For over 10 years, projectors have been one of the fastest growing areas in the home entertainment electronics segment. Over the years, developers have made impressive progress. The list of the most significant innovations includes:
– LED, laser and hybrid light engines have increased brightness and significantly reduced the projector size;
– ALR and CLR screens have reduced the requirements for dimming;
– XPR technology has increased the DLP projectors resolution to 4K without increasing their price;
– the ultra short throw (UST) projectors eliminated the problem of wires on the floor by placing the projector close to the screen;
– screen mirroring and streaming have radically solved the problem of content for projectors.
As a result, projectors successfully compete with televisions, increasingly replacing them in the living room.
The companies adequately respond to consumer demand, annually expanding their range. Of course, this is pleasing, but it complicates the choice, which requires at least a simplified classification.
Classification
Conventionally, modern models are divided into:
– Home Theater, gaming, simulators, etc;
– DLP, 3LCD and LCoS technologies;
– ultraportable ‘pocket’, compact and full-size;
– mid-focal and ultra short throw (UST).
Using aspherical mirrors and a system of internal lenses, UST model forms a huge image of 100″ or more from a very short distance.
However, this list can be continued. Compact mid-focal DLP Home Theater is most popular as an alternative to TVs. Of course, UST projectors are more convenient for the living room, but they are more expensive and bulkier. With similar specs, their price is usually 10-15% higher. In addition, the CLR screen for UST models is significantly more expensive compared to the ALR screen for mid-focal projectors. For example, the price of a 120-inches CLR screen can reach several thousand dollars.
Traditionally for the market, mid-focal projectors are divided into budget-friendly, mid-budget and premium. In turn, the premium segment is conditionally divided into relatively affordable DLP projectors, more expensive 3LCD models and very expensive LCoS projectors with superb contrast.
As usual, mass demand is concentrated in the segment of the most affordable models, which includes mid-focal DLP 4K Home Theater projectors.
An incomplete list of the new most popular models from this segment includes NexiGo TriVision Ultra, Dangbei DBOX02 Mars Pro 2, XGIMI Horizon S Max, JmGO N1S Ultimate, Hisense C2 Ultra, Optoma UHZ55 and Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2.
Their competitiveness directly depends on the price-quality ratio, which, in turn, depends on the selected evaluation criteria. This list can include specs, design, battery, input lag, remote, smart platform, connection ports, etc. But too long a set of criteria complicates perception. Therefore, their choice requires a reasonable compromise. Of course, image quality is one of the main parameters and dominates this list.
Image quality
In turn, it directly depends on several specs. This list includes:
– brightness.
As known, any ambient light makes the image colors dull and faded, but brightness compensates for its influence. Accordingly, a bright projector provides fairly high quality even in diffused daylight without additional dimming. But in the dark, the influence of brightness on image quality is radically reduced;
– contrast.
It affects the image clarity and the saturation of colors. Contrast is especially evident at low brightness during playback of dark scenes.
Very expensive LCoS projectors provide superb contrast with perfect blacks. When closed, they block almost all light due to the tiny width of the gaps between the liquid crystals. For example, the $ 6,000 JVC DLA NZ500 provides 40,000:1 FOFO (full-on, full-off). For comparison, native contrast of DLP models ranges from 500:1 to 2,000:1;
– color gamut.
It affects the range of colors reproduced and depends on the light engine type. Modern projectors use several versions of ALPD (Advanced Laser Phosphor Display) technology – based light generators, including:
– Laser Phosphor (ALPD 3.0) – 85% – 90% in the DCI-P3 color space;
– RGB triple laser (ALPD 4.0) – 110% BT.2020;
– Laser/LED Hybrid.
Unfortunately, RGB light sources sometimes generate speckles due to the interference of laser beams.
Today, hybrid schemes are developing most intensively. For example, last year’s Dangbei X5 Ultra uses ALPD 5.0-based light engine with three colors from lasers and three colors from LEDs, covering 120% BT.2020.
For reference, today the display industry uses 3 tiers of gamut standards, including Rec.709 for most monitors, DCI-P3 or Hollywood gamut in digital film technology, and Rec.2020 / BT.2020 in 4K digital display for ultra-high-definition TV.
Specs comparison
– NexiGo TriVision Ultra – $ 1,900, Laser/LED Hybrid (ALPD 5.0), 2,600 ANSI Lumens, 110% BT.2020, ΔE < 1 color accuracy, 800:1 ~ 1,500:1 FOFO contrast, 4.2ms - 8ms / 1080p@240Hz and 17.6ms / 4K@60Hz input lag, Grab & Go smart screen adaption.
– Dangbei DBOX02 Mars Pro 2 – $ 1,900, Laser Phosphor, 2,450 ISO Lumens, 85% DCI-P3 and 92% Rec. 709, 1,160:1 FOFO contrast, 34 ms, Google TV with built-in Netflix.
– XGIMI Horizon S Max – $ 1,900, Laser/LED Hybrid (Dual Light 2.0 technology), 3,100 ISO Lumens, 110% BT.2020, 2,000:1 FOFO and 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 18 ms, Android TV 11.0, 360° horizontal and 135° vertical rotating stand, ISA 5.0, Harman Kardon speakers.
– JmGO N1S Ultimate – $ 2,300, RGB Laser, 3,500 ANSI Lumens, 110% BT.2020, 1,600:1 FOFO contrast, 16 ms / 4K@60Hz, built-in Google TV with Netflix, MALC 2.0, integrated gimbal.
– Hisense C2 Ultra – $ 2,500, RGB Laser, 3,000 ANSI Lumens, 110% BT.2020, 2,000:1 FOFO and 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast, 60 ms, 240 Hz refresh rate, VIDAA U7.6 OS, JBL speakers, optical zoom, IMAX Enhanced, ‘Designed for Xbox’ certification.
– Optoma UHZ55 – $ 2,500, Laser Phosphor, 3,000 ANSI Lumens, 97% Rec.709 and 85% DCI-P3, 2,500,000:1 dynamic contrast, 16.7ms / 4K@60Hz and 4ms / 1080p@240Hz, 10% vertical lens shift, Android.
– Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 – $ 3,000, RGB Laser, 3,000 ISO Lumens, 110% BT.2020, 1,750:1 FOFO contrast and 15,000:1 ‘Viewing Contrast’ with EBL technology, 14.7ms / 4K@60Hz, 8ms / 1080@120Hz and 4ms / 1080@240Hz, Google TV, Dynamic Tone Mapping, ISF (Certified Color Accuracy).
Conclusion
Even a superficial analysis of the new most popular mid-focal 4K Home Theater projectors allows us to draw some conclusions:
– prices range from $ 1,900 – $ 2,500.
To be fair, the price of Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 reaches $ 3,000. But it’s due to the unprecedented contrast ratio for DLP projectors of up to 15,000:1, which is achieved through the very effective EBL technology. Of course, the contrast is a significant bonus, but it mainly manifests itself in scenes at low brightness, which makes up a small share of ordinary content. For example, practically all sports broadcasts, series, cartoons and TV shows are playing at a fairly high brightness level. But as the brightness increases, the visual impact of contrast on image quality decreases;
– all models support Full HD 3D;
– significant progress of Laser/LED hybrid light engines.
NexiGo TriVision Ultra and XGIMI Horizon S Max are significantly cheaper than models with ALPD 4.0-based RGB triple laser light source ($ 1,900 vs $ 2,300 – $ 2,500). At the same time, all projectors cover 110% in BT.2020 color space. Moreover, hybrid light sources provide superb ΔE < 1 color accuracy and do not have the traditional speckle problem of laser projectors.
Probably, development through hybrids is a natural trend. Sony and Samsung TVs with a hybrid QD-OLED panel clearly illustrate it. In fact, the developers combined excellent OLED contrast with the superb brightness of LED TVs, creating a cheaper hybrid with similar picture quality.
This video demonstrates the NexiGo TriVision Ultra 4K projector with laser/LED hybrid light engine.