The spring activity of companies in the Home Theater projector segment was a pleasant surprise. An incomplete list of new products includes:
– announced BenQ W4100i – $ 2,999, 3,200 ANSI lumens (ANSI IT7.228 standard), LED light engine, 4K;
– Dangbei MP1 Max – $ 2,000, 3,100 ISO lumens (ISO 21118 standard, 1 ANSI lumen ~ 1.2 – 1.4 ISO lumens), hybrid laser/LED light engine, 4K;
– JmGO N1S 4K/SE/Nano – $ 1,000 / $ 800 / $ 550, 1,100 / 800 / 460 ISO Lumens, RGB Laser / RGB Laser / LED, 4K (3,840 x 2,160) / Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) / Full HD.
In addition, the budget-friendly segment of LED Full HD models has expanded with ultra-compact Aurzen ZIP with Z-shaped tri-fold design ($ 350, 100 ANSI lumens) and the brighter Philips NeoPix 450 (€ 350 – € 400, 500 ISO lumens).
BenQ W4100i vs BenQ W2720i
Formally, the announced W4100i replaces the W4000i (2023), but in fact it’s a brighter and more expensive version of the BenQ W2720i (January 2025). Both models use a bright patented 4LED light engine with color gamut up to 100% DCI-P3 / Rec. 709 color space, support 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolution with pixel shift-based eXpanded Pixel Resolution (XPR) techology, Full HD 3D, have AI Cinema Mode, 8 point keystone correction, 1.3x manual zoom and manual focus. The list of differences includes:
– price – $ 2,999 / € 2,999 vs $ 2,425 / € 1,919;
– Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) with XPR support – 0.65-inch vs 0.47-inch DLP chipset.
XPR was developed several years ago by Texas Instruments. Its operating principle is simple and elegant. The projector divides 8 million pixels of a 4K picture into 4 parts of 2 million each and displays 4 images with a Full HD resolution, shifting them by half a pixel relative to each other.
The shift is carried out by tilting the lens using 4 electromagnets of the XPR module. Due to the high frequency, our vision and brain perceive 4x 1080p images as one image in a higher resolution. This technology allowed developers to replace an expensive 4K chipset with 8 million micromirrors with a much cheaper Full HD chip with 2 million micromirrors;
– 3,000,000:1 vs 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio with auto iris;
– Lens Shift – Horizontal ±15% & Vertical +0%/-60% vs Vertical ±5%;
– speakers – 5W vs 2x 5W (both models have an eARC port for transmitting 7.1ch sound in digital format to an external soundbar).
In addition, the W4100i offers 24P playback and advanced color temperature tuning with 11 levels of white balance controls.
Dangbei MP1 Max
The interest in the international markets for the Dangbei projectors was largely due to Dangbei X5 Ultra 4K projector in 2023.
Almost all modern DLP projectors use one of the versions of the Advanced Laser Phosphor Display (ALPD) light engine, including ALPD 3.0 (Laser Phosphor) or ALPD 4.0 (RGB Laser). Dangbei X5 Ultra was the first to use a hybrid ALPD 5.0 (Laser/LED) light module. Traditionally for most hybrids, Dangbei X5 successfully combined the bonuses of lasers and LEDs, including unprecedented color accuracy ‘out of the box’ (DeltaE < 1), expanded to 120% NTSC color gamut, a relatively low price and almost complete absence of speckles.
Of course, competitors did not allow the Chinese company to rest on its laurels. In particular, the new NexiGo TriVision Ultra and XGIMI Horizon S Max also already use hybrid light generators, gradually crowding out traditional models based on Laser Phosphor or RGB Laser.
However, Dangbei is also not wasting any time, introducing another hybrid model. The new MP1 Max (June 2025) costs up to $ 2,000 ($ 1,800 in US). It provides great brightness up to 3,100 ISO lumens and 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolution with 0.47-inch DLP chipset from Texas Instruments with support of pixel shift – based XPR (eXpanded Pixel Resolution) technology. Moreover, the model has licensed Netflix, auto focus, auto keystone correction, screen fit, obstacle avoidance, real-time keystone correction, eye protection, and AI brightness adjustment.
The built-in stand with 360° horizontal adjustment and 135° vertical tilt makes installation quick and easy.
Full HD 3D, Google Assistant and HDR10+ triumphantly complete the list of the model’s premium options.
JmGO N1S 4K, SE and Nano
The N1S 4K, SE and Nano are the new JmGO’s Home Theater prolectors. Their predecessor JmGO N1S 4K Ultimate was presented in September 2024. Today it costs $ 2,300 and has a brightness of up to 3,500 ANSI lumens. In turn, it became a continuation of the popular JmGO N1 series (June 2023), which included the N1, N1 Pro and N1 Ultra projectors. All models are equipped with RGB laser light engine, covering up to 110% of the BT.2020 standard, use MALC (microstructure adaptive laser control) triple color laser optics, have 1,600:1 FOFO (full on/off) contrast, Dynaudio HiFi audio, integrated gimbal, and support Full HD 3D. The list of differences is very short:
– JmGO N1 – $ 500, 1,200 ANSI lumens, Full HD (1,920 x 1,080), 2x 5.0W speakers;
– N1 Pro – $ 900, 1,300 ISO lumens, Full HD (1,920 x 1,080), 2x 10.0W;
– N1 Ultra – $ 1,000, 1,900 ISO lumens, 4K (3,840 x 2,160), 2x 10.0W.
In fact, the JmGO N1S 4K has become a brighter (3,500 ANSI lumens vs 1,900 ISO lumens) and more expensive ($ 2,300 vs $ 1,000) version of the N1 Ultra.
Similar to the N1, the new N1S series (May/April 2025) includes one 4K and two Full HD models:
– N1S 4K – $ 1,000, RGB Laser, 1,100 ISO lumens (1,200 CVIA lumens), 4K, 1,600:1 FOFO, 2.0 kg.
At the same price, it’s significantly inferior to the N1 Ultra in brightness;
– N1S Nano – $ 550, LED, 460 ISO lumens, Full HD, 400:1 FOFO, 1.8 kg;
– N1S SE – $ 800, RGB Laser, 800 ISO lumens, Full HD, 1,600:1 FOFO, 1.8 kg;
Portability, Google TV and price are their main bonuses.
Conclusion
The list of new projectors almost completely covers the budget-friendly and mid-budget segments of Home Theater models ranging from $ 350 to $ 3,000. The bright BenQ W4100i and Dangbei MP1 Max are ideal for perfectionists with a good budget. The inexpensive ultra-compact Aurzen ZIP with a futuristic Z-shaped tri-fold design is great as a gift for an energetic fan of camping. The JmGO N1S 4K / SE / Nano line offers compromises between price, size and image quality. With such an abundance of offers, the consumer is doomed to buy another technological miracle that will fill his leisure time with colorful emotions.
This video introduces the latest BenQ W4100i Home Cinema Smart 4K LED projector.