The CineBeam S offers a unique physical design for a projector. At 6.3 by 4.3 by 6.3 inches (HWD), it looks like a large box camera from the early 1900s or before. In this case, the lens is on top rather than at the front, and its 4.2-pound weight would make it a little heavy for a camera. Beyond that, LG’s excellent fit and finish, along with its two-tone silver-and-black color scheme, add up to a sleek, stylish look.
What’s inside the box is fairly typical. As with almost all 4K portables, the CineBeam S relies on a 1,920-by-1,080 DLP chip along with TI’s XPR pixel shifting to generate its 4K image. And for its light source, it uses the increasingly popular choice of a tricolor red/green/blue laser light engine, which tends to offer a wider color gamut (that is, a larger range of colors) than other sources.
LG rates the coverage at 154% of DCI-P3. Note that BT.2020, the spec for UHD TVs and projectors, is about 140% of DCI-P3, so this implies a gamut that likely covers more than 100% of BT.2020. That assumes, however, that the extra 54% beyond DCI-P3 extends to the same area of the visible color gamut that BT.2020 covers. LG rates the laser lifetime at 20,000 hours and the brightness at 500 ANSI lumens.
(Credit: M. David Stone)
Physical setup is straightforward, thanks in part to the projector’s light weight, which makes it easy to position. The external AC power block plugs into one of the two USB Type-C ports on the back, leaving the other one free for connecting to a phone for wired mirroring or other video sources. The only other connection option is the one HDMI port. As with most portable projectors today, you can take advantage of auto-setup features for focus and for both vertical and horizontal keystone adjustment.
Autofocus worked reasonably well in my tests, but I sometimes found I could improve on it with manual adjustments using the remote. Keystone adjustment is best avoided if you can, since it can introduce artifacts; also, it lowers the brightness of any given-size image. I turned it off for my tests, instead relying on physical positioning to avoid keystone distortion.
(Credit: M. David Stone)
Note also that LG includes a hard-to-miss warning that the auto keystone may not work well on uneven surfaces or at distances beyond about 15 inches. I confirmed in my testing that it worked far better at just a few inches (and smaller image sizes) than at 15 inches or more from the screen.
The built-in streaming, powered by LG webOS, doesn’t require any significant setup beyond connecting to your Wi-Fi network. It’s also easy to use, and it offers apps for most popular streaming services, including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Netflix.
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(Credit: M. David Stone)
The two 4-watt speakers in the onboard stereo audio system delivered usable sound quality in my tests, along with high enough volume for a small to mid-size family room. On a scale from tinny to full-bodied, however, it was…not tinny, exactly, but closer to the low end of the scale than the high end. If you want better audio, you can connect to an external system using Bluetooth. LG even adds links on the CineBeam S web page to two of its portable Bluetooth speakers, so you can easily add either to your order. Unfortunately, it didn’t provide either sound solution with the projector for testing.
