup resolution 3,840 x 2,160, 3,000 ANSI lumens, projection ratio 0.25 (100 inches diagonal at 0.30 m)
Connections 4x HDMI (2.0, ARC), 2x USB (media), 1x stereo cinch, 1x composite video, 1x optical digital out, Ethernet, WiFi built-in, 2x antenna, 1x CI+ slot Bluetooth
Lamp Life triple laser light source, up to 25,000 hours
Extras 100 inch Anti-glare screen with wall bracket, HDR10, HLG, DVB-T/T2/C/S/S2 tuner, 2x 20 Watt speaker, Dolby Atmos, VIDAA U 4.0 smart TV, USB/DLNA media player
Dimensions 610 x 155 x 346 mm
Weight 11.2 kg
Website www.hisense.nl 9 Score 90 
- Pros
- Supplied ALR screen with bracket
- UST projector is in the same place as your TV
- Impressive image quality
- Built-in TV tuner with CI+ slot
- VIDAA U smart TV is easy to use
- Laser light source lasts a very long time
- Good built-in speakers, with Dolby Atmos
- Negatives
- Lens has slight focus deviation
- Hides white detail in very clear HDR material
- No HDMI 2.1, nor gaming features
- No Disney+ or AppleTV+ (for now)
For a large image, read 100 inches or more, a projector often needs to be three feet or more from the screen. That is a lot of hassle and involves quite a few logistical problems. Ultra Short Throw projectors are the solution for this. You put the Hisense Laser TV at 31 cm from the screen, and look, you have a 100-inch screen diagonal. It’s as simple as removing your TV and putting the glossy black projector in its place.
Then there is the matter of the screen. Projection screens come in all kinds of sizes, and even more so in all kinds of cloth, for better contrast, more light, and so on. Hisense has also solved that problem, the 100L9G-B12 is a projector and an associated 100-inch screen on a fixed frame. It comes complete with wall brackets and installation template.
The screen cloth is light gray for improved contrast, but it is also an ALR (Ambient Light Rejection) screen. Ambient light is therefore strongly rejected by this screen, so that you can enjoy a large image without having to darken it completely.
Set up and adjust
Because the projector has no lens shift or zoom, you must follow the installation instructions of the screen exactly. When it hangs up, you can still raise or lower the screen to a limited extent. For example, if your furniture is not perfectly level, you can adjust the projector a bit with the detachable legs.
When placing the projector, you quickly notice that even a small shift has major consequences for the image. After all, such a UST lens has to project at a very heavy angle. Once you’ve got the perfect setup, place the two included plastic semi-circles around the legs, making sure no accidental shifting is possible.
If there is still some trapezoidal distortion left, you can eliminate it via the settings based on eight control points on the screen, or even easier, with your smartphone. Take a picture of the screen and the projector will adjust the image itself to remove any distortion.
Focus adjustment is not necessary, as the projector has one correct projection distance. We did notice that our test sample had a little bit of chromatic aberration at the top edge of the image. That didn’t bother us while watching, but for this price we would have liked slightly better optics.
Many connections, but no HDMI 2.1
Connecting sources to this projector will not be a problem. It is equipped with three HDMI 2.0 connections, one with ARC. Because we consider this a premium product, we find it a pity that no HDMI 2.1 feature or connections are available. No eARC for example, but also no gamer functions such as ALLM or VRR, and of course no 4K120 support. You can of course play on this projector (up to 4K60), but the input lag of 54ms in the game image mode rather points to casual gamers.
The projector is also equipped with a composite video with stereo cinch input, a headphone connection and digital optical output. The two USB connections (one is on the side) can be used to deliver media, or to record or pause live TV. Because yes, very exceptional for a projector, the Hisense is equipped with a DVB-T/T2/C (Ziggo certified) and DVB-S/S2 tuner, with CI+ slot. Finally, there is an Ethernet connection and WiFi, plus Bluetooth for wireless headphones or soundbar.
Full smart TV system on board
Smart functions seem to be a rather additional thought on many projectors. That is certainly not the case on the Hisense. To live up to its name as Laser TV, it features the same VIDAA U smart TV platform that we find on Hisense TVs. And that provides a great user experience. VIDAA U works smoothly and quickly, and has an excellent range of apps.
At the time of the test, Apple TV and Disney+ were still missing, but according to Hisense, they would be available via a software update. All other major streaming services are already available. The built-in media player doesn’t have the old xvid codec, but it does support all major modern formats, including HDR and subtitles, as well as Dolby or DTS soundtracks.
We already know the slim, light metal remote control from the Hisense TVs. It has a good layout, although we would give the Home button a more prominent place or make it larger or clearer.
We also like to see a separate button on a projector to switch the image mode, so you can easily respond to changing light conditions in the room, but that button is missing. You will find four shortcuts for Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Rakuten TV.
Lasers for intense light
The 100L9G-B12 is equipped with three lasers, one for each base color. According to the specification, it achieves 3,000 lumens. In the Dynamic image mode we measure 2,460 lumens, which is very good. For more accurate colors, switch to Cinema Day or Cinema Night mode, which still offer around 1,500 lumens. That is more than enough to put a good image on the 100-inch screen, even in ambient light.
The contrast is around 1,000:1 and the light gray screen improves the reproduction of dark tones. The Cinema Night mode has a very good color rendering, with a slightly too cool color temperature. The images look natural, and really bring the cinema atmosphere to the living room. If you really look at a lot of sunlight, the Standard or Dynamic mode can be an option. Keep in mind that for very dark scenes you have to dim the ambient light anyway, because we can’t just change the laws of physics.
Are lasers good for HDR?
The projector supports HDR10 and HLG, and has a lot of light output. That’s fine. But there is more, because those lasers also provide a very large color range, up to 97% P3. This means he can effortlessly compete with many top televisions. In fact, when the projector is set to the ‘Auto’ color space, it seems to limit itself a bit. By switching it to ‘Native’ we got a little more color from the lasers.
That’s excellent news for HDR images that look really impressive. Still, Hisense leaves some potential behind, because the calibration could be better. Especially when the HDR content is mastered very clearly. The tone mapping then forces you to choose between slightly hidden white detail or images that are slightly too dark. You also do not have an easy setting to adjust that to your own taste. But for most HDR content, the results are very nice.
Given its price tag, we recommend having the projector calibrated once it is set up. For a small additional cost, you can take the image performance to a higher level, the Hisense has color and light in excess.
Image processing for even better contrast
Like all TVs, a projector has to put many different sources on the screen, so good image processing is an important factor. With interlaced content (for example 1080i from a set-top box) we see moiré patterns too often, so it’s best to put your sources in 1080p or 2160p. This Hisense is a 4K projector by the way, but like almost all DLP projectors it uses pixel shifting to achieve that. The result is sharper than Full HD, but just short of 4K. As a plus, there is no longer a pixel grid visible.
The noise reduction works well, but certainly not perfect. However, the projection image is always slightly softer than a television and therefore more forgiving of minor errors. If you want to avoid the shocks in pan images of 24 fps as much as possible, activate ‘Ultra Smooth Motion’. It doesn’t cause excessive image errors, and almost completely eliminates the judder.
The best asset of this projector is the ‘Adaptive Contrast’ setting. It adjusts the light output based on the image. This gives dark scenes more impact and you also get better black detail. Of course you don’t improve the ‘native’ contrast this way, but it does provide a better overall picture. Importantly, we also saw no negative consequences of this setting.
Built-in sound, with Dolby Atmos
Another disadvantage of classic projectors is that you have to provide a separate audio installation. No problem if you still want to set up a separate home cinema room, but that is often not an option in the living room. That is why Hisense has provided a 2x 20 Watt audio system in this projector. This means it provides more than enough volume to fill the room. Movie soundtracks come into their own, with powerful music and clear dialogues.
The Dolby Atmos support provides a beautiful surround experience. Only the bass reproduction is a bit too limited, although that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A good audio installation is still a class better, but is certainly not a necessity.
Conclusion
Are you considering a projector, but don’t like the extra installation requirements of a classic model? This Ultra Short Throw 4K projector from Hisense may be your ideal solution. Not only does it come with a 100” Anti-Glare Screen, complete with wall mount, but it literally takes place where your TV used to be. The triple laser light source provides a lot of light, intense colors, and above all a very large and handsome image. HDR images also look very nice.
We would have liked to see another HDMI 2.1 connection for next-gen gaming, but if you don’t demand 4K120, the Hisense can also serve for your gaming pleasure. He really didn’t steal his name as Laser TV. The projector not only delivers a large image, but also excellent audio and is equipped with a very user-friendly smart TV system with a wide range of apps. The built-in TV tuner is Ziggo certified. This total package may seem fairly pricey to you, but it is certainly priced correctly given the included screen.
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