Optoma H114 Home Entertainment Projector

The Optoma H114 projector is marketed as a home entertainment projector; this means that it is designed with the purpose of watching television shows, sports or movies and also for playing video games on. As such I have tested this product with its targeted uses in mind.

The projector comes in black and looks very sleek; its design would fit perfectly in most home entertainment setups. This unit is lightweight, weighing 2kg which places it in the portable projector category.

All ports are featured on the rear on the unit and for video input you have the choice of HDMI, VGA or composite (yellow only) connections. For audio input the options are HDMI (as HDMI supports simultaneous video and audio) or a 3.5mm audio input port. The projector has a built in 2 watt speaker, however the audio quality is pretty poor for use in home entertainment. Instead I would recommend connecting up a set of external speakers to the 3.5mm audio output port.

For testing, the projector was connected to my computer as a secondary display via the HDMI port, with my bedroom wall used as the projection screen. I opened up my Steam client (an online gaming store application) and played a few minutes of each of my AAA games. The screen size made for some very immersive game play, particularly with first person games. The projector was set to game mode and I found the colours to be vibrant without oversaturation. Also there was no noticeable input lag.

For movie watching I played the movie short of Big Buck Bunny and again I was impressed by the screen size and the vibrant colours. However I found that with a light source present in the room, the blacks were more of a grey as they were not very dark.

Finally I tested the projector by connecting up my Wii U and playing a few levels of Mario Maker. I found that with this game in particular (due to its limited audio range) the projectors internal 2 watt speaker was ideal. After 30 minutes of play I observed a peculiar effect when looking quickly away from the screen. An outline of the colours would briefly persist and break into a rainbow effect. This is probably common with all projectors, but it was the first time I had noticed this.

After several minutes of each use I found myself needing to open a window as the projector put are a lot of heat. The unit itself does not get very hot as the internal fan does an excellent job of extracting the heat. However the extracted hot air quickly heats up its surroundings and slowly increases room temperature. This is common with all lamp-based projectors, a problem which can be resolved by having the projector ceiling mounted or instead buying an LED projector.

What is in the box:

The projector came boxed with mains adaptors (UK 3 pin and european 2 pin), remote control, on disc user manual and a quick start guide.

Build quality:

The projector build quality is very good, made from a durable plastic.

Pros:

+ Large immersive display

+ Easy to setup

Cons:

- Runs hot
- Poor internal speaker

Conclusion:

Overall this projector is very good for its designed purpose as a home entertainment projector. It is great for gaming and for watching movies on a large screen and it makes them very immersive. The projector does put out a lot of heat, but this can be remedied by opening a window or having it ceiling mounted. The internal speaker is not sufficient for home entertainment and so connecting a pair of external speakers is recommended. This projector would be ideal for any first time projector users who are looking to compliment their home entertainment setup with a projector.

To see the projector in action, please check out my video review below:

Product link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01D4EEBRQ

by Optoma

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