TECH REVIEW – The Samsung The Premiere 9 is an ultra-short-throw 4K DLP projector equipped with a triple-laser light source that delivers cinematic, large-screen visuals bursting with brightness and vibrancy. Its image accuracy is outstanding, the Dolby Atmos sound system is deeply immersive, and its smart platform is remarkably comprehensive. This high-performing projector offers a convenient and cost-effective alternative to oversized TVs.

 

The Samsung Premiere 9 represents one of the finest examples of ultra-short-throw projectors, building on the brand’s earlier achievements in this increasingly popular market. The secret to its success lies in its triple-laser light source, which utilizes red, green, and blue lasers to create cinematic images surpassing even the largest TV screens. These visuals are not only massive but also sufficiently bright to perform well on white walls and in rooms with ambient light while delivering a vast color gamut for more vivid and dynamic hues.

 

 

Three Lasers for Picture Perfection

 

The Samsung The Premiere 9 employs single-chip DLP display technology, which ensures sharper images by eliminating alignment issues. While it doesn’t achieve true native 4K resolution, the level of detail it offers is frequently impressive. The projector excels in motion handling—a well-known strength of DLP technology—though its weak black levels, a common drawback of this tech, remain evident. On the bright side, the triple-laser design significantly reduces the occurrence of rainbow artifacts often associated with DLP projectors.

The Premiere 9 achieves accurate visuals thanks to its Filmmaker Mode, while highly effective HDR tone mapping guarantees detailed shadows and prevents highlights from clipping. Its color range not only covers the entire HDR standard but also extends beyond it, making its high dynamic range performance exceptional. Whether you’re watching HDR10, HLG, or HDR10+ content (Dolby Vision is not supported, as is typical for Samsung TVs and projectors), images leap off the screen with dazzling highlights and richly saturated colors.

This projector boasts a stylish, lifestyle-friendly design and is straightforward to set up and install. Its Dolby Atmos sound system delivers a captivating audio experience, thanks to its 2.2.2-channel speaker configuration, which functions almost like an integrated soundbar. Additionally, Samsung’s AI-based Object Tracking Sound technology enhances audio performance for non-Atmos content. Packed with an array of gaming features, a robust smart platform, reliable connectivity options, and extensive control methods, this projector covers all bases.

The primary drawback is the absence of built-in tuners, but apart from this, the device skillfully blurs the lines between projectors and giant TVs. It is well-suited for producing expansive and luminous visuals that rival the largest and best televisions, making it a viable, more affordable, and practical alternative.

 

Stylish Design, Superior Connectivity

 

For an ultra-short-throw projector, the Premiere 9 boasts an unexpectedly stylish design. Its curved chassis, finished in neutral white, is well-built, with a gray fabric front covering the speakers. Cooling vents are positioned on the sides. Despite its relatively large size, the projector’s lifestyle-oriented design allows it to sit discreetly against a wall.

In terms of connectivity, the Premiere 9 outshines most other UST projectors. It features three HDMI 2.0 ports, one of which supports eARC, alongside a USB port for multimedia playback and powering streaming devices, an optical digital output, and an Ethernet port. Wireless options include built-in Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.2, and Apple AirPlay support.

Samsung provides a SolarCell remote, color-matched in white to complement the projector’s design. The remote is well-designed, intuitive, and comfortable to use. A built-in microphone facilitates voice control through smart assistants, but for privacy-conscious users, a physical switch at the back can disable this feature.

 

Three Lasers: Taking Home Cinema to a New Level

 

The standout feature of the Samsung The Premiere 9 is its triple-laser light source, which uses red, green, and blue lasers to deliver a stunning 3,450 lumens of brightness, a broad color gamut, and a lifespan of 20,000 hours. This provides a notable advantage over most ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors, ensuring enough luminance for use with white walls, large windows, or rooms with ambient light.

As a UST projector, it can project a 100-inch image from just 11 cm (around 4 inches) away, and a 130-inch screen from only 24 cm (approximately 9.5 inches). This makes it an excellent choice even for limited spaces, offering a big-screen experience without needing a lot of room. Adjusting the screen size is as simple as physically moving the projector closer or farther from the wall, centering it involves side-to-side adjustments, and the built-in adjustable feet allow for proper leveling. The focus can also be manually fine-tuned for perfect sharpness.

The Premiere 9 utilizes single-chip DLP technology to deliver what is billed as 4K resolution, though this is achieved using pixel-shifting. It supports most major HDR formats, including HDR10, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), and HDR10+. As with other Samsung displays, Dolby Vision support is absent, but the RGB laser light source ensures that HDR content is punchy, with vibrant and dynamic colors.

The projector features a built-in 2.2.2-channel audio system with 40W of power, supporting Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound (OTS) AI-enhanced audio processing and Dolby Atmos decoding. The result is an immersive audio experience, with clear dialogue, a wide frontal soundstage, deep bass, and convincing spatial sound effects.

Music lovers and audiophiles will appreciate additional features such as AI-powered Adaptive Sound Pro enhancements, Active Voice Amplifier Pro for clearer dialogue, and Q Symphony, which syncs the Premiere 9 with compatible Samsung soundbars. The latter feature is particularly beneficial for viewers who enjoy powerful bass during movies.

 

 

Smart and User-Friendly: The Strength of Samsung’s Ecosystem

 

Setting up the Premiere 9 is as intuitive as configuring a Samsung TV, thanks to the SmartThings app guiding users through the entire process. Within minutes, it connects to Wi-Fi and has all streaming apps ready to go. The Vision Boost feature, equipped with a built-in light sensor, automatically adjusts brightness based on ambient lighting conditions in the room.

The Premiere 9 runs Samsung’s full Tizen-powered smart TV system, familiar to users of the brand’s televisions. Its responsive platform benefits from sufficient processing power to ensure smooth operation. Built-in voice assistants such as Bixby and Amazon Alexa are available, along with a wide range of video streaming services that support 4K, HDR, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos content.

For gamers, the Premiere 9 offers ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), but its input lag of 53 ms remains too high for competitive gaming. Additionally, the HDMI 2.0 ports limit frame rates to 4K/60Hz, and variable refresh rate (VRR) support is absent. Despite these limitations, motion handling is superb, delivering smooth gameplay that takes full advantage of the immersive big-screen visuals.

Other features include Samsung’s Game Hub, which facilitates gaming without a console, and a Game Bar that consolidates critical settings and technical data in one place. The AI Auto Game Mode automatically optimizes the projector’s settings for different gaming genres, enhancing the user experience.

The Premiere 9 is a feature-rich projector, though it lacks built-in terrestrial and satellite tuners, a common omission in UST projectors, likely to simplify global manufacturing and marketing. While TV catch-up apps suffice for most shows, those wanting live broadcasts will need a set-top box.

 

Image and Sound Quality: At the Core of the Experience

 

The Samsung Premiere 9 immediately impresses with its bright, vibrant large-screen images. Its triple-laser light source adds tremendous value, not only in terms of brightness but also by delivering a wider color gamut. The single-chip DLP technology ensures sharp, well-defined visuals, while focus and uniformity across the screen result in a clean and consistent presentation.

Out of the box, the image quality is exceptional: the white point is close to the D65 industry standard, grayscale is even, and colors precisely match BT.709 saturation targets. These settings can be further refined through calibration. Considering the price of the Premiere 9, investing in professional calibration to achieve near-reference-level accuracy is worth considering.

This precision extends to HDR content as well, with the Premiere 9 covering 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 92% of the broader BT.2020 standard. Previous generations of Samsung’s UST projectors struggled with controlling this vast native color gamut, resulting in visible errors. Thankfully, the Premiere 9 demonstrates significant improvement, tracking saturation targets more effectively.

Black levels, however, lean towards dark gray—a common trait for DLP projectors. The measured contrast ratio is 1,700:1, with a dynamic contrast ratio claimed at 2,000,000:1. This impressive figure is achieved by turning off the laser during black screens, meaning it doesn’t reflect real-world performance. Still, the Real Depth Contrast Enhancer feature helps optimize contrast, enhancing depth in visuals.

The Premiere 9’s lumens level is sufficient to illuminate a 130-inch screen, even in the subdued Filmmaker Mode, which doesn’t reach the brightness peaks of Dynamic Mode. This ensures HDR content retains its impact. While black levels could be better, effective tone mapping avoids crushed details or blown-out highlights, delivering an engaging HDR experience.

 

Optimized Motion and Cinematic Enjoyment

 

The images produced by the Premiere 9 are powered by Samsung’s Quantum Processor 4K, which utilizes AI upscaling to make the most of available pixels. This results in richly detailed visuals, regardless of the original resolution. The processor also reduces noise and compression artifacts, ensuring clean and sharp big-screen imagery.

As expected from a DLP projector, motion handling is outstanding. The technology’s rapid response time ensures smooth motion, making it ideal for fast-paced content. Samsung’s Motion Xcelerator technology, along with a dedicated Film Mode, ensures cinematic content appears natural and judder-free. Even fast-moving sports scenes display fluidly without introducing artificial effects.

In HDR10, the snow-covered landscapes of The Revenant appear breathtaking, as do the desert vistas of Dune: Part 2. In both cases, these native 4K films showcase exceptional detail, rendered sharply and vividly. Meanwhile, Inside Out takes full advantage of the wide color gamut, with its deeply saturated hues practically leaping off the screen.

Similarly, Alita: Battle Angel in HDR10+ was detected seamlessly by the Premiere 9, which applied dynamic metadata for optimal tone mapping. The resulting visuals boasted rich colors, stunning highlights, and intricate shadow detail. This action-packed film also tested the projector’s motion handling, which passed with flying colors, offering smooth playback without judder or other distractions.

 

Price-Performance Ratio and Competitors

 

The Samsung Premiere 9, priced at $5,999, might seem expensive compared to other ultra short throw (UST) projectors. However, most alternatives do not feature a triple-laser system with its unique advantages. This makes the Premiere 9 a compelling alternative to giant TVs, being significantly more affordable than screens over 100 inches and far easier to install—imagine trying to get a 110-inch TV into your living room.

For alternatives, consider the Epson LS800, which offers a brighter output at 4,000 lumens but lacks HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support. Another option is the Hisense PX2-Pro, which supports both HDR10+ and Dolby Vision but is limited to 2,400 lumens. Neither model, however, matches the Premiere 9 in terms of sound quality, gaming features, or its robust smart platform.

 

Buy It If…

 

• You love big and bright visuals in any room: The triple-laser light source, featuring individual red, green, and blue lasers, delivers cinematic-quality images bright enough for white walls and well-lit rooms.
• You want outstanding HDR performance: The triple-laser technology offers not just brightness but a wide color gamut for vivid hues, detailed shadows, and striking highlights.
• Immersive sound matters to you: The built-in 2.2.2-channel sound system, Object Tracking Sound (OTS), and Dolby Atmos combine to provide a soundstage that matches the scale of the large-screen visuals.

 

Don’t Buy It If…

 

• Gaming is your top priority: The Samsung Premiere 9 falls short for gamers, with HDMI 2.0 ports capped at 4K/60Hz and an input lag of 53ms. Competitive gamers or those seeking high-refresh-rate support will find these limitations significant.
• You need Dolby Vision support: Unlike some UST projectors, the Premiere 9 does not support Dolby Vision. This absence stems from Samsung’s corporate decisions rather than technical limitations of the projector.
• You demand cutting-edge gaming display tech: With no VRR and only HDMI 2.0 support, the Premiere 9 doesn’t cater to gamers seeking the best fluidity and response times. Its 53ms input lag further underscores this limitation.

 

 

Verdict

 

The Samsung Premiere 9 is a standout performer in the UST projector market, thanks to its triple-laser light source, which delivers exceptional brightness and color fidelity. Its 4K visuals are razor-sharp, HDR10+ content is stunning, and the built-in Dolby Atmos audio provides a cinematic experience. With its practical design, ease of setup, and intelligent features like the Tizen platform, the Premiere 9 offers considerable convenience for home use. Movie enthusiasts will find it an appealing alternative to large TVs, blending sleek aesthetics with discreet placement.

However, it is not without flaws. The lack of Dolby Vision support is a notable omission for a projector of this caliber. The black levels, while typical for DLP projectors, are merely adequate, and the input lag is less than ideal for gamers. Limited by HDMI 2.0 ports, the projector offers no support for higher refresh rates or VRR, making it less appealing for competitive gaming. Lastly, its high price tag targets the premium segment, where buyers may expect fewer compromises. While the Premiere 9 excels in many areas, potential buyers should weigh its limitations before committing.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-

Cons:

– Lack of built-in tuners
– No Dolby Vision support
– Not ideal for serious gamers