Sony now sells a true 4K projector for $5,000

Even the cheapest 4K projectors are still way more expensive than most top-of-the-line 4K TVs, but that’s slowly starting to change. Sony introduced a series of new 4K projectors today, and one of them — the VPL-VW285ES 4K HDR Home Theater Projector — sells for $5,000. That’s still really expensive, but it’s dramatically less expensive than most of the other 4K projectors available from Sony, which largely cost more than $10,000.

The projector offers a maximum picture size of 200 inches and real 4K output — as opposed to the slightly lesser Ultra HD — with a resolution of 4096 x 2160. For HDR, it supports the popular HDR10 standard and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), though the projector only has 1,500 lumens of brightness. That’s enough to deliver “some really good looking color,” according to Art Feierman at Projector Reviews. But Feierman added that HDR images looked darker, so projectors would be better off with at least 2,500 lumens of brightness.

Sony is also introducing a projector today that’ll sit one step up in its product line. It’s called the VW385ES. It sells for $8,000 and is supposed to provide better image contrast. And much closer to the top end of Sony’s projector line, it’s adding the VW885ES, which sells for $25,000 and offers 2,000 lumens of brightness and laser projection for what Sony claims is “infinite” contrast.

Dell recently released an Ultra HD projector with HDR support for $6,000, so Sony isn’t the only one trying to get prices down in this market. But its latest offering is still among the cheapest options available right now if you’re trying to project in true 4K.