The AWOL Vision LTV-2500 is an entry-level 4K 3D Triple Laser projector. Released in August 2022, it is the smaller sibling of the AWOL Vision LTV-3500, which Projector Central reviewed back in September of 2022. The LTV-3500 has since been discontinued and replaced by the LTV-3500 Pro, and the LTV-3000 Pro sits below that in AWOL's line-up. The LTV-2500, priced at $2,999 list but seen at a promotional price of $2,499 from some retailers, is available for prospective UST buyers working with a more limited budget, and it comes packed with many of the same features as its pricier siblings such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos, and DTS: Virtual X, among others.

Features

As with many single-chip 4K DLP projectors, the LTV-2500 uses a 0.47-inch imaging chip with a native 1080p mirror array, to which rapid four-phase pixel shifting is applied to achieve full 4K (3840x2160) resolution on screen. The image produced is quite sharp, likely thanks in part to a customized Ricoh F2.0 pure glass lens utilized for increased sharpness.

The LTV-2500 has an RGB triple laser light engine capable of providing a maximum of 25,000 hours of laser life, though, as is common with some other discrete RGB lasers, it displayed the image with a small amount of visible laser speckle. The triple laser RGB light engine ultimately provides users with a wide gamut coverage, cited by AWOL at 107% of the Rec.2020 color space. As noted below, our measurements showed 95.3% uv for Rec.2020 coverage, which falls slightly short of spec but is still very wide and more than sufficient to fully cover the more restricted DCI-P3 gamut to which most of today's HDR content is mastered.

The 2,600 "peak lumens" cited in AWOL's published specs for brightness does not follow the ANSI or ISO21118 averaged measurement technique widely accepted by the projector industry. Upon request, AWOL cited 2,000 lumens as the projector's equivalent ANSI spec. As explained in the Measurements appendix, a 3rd-party, independent lab measurement made with a specialized measuring rig cited a maximum of 1,682 ISO21118 lumens among several samples of the LTV-2500 tested. This is approximately 16% below the ANSI spec, which is technically within the 20% tolerance for the latest ISO standard, though well below the peak lumen spec promoted exclusively by AWOL. Also keep in mind that highly saturated colors such as those from a discrete RGB laser light source can appear somewhat brighter than their ANSI or ISO lumen measurement implies.

The LTV-2500 is listed as having a contrast ratio of 2,500:1, though our measurements found the native contrast ratio to be 1,314:1. Though this falls well short of the claim, it was sufficient for providing good shadow detail in scenes that require it.

The LTV-2500's lens features a throw ratio of 0.25:1, typical of many UST projectors. What is not typical is its ability to project up to a 150-inch diagonal image. Its throw distance is 6 to 20.2 inches from the screen for its 80- to 150-inch image range, maximizing space while still providing a large, immersive cinematic experience. It's worth noting, however, that the projector's brightness reserves may be challenged to drive its maximum image of 150-inches, short of controlling ambient light (or using an appropriate UST ALR screen, which would likely be unpractical at the 150-inch screen size due to its cost versus that of the projector).

The LTV-2500 features 8-point keystone correction and digital focus to help fine-tune the picture, although these options are located in the Light menu rather than the Image menu. It's important to note that keystone and 3D features are disabled if the user enables Turbo Mode, which is necessary to achieve the lowest input latency for gaming: 15ms for 1080p/60Hz and 4K/60Hz, and as low as 8ms for 1080p/120Hz.

Weighing 21 pounds, with dimensions of 23.6 x 13.9 x 5.7 inches (WxDxH), the LTV-2500 is on the smaller side of UST projectors. It supports front table and ceiling installation, as well as rear table and ceiling installation. When installing on a tabletop, four adjustment feet assist in properly leveling the unit. For installation assistance, visit the ProjectorCentral AWOL Vision LTV-2500 projection calculator.

The LTV-2500 technically utilizes the Android 9.0 OS but does not function as a typical Android OS smart device, which would use Android TV as the web streaming platform. Instead, the Android OS serves more as a hub to select sources, perform file management, screen sharing, media reading, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Fortunately, AWOL includes a Fire TV 4K Max stick, which conveniently gets stored in its own compartment with access to HDMI 1 and power delivery. This ultimately ensures that all desired apps such as Prime Video, Max, Disney+, Netflix, etc., are readily available to users in a more robust offering. The Fire TV stick comes with a dedicated remote, but can be controlled by the AWOL remote if HDMI-CEC control is turned on in the projector's menu.

The LTV-2500's connectivity options are substantial for I/O. It provides users with three HDMI 2.0 ports that support HDCP 2.2, with eARC supported on HDMI input 2. As mentioned, HDMI Input 1 is located behind a compartment along with a USB 2.0 with power delivery to power the included Fire TV 4K Max stick. Two additional USB 2.0 ports are available, one on the rear of the unit and the other on the side, both of which can be used as media readers. The LTV-2500 also includes a breakaway cable to allow for composite AV input for legacy devices, which is rare but a welcome addition. Bluetooth, S/PDIF, built-in Wi-Fi radio, wireless screen mirroring, and an RJ45 LAN port are also included in the LTV-2500.

An additional standout feature of the LTV-2500 is its support for both DolbyVision and HDR10+, which is starting to become more common in UST projectors. When included, it is always welcome. Additionally, the LTV-2500 supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual: X for simulated spatial surround sound, making good use of the integrated 36-watt stereo speaker system, which features two drivers for each channel. The sound produced by the LTV-2500 is quite good for a projector, and users who opt not to use an external sound system will likely be pleased overall. However, I did feel it lacked some clarity and detail, though a 5-band EQ is available to tune the sound to one's liking when utilizing the User sound preset. Those who use an external sound system can take advantage of the eARC feature to send lossless audio to the system if preferred.

The LTV-2500 also supports 3D using active DLP-Link 3D glasses. Two pairs of glasses are included with the unit, which is rare. The 3D produced by the LTV-2500 is very good and was decently bright through the active glasses on my 0.6-gain, 103-inch UST ALR screen, with little to no crosstalk. My brief viewing experience in 3D was pleasant overall, so fans of 3D should ultimately be pleased with the LTV-2500's performance in this area provided they are viewing at an appropriate image size.

The LTV-2500 includes an IR/Bluetooth remote that is very responsive, providing access to almost all the features needed to comfortably navigate the projector. The remote offers buttons to switch between sound outputs such as internal speakers, Bluetooth, and eARC. There are also buttons for File Management, Settings, Screen Sharing, Source (inputs), as well as Volume, Home, Mute, and Brightness. However, there are a few misses. One is an included button that allows users to see source info and change the HDMI version from HDMI 2.0 to 1.4 and vice versa, which isn't really needed. A better button to include would have been one that accesses the picture modes, especially given how the LTV-2500 handles color spaces and its inability to use the same picture mode effectively between SDR and HDR, as detailed in the Performance section below. Additionally, the sound button would have been better utilized to switch sound profiles rather than outputs. Ultimately, the remote has everything a user would need, though it could benefit from a few improvements based on how the unit works.

Performance

Color Modes. The LTV-2500 has six picture modes for SDR and HDR, referred to as Image Modes, with settings shared between SDR and HDR signals. In addition to these picture modes, Dolby Vision offers three unique modes. The available modes are Standard, Vivid, Sport, Movie, Game, and User. When the unit detects an HDR signal, the picture modes appear with an HDR prefix before the mode name, such as HDR User. The Dolby Vision modes are Dolby Vision Dark, Bright, or Vivid. The User picture mode can be the brightest when using the Light Mode of Bright or User with Custom 10 selected, as these two settings will output the same luminance.

One immediately noticeable aspect of the AWOL LTV-2500 is the blue bias present in all picture modes. Ideally, the picture modes would be accurate and there would be at least one with a neutral white targeting a 6500K color temperature. However, most manufacturers do not achieve this and instead lean towards a color temperature bias to increase measured lumens, usually green for brighter picture modes. AWOL's approach of using blue instead of green is preferable as blue is a much less offensive color that we are less sensitive to. This makes it more tolerable and gives a sense of a brighter and cleaner white. So, while not accurate, it is more acceptable. Nonetheless, this blue bias persisted through all picture modes, and even in the Hot color temperature setting, which you would normally expect to lean red, there was an excess amount of blue.

Luckily, the LTV-2500 offers a user color temperature setting that can be adjusted uniquely for each picture mode, though it is shared between SDR and HDR for a given mode as well as with each HDMI input. This also applies to all picture mode settings that can be adjusted in the Advanced settings menu. The basic picture mode settings, such as Contrast, Brightness, Chroma (commonly referred to as Saturation or Color), Tone (commonly referred to as Tint or Hue), and Sharpness, are only available in the User picture mode. However, these settings are not shared between SDR, HDR, and other HDMI inputs and can be set differently per content type. Unfortunately, due to the LTV-2500's inconsistent behavior when handling WCG (wide color gamut) switching between dynamic ranges, these independent settings are not very useful. Dolby Vision picture modes also have access to the basic picture controls.

The LTV-2500 does not handle color space selection correctly because the color space is tied to a toggle switch in the menu to enable or disable Wide Color Gamut (WCG). This results in either SDR or HDR being over- or under-saturated, depending on the colorimetry of the content and the toggle setting. Consequently, users cannot use the same picture mode for both SDR and HDR without toggling the switch each time based on the content they are watching. Even if the projector is calibrated, this falls short because the CMS would have been corrected for only one target color space such as Rec.709 or BT2020, but not both.

Ultimately, the only go around if you want accurate images for both signal types is for users to use two different picture modes: one for SDR and another for HDR. It would be expected that this is handled automatically as it is on most other projectors, with the unit switching to the correct color space based on the content. However, this is not the case with the LTV-2500.

Gamma controls are available with pre-determined settings of Dark, Middle, and Bright. These correspond to effective gamma values of approximately 2.3, 2.1, and 1.9, and they track relatively well to those targets with a bit of under tracking on the lower end.

The gamut coverage of the LTV-2500, which AWOL Vision markets as 107% of Rec.2020, is impressive. However, as noted it did not meet that claim as the measured gamut coverage with Wide Color Gamut enabled for Rec.2020 came in at 94.44% xy and 95.26% uv. This is still great coverage, nearly covering the entire 2020 color space. P3 measurements came in at 98.28% xy and 99.21% uv. When Wide Color Gamut was disabled, Rec.709 coverage was rather low at 93%, which was due to the coverage of 100% saturated blue. This, in turn, impacted magenta, ultimately reducing gamut coverage.

Initial viewing of the out-of-the-box (OOTB) picture modes was fairly consistent across all modes. None of the picture modes were particularly accurate, though they didn't necessarily look bad either. The abundance of blue was noticeable in the image, even when selecting the Hot color temperature. The most noticeable attribute of the picture, however, was the overly red skin tones. Users looking for a more accurate picture would be best served by turning down the blue gain until they reach a neutral-looking white, followed by adjusting the yellow hue until more natural-looking skin tones are achieved. Ultimately, the LTV-2500 greatly benefited from a full calibration.

I started calibration by measuring the User Color Mode with its default values using Calman Ultimate calibration software from Portrait Displays, a Colorimetry Research CR-250 Spectroradiometer, a Colorimetry Research CR-100 Colorimeter, and a Murideo 8K Seven Generator. The LTV-2500 was calibrated to 103-inch diagonal on an Elite Screens Aeon CLR Ambient Light Rejecting screen.

Pre-calibration measurements had very large dE (DeltaE) errors. (DeltaE is the metric used to determine the visible error. It has been determined that anything over a dE of 3 is visible, anything over 2.3 is a just noticeable difference for trained eyes and anything below 2.3 should ideally not be seen to the eye.) Grayscale pre-calibration measurements of User mode had dE errors all over an average of 8.4, which was easily visible to the eye. Color gamut color points for the Rec.709 color space also exhibited high dE errors upwards to 13.6 dE which were due to inaccurate hue and saturation.

Utilizing the Color Temperature control for adjustments I targeted the production industry standard D65 neutral gray white point using the available Gain and Offset controls, in addition to the standard picture controls and CMS (color management system) used for adjusting the color space.

Post calibration errors for Rec.709 were improved, though still could have been better. Running an extensive color checker of 150+ patterns resulted in an average of 2.3dE, and a max of 8.9dE. This was mainly due to blue and magenta, which were the biggest problem areas for Rec.709 content. In order to get the majority of those colors to track correctly it resulted in heavily undersaturated blue and magenta in the 90% and 100% saturation range. Everything else tracked fairly well. (The Calman ColorChecker measures accuracy on a wide range of color swatches corresponding to skin tones, blue sky, etc.)

HDR calibrated fairly well and the best results were to calibrate targeting BT.2020 and allowing P3 to map within BT.2020. I found if P3 were targeted it would result in higher errors in BT.2020 and under-saturate BT.2020 more than it should. Unfortunately, with Dolby Vision, the CMS would wreck the gamut mapping completely, so it is advised to only do a White Balance correction and leave the CMS untouched for DV calibration.

The devices I used for reviewing content post calibration were Apple TV 4K, and Fire TV 4K Max.

1080p/SDR Viewing. I chose to watch The Shape of Water in SDR via Fire TV 4K Max. The calibrated LTV-2500 performed exceptionally well in SDR viewing. The skin tones were accurate, and the subtle hues of blue, green, and cyan used in the environments were rendered well and displayed as expected. Shadow detail was quite good, although it required turning Off Dynamic Contrast and using Enhanced Black Level, as Dynamic Contrast tended to crush detail in scenes with darker backgrounds, such as when Elisa first encountered the capsule with Amphibian Man. Ultimately, the LTV-2500 excelled with SDR content after calibration.

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UHD/HDR Viewing. For HDR viewing, I chose to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie via Apple TV 4K in Dolby Vision. Since the CMS (color management system) was not as effective for calibration in Dolby Vision, I wanted to see how this translated to real content. It was apparent that the colors were oversaturated, particularly with red and green, but it didn't actually look bad for this content. The saturation lends itself well to animated movies and is not as noticeably incorrect as what would be seen in live-action content. What stood out the most, however, was the clipping in the whites and various other highlights. This was noticeable in many scenes, such as when Luigi escaped into the castle and slowly backed up; when he briefly stepped into the light, his white gloves showed significant clipping and lost detail. This issue was also evident in other areas, such as the clouds around the castle in the Mushroom Kingdom and highlights off Princess Peach's face. The image was very bright, though, and remained very watchable in both dark and bright rooms. Despite overlooking some of the inconsistencies in the image, it ultimately provided a pleasant viewing experience.

I then watched Rings of Power, Season 1, Episode 5, using the included Fire TV 4K Max on Prime Video in HDR. I usually focus on the orc's night attack on the village. The LTV-2500 performed rather well in this scene. Fortunately, I did not notice or experience any rainbow effect, which is often visible when the torches first appear in the distance. I then examined the color of the fire in various areas, and the LTV-2500 actually maintained more color saturation in the fire, rather than it being clipped to appear white and lacking in color, which is typical. This did happen in some instances, such as when the cart that was set on fire rolled downhill, but the torches retained their saturation. Initially, this scene was too dark, and much of the image detail was lost. However, setting HDR to High improved the overall image enough to discern the details and the image in general. Therefore, adjusting the HDR setting between Low, Medium, and High as needed will likely be necessary. Unfortunately, this control's Auto option set it to the equivalent of Low, making it very difficult to see.

The last movie I watched was Lucy via Apple TV 4K. The calibrated LTV-2500 did a good job of producing accurate skin tones and clean whites. This was evident when Lucy was building the supercomputer and the room went completely white. However, it was also noticeable that the doctors' coats were clipped in various areas, and during the explosion scene, it was more pronounced towards the center of the explosion. Another instance of clipping was noticeable in Lucy's hair when she was sitting in the middle of Times Square. Despite these issues in various scenes, the movie was presented well. The Auto HDR function set the HDR setting to Medium, which produced the overall best image across the scenes I watched. Nevertheless, adjusting the HDR setting from time to time may be necessary to suit the viewer's taste.

Conclusion

The AWOL Vision LTV-2500 UST stands out as a strong contender in the UST market. However, it isn't without its quirks and areas for improvement, such as its handling of color spaces and the need to use separate picture modes for SDR and HDR, as well as its lack of out-of-box accuracy that begs for professional calibration. On top of this, its "Peak Lumens" brightness specification that does not align with industry-standard measurements may mislead unsavvy purchasers into thinking it has more brightness than it really does.

Yet, despite these considerations, AWOL Vision's offering is certainly worth exploring for prospective buyers. It supports all popular HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, and audio formats like DTS: Virtual X, Dolby Atmos, and eARC. The built-in sound suffices enough for regular use that users preferring not to use a soundbar, AVR, or other audio system may find it adequate. It comes with a robust smart platform from the included Fire TV 4K Max. And its ability to project a 150-inch diagonal image positions it favorably as large-format direct-view TVs around 100 inches become more prevalent and affordable, even with caution that care should be taken to ensure it is bright enough for the expected viewing conditions at its maximum image size.

Potential buyers or users opting for a more modest screen size around that 100-inch mark should consider this as well. Versus a TV, a UST like the LTV-2500 provides benefits in ease of movement, weight, and gamut coverage if it features a RGB laser. On the other hand, large direct-view televisions can reach upwards of 3,000 nits brightness, offer Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 4K/120Hz and VRR for gaming, and better contrast. They perform well in both bright and dark viewing environments, and generally have no quirks with things like color spaces. This does really question the long-term viability of USTs unless they can project at even larger screen sizes.

Nonetheless, in terms of price-to-performance, the AWOL Vision LTV-2500 presents a compelling option in the UST space. Prospective buyers looking for a larger screen and preferring UST models should seriously consider it, provided they can overlook or accommodate its caveats.

Measurements

Brightness. [Editor's Note: The AWOL Vision LTV-2500 is rated publicly for 2,600 "Peak Lumens." Peak lumens is not an industry sanctioned or defined standard such the ISO21118 or ANSI spec that would allow fair comparisons with most other projectors. The current ISO21118 spec calls for a nine-point averaged measurement that follows the same technique as the now retired ANSI spec described here, though with a generous 20% tolerance. At our request, AWOL Vision confirmed that the LTV-2500's equivalent spec is 2,000 ANSI lumens.

We have previously reported that UST brightness measurements conducted with a handheld luminance meter, as typically performed by ProjectorCentral reviewers, tend toward a high margin of error due to the extreme angle of light coming from the lens; minute physical movements of the meter can produce large swings in the readings. For purpose of this review, we are relying on publicly available third-party measurements that were conducted by Lumita, Inc., an independent lab with an appropriate measuring rig featuring nine stationary sensors. Lumita cited a maximum of 1,682 ISO21118 lumens as the brightest from among five samples of the LTV-2500 it tested. Technically, a 1,682 ISO21118 lumens measurement falls approximately 16% below the unpublished 2,000 ANSI lumen spec, which would be within the 20% ISO tolerance. However, potential buyers should be careful to use the ANSI spec and measurement provided here when comparing the LTV-2500 to competitors who provide an industry-standard ANSI or ISO21118 spec.—Rob Sabin]

Fan Noise. AWOL Vision LTV-2500 lists the noise of the LTV-2500 as equal to or less than 27dB. Using Room EQ Wizard software and a Umik-1 microphone, my theater room ambient noise floor is 33.3 dBA. The AWOL Vision LTV-2500 measured a max of 34.8 dB for fan noise in all picture modes and brightness settings. The measurements were taken at a distance of approximately 3 feet from the unit.

Above: 34.7dBA
Rear: 34.3 dBA
Left: 34.4 dBA
Right: 34.8 dBA

Input Lag. Input lag measurements while using Low Delay Mode and Turbo Mode were recorded as follows:

1080p/60 = 38ms - Low Delay Mode
2160p/60 = 38ms - Low Delay Mode
1080p/60 = 19ms - Low Delay Mode and Turbo Mode
1080p/120 = 9ms - Low Delay Mode and Turbo Mode
2160p/60 = 19ms - Low Delay Mode and Turbo Mode

Connections

• HDMI 2.0 (x3; HDMI 2 eARC; HDCP 2.2, HDMI 1 in compartment for streaming stick)
• USB 2.0 type A (x3; USB 3 in compartment power delivery only; USB 1 and 2 USB Reader)
• Analog Video Input (using included breakaway cable)
• RJ45 Lan port
• S/PDIF (Optical output)
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/n/ac Dual Band)
• Bluetooth

Calibrated Settings

Calibrated image settings from any third-party do not account for the significant potential for sample-to-sample variation, nor the different screen sizes and materials, lighting, lamp usage, or other environmental factors that can affect image quality. Projectors should always be calibrated in the user's own space and tuned for the expected viewing conditions. However, the settings provided here may be a helpful starting point for some. Always record your current settings before making adjustments so you can return to them as desired. Refer to the Performance section for some context for each calibration.

SDR Settings

Image Mode: USER

User Settings

Brightness: 50
Contrast: 50
Chroma: 51
Tone: -2
Sharpness: 10

Advanced Settings

MEMC: Movie
Low Delay mode: Off
Noise reduction: Off
Dynamic Contrast: Off
Enhanced Black Level: On
Gamma: Middle
Color Temperature: User

White Balance

Red Gain: -2
Red Offset: 0

Green Gain: -5
Green Offset: 0

Blue Gain: -56
Blue Offset: 0

Color Correction

Color	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	48	55	56
Green	59	56	61
Blue	61	78	47
Cyan	51	50	54
Magenta	52	81	48
Yellow	60	51	55
Skin	50	50	50

Wide Color Gamut: Off

Light Settings
Light Mode: User
Custom: 10

HDR Settings

Image Mode: HDR Movie

User Settings: N/A

Advanced Settings

MEMC: Movie
Low Delay mode: Off
Noise reduction: Off
Dynamic Contrast: On/Off (user preference)
Enhanced Black Level: On
Gamma: Middle (N/A)
Color Temperature: User

White Balance

Red Gain: 3
Red Offset: 0

Green Gain: 0
Green Offset: 0

Blue Gain: -52
Blue Offset: 0

Color Correction

Color	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	51	53	50
Green	50	53	50
Blue	52	65	50
Cyan	52	53	50
Magenta	50	70	50
Yellow	59	46	50
Skin	50	50	50

HDR: Auto

Wide Color Gamut: On

Dolby Vision Settings

Image Mode: Dolby Vision Dark

User Settings

Brightness: 50
Contrast: 50
Chroma: 50
Tone: 50
Sharpness: 10

Advanced Settings

MEMC: Movie
Low Delay mode: Off
Noise reduction: Off
Dynamic Contrast: (N/A)
Enhanced Black Level: On
Gamma: Middle (N/A)
Color Temperature: User

White Balance

Red Gain: 0
Red Offset: 0

Green Gain: -2
Green Offset: 0

Blue Gain: -55
Blue Offset: 0

Color Correction

Color	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	50	50	50
Green	50	50	50
Blue	50	50	50
Cyan	50	50	50
Magenta	50	50	50
Yellow	50	50	50
Skin	50	50	50

Wide Color Gamut: On

For more detailed specifications and connections, check out our AWOL Vision LTV-2500 projector page.

To buy this projector, use Where to Buy online, or get a price quote by email direct from Projector Central authorized dealers using our E-Z Quote tool.

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