Depends entirely on your room. In a dark or dimmable room, a flat white wall or standard screen looks excellent and costs nothing. With windows or lamps on, a UST-specific ALR (lenticular) screen is the single biggest upgrade you can make — it rejects light from above while reflecting the projector's steep beam back at you.

Two cautions: buy a UST-specific ALR screen (standard ALR screens are designed for the wrong angle), and note some bundles include one — the Hisense Laser Cinema packages ship with a 100-120" screen, which changes the value math.

The TV wins on brightness, HDR impact, and zero-fuss setup — if 98 inches is enough and the price works for you. The UST wins on size (120" vs 98"), on moving it between homes, and on the look of a wall that's empty when the system is off.

Rule of thumb: for bright daytime sports viewing, lean TV. For movie nights and a cinema feel at maximum size, lean UST + ALR screen.

Typically 4-15 inches from wall to the projector's back edge, depending on model and image size. A 100-inch image usually needs the lens about 6-10 inches out; 120 inches needs a few inches more. The image scales with distance — there's no zoom — so placement precision matters. Every product manual publishes an exact distance table.

The category leaders: Hisense (widest lineup, PX/PL/L-series, strong US support), Formovie (Xiaomi-backed, the enthusiast picture-quality favorite), XGIMI (easiest setup and software), Samsung (The Premiere, Tizen ecosystem), AWOL Vision (US-based premium specialist), and JMGO (strong optics, aggressive pricing). Epson's LS800 is the notable 3LCD alternative.

All are represented in our comparison table above with live pricing.