The daylight claim only holds if the setup is right. That's worth understanding before anything else.

Physically, the basics aren't difficult. Connect power and a video cable and you have a picture. Epson's Setting Assistant app uses a phone camera to guide geometry alignment, and built-in correction tools can adjust the image digitally if placement isn't perfect (PCMag, last week). That's a genuine improvement over what earlier UST setups demanded.

The harder part: digital geometry correction reduces brightness and can introduce subtle artifacts in some content. PCMag is clear that peak performance requires physically positioning the projector so the image lands correctly without relying on digital adjustment. According to PCMag, the lens is designed to throw a 16:9 image at sizes ranging from 80 inches diagonal (with the front of the projector just 0.9 inch from the screen) to 150 inches (from 11.2 inches away). In practice, the unit sits on a TV console or dedicated furniture. The closely related EH-LS800 shares the same published dimensions of 695mm wide by 341mm deep and weighs 12.3 kilograms, per specs from Trusted Reviews (two years ago) and Epson's own product pages. Whether the Grand Plus shares those exact figures has not been independently confirmed for the LS970 specifically. Either way, the unit needs a substantial, flat surface. Smaller furniture won't work, and the footprint should be measured against your room before purchase.

The screen is the other non-negotiable. How-To Geek noted more than a year ago that UST projectors require a perfectly flat, uniform surface and that an ambient light rejection screen is effectively mandatory for good daylight performance. Without ALR properties, contrast degrades and the image washes out in lit rooms. Screen pricing varies widely by brand and size, and no source in the research set confirms a specific cost range for ALR screens appropriate to 100-150-inch images, so treat any figure you see elsewhere with caution and get quotes before budgeting.

The Grand Plus body starts at $3,799.99. Add the screen, and the realistic all-in cost climbs before a single external source is connected. How-To Geek noted that brands like TCL or Hisense offer 100-inch options at well under $2,000 for buyers who want casual sports or movie watching without premium image quality, and that even LG's UT90 can often be found around the $2,000 mark. The Grand Plus isn't competing on price against those sets. It's competing on picture size above 100 inches, with an artifact-free image, in a room that doesn't need to go dark.

Under those conditions, the performance case is strong.

The 4,000-lumen output is the foundation. PCMag found the Grand Plus produced TV-comparable brightness on a 1.5-gain ALR screen in a sunlit family room, holding across both daytime and evening viewing. In Cinema mode at 125 inches in a dark room, it was far too bright at the highest power setting, requiring a drop to the lowest setting to watch comfortably. A projector with too much output for a dark theater is an unusual problem to have. Four picture modes (Dynamic, Vivid, Natural, Cinema) cover the range of use cases, and PCMag describes the color management system as suited to full-time television use, not just occasional movie nights.

The technology behind that consistency matters. The Grand Plus uses Epson's 3LCD laser system: three separate liquid crystal panels, one per color channel. This architecture is why it's free of rainbow artifacts, that flickering red-green-blue flash familiar to anyone sensitive to single-chip DLP projectors. PCMag also confirmed it's free of laser speckle, a grainy texture artifact that affects some competing laser USTs.

A few things the picture story doesn't fully resolve. Black levels and shadow detail in real-world dark-scene conditions aren't well-documented for the Grand Plus specifically. The manufacturer's contrast figure of 2,500,000:1, sourced from the closely related EH-LS800's spec sheet via Trusted Reviews and Epson's own product pages, reflects maximum dynamic range, not scene-to-scene performance through a dark film sequence. That distinction matters for anyone who watches both bright daytime content and dark-scene dramas. On HDR, the EH-LS800 supports HDR10 and HLG but lacks Dolby Vision, per Trusted Reviews. Whether the Grand Plus carries the same HDR spec has not been independently confirmed for the LS970. And as How-To Geek observed more than a year ago, a premium OLED or QLED television will still outperform any projector on absolute image quality and vibrancy. The Grand Plus closes the gap further than rivals at its price. The gap still exists.

PCMag placed the Grand Plus in a three-way Editors' Choice tier alongside two more expensive rivals. The comparison is where the value case becomes concrete.

The Epson QS100 is slightly brighter and shares the Grand Plus's freedom from rainbow artifacts and speckle. It has no built-in speaker system, designed instead for custom installation work where integrators supply their own audio. For a living-room buyer who wants a self-contained appliance, the QS100 means additional spend on external audio and targets a different buyer profile entirely. It also costs more than the Grand Plus.

The Hisense L9Q offers the highest brightness in the group and a lens rated for up to 200 inches, the only model in the tier that goes above 150. It also uniquely supports 3D. But it's the most expensive of the three and the only one that produces rainbow artifacts and laser speckle. PCMag noted those red-green-blue flashes appeared frequently enough during testing that sensitive viewers would likely find them distracting.

That leaves the Grand Plus occupying what PCMag calls "the bargain among these premium UST models": not cheap, but the most efficient option for buyers who want high brightness, artifact-free output, and a self-contained audio system without paying the L9Q's premium or the QS100's external-audio overhead.

Audio is a meaningful part of that equation. The built-in 20-watt Bose 2.1 system, built around two full-range speakers and a dedicated woofer, is good enough that PCMag found most buyers won't feel the need to add anything. For those who want to expand later, the options are thorough: Bluetooth, 3.5mm stereo output, S/PDIF optical out, and ARC/eARC on one HDMI port. Three HDMI inputs cover the standard device stack.

One spec discrepancy is worth flagging directly. Epson's published spec sheet lists three USB-A ports, but PCMag confirmed with Epson that the reviewed unit has two. Treat the official product page specification with caution until it's corrected.

This is the question the Grand Plus ultimately has to answer, and the answer splits cleanly by use case.

Buy the Grand Plus if the picture you want is in the 120-150-inch range and your room is a living space, not a dedicated dark home theater. The best ultra short throw projector for bright rooms is the one that actually holds up in daylight, and at 4,000 lumens with an ALR screen, the Grand Plus does. Commit to physical placement over digital correction, factor in the screen cost, and what you get is a self-contained system with good audio that doesn't require a separate soundbar on day one.

Buy a 98- or 100-inch flat-panel TV if setup simplicity matters more than image size. A premium OLED or QLED at that screen size will deliver sharper contrast, better shadow detail, and considerably less friction on a daily basis. How-To Geek puts it plainly: UST projectors make the most sense when compared to premium 100-inch-plus TVs, where prices become comparable and the trade-offs become a genuine choice rather than a clear winner. Below 100 inches, or if you want plug-and-play simplicity, the projector math doesn't work.

Buy the Hisense L9Q if you need 3D support or want the option to go above 150 inches. Its artifact issues are real, but it's the only option in this tier with that ceiling. For everyone else, the Grand Plus occupies the most useful position: below the L9Q's price, above the QS100's usability floor, and free of the artifacts that make single-chip DLP projectors a gamble for sensitive viewers.

The Grand Plus is the most complete argument yet that a high-brightness UST projector can function as a genuine family-room television. At 4,000 lumens, free of both rainbow artifacts and laser speckle, with a Bose audio system that makes external speakers optional for most households, and priced below its nearest Editors' Choice rivals, it earned PCMag's practical recommendation last week.

What this projector signals about the broader UST market is worth noting. The category is still a niche, and the Grand Plus doesn't change that. What it does is compress the gap between "technically impressive" and "practically livable." The setup demands haven't disappeared, but the payoff, a 130-inch picture you can watch in the afternoon without pulling the blinds, is now credible rather than aspirational.

For buyers in that specific position, a very large picture in a room that isn't dark, with the willingness to invest in the right setup, the Grand Plus is currently the most balanced option at its price. It doesn't win every specification contest. It manages the most important trade-offs better than anything else in its tier.