AWOL VISION LTV-3000 Pro 4K 3D Ultra Short Throw Triple Laser Projector, Dolby Vision & Atmos, HDR10+, 150″ UST Laser TV Home Theater Projector

Remarkable
For years, I have told myself to not buy (anymore of) the bleeding edge technology gadgets. The AWOL LTV 3000 Pro falls into the bleeding edge category, but I still purchased one anyway. I did this after checking a bunch of YouTube reviews of the AWOL LTV Pro series. Generally, the reviews left me a sense of lacking (as with other projector reviews). Pays your money, takes your chances.Upon powering up the LTV 3000, my initial reaction was abruptly favorable. The projected video on a cream colored wall was very good. I recently added a 100 inch ALR screen which made the picture even better.Accuracy, focus, color aberrations, contrasts are wonderful. Fonts were remarkable. Color rendition is outstanding (either from streaming or from a Panasonic Blu Ray player). Of course, a darken the room helps.Out of the box, the internal speakers were dreadful sounding. Finding the equalization and tone controls on the remote mostly solved the situation (adjusting to boost the high frequencies). Normally, I use the optical digital audio output to my HiFi system so these adjustments are not relevant.There are 3 HDMI ports available. One is sort of dedicated to a streaming stick which can be hidden in a recessed area in the back of the unit. A cover is provided to hide the stick and local wires. A Firestick seems to work fine, Roku needs to have its WiFi long range wire extended. It would have been nice if AWOL provided some holes thru the cover for wire access. There are 2 USB ports, however I have not used or tested them. There is also a video component input. I do miss not having an over the air TV tuner.The HDMI ports all work fine, both with streaming and Blu Ray players. Just as you should expect from modern HDMI systems.The video component input presented to me an opportunity for a time warp to the past. My Super Beta HiFi worked great as a video source. Picture was good. Sound was good too. However the 4:3 aspect ratio was not preserved (stretched to 16:9). Naturally the old 350 line resolution was not improved. (Note: one can buy elsewhere a converter box that preserves the 4:3.)Most of my viewing has been streaming HD content, no problems, good job here. I had some difficulties with UHD 4K. Either or both the Panasonic DP-UB820 Blu Ray player and the LTV 3000 doesn’t like something. I ended up switching the LTV 3000 inputs while restarting the disc in the player. Problem sometimes occurred just as the user selects “Play” on the disc’s intro screen. Otherwise the UHD display looks fine. I haven’t tried out any of the Dolby options.3D worked great (using AWOL glasses). But the 3D requires a manual selection on the LTV 3000. The 3D display initially starts up with a double image, one on top of the other until the LTV 3000 gets into it true 3D mode. The main issue for me is that the LTV 3000 automatically exits the 3D mode whereas manual intervention is required to start the 3D mode. A typical 3D disc jumps between 2D and 3D during the intro phase of the disc. (My 12 year old Sharp LCD TV automatically detects 3D and activates same.) 3D performance is quite good, A darken room helps the experience.The things listed above are what can be seen as the pluses. Only one issue needs to be stated. The LTV 3000 has a variable speed cooling fan. Things are quiet at first. Usually as the video proceeds, the fan speeds up (noticeable fan noise is still acceptable). After an hour and half of 4K UHD, the fan seems loud.All in all, if you able to spend the large amount of money, the AWOL LTV 3000 Pro is a buy. Just don’t forget that you can but a couple of 75 inch high end large flat screen TVs for the same amount of money or less than the LTV 3000.

Impressive
Have used it for about 1 week, so we haven’t gotten the settings fully dialed in yet. So far, it is really impressive, although we have mixed feelings about such a large UST projector that must sit out in plain view right in front of the screen. Our previous projector has a great shelf location that blends into the room’s decor. Our entertainment cabinet is not designed for hiding a UST projector, so any modification will include having to obtain a custom made glass top with a hole cut in it — expensive.Massive upgrade from our old Epson PowerLight Cinema 8100 UD. The PowerLight is a true 1080p projector, so its image is bested only by 4k, but the brightness was limited to mostly night time/fully light-controlled settings. The AWOL is intensely bright when we watch in the evenings, with some scenes being too bright. Our screen apparently has some waviness that really shows up with the UST type projectors, and the longer throw Epson handily masked those imperfections; we might have to drop a lot more change on a new screen. I find the 4k images are incredibly detailed, but often too harsh, particularly on TVs, and this projector suffers from this same problem, but is somewhat softer. Over time, I will adjust to the harsher lighting and happily soak up the amazing details. The onboard speakers are helpful in combination with our home theater sound system — the center channel dialogues are always really tough to render correctly — but sometimes there is bit of syncing delay, so this will be one of the tweaks to be sorted out. Overall, I am pleased with the unit.

Great Product!!
AWOL definitely set the bar with this product…So far so Great!!! A Fantastic projector, I highly recommend purchasing this model….no projector screen needed.

Most people seem to be using this for a dedicated home theatre setup and it will work well! But some of the features are specifically designed for a more casual setting and this is where it can truly shine.As much as it is impressive what it can do. It has a few quirks and features missing that I wouldn’t expect from a top tier projector. And only 1 year warranty (+1 year extended warranty) is somewhat concerning.SETUPIt’s ultra short throw so you can quite easily set it up in any room. You don’t have to worry about a spot far from the wall to place it, you just put it right on the floor at the base of the wall just make sure it’s big enough!The image settings do allow for rear projection and ceiling mounting, but this thing is HUGE so the latter may prove more difficult.The image goes as small as 50in however the closer to the wall you go, the more little bumps, dents and curves in the wall distort the image. Keep in mind there’s also no ability to change the height of the image so your options can become more limited.It truly is an all in one device, with decent sound built in, handy if you’re setting up for a simple movie night. But if you have a fixed setup you will appreciate your own sound system.Unfortunately Bluetooth paring only allows one set of headphones at a time.PACKUP & STORAGEThis thing is HUGE. So if you are opting for a temporary setup or at least semi temporary you’re going to have issues storing it. Theres no lens cover and no storage bag or dust cover that comes with it, and the box is approx 2.5 x 1.5 x 1ft!VISUAL QUALITYThis projector is quite incredible. The visual quality is truly outstanding. It’s bright enough to use in a well lit room and can be further improved by using an ALR screen.The focus is all controlled digitally which is somewhat a concern in case it fails. The screen it uses to focus is also just some boxes in the corners that don’t give you much visual detail to fine tune it.In a dark room it is incredibly bright and can hurt your eyes initially. I am quite pleased that there is an auto shut off if it detects movement close to the device that should serve well to protect young but inquisitive eyes.SMART FUNCTIONALITYI love that it doesn’t use its own proprietary smart TV functionality but instead has a little cubby at the back which effectively hides a FireStick. This can be easily replaced over time meaning your smart projector will never become obsolete. It intelligently boots up directly into HDMI-1 where the firestick is located, meaning you don’t have to switch source every time you turn it on.Unfortunately as much as FireTV works, AWOL is not actually a supported brand by FireTv. This means you cannot use your FireTV remote to turn the device on an off, adjust volume or switch input. This may still be possible if you connect the projector to a receiver that is compatible with both AWOL and FireTV.You can connect the projector remote to the FireTV which gives you some control but not all the buttons map across meaning you can never completely get rid of one remote.OVERALL THOUGHTSAn impressive device with outstanding visual quality. It can be an all in one device with built in sound for quick setup or a key part of a fixed home theatre. But shorter warranty, difficulty storing, lack of full FireTV integration and other small quirks hold it back from being the top tier device it should be.

AWOL VISION LTV-3000 Pro 4K 3D Ultra Short Throw Triple Laser ProjectorPros- One stop shopping, comes with streaming stick, and has built in speakers- Laser. Lasers offer some of the brightest images available. On the default brightness it actually strained my eyes on some scenes, it’s that bright. And they last a very long time, which is good, because they cost too much to replace.- Good black levels for a projector, but still not as good as much cheaper OLED TVs. It wasn’t as good on dark scenes as I had hoped. So for example, people wandering through a cave with torches. Overall the scene was quite dark and I struggled to see details. The torches should have been bright given the HDR10 support (for the init and in the feed) but it wasn’t.- Comes with a 4K Fire Stick. I’ve been using one for years. I think it’s great. But that is a separate review.- Supports 3D. But sadly the support for 3D media nowadays is terrible. For example Netflix only has a few movies and even then it’s only available in the USA.- Auto off to prevent you from blinding yourself if you are too close to the lens.- Built in WiFi- Reasonable amount of inputsCons- Setup is a bit of a mixed bag. To optimize the picture placement and size the unit must be placed in exactly the right position. You’ll need to get it just the right height, my cabinet was too high. To do it right you would need something custom, with an opening in the cabinet to keep the unit low enough. You also need to have the unit the right distance from the wall. I want a 130” screen to fit my screen but despite being an ultra short throw, it would need to be a lot further from the wall than most cabinets would allow. I’m used to my ceiling projector that has an optical zoom lens and motors to tilt the lens for the perfect fit.Note: There are some software adjustments you can make to tweak things but the physical placement is key.- The built-in sound is nice to have but I’d think anyone spending over $5k on a projector is going to want something much better. There might be an argument for it if it were more portable, but it is big, heavy and expensive enough that I wouldn’t be carting it around.- no display port, if you intend to hook this up to you gaming PC (like I did)There are some really good reviews that you can Google. I’ve summarized a few points above based on my experience so far.