Vivitek HK2288 4K DLP Projector Review

4K DLP bargain?

by Phil Hinton
MSRP: £2,499.00

What is the Vivitek HK2288?

The Vivitek HK2288 is a 4K DLP projector that uses the 0.66” DMD Darkchip3 chip from Texas Instruments which creates a 4K-like image by flashing twice to create a 3840 x 2160 image to the eye. This saves on the costs of using a native chip and allows companies to release 4K capable projectors at a much lower price point. The HK2288 has been designed for home cinema use in dedicated rooms as well as normal living rooms and will also accept HDR10 signals. While Vivitek claims this is an HDR projector, it is not the same HDR performance that you could expect from a flat panel TV as projectors cannot achieve the brightness and dynamic range required to produce a 1000 or 4000 nit image correctly. In this case, we are relying on the projector being able to correctly tone map such content.

The design is good with the use of hard plastics for the chassis and there is a sculpted design to the case. The lens is offset to the right side of the front plate (looking from the front) and the body is sculpted around this area to make it stand out. There are manual controls around the lens with the focus on the front of the lens housing and the lens shift and zoom situated through a recess on the top plate of the projector. The rest of the front plate is clean with just the Vivitek 4K logo to the left side.

There are adjustable feet to the bottom of the chassis for table mounting and of course, you can ceiling mount with the correct mounting device. Around the back, we have the connections which are generous for video devices. There are three HDMI2.0 slots with HDCP2.2 compatibility and the HK2288 accepts 4K 60p 4:4:4 signals, including HDR10 High Dynamic Range. There is also an Audio-Out 3.5mm Mini-Jack, an RS-232 control port, as well as USB A (Power Only) and USB mini-B (Service). To the left are menu buttons to operate the projector if you lose the remote control.

The Vivitek HK2288 uses an RGBRGB colour wheel which should provide enough coverage to match the Rec.709 HD standard for colour reproduction, but it will struggle to produce a Wide Colour Gamut image because of this. There is no filter used either to produce wider colours, so like most DLP projectors, the HK2288 is Rec.709 only. There is the TI Brilliant Colour option but this artificially boosts colour brightness so is best avoided unless you like overly saturated hues.

Image brightness is claimed to be 2000 ANSI lumens and a native contrast claimed to be 50,000:1 which seems reasonable for such a device. Bulb life is also claimed to be around 4000 hours in the dynamic ECO mode, but this mode is not available when playing HDR content as the projector defaults to the Normal bright mode which also increases the fan noise. We found the noise levels to be similar to other DLP projectors at 32dB in normal and 29dB in Eco mode. We also didn’t notice any changes in noise pitch which can sometimes be an issue with fans.

We did find the menu system to be a bit of a chore to use and it does take a while to find the best settings available. We were also disappointed to find that even though this is an ISFccc projector, there is no two-point or ten-point greyscale controls. Instead, you are forced to use the one-point white setting in the colour management system to balance out the greyscale.

So how does all of this stand up when it comes to the actual performance of the HK2288?

Video Review

Our full in-depth review of the Vivitek HK2288 is in the video below.

Conclusion

The Good

  • Good image sharpness and 4K like images
  • Decent black levels for a DLP
  • Very good motion
  • Excellent value for money

The Bad

  • Lacking a two point white balance
  • Menus are dated
  • No real HDR performance gains
  • No 3D compatibility
  • Needs a dark room for the best performance

Vivitek HK2288 4K DLP Projector Review

The Vivitek HK2288 has been around for a while now, but the recent price drop really makes it an item home cinema fans should take note of. It has decent black levels for a 4K DLP machine that, while not JVC like in any way, are a step up on competing DLP models. It produces its 4K-like images by flashing the mirrors on its DMD in both directions incredibly quickly which allows it to display a 3840 x 2160 like image to your eye without you detecting any flashing in any way. This allows you to view 4K content on the HK2288 with excellent image sharpness and motion.

Indeed, image sharpness is superb with no signs of ringing and upscaled HD images also look crisp and realistic without any obvious edge enhancement or ringing. The brightness is good but you can obviously forget about any HDR peak highlights and specular details. Dynamic range is the same as for SDR content, but at least the greyscale and colours, for the most part, look decent and you can watch 4K discs and streaming content with a perceived high resolution.

Build quality is also excellent with a nice sculpted design and manual controls for lens shift, zoom and focus. The remote is also very good for the money and allows decent control of the projector, but we did find it didn’t like bouncing off our screen, instead, we needed to point it directly at the projector.

Had the Vivitek HK2288 still cost £2499 we would have probably scored it around 7/10 and added it to the long list of other 4K DLP machines we have reviewed here at AVForums without a second look. However, given it is now half the original price, but still offering all the features it does in such a well put together package and with decent image quality, we think it is worth a second look as it now gives excellent performance value for money and comes recommended.

Scores

Contrast/Dynamic Range/Black levels

.
.
.
7

Colour Accuracy

.
.
8

Greyscale Accuracy

.
.
8

Image Uniformity

.
.
8

Video Processing

.
.
8

2D Picture Quality

.
.
8

Picture Quality Out-of-the-Box

.
.
8

Picture Quality Calibrated

.
.
8

Features

.
.
.
7

Ease Of Use

.
.
8

Build Quality

.
.
8

Value For Money

.
.
8

Verdict

.
.
8
8
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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