Alright, let’s talk about my little adventure with the Philips Screeneo UL5. I’d been eyeing a projector for a while, wanting that big-screen movie experience at home without, you know, actually having a giant TV taking up all the space.
So, I started digging. Lots of reading, forum crawling, you know the drill. The Screeneo UL5 kept popping up. Ultra-short throw, 4K, seemed pretty slick. I was a bit hesitant, projectors can be finicky, but I finally pulled the trigger.
The Setup
First thing, unboxing. This thing is not small. It’s hefty, solid, feels well-built. It’s not exactly a beauty, more like a functional chunk of tech, but hey, it’s going to be sitting on a cabinet, not hanging on the wall.
Next, placement. The beauty of ultra-short throw is you just plop it down right in front of the wall. I put it on my media console, maybe 6 inches from the wall. Turned it on, and bam! Giant image. Almost too giant. I had to adjust the position a bit, inching it back to get the screen size I wanted, I measured to about 100-inch display.
Image Tweaking
Now, the picture. Out of the box, it was… okay. A little washed out, needed some tweaking. I dove into the settings. There are a bunch of preset modes – Cinema, Vivid, Game, etc. I fiddled with those, but ended up customizing my own. Brightness, contrast, sharpness, the usual suspects. It took some time, playing with different sources – a 4K movie, some regular TV shows, a video game – to really dial it in.
Important Note: I ended up finding that the wall surface really matters. I first tired it out on the wall and it has a very slight texture, and you could see it in the image. I don’t have a dedicated project screen yet, so I just tried to find a place that had a little bit of the wall, which gave a clear image for now!
Sound and Features
The built-in sound is surprisingly decent. It’s got some oomph, definitely enough for casual watching. Of course, I’ve got a soundbar, so I connected that up via HDMI ARC. No issues there, worked like a charm.
As for the smart features, I have a smart tv, so that’s how I manuveur. I also used an HDMI cord and connected my laptop, and watched some movies on there. The quality for both was good. I haven’t messed with those too much.
The Verdict (So Far)
After a few days of using it, I’m pretty happy. Once I got the image dialed in, it’s really impressive. Sharp, bright, great colors. The ultra-short throw is a game-changer, so convenient. It’s not perfect, the fan can be a little noticeable during quiet scenes, and the initial setup took some effort. But overall, it’s delivering that big-screen experience I was after, and that’s a win in my book.
I will be using it more, and see what other set up features I can implent for optimal viewing.
