If you're looking to purchase the Christie 4K860 or just want to ask questions feel free to call or text me at 219-916-9245. You can also send me an email. As per usual thank you to my family for your support and patience while we test!

CHRISTIE 4K860-iS 1DLP Laser Projector Review

JoeRod

8/30/24

This past February I was very lucky to come home to a Christie box sitting in my garage. I wasn't sure what model it was but after having it I quickly learned it was the CHRISTIE 4k860. So how will this DLP compare to the rest of the models I have had in my theater? Biggest shock in 5 years! Amazing. I did something I have never done before with all my years of Reviews. I didn't break out my laptop once while watching materiel. I was so immersed with how well the image and the overall experience was I just couldn't. The biggest eye-opening shock was just how dark the room would get during fade to black moments. I had Kingdom of Planet of the Apes on and when Noa (our new hero) has a rough night and finally gets to fall asleep the movie goes complete dark as he closes his eyes. I had never experienced it so pitch black in my theater. At first I thought the 4K860 shutoff. It was a good 4 or 5 seconds. I could not see my hand in front of my face. Thanks to Christie's RealBlack™ technology – which produces the deepest possible black on-screen by completely turning off the laser light when displaying black scenes, this was all made possible. I only had the 4K860 for a brief amount of time but luckily, we had it for the Super Bowl. With its 8500 Lumens we were able to have the lights on at 100 percent and still see the game like it was a gigantic TV. My guests kept asking which projector is that? They were all very impressed. And yes the game looked incredible! 

Fast forward to August now and I just received a production 4K860 so I can finally finish my Review. I just recently finished my Review on the SIM2 Ultra Nero 4 so expectations were high for the 4K860. My DLP comeback resurgence is as strong as ever after spending a few days with this Christie. I had dragged out my old DLP NASCAR model out of storage and thanks to the Christie it will remain out. The 4K860 is part of their new Inspire Series. This is actually made for Home Theater. With all the plethora of features and tweaks it's easy to see (no pun intended.) Let's get to it...

Featuring the Christie Intelligent Camera (CIC)

Right off the bat I am going to discuss the remote. Why? Because it is that good. I love being able to have direct access to Zoom and Focus adjustments. Also Lens Horizontal and Lens Vertical adjusting too. Besides the direct button commands for each input we also get a Hot Key (which you can pick your own command.) I selected the "Details" feature which comes in Normal, High and Maximize options. Depending on what we're watching I either prefer Normal and High. Another nice button is the Info command which tells us everything going into the 4K860 and everything about it. Besides resolution, refresh rates and color space you see a communications box. This shows you if you're connected to the internet and also shows your IP address, Gateway, etc. You can also see your Light Source Information with total projection hours and total LD hours. The amount of time the unit is on with the amount of time your Laser is on off. Another really cool option that is bringing me back to the good old days is PiP/PBP. I haven't done this in so long but having two separate sources coming in at the same time and displaying both is awesome. I had the preseason game on the other night and then started a movie. It worked perfect! You can adjust screen sizes, swap them, make them top and bottom or left and right and all from the remote! Big thumbs up to Christie for implementing this. And all of this can be done from your seat by using the remote. I almost forgot you also get Gamma, bright and contrast settings and a Shutter or hide the image button.

To learn more about the 4K860 click the Christie logo above.

After discussing the Remote now seems like the perfect time to jump into the 4K860's settings and GUI setup. It can have a lot on the screen at once but it is very simple to navigate and make adjustments on the fly. The majority of default settings work very well. Some of the tweaking is a matter of taste. The main area to focus on is Dynamic black and Real Black. There are some who love each and there is not a "correct" setting. Real Black will give us those moments when your room is completely pitch black. A full fade to infinity black. Those are immersive to me and I love not being able to see my hand in front of my face for a moment or two sometimes three! Dynamic Black is more conservative and keeps the image more controlled. Nothing wrong with either. Some prefer that and do not like the feeling of a light switch being turned off and then back on. My best advice is to try both. I strongly suggest everyone to read the manual. It can be found under software downloads in the link I provided in the Christie logo just up a few inches and to the left. 

I jumped in with a few preseason football games using a Roku Ultra 2024. Right away I could see the "Pop" in the helmets and the field colors. It looked like a new Madden football game version it was so clear. Close-ups were remarkable. It truly has the feeling of watching a very large OLED screen. I was constantly pinching myself since it was hard to believe the price versus performance with the 4k860. My brother was over and he said wow and look at that picture at least 5 times in the first quarter alone. We were using the Bright picture mode. Perfect for sports.  We are going to have a blast this football season. Sunday evenings we are back at it with our Dexter club with his comeback. We couldn't be happier. The show looked terrific using the Paramount + app. 

Football just looks amazing on the 4k860!!!

Of course we need to discuss movies. I will say it has been a very relaxing experience. I have not felt the desire to grab the remote and make on the fly adjustments. I have been very happy with the tweaks I have made before. For HDR movies you have 4 settings and Auto. HDR 2 is the sweet spot at least to my eyes. It has the perfect combination of natural-film and pop. If you're not doing HDR then I really liked Video as the image option. Details is a really nice feature that I decided to make my "Hot Key" command on the remote. Normal obviously does nothing to the image but High boosts detail sharpness without over-doing it. I like that setting for sports and some movies. Color Temp comes in three flavors. Warmest, Warm and Cool. I am used to Cool which represents 7500K from the SIM2 models but with all other projectors I have enjoyed 6500K which is Warm on the 4K860. Here are some screenshots and then below I will discuss the movie content. 

I will just say the 4K860 is very versatile. It can be amazing for animated type movies Like The Wild Robot but then be very remarkable for movies like Kingdom of The Planet Of The Apes. Same for Passengers and countless others. Motion with panning looks terrific. Colors are very good and of course the amount of depth with each scene is astounding. I have been even more surprised with the Space and Night time scenes. Shadow detail is spot on. I was watching a scene where the woman had a black coat on yet I could see her gray buttons with perfect detail. Passengers is right there with the best I have seen. Smile 2 has absolutely some of the coolest demo scenes and yes the Christie 4K860 passes with flying colors! Of course the DLP projectors are mainly known for amazing bright day time scenes and the Christie 4K 860 does not disappoint. 

Dangerous Animals on Kaleidescape is in 4K SDR and it just looked fabulous. I really appreciated the detailed close-ups. It really puts you in the movie with the emotional turmoil. The 4K860 excels at the feeling of "being there." Now is the perfect time to bring up the CIC- Christie Intelligent Camera. It connects to the from of the 4K860 by a couple of screws and then connects using a cable into the USB on the back. Super easy to do. Just make sure of your projector is already set up to not have it on while installing. You are right there with the Lens so be very careful. Maybe put the cover back on while you do it. The calibration area is right there in the GUI and only takes a few minutes. The AUTO-Calibrate nailed the Focus better than me. I always prided 

myself using binoculars to set the Focus as sharp as possible. I will say the CIC bested my best efforts. Even slightly is huge in projector world. I was going from out of the box settings when I let the CIC automatically adjust the color to fit my screen and color uniformity. I will say skin tones were immediately vastly improved. The CIC is a dual-lens USB camera. This is a well thought out idea that delivers an even better image out of box. The CIC can be used to auto calibrate the 4K860 or auto focus whenever you want. Tweakers will love it! Pictures below show how to install and a couple samples of how it improved the image. After using the CIC you then have a User picture mode option set. Very cool!

Here are some pics of the CIC and 4K860 unboxed.

The CIC plugs right into the back of the 4K860's USB. Super easy to install and use. You can have peace of mind knowing that you're squeezing out the best image possible out of your Christie 4K860! 

This is showing the CIC doing Auto-Focus.

Christie's built-in test patterns are terrific!

Those that know me know that we love our 3D movies. Having nearly 200 on disc we take it seriously here. Using the Oppo 203 region free player I tested a few titles. My all time favorite Demo IMAX Under The Sea looked amazing. Those 8500 Lumens from the 4K860 made sure of it! I was also very impressed with 

the ability to do "Passive" 3D with regular nonactive 3D glasses. For those that hate charging and recharging 3D glasses, this is the projector for you! You can grab a dozen of them and do a 3D movie for a good size group. Avatar looked superb. The subtitles floated in front of the screen. Yogi Bear also had some scenes that were made for 3D and it definitely showed. I tried several other titles and the image was both bright and colorful. Also, with Detail on High it gave the image that extra oomph!

The two 3D images were taken through the lens of 3D glasses.

The active 3D option also drops down to a Passive option. 

Looking at some of the key highlights of the 4K860 it's not hard to see (no pun intended) why it is such steal in its price range. Christie's RealBlack technology produces some really deep, inky blacks. With it enabled you can get 3,000,000:1 contrast. Producing up to 8500 Lumens in its 33 pound compact size Christie left no stone unturned. Two HDMI inputs and one Out with ethernet connectivity makes the 4K860 more flexible than most brands. Being able to automatically center your screen image (upon set up) with being able to use the CIC (Christie Intelligent Camera) make setting up a breeze.

Also, an industry leading 5 year warranty allows one to sleep better at night. That's great confidence from a great company. Not only joining the Christie Club gives peace of mind but also a best in class image..

And again the ability to do both Active and Passive 3D is mind blowing. The image overall is top notch with its depth, clarity, razor sharpness and colors. Black levels using RealBlack are beyond eye pleasing as well. I have to tip my hat off to Christie with the astronomical amount of value we get here. The 4K860 is a real DLP gamechanger!

 Check out our show NP...

JoeRodHomeTheater.com

EQUIPMENT USED FOR ALL OR PART OF THIS REVIEW:

Kaleidescape Strato V and C, Christie 4K860, SIM2 UN4, JVC and Epson Laser Projectors, madVR MK2 ENVY Extreme, Stewart Studiotek 144 ST100 16:9, Marantz AV10, McIntosh MX180, Apple TV 4K 2023, NVIDIA Shield Pro, Datasat RA7300 Amps X 2, Oppo UDP-203 4K Player, Samsung UBD-K8500 4K Ultra Blu-ray player, Furman Elite-20 PFI, Monster Power HTS 5100, AC INFINITY Component Coolers, Speakers: MARTIN LOGAN ILLUSION Center, IMPRESSIONS (Left and Right), VANQUISH (HEIGHTS & ATMOS & Top), AXIS (Backs), Subwoofers- Martin Logan BalancedForce 212 X 2, Seatcraft Equinox Seating with Sound Shakers, Remote: One For All, Harmony 1100, HARMONY ELITE, Harmony ULTIMATE, Cables: Audioquest shorter HDMI cables top to bottom. Audioquest Cherry Cola 48s...

Bottom of page has our NP episode on the 4K860 and Full Fade to Infinity Black Demostrations.

Christie 4K860 The WILD ROBOT