The ViewSonic PX701-4K is a 4k HDR projector primarily marketed for gaming. It has two HDMI 2.0 ports, both capable of either 4k @ 60Hz or 1080p @ 240Hz. The projector also comes with an Ultra-Fast Input option promising input lag as low as 4.2 ms. The projector has auto vertical keystone technology to eliminate trapezoid effects when installed at an angle and an advanced projection warping tool that corrects distorted images when they're projected on a curved surface. Depending on the selected picture mode, its light source is rated for anywhere from 6,000 to 20,000 hours. Finally, it has an integrated 10W speaker.
Our Verdict
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is acceptable for watching movies. Its native contrast is mediocre, as it performs well in bright scenes but struggles in dark content. Its brightness is decent, and it can handle a few dim lights. Unfortunately, the projector drops the ball when it comes to color, as its colors are dim, its color gamut isn't very wide, and its color accuracy is wildly inaccurate out of the box. Plus, you can barely improve it with calibration.
Bright enough for dim rooms.
Contrast is noticeably better in bright scenes.
Mediocre contrast that particularly struggles in dark scenes.
Poor color accuracy out of the box, which you can't really improve through calibration.
- Colors are dim and uninspiring.
Doesn't have a smart OS and isn't cast capable.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is a good big-screen gaming pick. It accepts 4k @ 60Hz, with pixel-shifting, for sharp menus and movies, but its real advantage is its high-refresh-rate 1080p support: it cleanly drives 1080p @ 120Hz and up to 1080p @ 240Hz, and input lag drops to single-digits at those refresh rates. At 60Hz, latency is still easily low enough for single-player titles, making the projector a great all-around gaming pick. As for image quality, it's bright enough for dim rooms, but its colors are washed out and aren't accurate out of the box, and you can't improve its accuracy much through calibration. Its contrast is also just mediocre, as it struggles with dark content, even if it improves in brighter scenes.
Low input lag at all refresh rates.
Wide resolution support, including 1080p @ 120Hz and 240Hz.
Bright enough for dim rooms.
Contrast is noticeably better in bright scenes.
Mediocre contrast that particularly struggles in dark scenes.
Poor color accuracy out of the box, which you can't really improve through calibration.
- Colors are dim and uninspiring.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K's brightness is decent. It's bright enough to deal with a few dim lights, but it comes at the cost of washed-out colors regardless of the picture mode. It does have great brightness uniformity, but there's some vignetting visible on a white screen.
Bright enough for dim rooms.
Great brightness uniformity with minimal vignetting.
Washed out colors.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K's contrast is mediocre. It particularly struggles in dark scenes, with noticeably lifted blacks. It performs much better in brighter scenes, but overall, the contrast on this unit doesn't impress.
Contrast is noticeably better in bright scenes.
Mediocre contrast that particularly struggles in dark scenes.
Changelog
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Updated Feb 05, 2026:
We've modified the text in our Brightness and Native Contrast text boxes as a result of our latest test bench. We've also added Brightness and Contrast performance usages in the Verdict section.
- Updated Jan 22, 2026: We've converted the review to Test Bench 0.11, which renames our Contrast test to Native Contrast, and adds a Sequential Contrast test box. We also added new Brightness and Contrast performance usages in Our Verdict. See the 0.11 changelog.
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Updated Nov 24, 2025:
Added a link to the Best Projectors For Gaming recommendation article in the Popular Projector Comparisons section of this review.
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Updated Oct 23, 2025:
We've added Imaging, Optics, Noise, Supported Resolutions, HDR Format Support, 3D, Input Lag, and Audio Passthrough boxes as a result of our latest test bench. We've also added a Gaming usage in the Verdict section.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the ViewSonic PX701. This projector has a higher-end model, the ViewSonic PX701-4KE, which has a 1.3x optical zoom feature and a shorter throw ratio, allowing you to install it closer to the wall or screen.
| Model | Light Source | Processing | Throw & Zoom | Gaming (native 1080p) | HDR Formats | ARC/eARC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX701-4K | Lamp | 4K XPR (DLP) | 1.50–1.65:1; manual zoom | Up to 240Hz; low lag with Ultra Fast Input | HDR10, HLG | No |
| PX701-4KE | Lamp | 4K XPR (DLP) | Shorter throw with ~1.3× optical zoom | Up to 240Hz (gaming-focused marketing) | HDR10, HLG | No |
Our unit was manufactured in June 2023.
Popular Projector Comparisons
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is an okay 4k HDR projector. It's especially interesting for gamers, as it's one of the cheapest projectors on the market with 1080p @ 240Hz (and 1080p @ 120Hz) plus low input lag when Ultra Fast Input is enabled. It also accepts 4k @ 60Hz for sharp movie playback, though 1440p is scaled, and there's no 1440p @ 120Hz path. If you're solely interested in a cheap projector for movies, you could opt for the slightly cheaper Epson Home Cinema 1080, as it's much brighter than the ViewSonic and much more accurate. Still, the ViewSonic isn't a bad choice for home theater as it has much better contrast than the Epson. Overall, the ViewSonic is extremely versatile, and its only real weaknesses are its poor color accuracy and mediocre color gamut.
See our recommendations for the best projectors for home theater, the best gaming projectors, and the best home projectors. If you're looking for something more general, look up our list of the best projectors instead.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is better than the BenQ HT3560 if you don't care about image accuracy; if you do, then the BenQ HT3560 is the better option, as the ViewSonic is very inaccurate and can't be improved much through calibration. The BenQ has a much wider color gamut, but neither projector is bright enough to make their colors pop. They both support 1080p @ 240Hz for gamers, alongside 4k @ 60Hz through pixel shifting.
The Optoma UHD35 is a bit better than the ViewSonic PX701-4K. They're very similar projectors, with both capable of 1080p @ 240Hz for gaming. However, the ViewSonic has significantly worse color accuracy than the Optoma, and the Optoma also has a slightly wider color gamut, giving it the edge over the ViewSonic.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K and BenQ HT3550 are about equally as good, although the ViewSonic is much better for gaming due to its 1080p @ 240Hz support. Otherwise, both projectors are 4k pixel-shifting units, with the BenQ having a much wider color gamut. Ultimately they're both capable in a variety of contexts, but the ViewSonic is better if you're hoping to game, while the BenQ has the slight edge for content consumption due to its wider color range.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is better than the Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12. The ViewSonic projector is good for gamers with its 1080p @ 240Hz support. It's also brighter, but the Epson has vastly better color accuracy. The ViewSonic can also deliver sharper images through 4k pixel shifting, while the Epson projects a much lower 1080p image. The Epson has significantly more smart features, has an integrated smart interface with full Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support, and is more portable.
We've independently bought and tested over 60 projectors, and we've published all the detailed results for each so you can decide which one to buy. These have all been tested under the same standardized methodology, allowing you to compare them side by side. We still have all these projects in our lab so we can continually go back and compare them to ensure our reviews are still accurate. All our test methodology is also public on our website, so you can validate the results yourself.
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Test Results
The average peak brightness of this projector is decent, but unfortunately, its colors are a bit washed out. It has great brightness uniformity, although the sides of the image are slightly dimmer than the center.
The table below highlights the projector's other picture modes. Colors look washed out in all of them, but some are brighter than our calibrated 'User 1' Picture Mode. That's useful if you use this projector in a bright room, but it does come at the cost of color accuracy.
| Picture Mode | White Light Output (WLO) | Color Light Output (CLO) |
|---|---|---|
| Brightest | 1,617 lm | 544 lm |
| Sports | 1,735 lm | 712 lm |
| Standard | 1,451 lm | 723 lm |
| Gaming | 1,471 lm | 688 lm |
| Movie | 1,059 lm | 677 lm |
| User2 | 1,451 lm | 724 lm |
The ViewSonic PX701-4K projector has mediocre native contrast. It really struggles with dark scenes, as its blacks are noticeably lifted. It does perform relatively better in brighter content, but overall, the contrast on this unit doesn't impress.
This projector's color gamut is passable. Its coverage of the Rec. 709 color space used in SDR content is good, but it truly struggles with the wider Rec. 2020 color space used in HDR content.
Unfortunately, this projector has poor color accuracy out-of-the-box. The white balance is decent, but blues tend to be overrepresented in most shades of gray, and the near blacks are completely undersaturated. Colors are terrible, though, as almost no color is displayed accurately. The projector is too dark in darker scenes and too bright in all other scenes. Thankfully, the color temperature is great, even if it leans slightly on the cold side. If you want a more accurate gaming projector, consider the BenQ HT3560 instead.
Unfortunately, you can't improve this projector's color accuracy much due to its limited calibration options. After calibration, the projector is still too dark in darker scenes but fine in brighter ones. The color temperature is now almost exactly on target, and the white balance is better, with fewer accuracy errors. Unfortunately, the color accuracy is still terrible.
The ViewSonic PX701-4K projector is a single-chip DLP that uses XPR pixel-shifting to render 4k detail. The lamp SPD shows broad, overlapping spectra, typical of UHP lamps. The trade-offs are some potential rainbow artifacts that some viewers notice on high-contrast edges. The lamp can last from 6000 to about 20,000 hours, according to the manufacturer, after which you'll need to swap the lamp for a new one.
The projector has a manual optical zoom with a 1.50–1.65:1 throw ratio. There's no real lens shift; the "digital shift" only works when you shrink the image.
Here are some typical throw distances:
- 70″ image: 7.6–8.4 ft from the screen
- 80″: 8.7–9.5 ft
- 90″: 9.8–10.8 ft
- 100″: 10.9–12.0 ft
- 110″: 12.0–13.2 ft
- 120″: 13.1–14.4 ft
- 130″: 14.2–15.7 ft
- 150″: 16.3–18.0 ft
The ViewSonic PX701-4K is somewhat portable due to its fairly compact and lightweight body, although without an integrated battery. The projector has automatic vertical keystone correction and manual horizontal correction, although it lacks an autofocus. It does have an integrated 10W speaker in case you need to move it.
Fan noise at full brightness is audible. From sofa distance, it blends under game audio, especially if it's a bit loud; in quieter scenes, you'll hear a steady whoosh.
The projector's USB port is for power delivery only, which you can use to supply power to an HDMI wireless dongle like a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV stick.
Native processing on the ViewSonic PX701-4K is 4k XPR (pixel-shift). Note that 1440p @ 120Hz is not supported, and forcing it can cause stability issues.
With Ultra Fast Input active, input delay is very low at 1080p @ 120Hz and even more so at 240Hz. It's also decent at 60Hz, making the projector a great pick for a ton of different gaming genres.
Treat the ViewSonic PX701-4K as a video-only display. There's no HDMI ARC/eARC and no digital audio output, so it won't pass multichannel formats from connected devices. Plug sources into your soundbar/AVR first, then send video up to the projector.
