Philips has launched a compact Full HD ultra-short-throw projector called the Screeneo U4 on Indiegogo for folks looking to beam recipe vids on the kitchen wall, play console games in the spare room or gather in the living room for movie night.
Like the company's PicoPix Max projector from 2019, Philips is taking the Screeneo U4 to Indiegogo to fund production and engage with target buyers.
This latest device is a Full HD ultra-short-throw projector, meaning that it can throw an 80-diagonal-inch image from 12 inches (30.5 cm) away from the wall or screen, or snuggle up to 7.7 inches for a 60-inch picture.
It's built around TI DLP imaging technology with XPR pixel-shifting, and features a four-channel (RGGB) LED light source that's reckoned good for up to 30,000 hours of use. It's 400 lumens of color/white brightness will likely see this unit operating is shaded areas only for the best results though.
The projector is reported capable of supporting 108 percent of the Rec.709 an over 85 percent of the NTSC color gamuts, as well as HDR10 dynamic content, and casual gamers can look forward to a 60-Hz refresh rate and 30-ms latency. It also comes with the promise of easy setup thanks to fast AI autofocus, auto-keystone correction and four-corner correction.
The U4 measures 4.86 x 3.21 x 8.8 in (123.5 x 81.5 x 223.5 mm) and tips the scales at 3 lb (1.4 kg), which makes it a fairly easy haul to different locations around the home but as it's mains powered, users will need to position near a wall outlet or live with extension cables.
Connectivity shapes up with two HDMI 2.1 ports, and though there's no built-in Wi-Fi, any plugged-in streaming sticks from the likes of Amazon and Roku can get power from the nearby USB Type-A port. The compact unit also sports integrated 2 x 15-W speakers with bass boost for sounds to go with the thrown visuals.
The projector features cooked-in Bluetooth 5.0 for simultaneous connection to two audio output devices, though wireless latency would likely mean that this feature is used in boombox mode only and not to settle down for a movie without disturbing the sleeping kids. But there is a 3.5-mm headphone jack for lag-free listening via a long audio cable, and a third-party signal splitter could be thrown into the mix for sharing the soundtrack with a couch partner.
Though the U4 wears the Philips badge, the projector actually comes from Screeneo Innovation SA – an exclusive brand licensing partner of the Dutch electronics veteran – which has launched the product on Indiegogo.
Pledges for the already funded campaign come in at €599 (about US$630), which represents a saving of 50 percent on the expected retail price. If all goes to plan, shipping is estimated to start in August. Philips reckons that the U4 will go on general sale in October.
Source: Philips Projection
