The projectors market has undergone tremendous changes in the past year. The low-end 1LCD projectors have resurged and the shipments have grown rapidly. The monochrome laser mainly guarantees high brightness, and the triple-color laser projectors are still gaining in popularity.
In fact, I was waiting for XGIMI to respond, and I want to see if XGIMI would produce a triple-color laser or stay with the LED light source.
Unexpectedly, XGIMI released mixed light source technology that directly increases the brightness of 4K projectors to 2,000 CCB lumens (2,500 CVIA lumens), and maintains the existing color matching of its own full-color LED light source.
Finally, we have a high-end projector with ultra-high brightness, ultra-high color gamut, and ultra-high color accuracy.
Let’s do a full review of the new XGIMI RS Pro 3 flagship projector.
Main Features of XGIMI RS Pro 3
- Sales start in May at $1,299.
- Full-color 4LED + 1 laser light source + DLP + self-developed optical machine – The First Dual Light Hybrid Source.
- 0.47″ DMD display chip, 4K native resolution or 8.39 million pixels.
- Variable projection ratio 1.2-1.5:1, supports 1.25 times lossless optical zoom
- 2000 CCB lumens Brightness, no need to close the curtains to watch the white wall without strong light during the day, and turn on the light at night for direct projection.
- BT709 99.9%, 95% DCI-P3 high color gamut coverage (everyone should pay attention to labeling more than 100% belongs to the color gamut area, which is confusing). Mass production color accuracy △≈1
- MT9679 high-end chip, 4GB RAM and 128 GB storage, Wi-Fi 6.
- Supports 4K 120 frames, supports motion compensation and game mode, no boot ads, and no screen-casting ads. The interface includes HDMI2.1 (18 GBPS), optical fiber audio port, USB 3.0, AV audio, and a video composite port.
- Dolby Vision certification, DTS certification and decoding, and HDMI eARC
- Harman Kardon audio system, 2 x 12W speakers, support of dual Bluetooth + audio mode.
- Screen casting protocols include Airplay, DLNA, Miracast, Lebo, and Huawei CAST.
Where To Buy XGIMI RS Pro 3?
Design
When it comes to design, there is Samsung in the TV industry and XGIMI in the projector industry. The brand has Z series of projectors, which are light and compact, H series projectors are simple and elegant, and RS series projectors are noble and graceful.
The colors of the XGIMI RS Pro 3 take on a hazy gold hue, drawing on the home aesthetic. The soft rounded corners say about gentleness and calmness. In terms of materials, the XGIMI RS pro 3 is upholstered in the same NAPPA leather and fabric as the more expensive luxury cars, which are natural and comfortable.
Abandoning the constant black appearance, XGIMI RS Pro 3’s charging cable, power adapter, and IR remote control are all in the same color and tone as the main body.
The Bluetooth remote control is made in the same color and minimalist design. The button is pressed evenly, and when you press it, you hear a slight bouncing sound.
The motorized lens cover automatically opens when the projector is turned on and automatically closes when it is turned off. The cover is dustproof, light-proof, and moisture-proof, protecting the lens.
Interfaces
The main cooling vents and interfaces are located on the back of the projector.
When hanging on the wall, the XGIMI RS Pro 3 is recommended to be at least 20cm away from the wall. The interfaces are as follows USB 3.0 USB2.0, optical fiber audio port, 100M network cable port, HDMI2.1, HDMI2.0, 3.5 audio port. The projector supports HDMI CEC and HDMI eARC audio.
Dual Light System
I didn’t believe the projector could have 2000 CCB lumens or 2500 CVIA lumens brightness on an LED light source, but XGIMI RS Pro 3 did. How is that possible?
Let’s talk about projector light sources.
Types of Light Sources
The common light sources are light bulb, 1LED (old), 3/4LED (commonly used), monochromatic laser (commonly used), and triple-color laser (new technology).
LED Light Source
The last three types are mostly used in projectors, among which the 3/4LED light source has been used for many years. However, the LED light source has a brightness limit. The brightness of the LED light source has become insufficient for daytime projector use.
Monochrome Laser
Monochromatic laser has the advantage of high brightness. The single blue laser is mostly used. Since there is only one light source, a monochromatic laser needs an external color wheel to achieve color separation. With DLP display technology, images are displayed sequentially, and eventually, the human eye synthesizes a full-color image.
However, the disadvantage of monochromatic laser is an average color gamut, while the brightness and color reproduction depends on the color separation of the color wheel.
Triple-Color Laser
Just like the industry only had a 1LED light source before 3LED came out, the triple-color laser is an upgraded version of the monochromatic laser. Because the monochromatic laser complained too often, the tricolor laser became too much in demand as soon as it hit the market.
In fact, the essence of triple-color laser is still 1DLP technology, which is not the final solution. The main advantage is the high native color coverage and high brightness.
Although the tri-color laser does not rely on color wheel color separation like 3LED, the final image synthesis must still be consistently handled by the DMD display chip, so it still tests the projector manufacturer’s ability to control the rainbow color and strobe.
Secondly, the triple-color laser brings new problems of speckle and color fringing.
In addition, because of the addition of a red laser, the tricolor laser projector requires particularly efficient heat dissipation to suppress the problem of color drift caused by excessive red laser temperature.
What Is XGIMI RS Pro 3 Dual Light System?
XGIMI RS Pro 3 uses a hybrid system of full-color LED light source (4 LEDs) + 1 red laser, which has the excellent color matching gene of full-color LED light source + the advantage of the natural spectrum that can be seen for a long time.
It also includes a red laser light source that can be used to improve overall brightness, color accuracy, and color gamut coverage. Among these, the red laser is a key factor in improving color accuracy. Most projectors with poor colors are caused by low red light sources.
Why Was XGIMI The Only One Who Could Do It?
Among Chinese projector brands, only XGIMI can independently design and produce light machines and optical lenses, so it has more freedom in changing the design of the optical link and light source.
The XGIMI RS Pro 3 uses the third generation of Dual Light source technology, which can have two types of light sources, 6 wavelengths, and 278 patented technologies. Thanks to them, the projector has a record brightness of 2000 CCB lumens.
Eagle-Eye Hardware-Level Optical Computing
As we all know, ambient light, wall material, and projector location are external factors that affect projection quality. Many projector manufacturers use CMOS and the TOF single-point vision system, which performs image correction at the software level after determining the current image state.
The image correction can be software level and hardware level. Most of the projectors under $1000 only use software-level methods. Scaling, image correction, obstacle avoidance, and cropping result in a loss of brightness and pixels.
XGIMI RS Pro 3 uses a hardware-level optical technology system. The main changes include:
1. Cat’s eye bionic aperture – dynamically adjust brightness and contrast at the physical level.
2. The fully automatic optical zoom sensor.
3. Based on the advantages of the Dual Light system, the dynamic spectrum sensor dynamically adjusts the color range of the image.
Optical zoom
Optical zoom is a standard feature for mid-to-high-end projectors. Zoom can solve the problem of projecting a fixed size when the projection is too far from the ceiling or the installation location is fixed. The throw ratio can be improved by zooming, making the installation position of the projector more flexible.
Zooming is divided into digital zooming and optical zooming. Digital zooming is realized by cropping the screen and keystone correction. Digital zooming is equal to lossy zooming. The more corrections, the more loss of image quality. So when installing a projector, I usually do not recommend using side projection or excessive use of keystone correction.
Optical zoom is an adjustment of the focal length of a lens, such as in a professional camera, that allows the lens to move internally to enlarge or reduce the image. The optical zoom is like moving the lens forward, so the image is lossless and clear.
Brightness
The false ANSI lumen standard has become the unspoken rule in the industry. The factory requirement is at least 80% of the rated brightness. However, I have tested many DLP projectors, and very often, I get brightness at 60-70%.
In addition to the ANSI standard, ISO brightness of 3LCD projection is common. Last year, XGIMI launched the most stringent brightness standard in history called CCB. It has clear and strict requirements. This year XGIMI also took the lead in formulating the CVIA brightness together with the China Video Electronics Association. Although many manufacturers have started to use CVIA, they still continue to add water to the brightness parameters.
The most reliable and difficult to cheat remains the CCB Lumen standard. Unlike ANSI and CVIA, which measure only the brightness of a white image, CCD stands measures
The brightness of the red, green, and blue colors separately and then superimposed, because it is not possible to reproduce only white images in real use. The dynamic image is blended using three RGB colors, so the brightness of the color can better measure and reflect the actual brightness of the image during use.
Daytime Use
Now let’s look at using the XGIMI RS Pro 3 projector during the day.
On the left, you can see the image from the new XGIMI projector with a brightness of 2000CCB. For comparison, on the right is a projector with a resolution of 1080P and 2000ANSI Lumens. Do you see the difference? It is significant.
Now let’s look at the image of the XGIMI RS Pro 3 projector indoors also during the day.
Night Use
Of course, the image quality is best in the dark room.
Compared with the full-color LED of XGIMI H6 4K, XGIMI RS Pro 3 has added a laser light source, which further improves the color gamut on the natural color temperature of the full-color LED. Once super-resolution and post-scene noise reduction are enabled, the character texture is smooth and natural.
Smart OS
The XGIMI RS Pro 3 is equipped with the latest generation MT9679 processor, which has 15% more performance than the MT9669. Memory also increased by 17%. Now, the projector has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The XGIMI projector once promised that there will be no startup advertisements. The startup and shutdown are fast. After booting, the main interface is a common tiled layout of the top, bottom, left, and right content.
I am going to dive into the details of the smart system because it is the Chinese version, and I hope the global version of the XGIMI RS Pro 3 will run on Android TV.
Upgrade to Wi-Fi 6
If you already have Wi-Fi 6 router, XGIMI RS Pro 3 will mark the Wi-Fi 6 logo after detection.
Screencast
XGIMI RS Pro 3 supports different screen casting protocols, such as Miracast, which can be used for free mirroring on the same screen of Android smartphones and Windows systems; Airplay protocol for Apple devices; dual DLNA (necessary for video projection, support for no-advertisement projection; Huawei cast (supports Huawei mobile phone screen casting to computer mode/extended screen mode).
Other Features of XGIMI RS Pro 3
1. Real-time eye protection mode – when a human body is detected in front of a light source, it will follow it and screen only the head area, not the entire screen.
2. Dual Bluetooth mode – watching movies late at night without disturbing family members, two people can enjoy together.
3. Wall color adaptation function – the image can be directly projected onto a colored wall, and the corrected image is comparable to the effect of projecting onto a white wall so that the projection can adapt to more diverse environments.
4. XGIMI SOUND wireless speaker supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 connection with projector wirelessly. You can buy one stereo speaker, two surround speakers, or even four speakers, which can be combined with the projector and makes a 5.1-channel sound.
Summing Up
After two years, the XGIMI RS series of projectors has finally received a major upgrade. When everyone thought that triple-color lasers were the future, XGIMI RS Pro 3 innovatively combined full-color LED and laser light sources to create a Dual Light System.
This makes the LED projector once again breaks the upper brightness limit, reaching 2000 CCB Lumen, and with the blessing of the laser light source, the color gamut coverage is improved.
The most important feature of XGIMI RS Pro 3 is the Dual Light system, which successfully avoids the color fringing and speckle problems of the triple-color laser.
In addition, lossless optical zoom, MT9679 processor, Dolby Vision, Harman Kardon audio, premium design, and many other advantages. The final price is only $1300.
I think the XGIMI RS Pro 3 will be the king of projectors under $1500 in 2023.
