Like January’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, USA), the autumn IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, Germany) is one of the most popular showcases for consumer electronics. This year, from September 5th to 9th, manufacturers traditionally tried to impress curious experts and often succeeded.
XGIMI HORIZON 20 Series, including the HORIZON 20, 20 Pro and 20 Max projectors, has become one of its sensations.
The XGIMI brand hardly needs an introduction. Chengdu XGimi Technology Co Ltd has been successfully competing in the segment of high-performance multi-functional smart projectors and laser TVs since 2013. It’s rightfully considered one of the industry’s innovative leaders.
Specifically, XGIMI developed and used the first hybrid laser/LED light source in the Horizon Ultra. It was able to provide high brightness, expand the color gamut, and improve color accuracy with minimal laser speckls. Moreover, in the fall of 2024, the company introduced XGIMI Horizon S Max with an improved version of the hybrid laser/LED light engine. Today, hybrid 4K mid-focal projectors are already present in the lines of several companies. This list includes, for example, the NexiGo TriVision Ultra (January 2025, $1,500, 2,600 ANSI lumens) and Dangbei MP1 Max (June 2025, $ 1,600, 3,100 ISO lumens).
The innovative level of the XGIMI HORIZON 20 Series is also impressive. Specifically, the flagship 20 Max delivers unprecedented brightness of up to 5,700 ISO lumens and superb ‘Viewing contrast’ with AI-based Dynamic Black Level Enhancement (DBLE) technology. Additionally, the ultra-low input lag of ~1ms makes it the best for competitive gaming on the market.
All models have an identical design with the same form factor and size, but their weight is slightly different – (25 x 30 x 19 cm)@4.8/4.9/5.4 kg.
Main specs
With the exception of price, brightness, and lens, the specifications and features of all models are identical.
Specs:
– 4K resolution – 0.47″ DLP DMD chipset with XPR (eXpanded Pixel Resolution) support;
– XGIMI’s X-Master RGB triple laser engine minimizes speckle and chromatic fringing with an expanded wide wavelength range. Each primary color (red, green, and blue) is generated by multiple laser chips, the total number of which reaches 40;
– contrast – 1,600:1 native contrast, 20,000:1 ‘Viewing contrast’ with Dynamic Black Level Enhancement (DBLE) enabled, and 1,000,000:1 dinamic contrast with Auto Dynamic Iris;
– color gamut – 110% for BT.2020;
– Delta E < 0.8 (color accuracy 'out of the box');
– Dynamic Tone Mapping (real-time brightness and contrast optimization based on the frame content).
– HDR 10+, IMAX Enhanced, Filmmaker Mode and Dolby Vision certifications;
– gaming – smooth gameplay with up to 240Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), HDMI 2.1, FPS, RTS, RPG and sports Game modes, black equalizer and a built-in virtual crosshair for shooters.
– input lag (Game Mode, VRR on, AK off) – 1ms for 1080P@240Hz, 2.2ms for 1080P@120Hz and 3ms for 4K@60Hz;
– auto setup with ISA 5.0 system (uninterrupted keystone correction, focus, obstacle avoidance, screen alignment, wall color adaptation from 3,000K to 15,000K and eye protection);
– (1.2–1.5:1) optical zoom and digital zoom;
– Dynamic Lens Shift (motorized lens shift, V/H) – ±120% and ±45%;
– Google TV with Netflix preloaded.
– native voice control for integration with Google Home;
– speakers – 2 x 12W Harman/Kardon (55Hz deep bass extention, 630cc acoustic chamber volume, DTS-Virtual:X, DTS-HD, Dolby Audio, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus support);
– Full HD 3D;
– Bluetooth 5.2.
Key Features
Differences (HORIZON 20 vs 20 Pro vs Max):
– price – $ 2,400 vs $ 1,750 vs $ 1,190;
– brightness – 5,700 vs 4100 vs 3200 ISO lumens;
– lens – X-Master Red Ring vs High Light Transmission Coated Lens.
New XGIMI’s X-Master Red Ring lens combines ultra-high-resolution A-grade optics with aerospace-grade laser glass (14-layer vacuum coating), delivering 99.6% light transmission. It’s used in HORIZON 20 Pro and Max. 20 model has a High Light Transmission Coated lens.
Traditionally for most modern 4K DLP projectors, MP1 Max uses a 0.47-inch 1080p DMD DLP chip with pixel shift-based XPR technology from Texas Instruments. Its operftion principle is simple and elegant. The projector divides the 8 million pixels of the 4K content into 4 parts of 2 million each. Then, using the chipset’s 2 million micromirrors, it displays four Full HD images in sequence, shifting them diagonally by half a pixel relative to each other.
Of course, the projector only displays one Full HD image at a time. But due to the high frequency, the eyes and brain perceive them as a single, higher-resolution image. Pixel shifting is achieved by tilting the lens using four electromagnets in the XPR module.
20,000:1 ‘Viewing contrast’ with AI – based DBLE beats Valerion VisionMaster Max and Pro, which demonstrate up to 15,000:1 due to AI – based Enhanced Black Level feature.
Delta E < 0.8 is one of the main bonuses of the new triple-laser light source. For reference, Delta E < 3 is a good value even after calibration.
Unprecedentedly low input lag from 1ms to 3ms and an expanded list of popular gaming features make these projectors the best for competitive gaming. For reference, BenQ gaming models currently achieve the best result of ~4.16ms for 1080p@240Hz.
Conclusion
The HORIZON 20 Series covers all price segments, offering 4K triple-laser models ranging from $ 1,190 to $ 2,400. In fact, light output is the main and only difference. As known, ambient light makes image colors dull. Brightness compensates for this negative impact. In addition, it affects image quality as the screen size increases, as the light output is evenly distributed across the entire screen area. Acceptable color saturation for low-power projectors with brightness up to 1,000 lumens rarely exceeds 70-80″ diagonally.
Thus, high brightness eliminates image size limitations and the need for room darkening, ensuring high quality even in diffuse daylight. However, even the ‘budget’ HORIZON 20 provides 3,200 ISO lumens, which is a very high value in this segment. Therefore, the choice mainly depends on the budget and discounts.
For comparison, current prices for bright (over 3,000 lumens) 4K mid-focal projectors:
– Valerion VisionMaster Max (3,500 ISO Lumens) – $ 5,000;
– Anker Nebula X1 (3,500 ANSI Lumens) – $ 2,700.
Given the specs, the HORIZON 20 Max’s price could be positioned as dumping. But a reputable Chinese brand with an impeccable reputation hardly needs such marketing techniques. Thus, the superb price-quality ratio promises it cloudless marketing prospects.
This video introduces the new XGIMI HORIZON 20 Series.