LG Electronics has announced a new addition to its CineBeam range of projectors, but it isn’t the usual home cinema-style model. Rather, the LG CineBeam PU700R is an extremely portable, 4K HDR projector that appears to be designed to take on Samsung Electronics’ The Freestyle.
The company said the LG CineBeam PU700R can project an image of up to 120 inches on any wall with 4K resolution. It supports HDR10 with Dynamic Tone Mapping and also the HLG and HGiG HDR formats, which is a big improvement on the rather basic 1080p images delivered by The Freestyle.
LG explained that the CineBeam PU700R is powered by an LED laser light source that can hit a peak brightness of up to 1,000 lumens. Its lifetime is rated at 30,000 hours. That compares very well to The Freestyle, which can only deliver 230 nits of brightness.
The CineBeam PU700R is also extremely versatile, with a stand that can be rotated 90 degrees supported by an Auto Screen Adjustment feature that automatically adjusts the image to fit whatever surface it’s being projected onto. The stand, which primarily serves to position the PU700R, also features a colour-changing LED that offers some fancy mood light options.
As expected, the new projector runs the webOS smart TV platform, which means users can access streaming apps like Netflix, Disney and Amazon Prime Video. The company did not confirm if the PU7000R runs the latest version of webOS that’s found in this year’s G3 and C3 OLED TV models.
Connectivity options include Android Screen Share and Apple AirPlay 2 for device mirroring, plus a couple of USB type A and USB type C inputs and HDMI 2.1 for connecting video games consoles, an external streaming device or even a soundbar. Other options include Bluetooth Dual Sound Out for a pair of external speakers or headphones. That will probably be necessary, as the device only has a rather timid 5-watt mono speaker to output audio.
The CineBeam PU700R is currently only available in the U.S., priced at $1,699 (about £1,370), but unfortunately there’s no word yet on when it will be available to buy in the U.K. For Americans, at least, LG is currently offering a decent promotion that bundles a free XBOOM 360 wireless speaker if you snap up the PU70)R before June 11.
