At CES 2024 there were a ton of new projectors to check out and get excited for. One of the lesser known, but quickly growing projector brands Nexigo. With their Nexigo Aurora Pro ultra short throw projector they made a big splash on the scene.
Now at CES 2024 they were able to showcase some of their latest innovations and newest projectors. Our very own, Brian Gluck, was able to sit down with the reps at the Nexigo booth and learn about their exciting new offerings for 2024.
Brian: What's up, guys? I'm here at the Nexigo booth at CES 2024 with my buddy Chris.
And we're going to be checking out the latest projection technology from Nexigo.
So the first thing that we're going to be checking out here today is their new lifestyle projector. This particular item, which is called the TriVision Ultra, as the large sign right next to me clearly points out. It is utilizing the latest light engine from Appotronics. The ALPD 5.0.
What you're going to be getting with that is a substantial step up from ALPD 4.0. Really when it comes in terms of color, volume, contrast, enhancement, you can also see a very low latency time.
I'm not sure if that is anything with the light engine, but you're showing 4 milliseconds of latency. Is that on par with gaming monitors, and things along those lines?
Most projectors that we sell, you know, a great latency is 12 milliseconds. You've cut that down by like an astronomical percentage.
Chris: I mean, you've seen the Aurora Pro, that one does 12 milliseconds too and so it’s definitely going to get there.
Brian: And one thing I'm going to touch about for you guys that are reading this, who may not be familiar with lifestyle projectors, the way we’re defining that is a projector that is good enough for a dedicated theater environment yet portable enough to be taken on the go and packed with a feature set that really makes it an all in one projector.
We're talking about smart streaming systems, really good audio and other types of accessories that are found in various different units that help make it such a versatile product
Chris: Yeah, that's a great way to put it.
And yeah, the TriVision Ultra is set to be weighing just over 10 pounds
And we've got a little insert that you can put a smart stick into so it fits just right and you don't have this thing sticking out the back.
Brian: Gotcha. So you don't have something protruding out the back
Chris: Exactly
Brian: That really allows me to use the smart stick of my choice whether it's a Roku, a Firestick, Chromecast or anything like that.
Chris: Exactly.
Brian: Awesome!
Chris: It's a small thing that we really are proud of
Brian: It's like the little touches right?
Chris: Exactly.
Brian: And I guess what I'm also going to mention here talking about TriVision. The Trivision is very likely a RGB triple laser projector and that's something that is like never was found in standard for projectors but really started to come out in ultra short throw technology.
But for those people that don't want an ultra short throw projector but still wanted that insanely wide color gamut that comes from RGB laser technology there really weren't many options
So last year we started to see that pop up with the lifestyle projector category and Nexigo here again is delivering not only triple laser but with the latest ALPD 5.0 Technology.
Chris: Yeah I mean you said it all Brian. That's, that's pretty much the whole thing
Brian: So I just earned a free one for my home right?
Chris: I'll talk to them
Brian: Awesome. So when is this thing going to be available for purchase?
Chris: Right now angling for Q2 and we're hoping to get all the firmware updated and provides support for years to come.
Brian: And I will give Nexigo kudos right, they just recently launched the Aurora Pro, and they've been really proactive in terms of getting customer feedback, addressing issues, and putting out firmware updates.
So with the track record we've seen with the ultra short throw we have no reason to expect anything different here.
And I will certainly hope that you will be able to find this available at ProjectorScreen.com upon its launch.
Chris: That is the plan.
Brian: Awesome! So we're going to go check out the Aurora Pro.
And we're checking out something really unique about the Aurora Pro, their awesome ultra short throw projector.
So I don't know how much you can see in the shot behind us but we have an incredibly wide image right. What was it? Was it a 2.35:1 or 2.4:1?
Chris: Yeah.
Brian: Somewhere within there that quantifies as Cinemascope. And the way that they're achieving it is by blending two separate Aurora Pro projectors into one seamless image at the Cinemascope aspect ratio.
So generally speaking, when you're dealing with projection and edge blending technology, oftentimes you need extraneous hardware right, and some software to go with it to be able to process it.
But Chris just told me something that's pretty darn cool.
The only additional piece of hardware that they're using to accomplish this is just a laptop or a desktop or whatever you brought here.
Chris: We got it down in the cabinet right there.
Brian: So just tucked away there, their video source has all of the horsepower needed, hardware wise and software wise to be able to produce a Cinemascope image.
Chris, are you aware if that means if on my computer, I have a movie that's in Cinemascope, I can play it with the correct aspect ratio.
Chris: Yes
Brian: Now are we casting light outside of the screen or have you guys figured out how to limit the height with edge blending so that we're not wasting any light or wasting any pixels?
Chris: With a bit of fine tuning, we get it as close as possible as to the minimal light spill.
Brian: That's awesome we've got this mammer jammer all focused within the right aspect.
Chris: Um I don't think we can say that there's zero lightspill at all. It's a bit of a stretch. Well I didn't mean light spill, I meant wasted pixels.
Brian: We're not projecting light outside of the frame.
Chris: Yes, of course.
Brian: There's nothing not being used, we're focusing it all in here.
Chris: In this case, yes.
Brian: So really what that means is you're looking at a really awesome projector
that retails for under $3,000.
And right now what we've got here is an under $6,000 visual display set up with whatever screen that you need.
Now is this an ambient light rejecting screen?
Chris: It is.
Brian: And you have this specially made for the display.
Chris: Yes
Brian: I'm not aware of any ambient light rejecting screens for ultra short throw that are in Cinemascope aspect ratio because no one's really producing the hardware.
However, as you can see, that's starting to emerge this year and I would expect that we're going to see screens like this to support this type of technology, possibly from Nexigo, Spectra Projection or others.
Chris: Fingers crossed.
Brian: So this is really cool. And it's actually one of the most innovative things I've seen as far as ultra short throw projection has gone on here in the show. So kudos once again Chris.
Chris: Thank you Brian
Brian: All right. Now let's go check out the single unit Aurora Pro
So what we've got here is their flagship ultra short throw projector. So this is not their first ultra short throw projector? I believe last year, maybe a year and a half ago. You guys had just the Aurora? Is that what it was called?
Chris: That's right, in 2022 we released the Aurora.
Brian: And that was a single laser projector?
Chris: That was a single laser and that was a really solid performer.
Now, what we've got here is their triple laser projector. This is something on a whole other level.
So, again, you know, we're talking about a product that's retailing for under $3000 that has around a 3000:1 native contrast ratio.
Chris: That's right.
Brian: And utilizing your dynamic contrast, I know I've measured that at over 4000:1. Right?
So you've got some impressive technology that is really going to be able to squeeze every possible amount of black out of a projector.
And for those of you that don't know, you can't project black, it doesn't work. You're projecting light. Black is the absence of light.
However, with their dynamic contrast mechanism, they've found a really good way of making
those black levels, as deep as possible.
So what we're checking out right here is on the lenticular ambient light rejecting floor rising screen.
For this screen., it's probably around a .5 to a .6 gain something along those lines. Right?
Chris: Something like that.
Brian: So it's going to diminish the brightness overall, but it's really going to enhance the black levels and the contrast.
And while we are not in the most well-lit environment, there's still a very sizable amount of light.
I can clearly see everything that's around me, No one stumbling for anything. And what we've got right here is a really vibrant image.
Now, one thing I will point out is that Nexigo has a couple of different stations set up with this particular product. This one is emulative of a more semi dedicated theater space. So it's not set to be the brightest as we're seeing one that's out of the main show floor. But it's been dialed in to have a better overall image quality.
So one thing that, you know, it is true is that when you try to squeeze every ounce of brightness out of the projector, you're going to be sacrificing contrast or sacrificing image accuracy or color accuracy
So when you're putting something in an environment such as this with treated ceilings and lower levels of ambient light, you really get to dial that projector to a whole other level, and you're going to have a fidelity of your image that surpasses that of if you're just trying to squeeze out every ounce of light
Chris: And to put it honestly, that's what we're trying to put here and explain to people that, especially when you use a setup like this it doesn't feel as bright as one you got on the show floor. This is the showcase, we're trying to show its main feats
Brian: As you can see, it's a pretty popular area. We had to kick a bunch of people out of their chairs just so we could film this, and I'm getting some evil looks at people who want to get back in.
Chris: Thank you Brian.
Brian: Well, I want to thank you for taking time to show us around here and talk all about things going on. And I appreciate everything. And, you know, we'll be connecting after the show as usual.
So thanks for watching and keep on projecting
