American-born NexiGo brand has been actively present on the market for a few years. For reference, it’s not affiliated in any way with NexGo (or Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology Co., Ltd.) headquartered in Shenzhen (China), which is a global manufacturer of high-tech payment terminals, PIN pads, etc.
This young American company is located in Portland, Oregon between Silicon Valley to the South and Seattle, Washington to the North. It actively cooperates with experienced technicians and parts suppliers in the area, and sold its products under the names NexiGo or NexiPC. Maybe many are familiar with the very popular NexiGo N930AF webcam.
Projectors are one of its directions. In Oct 2022 it announced ultra short throw (UST) NexiGo Aurora PJ90.
The popularity of the UST segment has been growing rapidly for several years, which is due to an objective reason. As known, traditional mid-focal Home Theater projectors form a 100″ or more image from a distance of several meters. Accordingly, their placement in the room center creates the problem of wires on the floor. Today, it’s solved only with the help of ceiling mount. UST projector creates a 100″ picture from a very short distance and is installed next to the screen.
This factor makes UST projectors an ideal alternative to TV in the living room.
It was discontinued in Oct 2023, but is still available for ~$ 1,500 (street) / $ 2,000 (company website). However, in September 2023 the company introduced its improved NexiGo Aurora Pro version costing ~$ 2,700.
Light engine is the main difference between the models. In particular, NexiGo Aurora Pro has ALPD 4.0-based RGB Laser, and NexiGo PJ90 uses ALPD 3.0-based laser-phosphor light source.
ALPD-based light engines
As known, most modern projectors use SSL (Solid State Lightsource), including LEDs and laser LEDs. In fact, a laser LED is an LED with an optical cavity that delivers more power through coherent radiation. ALPD (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) technology from Chinese Appotronics Corp is the basis of such light engines. Since 2007, company has already developed five generations of it. The latest version was officially released at the 2022 DLP Technology Innovation Application Symposium. This hybrid uses three colors each from laser and LED light sources. According to the company, it’s cheaper, reduces power consumption and partially solves the problems of chromatic aberration and speckles due to beams interference. In addition, the ALPD 5.0-based light engine provides unprecedented 206% ( Rec.709), 152% (DCI-P3) and 110% (Rec.2020 / BT.2020) color gamut, and DeltaE < 1 color accuracy 'out of the box'.
Last year, Dangbei introduced the first Dangbei X5 Ultra 4K projector with such a light source.
But most projectors use ALPD 3.0 (Laser Phosphor) or ALPD 4.0 (tri-color RGB laser engine) versions. ALPD 3.0 is cheaper and speckle-free, but 4 gen provides a wide color gamut that reaches ~107% for Rec.2020.
Specs and functionality of new NexiGo Aurora Pro with RGB module fully corresponds to the modern premium level.
The 2,400 ANSI Lumens brightness is quite sufficient for colorful, rich images even in diffuse daylight.
The 3,000:1 (full on/off) native contrast also belongs to the premium level in the DLP projector segment.
Of course, it doesn’t compete with the ‘infinite’ contrast of LCoS technology, but their price starts at $ 6,000.
Aurora Pro vs PJ90
The main differences in specs are due to the use of different light engines:
– brightness (measured in accordance with ANSI IT7.228) – 2,400 ANSI Lumens vs 2,000 ANSI Lumens;
– color gamut – 107% BT.2020 vs 85% DCI-P3 and 121% Rec.709;
– color processing – 10-bit vs 8-bit.
In addition, the new model is larger and heavier:
– weight – 22.0 lbs / 10.0 kg vs 15.1 lbs / 6.8 kg;
– size – 12 cm x 55 cm x 41 cm vs 10 cm x 45 cm x 33 cm.
Other specs are identical:
– 4K (3,840 x 2,160) resolution (0.47″ DMD DLP with Xpanded Pixel Resolution (XPR) technology);
– native / dynamic contrast (full on/off) – 3,000:1 / 6,000:1;
– Full HD 3D support;
– image size is 80″ – 150″ (202 cm – 381 cm) at Throw Distance of 16″ – 24″ (0.4 m – 0.6 m) with Throw Ratio of 0.23:1 (100″@0,5m).
– electric focus via remote – 0.33′ – 1.44′;
– internal speakers – 4 x 15.0W (2 x 15W woofers + 2 x 15W tweeters) with Dolby Atmos and DTS-HD support;
– 4/8-point Horizontal & Vertical Digital Keystone;
– RAM / ROM – 3GB DDR3 + 128GB eMMC;
– MEMC (frame interpolation) support.
– Miracast, 2.4GHz / 5GHz Wi-Fi connection, HDMI and Bluetooth 5.2.
– Amazon Alexa and Dolby Vision support.
Conclusion
Despite the very young company age, NexiGo Aurora Pro has deservedly taken its place among the best UST 4K laser projectors of 2023. Model offers a full range of popular modern features and smart options, 3,000:1 (full on/off) native contrast ratio, 2,400 ANSI Lumens brightness and color gamut of ~107% for BT.2020 with ALPD 4.0-based light engine. To be fair, the $ 2,700 price tag is quite high, but it’s attractive for premium models in this segment. For comparison, the list of main competitors includes:
–LG CineBeam HU915QE – $ 4,140 (ALPD 4.0; 3,700 ANSI lm);
–Epson EpiqVision Ultra UST 4K LS800 – $ 3,500 (ALPD 3.0; 4,000 ISO lumens);
–LG HU715Q – $ 2,500 (ALPD 3.0; 2,500 ANSI lm);
–Hisense PX1 Pro – $ 3,400 (ALPD 4.0; 2,200 ANSI lumens);
–Formovie Theater – $ 3,000 (ALPD 4.0; 2,800 ANSI lm);
–Hisense PX2 Pro – $ 3,000 (ALDP 4.0, 2,400 ANSI Lumens);
–Hisense PL1 – $ 2,500 (2023, ALDP 3.0, 2,100 ANSI Lumens);
–Formovie C2 – $ 1,560 (ALPD 3.0, 2,100 ANSI Lumens).
This list is not complete, and some models are not available in all regions. But it clearly demonstrates the prices of triple laser RGB projectors. Therefore, its price-quality ratio is superb, which promises the model completely cloudless marketing prospects.
Just in case, the currently available NexiGo PJ90 is the cheapest 4K UST laser projector on the market today. At the same time, with the exception of 8-bit video processing, it offers quite premium specs and functionality.
This video demonstrates NexiGo Pro projector.