XGIMI has unveiled its Horizon Max home cinema projector, which is the first long-throw smart projector to receive IMAX Enhanced Certification.
Similar to Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, IMAX Enhanced is a specification designed to ensure the highest playback quality in the home, regarding resolution, colour, brightness, contrast and sound, with the latter provided by a variation of DTS:X.
While IMAX Enhanced doesn’t quite have the range of content that Dolby Vision/Atmos has, it’s a growing format, with support from Sony and Paramount, as well as streaming on Disney+.
“With the HORIZON Max, we’re reshaping home entertainment, delivering a cinematic experience previously reserved for high-end projectors,” Apollo Zhong, CEO and founder of XGIMI, stated. “HORIZON Ultra achieved Dolby Vision, and now, HORIZON Max boasts IMAX Enhanced certification for picture/image performance.”
It’s not clear at this point if the projector also supports any Dolby audio and visual formats.
ISA 5.0 and Dual Light 2.0
As well as IMAX Enhanced, the XGIMI Horizon Max also introduces Intelligent Screen Adaptation (ISA) 5, using hardware and software to configure the best screen automatically. This system goes beyond automatic focus, object avoidance and keystone correction and uses the projector’s fully automated gimbal.
This allows the projector to automatically locate the best projector position on a wall and then remember the settings. XGIMI’s example is that the Horizon Max can be used for gaming on one side of the room and movies on the other, automatically adapting its software and hardware settings for the best experience with each activity.
There’s Dual Light 2.0 technology, which uses a combination of triple-lasers for extended colour range and a phosphor light to enhance imperfections produced by the lasers. We’ve not seen this version of dual light in operation, but the dual light system on the XGIMI Horizon Ultra was impressive.
According to XGIMI, the Horizon Max has a high brightness of 3,100 ISO Lumens, which should be enough to watch clearly in daylight, a 2000:1 native contrast ratio and high colour accuracy.
This projector will run Google TV, although it hasn’t been announced if Netflix is supported natively.
There’s no launch date or price available at the time of writing, but we’ll bring you this information when available.
XGIMI Aladdin
Alongside the Horizon Max, the company has also unveiled the XGIMI Aladdin, which is a projector that can be installed like a standard ceiling light. The idea here is that this makes permanent projector installation easier than in the past, giving a simpler option for those who want a fixed projector.
There’s only basic information on this product: it’s a ‘feature-rich’ projector and has a 360-degree Harmon Kardon smart speaker, and it is able to project dynamic wallpapers, life-sized interactive children’s books and soothing ambient sounds for bedtime. There’s no price or launch date available at the moment.
