A home projector can make it feel like you have a theater in your living room. Video games become more immersive, movie night becomes more cinematic, and Netflix becomes more all-encompassing. The VAVA Chroma claims to be the world’s most advanced ALPD® 4.0 triple laser projector. But does it live up to the hype? I tested it to find out.
The VAVA Chroma projector is an ultra-short-throw 4k laser projector with an accompanying 120 inch screen. And with the use of three laser light sources, the VAVA Chroma promises to deliver striking visuals and incredible contrast.
I am a consumer electronics fan but I am not a projector wonk with tons of experience. When VAVA offered to send us a unit to try out I jumped at the chance. I’ll be reviewing this from the lens of someone who’s had a 4k TV but never owned a projector or a home theater. TL;DR: It’s awesome.
Unboxing
Here are some unboxing photos to help you get a sense of what you get with the VAVA Chroma.
Here’s the projector:
And here’s the screen and components:
Setup
Setup for the projector was pretty straightforward. The projector comes with a power cord and a remote. I plugged it in, followed the on screen instructions and adjusted the keystone settings. I set mine up in my basement and didn’t do a particularly good job getting the screen perfectly level and true. I haven’t fully committed to where I want this set up to go so I didn’t want to spend too much time installing it and then moving it afterwards. With the updated firmware, the electronic keystone correction made it a breeze to fill the whole screen and the electronic focus made it easy to get just right. I’m using a PS5 as my streaming device although I was able to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and more using the VAVA Chroma’s native apps. The user interface on the PS5 is more intuitive than VAVA’s so I recommend using a separate streaming device.
The screen was a bit more involved to set up but once I got going, it only took me 30 minutes to finish. I knew in my head what 120 inches meant, but once I put the whole thing together I realized just how large that really is. It’s like if you took 4 flat screen TVs and stacked them 2×2. That makes it pretty unwieldy and hard to move around, so I’d recommend putting it together in the room it’s eventually going to live in.
Using the projector
I went from a 65 inch Samsung QLED TV to the VAVA Chroma and it’s a completely different experience. The first thing I did was turn on a nature show (pictured below) and was left very impressed by the color, contrast and brightness. The picture quality wasn’t quite as crisp on the 120 inch screen vs the 65 inch TV but that’s because there are the same amount of pixels in an area 4 times larger. The thing that stood out to me the most, however, is the sheer size of the picture. To be watching something on a 120 inch screen in my own home is something else entirely.
Over the past few weeks I’ve played more than a few hours of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Mortal Kombat on PS5 using the Chroma. Playing on such a large screen allows for an immersive experience not available with TVs or monitors and I didn’t experience any eye strain. And while I’m not a hardcore gamer, I didn’t notice any issues with input lag when playing games in gaming mode.
Who is this for?
I love this projector and so does everyone that has come over to watch a movie or check it out. The VAVA Chroma projector is great for people who want to upgrade their movie/gaming setup from a TV but don’t want to spend time and effort hanging a projector from the ceiling. Within minutes of opening the box I was able to start watching and the projector is small enough that it could theoretically be put away when not in use. Overall I definitely recommend this if you’re considering getting a projector, especially since you can get it as a perk for 38% off of retail price if you support VAVA’s crowdfunding campaign.
To learn more, check out the campaign for VAVA Chroma.
