Projector Reviews

FULL-ON/FULL-OFF CONTRAST RATIO: 500:1

The measurements here were made using CalMAN measurement software from Portrait Displays (www. portrait.com), together with a Photo Research PR- 650 color meter, Minolta LS-100 luminance meter, and a Murideo/AVPro (Fresco Six-G) test pattern generator.

Pre-calibration measurements were made with the XGIMI Horizon Pro's Custom color mode active, with basic adjustments made to brightness and contrast. Post-calibration measurements were also made in the Cinema mode. All measurements were made with the projector paired with a 1.1 gain, 92- inch diagonal Stewart CIMA projection screen.

The projector's maximum full-on/full-off SDR contrast ratio was measured in Custom mode with the Strong Local Contrast setting active. Using this combination, black measured 0.080 ft-L and peak white 40.0 ft-L for a contrast ratio of 500:1. Before calibration, the Horizon Pro's grayscale (Custom mode/Warm Color Temperature) skewed red, with the Delta E averaging out to 7.6. After calibration using the projector's global red, green, and blue Custom Color Temperature adjustments, the average was reduced to 2.5 with a maximum error of 4.5 at 70% brightness. (Delta E is a figure of merit indicating how close the color comes to the standard, either D65 for the white point or the color coordinates for each of the primary and secondary colors that define the color gamut under test. Values below 3 are generally unnoticeable.)

With the Custom color mode's default settings active, the Delta E of the Horizon Pro's color points averaged out to 6.9, with a maximum of 9.6 (for Cyan). Since the projector doesn't provide color management system menu adjustments, no improvements could be made to this parameter. Coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut in calibrated Custom mode topped out at 88.42%, a significantly lower number than the 110% XGIMI specifies for the Horizon Pro.

Before calibration, gamma tracking was off for most of the brightness range. Calibration improved those results, though most measurement points still missed a 2.2 target. When displaying an HDR10 source with Auto HDR selected, peak output on a 10% white window pattern measured 122 nits.

Picture uniformity was excellent: white full-field test patterns showed minimal brightness drops between the center and edges of the screen, and no color shifts. Our suite of video processing tests revealed poor performance, with the Horizon Pro failing on both HD 2:2 and 2:3 pulldown patterns.

XGIMI specs projector fan noise at under-30dB, and I found it low enough to be barely even noticeable during regular use.

Measured input lag with a 1080p source was 42.2ms in Game mode and 125.6ms in Custom mode, making the XGIMI an average option for high-def gaming.—AG

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