JMGO N1 Ultra Triple Laser Gimbal Projector Review

Aesthetics

• Sleek curves with a swivel and pan design with two tone silver and dark grey highlight this very attractive and functional gimbal design which fits in great in any modern living space.
• This beauty features curved corners and lines with a mirrored black finish around the lens and sensors.

Installation, throw ratio, zoom

Throw ratio

• 1.2:1 Fixed Throw Range
• No Zoom or Horizontal/Vertical Shift. This is all done electronically. It does feature an option for digital zoom

How easy was it to line up with the screen?

Extremely Easy! The JMGO N1 Ultra has automatic screen fit, so you just point the projector at the screen and let it automatically do its thing!

It also features Auto Object Avoidance so it will do its best to avoid projecting onto objects such as light switches, wall sconces, paintings, Photo Frames, etc.

Focusing the projector is also very easy due to its automatic focus adjustment. There is also a manual focus if you choose to do it yourself for possible better results.

The unit also features automatic geometric correction that warps the image so you get a nice squared off picture when you move the projector.

Lens shift

All image adjustments take place electronically and automatically by the projector after using Gimbal to physically move the projector to the desired position. There are also manual image adjustment controls as well if you prefer over the auto adjustment.

Light Source

The JMGO N1 Ultra uses a Microstructure Adaptive Laser Control (MALC) with 9 Laser Diodes (1 Deep Red, 2 Red, 1 Magenta, 3 Green, 2 Blue) designed by Nichia for JMGO.

It has a Quad Layered Laser Diffuser System to achieve brightness and white uniformity from the narrow band colored lasers.

This projector features Dynamic Light Speckle Reducer (LSR) Technology to reduce the laser speckle associated with narrow beam lasers, especially red. However there is still a good amount of laser speckle despite this technology.

You’d typically only find a triple laser RGB light engine at this lower price range on an UST projector but now several lifestyle projectors use this to light up their image. You will hardly ever see this level of light engine available on a normal throw type consumer projector for less than $50,000!

One advantage of using RGB Lasers or LEDs as the light source, as this JMGO does and which is seldom talked about, is what is known as the Helmhotlz-Kohlrausch (HK) Effect. It is an effect where the image that is reproduced by these types of light sources appears to the eye as being brighter than what it actually measures using a meter.

Brightness

The JMGO N1 Ultra is rated at 2,200 CVIA Brightness (Newer Asian Standard). For those used to seeing ANSI lumens this can be pretty confusing. It’s not really possible to easily convert CVIA lumens as they have two different methods of measuring the brightness.

So we took our own measurements and we actually achieved over 3,000 lumens at peak brightness with the laser power turned all the way up.

Actual Measured Brightness of Review Sample:

• 835 peak LUX at screen center (Laser Power 10, Glaring Mode, Bright Gamma, Contrast 100)
• Converts to 3,033 Lumens using a 115” 16x9 screen size.

Image Mode: Calculated ANSI Lumens

Colors

SDR Mode Measurements, Pre-Calibration (Out of the Box)

SDR Office Mode Measurements, Post-Calibration

HDR Mode Measurements, Pre-Calibration (Out of the Box)

The triple laser light source on the N1 Ultra, designed by Nichia, can provide an extremely wide color gamut wider than even the BT.2020 spec, according to JMGO. It is much wider than almost all normal front throw projectors out there, even the top tier home theater LCoS, SXRD and LCD projectors which feature a brightness reducing wide color gamut filter that rolls into place to produce near DCI-P3 Colors, but these colors are still much smaller than what this little JMGO RGB Laser projector reproduces.

Their MALC tri-color laser RGB reproduces colors in the range of 110% of the BT.2020 gamut, so it easily surpasses the lower DCI-P3 color space usually used on those other projectors and as the mastering level for a lot of the HDR video content we see today on UHD Blu-ray’s and streaming.

One of the biggest advantages of using RGB lasers is the ability to also get full color volume and brightness. We were able to dial this projector in very nicely for both SDR (Rec.709) and HDR (BT.2020) color ranges as you can see in the CalMAN Calibration charts above.

Contrast

The JMGO N1 Ultra is specified as having a 1,600:1 native on/off contrast ratio. This is not the highest of contrast ratios that you can get from a Lifestyle or even Home Theater projector, but it is good enough to achieve an acceptable low APL image on screen and it is perceived as having a much higher contrast than the numbers show when watching this low level content. The Shadow Details shine and pop with colors and depth not seen in many other projectors of all technologies. This is most likely due to the triple laser RGB light engine and its high color volume, as mentioned previously in the Color Section.

Normal 0.47” chip based DLP projectors of this kind can only produce 800-1,000:1 native contrast, so the N1 Ultra being able to effectively double the lower end of this technology is a wonderful feat!

Our measurements actually exceeded the manufacturer’s specs:

Image Mode: Calculated Sequential Contrast

Sharpness

The JMGO features Auto and Manual focusing and which can get quite sharp, resulting in a clean and detailed image on screen. It's hard to believe it comes from such a small lens and form factor! While sharp, the JMGO lacked the crispness of the Hisense C1 lifestyle projector and visibly not as sharp as more dedicated home theater projectors.

To achieve this level of sharpness however, you do need to disable the auto-correction tools.

Motion handling

The JMGO N1 Ultra, like many other projectors, features motion processing to help alleviate the dreaded “judder” effect as seen when trying to playback 24Hz film originating material at 60Hz video frequencies/refresh rates.

Their version is also called MEMC, which stands for Motion Estimation / Motion Compensation.

The MEMC option has four settings:

• OFF
• LOW
• MIDDLE
• HIGH

I highly recommend you use OFF if you don’t mind normal 24Hz Judder, or LOW if it bothers you some and you don’t mind a little of the Soap Opera Effect (SOE) added in. You may not see it on LOW but I think you’ll definitely notice SOE on anything above MID. So use this “feature” judiciously.

However, even with the MEMC enabled there was some noticeable juddering. So when it comes to motion handling this definitely isn't the best projector out there.

Chipset

This revolutionary little powerhouse features a triple laser RGB optical design shining onto a single chip DLP that is 0.47” in size and has a 4-way pixel shift to achieve a full 8.3 million discrete addressable pixels on screen.

Thankfully the N1 Ultra doesn’t require any sort of color or phosphor wheel, nor any wide color gamut filters to achieve its amazing color and image fidelity. This can be noticed in the depth of colors and their vibrancy on screen.

Video gaming

Input Lag on the N1 Ultra is listed as ~15ms using a 4K60p signal. However, our friend Gregory at MonoProjos measured it at 35.1 ms. This higher number is likely without turning off the auto-correct features. Regardless, that’s still good for most gamers.

There is a dedicated Game Picture Mode, which can be selected for this so that when playing games from a console into the N1's HDMI V2.1 input, it results in optimized gameplay due to some of the added features mod that spec.

The experience when gaming with this projector is one of the best you’ll find for a projector. It has great low latency/lag of less than 20ms. This is great for use with first person shooters and critical driving type games where lag really matters.

Built in sound

The JMGO N1 Ultra features DTS and Dolby Audio certified support. In partnership with Dynaudio, it has two 10 Watt speakers producing down low to around ~45 Hertz, which is pretty good bass, especially for such a small projector chassis.

This model has four modes in its menu system that you can select from in order to tailor the sound to your room, situation or taste.

STANDARD

This mode has the flattest response and most true to what is coming into the projector, without anything added to color the sound or make it sound as if you are listening in a different environment or to a specific type of event’s audio.

MUSIC

A livelier mix, designed to enhance music and instruments and to emulate more of a live music venue feel to the sound.

MOVIE

A mode that is provided to produce a more cinematic environment, with more legible “center voice" type characteristics along with deeper, more impactful bass and heavy hitting punch when needed for special effects type scenes. There is also a surround sound sense to the overall presentation.

SPORTS

This mode accentuates sounds such as the crowd noise to give you a “you are there" type of sense and feel to the soundstage, while also putting announcers voices front and center so you can hear the play by play call of your favorite sporting event.

AUDIO

When you first fire up this diminutive projector, you’d be hard pressed not to be shocked by the audio reproduction emanating from this otherwise unassuming and small gray and silver box. It goes deep down low with its bass (in comparison) and can get louder than you’d expect from this tiny package incorporated in partnership with Dynaudio. This unassuming powerhouse can probably go without having to add any additional soundbar or speakers. However, if you're looking for a more substantial audio experience that immerses you in your media you'd be better off with a dedicated surround sound speaker system.

When taking into account how great the image quality is on the N1 Ultra, the surprisingly good audio performance completes the whole package as an easy value choice to get overall quality and performance stepping into many levels above its playing field.

Remote

The included remote for the JMGO N1 Ultra has a mid-grey color made of cheap feeling plastic. It is of the standard fare design variety used often for a basic AndroidTV device.

It has all the very basic buttons needed for control, but could use a few more to make life more simple without going into the menu system every time to do what should be quick and easy tasks, such as a much needed INPUT button. The buttons that are on the remote are not backlit unfortunately and they include, from top left down to bottom right:

User interface

Connectivity and ports

The JMGO N1 Ultra features a limited suite of connectivity jacks and ports for various functions. It would have been nice to have more HDMIs, but it is understandable considering the size and minimalist design of this projector while keeping costs low. I believe it shouldn’t be an issue if you’re needing that many more HDMI inputs, it means you’re most likely using this more as a traditional standard throw projector so you’d probably be running all your HDMI sources through an AV Receiver having many more HDMI inputs in this instance. This is what I think you’d be doing if you were in a situation where you needed that many HDMI devices connected anyway.

The installed ports on the rear of the chassis include:

• Two HDMI Version 2.1 ports, one of which features eARC (enhanced Audio Return Channel).
• One USB type-A port
• One Stereo Mini Headphone Jack

The power port for the included power supply is located on the rear of the right arm connecting the base to the projector’s main chassis.

Picture Modes

Glaring

What is it for?

This mode is used mainly to cut through high ambient lighting conditions while trying to maintain color fidelity and image visibility with some contrast to the image.

What does it do?

This mode over saturates the colors and presents with boosted contrast.

How does it look?

It looks as you would imagine with overblown colors and very peaked contrast that tends to wipe out any high white details.

Vivid

What is it for?

This mode is also used as a way to cut through high ambient lighting conditions while trying to maintain color fidelity and image visibility with some contrast to the image.

It can also be used judiciously to give some more pop to your image if needed or wanted, without the severe effects of Glaring Mode.

What does it do?

As with the Glaring Mode, this mode over-saturates the colors and presents with boosted contrast, but it does so in a less “glaring” fashion, haha.

How does it look?

This too looks as imagined giving the same overblown colors and very peaked contrast shared with Glaring Mode, which tends to wipe out any high white details, just not to the extent of the prior mode, as mentioned.

This mode is also the brightest of all the Picture modes.

Standard

What is it for?

Standard Mode is there for the general public who want to just open the box and do a quick setup so they can get up and running in minimal time with a very pleasing image with what appear to be natural colors and contrast, but also know what modes like vivid, glaring, dynamic, etc. can and usually do to the image on screen, and not in a good way.

What does it do?

This mode tames all the features and settings to more modest levels so they don’t scream at you, saying “Hey, I am on and you know it”! There is modest use of MEMC, Noise Reduction, Contrast Enhancement, etc. but not to the extremes which show exaggerated effects of these settings which most find unnatural and unhelpful to getting realistic images on screen.

How does it look?

The Standard mode looks very pleasing upon initial viewing, and you can easily leave it here and not have issues with it.

Upon measuring however, you can see there is a blue bias to the image which needs calibrating out if you want a truly accurate picture. Blue images are pleasing to the eye, so some may prefer this over the more “reddish” images obtained after a thorough ISF Calibration, according to many first time viewers of newly calibrated imaging systems. This is mainly due to the plethora of displays coming from the factory cranked into a heavy blue bias to attract the human eye, as they present most displays at big box stores such as Best Buy and Costco.

Game

What is it for?

The Game mode is used exactly for what it is named after, gaming.

What does it do?

This mode turns off all the projector’s processing functions so as to reduce the latency and lag times as much as possible for optimized response and performance, especially first person shooter type games.

How does it look?

Game mode takes on a dimmer appearance, flat and without some of the flair and pop some want, due to most if not all of its processing being defeated.

This mode does look smoother overall without the soap opera effect

Office

What is it for?

This mode is usually designed to present PC graphics when a laptop is plugged in for things like PowerPoint Presentations and slideshows.

What does it do?

This mode reigns in the color gamut, which is extended beyond Rec.709 in all other modes, even when presenting the projector with a standard SDR Rec.709 input signal. It brings the gamut points extremely close to their intended targets surprisingly as compared to modes you would think should be closer to spec such as Standard Mode.

How does it look?

The Office Mode looks the most natural and close to the SDR Rec.709 specification and it shows out of the box. Some users will think this is more dull and less saturated when comparing it to the other modes, but it is actually the most correct, by a far margin! It took very little effort to bring it completely in line when calibrating this mode for SDR.

User

What is it for?

The User Mode is a mode that is there for optimizing the image to one’s personal preference, or to a reference such as ISF Calibration to the specifications set forth by the appropriate governing bodies.

What does it do?

This mode allows the user to have a mode that, even when in another mode to start, will change to this mode automatically once one of the menu settings and parameters are changed beyond their default value. So in other words, if you’re in Standard Mode and want to increase sharpness, contrast, color, etc., when you do that it automatically switches the Mode over to User.

How does it look?

Out of the box this mode looks very similar to the Standard Mode, but you can tailor this mode to have any appearance you desire within the confines of what is offered and built in as far as settings and options.

3D Performance

3D content is supported on the JMGO N1 Ultra with your 3D mastered games and movies and can be turned on with any SDR picture mode.

You must use compatible 3D glasses, such as the DLP Link Glasses I had on hand, which automatically connected to the N1 Ultra. You can buy compatible 3D glasses from ProjectorScreen.com.

I tested 3D using my Oppo 203 UHD Blu-ray Player and three 3D Blu-ray movies, which were The Lego Movie, Oz the Great and Powerful and The Polar Express. I haven’t watched 3D in a long time and don’t consider myself a 3D expert by any means. I will say that to my eyes it worked and looked great for all movies once I set the N1 Ultra to its 3D “Frame Packed” mode. The only slight anomaly I think I noticed was some ghosting of certain parts of the frame where it didn’t quite look natural. This is an example of what that anomaly may look like:

One thing I do want to say is that after playing and testing 3D on this tiny color gem, I so thoroughly enjoyed the experience that I think I will dig out my collection of 3D Blu-rays for another go. I can’t wait to watch some of these animated ones with my granddaughter!

Favorite Picture Modes in HDR and SDR:

Favorite HDR Mode = User Picture Mode

How it looks out of the box

The N1 Ultra performs amazingly well, especially with HDR material featuring wide color gamut BT.2020 colors.

It has fine detail abound and a razor sharp image capable of showing very sharp and in depth images, almost 3D-like in their appearance.

This, like most other projectors designed for consumer use, lean heavily blue in the color temperature, as you can see in the below CalMAN Calibration chart images. Unlike in the Office SDR Mode, there is no mode that comes very close out of the box to a proper white point of D65, so if you want a reference image coming out of this beauty, it will need some tender loving calibration care.

You will notice it has a bump up higher in the reference PQ curve (absolute gamma for HDR rendering), above the reference line. This gives a slight boost in the midrange, which I think was intentional. There was no real way to bring that down completely without destroying the image and making it look too flat and dull. I tried the 11 point Grayscale adjustment, but the values went far too extreme to make any sort of any real difference. I believe this is due to the revolutionary new RGB laser light engine and not being able to completely control the RGB laser diodes the way you’d want or can with other light engine technologies such as a lamp or blue laser phosphor. This could also account for why they weren’t able to go to a full fade to black with the laser diodes. I am not sure this technology can quite do this at this low of a price point, as they can with MUCH more expensive RGB laser options from the likes of Marco and Christie. In fact, I don’t think even the Christie Eclipse has perfected true dynamic RGB laser dimming as of the time of this writing, but perhaps I am wrong?

*See the “Colors” Section for the CalMAN Calibration Chart Images showing each Mode’s Out-of-the-Box Performance.

How it looks after some calibration

After doing a calibration run thanks to the fine folks over at Portrait Displays and their equally fine calibration software provided by them, the image snaps into line in its white balance, greyscale and colors. The image being put forth by this affordable and wonderful RGB laser DLP is nothing short of breathtaking for its price point and level in the home theater realm.

Skin tones are extremely natural and you can really see the color depth and brightness at play with its RGB lasers as compared to most every other front projector (non-UST) under about 50 grand, which are far from offering an RGB laser light engine in their designs. Heck, most just started offering Blue Laser phosphor throughout their home theater lines, let alone discrete RGB Lasers.

Time to step up Sony, JVC, Epson, BenQ, et al, the low priced RGB laser light engine design train has left the station and you’re not even on the caboose as far as light engines go in 2023. To be fair I have heard that JVC is also invested in the same light engine design from Nichia, so I am praying we see an LCoS design with amazing black levels and contrast paired with this incredible little RGB laser light engine.

*See the “Colors” Section for the CalMAN Calibration Chart Images showing the HDR User Mode’s after calibration performance.

Favorite SDR Mode = Office Picture Mode

How it looks out of the box

Out of the box, as with the HDR modes, all modes lean very blue intentionally to please the average Joe when first firing up this little gem.

The big difference, and not in a good way, as compared to HDR is that the colors are also very over saturated out to the projector’s native gamut which is at BT.2020 or even beyond. This results in very saturated, cartoony colors which initially can pop and make you say “wow”, but after a while you’ll notice them not looking very natural and as you’d see them in the real world or on other calibrated displays.

The only mode that reigns in the colors to very close to the Rec.709 standard for SDR is the Office mode, as you can see in the charts in the “Color” section of this review.

*See the “Colors” Section for the CalMAN Calibration Chart Images showing each SDR Mode’s Out-of-the-Box performance.

How it looks after some calibration

After very minimal calibration, the JMGO N1 Ultra’s Office SDR Mode tracks gamma, greyscale, white balance and the Rec.709 Color gamut and sweeps extremely well, with just some slight over saturation in the very highest levels of red and blue. These won’t be noticed in normal SDR content until these extreme edge colors are on screen, which is not often and is doubtful they’ll even be seen with the human eye since their dE threshold is below 3dE at 1.8 and 1.4., which is astounding performance at this price point and for this early of an iteration of this RGB laser light engine design!

*See the “Colors” Section for the CalMAN Calibration Chart Images showing each Mode’s Out-of-the-Box Performance

Summing it up

This new entry with its groundbreaking Gimbal design and electronic warping to make it all work is an excellent all-in-one budget projector for those that want a 4K projector for more than just their home theater room.

It is sporting full BT.2020 Color gamut coverage with very sharp and detailed imagery. Being a 0.047” pixel-shifting DLP design, it doesn’t have the best native contrast on paper when compared to some of the leading LCD projectors in the this price range and far beyond it, but in actual viewing the image takes on a very nice, deep appearance with a wonderful perceived contrast which really brings out the low level shadow details and colors. This is to me a much better option than many other budget projectors under $2500. It is even better than a lot of them that are well over this price when you set it up to not use any of the resolution and detail stealing warping and auto keystone functions! Though the auto correction and portability is kind of the point of the projector.

If you’re looking for a bright, colorful, punchy and detailed image that won’t make your wallet too much lighter, then I highly suggest you take a look at this incredible little unassuming projector that can and does play outside its intended “Lifestyle Projector” wheelhouse if you want it to.