4K projector turns any wall into theater-quality screen from inches away

[DudeAsInCool]

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  Vava comes in a big sturdy box with foam inserts and a carrying handle. System76 laptop and Victorinox knife for scale. [credit: Jim Salter ]

This is Vava, a 4K definition Ultra Short Throw (UST) home theater projector retailing for $2,700. For those of you not familiar with the term, UST refers to "throw distance"—the amount of space you need between a projector and screen in order to get the desired image size. This projector also features a built-in Harman-Kardon speaker, motion sensors to keep you from blinding yourself by staring into the laser, and plenty of inputs.

A few weeks ago, we reviewed Cinemood, a miniature and fairly low-cost portable projector that unfortunately did not really impress us. Vava is the projector we thought we were getting then, and we're happy to report that it impressed us a lot.

Setup

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  Vava and all the stuff that comes with it: power cord, manual, remote control, batteries, and a soft cloth lens cleaner. [credit: Jim Salter ]

Setting Vava up was a refreshingly straightforward process. Press the power button, and the system turns on and begins walking you through what little setup it needs or wants—select a source (with PiP to show you what's on each source!), connect to your Wi-Fi, and so forth. We were very happy with Vava's on-screen keyboard, which is laid out well and wraps in all four directions. You can "type" a Q and an L with only a couple of button presses on the remote rather than laboriously arrowing over each virtual "key" across the width of the board.

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