I believe, correct me if I’m wrong, that AWOL Vision, with the new LTV-3000pro, is the only brand in the UST (Ultra Short Throw) market offering three different versions of the same basic model, which is rather unusual, I would say!
Is the only difference their brightness performance? Or is there something more to it?
The introduction of the LTV-3000pro aimed to bridge the gap between the smaller LTV-2500 and its flagship model, the LTV-3500pro. Even from a pricing standpoint, the disparity between the LTV-2500 and 3500pro created a significant gap, in my opinion. This gap has now been filled by AWOL with the new LTV-3000pro. The prefix “pro” added to the LTV-3000 & 3500 by AWOL pertains exclusively to the compatibility of the two models with the smart Control4 platform. Through this platform, both AWOL projectors can now integrate into your smart home ecosystem. This enables you to control your projector alongside your lights, heating, and other connected devices, all from a single central application.
It’s cool, but not essential for those of us who do not have, nor plan to have, a “smart” home. This clarification is specifically for the owners or prospective buyers of the LTV-2500. They shouldn’t feel that their projector lacks performance just because it does not have the prefix “pro” in its name, there’s no correlation. iPhone owners should disregard the last paragraph.
I am so satisfied with my LTV-2500 that I would buy an AWOL projector again without conducting any market research, blindly, and I did just that. It’s not only the excellent performance of μυ LTV-2500 that has contributed to this, but also the company itself. During the last firmware upgrade, things did not go very well for my LTV-2500. I somehow ended up with a non-functional projector (yes, it happens even to the best when excessive confidence leads to rookie mistakes).
All I did was send an email to AWOL support. After that, UPS came to pick up the projector and after about 3 weeks, brought it back to me completely functional. And all this without charging me anything, even though the mistake during the upgrade procedure was entirely mine and not AWOL’s. When a company’s support instills such confidence, how can you not remain a loyal customer?
And here we come to the LTV-3000pro and your reasonable question, why?Why Nikos?
Let me address that. Are you familiar with the term “upgrade mania”? If not, consider yourself fortunate. I won’t delve into it as there’s a clear danger of seriously denting your wallet in the future.
In other words, my initial thought was, “The time has come! Let’s go for an upgrade!” Cool, right? Actually, not cool! Don’t follow my lead, don’t get caught up in the frenzy. Stick to your classic yearly iPhone upgrade, refrain from purchasing everything with the “pro” prefix. Isn’t the new iPhone 15 Pro Max “pro” enough for one year? It is folks!
Nikos, stay focused on the LTV-3000pro review. Keep your thoughts in check! Yeah, you guys are right… let’s get back to it.
AWOL Vision LTV-3000 pro is here!
The LTV-3000pro came to me to the same big box like my 2500. It use also the same box to box technique for the transportation safety and it arrives to me totally unharmed.
Yeah right…not!
Clearly, AWOL couldn’t have anticipated that an employee from UPS (I assume) would desire a free Amazon Fire Stick 4K so badly, could they? When I opened the box, I was stunned to find this. What on earth is a knife doing inside my new projector box?
It took me a while, I must admit, to grasp what exactly I was looking at.
Was it some kind of Camorra warning aimed at me? Do they not appreciate my reviews?
Or perhaps a creepy message from Amazon, urging me to stop using my Google Chromecast 4K stick instead?
Who knows!
I couldn’t fathom it!
Finally, it clicked when I saw the damaged Amazon Fire Stick box, with nothing inside of course. Someone had stolen the Amazon Fire Stick 4K but left behind their nice unboxing knife as a gift! Fair trade, dude!
Of course, they must have felt really foolish when they realized they’d left their knife (complete with their fingerprints) inside the box.
If the person reads this article, all I can say is, enjoy your free Amazon 4K Fire Stick my friend. And if you need a free Netflix & Amazon Prime pass, just email me, I’d be happy to share mine (though I hope Netflix doesn’t read that last part).
I notified AWOL about this incident, and they promptly offered to send me a replacement Amazon Fire Stick! Thank you, guys, for that.
Rumors says that AWOL also intend to send a special knife with handmade Japanese blade from Valyrian steel to our friend on UPS for free just to continue his work on their boxes i suppose. AWOL’s support its awesome guys, i told ya!
First impression
The LTV-3000pro is pure beauty, that’s all I can say. The glossy finish on the perimeter complements the black matte color of the main cover, giving it a luxurious look, it’s definitely more impressive than his two brothers.
The matte black color also significantly reduces light reflections and makes the LTV-3000pro almost invisible when you’re enjoying your movies, something that my LTV-2500 suffered from a lot I must admit.
The matte finish doesn’t come without its drawbacks. It’s quite tricky to clean, as it seems that small grains of dust love to penetrate and get stuck inside the paint pores.
At the back we find exactly the same inputs as the LTV-2500. The port with the third HDMI (HDMI 1) that we can hide our Amazon firestick is also there. Did i mention that like the other two AWOL models the LTV-3000pro also comes with a free Amazon firestick 4K max inside the package? It comes, if you are lucky of course 🙂
The external dimensions are exactly the same in all three models, and the only thing that sets them apart is their cover color shade.
The LTV-2500 is grey, the LTV-3500pro is dark grey, and the LTV-3000pro is black matte.
The remote control also remains the same, and rightly so, as it is one of the highest-quality and luxurious remote controls among the UST projectors I have tried.
It’s also the only remote control on the market that works in dual mode (IR and Bluetooth) and includes every feature a user may need on the fly. It’s nice and clear, I just love it. (It only misses a 3D mode button 🙁 )
The 3000pro weighs exactly 9.5 kg and consumes 185W, just 10W more than the 2500 but 135W less than the 3500pro, which consumes 320W!
So, based on these characteristics, the 3000pro seems more like an upgraded 2500 than a slightly downgraded 3500pro.
The brightness announced by AWOL for the 3000pro is 3000 lumens.
For comparison, the corresponding brightness for the other two models is 2500 lumens for the LTV-2500 and 3500 lumens for the LTV-3500pro.
Why lumens and not ANSI lumens?
Why does AWOL announce the brightness of its models in lumens rather than ANSI lumens, which we typically see in the specifications of most market models?
To answer this question, we first need to understand the difference between lumens and ANSI lumens.
A lumen is a unit of measurement used to quantify the total quantity of visible light emitted from a source within a particular beam or angle.
On the other hand, the ANSI lumens (American National Standards Institute) rating measures the total light output of a projector. This is determined by projecting a full white image and measuring the brightness of the white screen at various points. The average of these measurements gives us the ANSI lumens of the projector.
The ANSI lumens output value is typically lower than lumens, usually around 20%.
AWOL chooses to announce the brightness of its models in lumens rather than ANSI lumens because measuring ANSI lumens in a laser RGB UST projector is impractical, if not impossible.
Measuring ANSI lumens accurately in such projectors is challenging due to the wide-angle light projection of UST projectors, making precise measurements difficult. Factors such as the angle of measurement, screen technology, and whether the measurement includes the high color brightness and saturation of the three basic colors of RGB laser technology all come into play.
Given these challenges and variables, a value in ANSI lumens would not provide reliable information about the projector’s brightness.
Therefore, AWOL (and many other brands) chooses to announce the brightness of its models in lumens, similar to how LED technology projectors measure and announce LED lumens rather than ANSI lumens.
Installation
Installing a UST projector isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. Creating a perfect frame on your screen when the light angle is so tight poses a significant challenge, especially with fixed-frame screens.
It requires patience, some basic skills, and time. The goal is to avoid using the keystone/corner correction feature in the menu, as this often leads to image quality degradation.
We resort to using the keystone feature only when there’s no other way to create a nice frame on the screen.
The LTV-3000pro, like the other two AWOL models, has a 0.25 throw ratio. Therefore, you need to carefully calculate various parameters to proceed with a successful fixed installation.
I must mention that I’ve received numerous emails from UST projector owners who complain about incorrect framing on their screens, regardless of what they’ve tried.
It’s true that there are differences in the projection frame from model to model. This is because it’s quite challenging, given the extreme light throwing angles in the optics, to avoid deviations in construction. This challenge applies to all UST projectors on the market.
So, each UST projector may require a different setting or positioning during installation, even if we’re talking about two identical models.
Of course, if the output picture frame is completely unacceptable and cannot be corrected no matter what, there is a possibility that your projector is a faulty unit. In that case, you may need to go through the warranty procedure.
I’m providing this information for your reference.
Here you can download the official manual that contains useful tips for the installation.
Let’s fire it up!
Wow… I just love that AWOL picture. I must admit, I’m not objective anymore, guys. I’m head over heels in love with the picture quality that all these AWOL models deliver to my living room. Sorry, I can’t help it.
From the moment I fired up the LTV-3000pro, two things became apparent to me. First, this projector is definitely brighter than my LTV-2500, and second, the color palette and white balance are almost identical—it is an AWOL projector, after all.
I spent some time placing the projector because installing it on my furniture was not as simple as I had anticipated. Different optics from my LTV-2500 meant different positioning. As I mentioned before, installing a new UST projector can be quite challenging, even if it seems like a simple procedure.
The focus on my copy of the LTV-3000pro was perfect from corner to corner, perhaps even better than my LTV-2500.
LTV-3000 pro Μenu
The LTV-3000pro shares exactly the same configuration as the 2500 and 3500 concerning the menu. It features a clean menu tree with everything a user needs to adjust their projector accordingly.
This type of menu is like an oasis in the desert compared to the cluttered Chinese-style menus of projectors like Xiaomi UST or the complicated and inconvenient Android menus of the Formovie UST projector. It’s clean, easy to use, even while watching your movie.
An important update worth noting is that after the latest firmware update, Dolby Vision has finally been added! This introduces a new option in the menu related to Dolby Vision, along with some new parameters such as the size of our screen and its reflection degree (gain).
The other stuff on the menu remain exactly as we knew on the other two AWOL models.
Here you can download and read the AWOL manual so you can understand better every single feature of the menu.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0554/7445/4576/files/AWOL_Menu_Items_5-27-22.pdf?v=1648418511
Colors!
The fact that AWOL produces the widest color palette on the market is undeniable. Their pure RGB laser technology is simply unbelievable.
Even my Sony camera couldn’t fully capture this color range, but I had to try…
Once you’ve experienced the wide color gamut provided by AWOL, there’s no turning back. Even though there’s an option to disable it from the menu and watch SDR content with the standard rec.709 gamut we used to all these years, trust me, you’ll never do that. Only AWOL owners truly understand what I’m talking about here.
In essence, I don’t know of any other projector (or TV) on the market, even among professional cinema series, that covers the BT.2020 color gamut by at least a true 107%. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Here’s a comparison with my Formovie, another excellent RGB UST projector, but there’s no comparison when it comes to the color gamut coverage of BT.2020—AWOL is the king here.
Formovie Theater
AWOL LTV-3000pro
Advice, if you watch a lot of SDR content then i suggest to lower the red saturation on the color correction menu, a value below 50 will be ok. Also decrease the Chroma on user settings to 45 from 50. This will disappear the red tint from skin tones.
When a projector offers such excellent color space coverage and an absolutely perfect CMS adjustment feature in the menu, you should expect nothing less than the ultimate HDR10/Dolby Vision experience, and AWOL delivers that without a doubt.
The LTV-3000pro handles the intermediate color grades of this vast color space so smoothly, like a well-tuned Swiss watch.
The picture comes alive and elevates the entire ‘enjoy your movie’ experience.
Contrast
I measured 2150:1 native on/off contrast with Enhanced Black Level = On
I quote the contrast values i measured from the three AWOL models for your information
LTV-2500 2330:1
LTV-3000pro 2150:1
LTV-3500pro 1930:1
It seems that the contrast value on AWOL projectors inversely follows the brightness value of each model, which is normal for DLP projectors.
Simply put, if you want the best on/off contrast number, you go for the LTV-2500. If you want maximum brightness, you go for the LTV-3500pro. And if you want a balance between maximum contrast and brightness, the LTV-3000pro is the wiser choice. AWOL is the only brand offer such a choice.
The Enhanced Black Level works perfectly on the LTV-3000pro. Its algorithm is so smart and smooth that you rarely notice it working. You might only notice some smooth dimming on subtitles if there are a lot of scenes with a mix of bright and dark points on the same frame.
Here’s an example: two slightly overexposed shots with exactly the same camera settings, with the second one having Dynamic Black On.
An two more pictures with normal expose (you can always click on the pictures and watch them in full scale)..
I’ll try to address that before my email fills up with the same question from you. Is the LTV-3000pro better in terms of contrast compared to the Appotronics projectors (Formovie, Fengmi, & Xiaomi)?
No, it’s not. Formovie reigns supreme in this area with over 3000:1 native on/off contrast, and you definitely see the difference on the screen. But…
The on/off contrast number doesn’t always tell the whole story. The ANSI contrast is arguably the most important contrast value when it comes to a projection image, as it depends not only on the on/off value but also on the overall optical block design and performance.
ANSI contrast is the value of contrast when bright objects coexist with dark areas in the same frame, and it’s crucial because about 99% of the dark scenes we watch in a movie are some kind of ANSI contrast scenes.
In this aspect, the performance of the LTV-3000pro is breathtaking. I suppose AWOL managed to strike the perfect balance between brightness and contrast with the LTV-3000pro.
This optical block delivers one of the most vivid mixed contrast pictures I’ve ever seen in my living room. When you combine this ANSI contrast with the outstanding color performance of the LTV-3000pro, the picture on specific scenes looks like a hologram, believe me. Is it better than the LTV-2500 and 3500 on these scenes? Yes, it is!
It’s all about finding the balance between brightness and contrast, and the LTV-3000pro may have found that delicate line.
Something to mention. The Enhanced Black feature does not working if we manually put the laser power level below 6 of 10, keep that in mind.
How about the sharpness of the image?
As I mentioned in my previous LTV-2500 review, the optics of AWOL projectors are simply unbeatable in terms of sharpness and focus. The entire optical block is phenomenal in the clarity it provides to the projected image.
The LTV-3000pro is no exception, it certainly lives up to its reputation, especially with high bitrate 4K content. In most UST projectors I own or have tested, they suffer from the ‘one corner out of focus’ symptom, usually one of the top corners. However, that’s not the case with any AWOL projector I’ve tested.
What’s amusing is that AWOL mentions exactly that on the official page of the LTV-3000pro…
The clarity and the sharpness of a 4K content is just phenomenal..
9 Comments
Love your thorough and informative review that perfectly matches our experiences when comparing AWOL’s new LTV-3000 Pro and LTV-3500 Pro against the 5 other new high-end UST projectors we have in our new suite of 15 Cinema Demo rooms.
Also very happy to see the free 100″ & 120″ fixed screen of choice top be included at no charge and very minimal charge to upgrade to the 100″ or 120″ motorized floor rising screens.
Hello Nikos –
I have just received an LTV 3000 Pro that I am attempting to calibrate. My focus will be on SDR and Dolby Vision. I have read your article on the projectorjunkies.com website, and enjoyed your comments. I can now see a very nice flat 2 point performance with ow Delta errors, and I have applied your Color Correction settings and then modified slightly based on readings with my calibration setup. I have a profiled Spectracal C6 meter, ( x-rite Pro 2 reference meter ) and Murideo 6G 8K generator. I am ISF Level III certified, but this is my first projector that I have ever tried to calibrate, ( lol ) so I have questions about some of the settings that you used in Calman to get the great results. My main TV is a 77″ LG OLED C1 which I really love, but I have a new room in my basement that I just finished so I am getting it ready for the LTV 3000 and the much bigger screen.
My first question is what Colorspace Target did you use to calibrate SDR? Did you change that target for HDR and Dolby Vision? If yes what did you change it to? For Dolby Vision with the 6G generator, what Dolby Vision modes did you use? For example did you use Absolute mode for reading and Relative mode for performing calibrations, or some other approach? Also, what is the window size of the patterns – 10% or 100% or something in between? Feel free to send me screenshots of your settings if that is easier. Sorry for all the questions, but I am not getting as good a result are your examples, I am certain there are some settings that I have wrong and I also want to understand the behavior of these laser projectors a little better.
Thank you very much for your time,
Thank you for your comment! I always calibrate in rec2020 on SDR on AWOL models as i watch with full color enabled. I use only full patterns as 10% or any window pattern suit only to televisions as they push their brightness to their limits when they played full brightness on a small part of the screen (for some seconds). No point for Laser projectors .For DolbyVision you can not calibrate nothing, as it has frame by frame metadata so whatever do with your generator in a specific movie and specific scene you are going to see something different. You can try to calibrate the HDR mode and that’s it.I calibrate the HDR mode with the Masciola UHD/HDR10 Test Patterns, unfortunately are window patterns as they designed for TVs. Hope i did answer some of your questions!
Great review! I have a 3500, which further helps w/3D & needed brightness. In addition to “lower the blue gain by 30+ units”, can you please shared full settings you dialed in. Especially as you mention you “do not totally agree with” the above settings from AWOL? They’re actually from @Dgtr74 on AVSForum, and he has revised/updated multiple times since. Latest at https://www.avsforum.com/threads/awol-ltv-2500-ltv-3500-picture-settings.3271691/post-62449423
full review of the LTV-3500pro is coming soon!I will give all the calibration settings for this model!
Thank you very much for this nice review, much appreciated! 🙂
you are welcome!
Thank you for the in depth review!
As an owner of both, what would you say are the criteria that make the 3000 worth getting (over the 2500)? Seems the 2500 actually has some advantages (fan noise, contrast) and for my use case, I only need 100 inch (with formovie fresnel screen) and no 3D, so not sure the extra brightness will be worth it to me; on the other hand I probably will be using it at least occasionally during daytime in a room without great light control…
How does it compare to the visionmaster pro max?