Hisense’s new 2024 100L5H 4K laser TV is now available in South Africa and it comes with some impressive tech. This 4K Ultra-Short Throw laser projector is capable of displaying a 3840 x 2160 image with pixel shifting at a max lumen of 2700.
The Hisense 100L5H makes use of the brand’s X-Fusion Blue Laser tech which provides crisp and vibrant imagery across its 100-inch display. Speaking of the display, this projector relies on Hisense’s anti-light reflection panel which is included with the unit. This time around, I got to assemble it myself and it was quite an experience.
Watch the Hisense 100L5H review below
The 100-inch ALR screen comes in a rectangle box believe it or not and revolves around assembling the outer structure for the display. This is done by assembling the outer frame with metal beams and screwing them together with inner connectors. Once done, you roll the screen over the panel, slide in carbon fibre support beams, put those beams into more metal frames and slide that into the frame.
The rest is all about patience as I had to carefully tighten screws into the main frame and tighten them. This essentially pulled the screen towards the edges and secured it. I already had the brackets installed on my wall from my previous Hisense PL1 Laser TV review I did, so I just attached the panel to that installation.
The Hisense 100L5H unit itself has a refreshing new design. This model boasts a clean light gray colour and has gotten rid of the rounded edges for a sharper rectangular design. However, the unit is definitely a Hisense Laser TV. You can see it from a mile away and the brand has done a great job creating its own unique ecosystem of Laser TV products.
On the front of the unit, there’s a fabric layer that houses the 40W Dolby Atmos speaker system. There’s a little hidden white LED light that indicates when the power is off and on and the Hisense logo in a brushed steel styling.
The top of the unit is your typical laser TV box. In the centre, you’ll find the laser lens which is a little cutout. This is where all the magic happens. There’s also a set of eye protection sensors to detect when someone is nearby. The unit will automatically shut off the laser lens in that case to avoid eye damage.
On the right-hand side, there’s a new power button which turns the unit on and off without a remote but you can also navigate some of the settings and toggle the input with the button too. It helps if you don’t have your remote nearby.
Then there are the back ports. The Hisense 100L5H includes a number of ports including a Digital Audio Port, Ethernet, two USB Type-A ports, a headphone jack, two antenna ports and three HDMI ports. These HDMI ports are rated at 4K 60Hz with the second port used for EARC. Of course, there’s also a large kettle plug power port at the back too.
The Hisense 100L5H looks quite nice. The unit is slightly larger than previous models I reviewed but the sharper edges and the lighter shade of colour give it a modern and sophisticated look.
Hisense 100L5H Performance
The Hisense 100L5H uses the VIDAA operating system which is something we have come to expect from the brand. This means setting up the unit is fairly simple. Well, the actual set-up, not the placement and installation part. That requires some patience. I had to move the unit around on the TV stand to get the perfect positioning. It relies on aligning the display with the TV screen and rotating it slightly to get the perfect image. I could also unscrew and tighten the unit’s feet which elevated the angle slightly to help with the alignment too.
Once aligned, I could run an auto set-up for the unit by taking a photo of the screen and uploading it to the network. However, in the past, this setup has seldom worked. So instead, I took the manual method instead.
This meant navigating a grid screen where I could select a node and drag it around the edge of the display to move the laser’s picture. This grid helped a lot and gave me more control over the image. The lines helped me gauge whether the screen was straight and the node helped me fine-tune the picture.
Once done, the system looks and feels like any other Hisense VIDAA experience. You can sign into your account or skip everything and jump right into your apps. While I do enjoy the VIDAA experience, I have encountered issues in the past where apps simply don’t work. I have a new Hisense TV where the DStv app needs to be updated and there’s no update available. So I can’t use the app at all.
Yes, the system is faster and streamlined, but the lack of app update support can hinder the experience. But if you’re looking for apps, the platform has them all. Netflix, Disney+, Showmax etc. It is a fully-fledged entertainment platform.
When it comes to the general viewing experience on the Hisense 100L5H, this laser TV packs quite a punch. These units rely on lenses that are colour-accurate and bright to deliver the best possible picture quality and for the most part, the unit excels on both.
Of course, some image calibration is needed when you first set up the unit. I found myself using HDR Day for most content with a colour tone set to “warm 1”. This brought the colour temperature closer to 6500K which provides a more realistic image. I also disabled all the motion settings and noise reduction toggles.
Hisense does offer quite a lot of depth on the 100L5H to tweak the unit to your ideal setup. This also depends on the brightness of the room you’re in too. Calibration settings will vary depending on your setup.
The Hisense 100L5H’s brightness is good. The 2700 lumens go a long way to display a bright and vivid image in most scenarios. This laser TV will generally be much brighter than your typical projector and has been made to be viewed in not only dark areas but light ones too. The ALR screen also helps eliminate any sort of back-facing glow caused by windows and other bright objects in the room.
I was surprised to see just how great the Hisense 100L5H handled its black levels. Bright objects were very bright and dark areas were impressively dark. This was even better during HDR and Dolby Vision content. Not only did the colour range deliver vibrant images but the specular content glowed on the display. It is rather impressive for a laser TV.
The unit showed its best performance during HDR content. Out of the box, the Hisense 100L5H is a little oversaturated which may come across as unnatural. I altered this down by tweaking the colour but most users may prefer these vibrant images.
General TV watching was good. I even noticed how well the unit upscaled 1080p and 720p content to 4K. Of course, there’s still a lack of sharpness but good to know for those who are still using limited Disney+, DStv and Showmax apps that are still stuck in the early 2000s with HD content.
Gaming was also just as good. While there’s no 4K 120Hz support, which is likely a given now on these units, the same excellent image quality stemmed into the games too. Everything I played looked great and running at 4K, I measured 35ms of input lag which is decent. Keep in mind that this was with the built-in Gaming Mode active.
Across the board, I was happy with the image quality on the Hisense 100L5H. The viewing angles were fairly decent too. You’ll lose image quality and especially brightness when you move past the 45-degree angle but the large 100-inch screen means this angle is harder to reach.
The speakers in this unit are okay. At 40W, they can only produce so much sound. They don’t have much bass but they are loud and clear. They also have Dolby Atmos but there’s no real surround sound simulation at all given that the speakers only face one direction.
For those who are wondering, the Hisense 100L5H reached a peak energy use of 330W. This is on HDR Day and the laser luminance on 10, which is the max. You can drop the laser luminance down to zero to save 100W taking power use to around 230W. It is the only energy-saving feature available and even with that, the device still uses quite a lot of power when on the lowest brightness.
Overall, the Hisense 100L5H is yet another impressive laser TV from the brand. It does exactly what you’ll expect from it and its bright lens means you can get away with this in different setups. It doesn’t beat a TV’s performance but it does beat a TV’s size. Unless you’re willing to spend money on a 100-inch TV, you’ll find it difficult to replicate this experience for the same price.
Summary
The Hisense 100L5H 4K laser TV is a feature-packed entertainment solution that provides decent brightness and vivid imagery at a cost-effective price tag.
