CEDIA 2025 Hot Product Award Winners

The Heimdall projectors use an RGB laser light source. This system includes dedicated banks of red, green, and blue lasers, which collectively deliver a wider color gamut than typical projectors in this category. The Heimdall achieves 98% coverage of the Rec. 2020 color space, a specification that allows for enhanced color accuracy and a more nuanced rendering of red, green, and blue tones. This performance level is particularly significant for content mastered in wide color gamuts, such as UHD HDR formats.

To enhance contrast and black level performance, the Heimdall projectors incorporate multiple technologies, including a dual-aperture lens design and the newly introduced 0.98-inch DLP chip, which provides higher native contrast. Additionally, Barco’s DynaBlack dynamic dimming system adjusts the light output in real time to further optimize contrast during darker scenes.

For maximum installation flexibility, the Heimdall is compatible with a wide range of Barco interchangeable lenses, including ultra-short-throw and long-throw options, giving integrators flexibility in screen size and room layout. Heimdall models operate at a noise level of 29 decibels, placing them among the quietest projectors in their brightness class. This makes them well-suited for in-room installations where noise from equipment can affect the viewing experience.

The Heimdall projector is an excellent option for discerning home theater enthusiasts seeking high brightness, accurate color reproduction, and versatile installation options.

While most premium projectors are designed primarily for darkened theaters, Epson aimed to create projectors that would work not only in theaters but also in other locations where people want to enjoy a massive, immersive image. While deep blacks are still critical when viewing HDR content, high brightness capability is vital in delivering a great-looking picture. There are competitively priced LCOS-based projectors that offer much higher rated native contrast ratios and can produce much deeper blacks. However, the Epson QL7000 delivers a much higher perceived contrast ratio in rooms with ambient lighting. 

Due to its high brightness, the HDR content appeared brighter and more lifelike, with colors that seemed more saturated, looking much closer to what you see on a flat panel TV. Epson was demonstrating the QL7000 on a 200" Cinemascope screen in a ballroom that Bowers/Marantz converted into a theater, and the image looked fantastic.

It utilizes JVC's proprietary BLU-Escent laser diode light source, providing a brightness of 2,000 lumens, which is enough to produce a vibrant HDR image on screens up to 130". Due to its D-ILA image, the NZ500 has a native contrast ratio of 40,000:1. ​The NZ500 can achieve black levels that many far more expensive projectors cannot.

The DLA-NZ500 supports various HDR formats, including HDR10, HLG, and HDR10+. It incorporates the second-generation Frame Adapt HDR function for dynamic tone mapping, enhancing the viewing experience with improved brightness and color accuracy. While it lacks some of the high-end features of JVC’s more expensive models—such as 8K e-shift, 3D support, 48 Gbps HDMI inputs, or 4K/120fps playback—the NZ500 delivers solid performance that matters most: color reproduction, contrast, and HDR tone mapping.

The NZ500 is a compelling choice for projector enthusiasts seeking to build a serious home theater center around a JVC 4K DILA laser projector without entering the premium price territory.

The Envy Core MK2's dynamic HDR tone mapping capabilities are particularly beneficial for projectors. Unlike televisions, projectors often struggle to render HDR content effectively due to their lower luminance levels.  The Envy Core MK2 addresses this challenge by analyzing the incoming signal and adapting it to the capabilities of the connected display. This includes maintaining highlight and shadow detail without sacrificing mid-tone clarity—a balance that many onboard display processors fail to achieve.

The device is also designed with customization in mind. Users can fine-tune settings to match their screen size, room conditions, and personal preferences.Another key innovation in the Envy Core MK2 is its auto aspect ratio switching. For home theaters using scope screens—those wider than the standard 16:9 format—this feature eliminates the need to manually adjust projector zoom or lens memory when switching between different content formats.

The MK2 supports HDMI 2.1 and offers bandwidth of up to 48 Gbps, making it compatible with 4K at 120Hz with 4:4:4 12-bit color. This level of performance is well above the threshold of many current displays and projectors, positioning the processor as a future-proof solution for high-end systems. Gamers, in particular, will benefit from the MK2’s low latency gaming mode and support for variable refresh rates, which helps deliver smooth, tear-free gameplay.

Priced at $5,995 (introductory pricing through the end of the year), the Envy Core MK2 sits in the mid-range of madVR’s product line, below the Pro MK3 and Extreme MK3 models. The entry-level Core MK1 remains available at $4,995, offering a more accessible option with fewer features.

By removing unused screen space and masking off letterbox bars, the viewer’s eyes stay focused on the active image. This creates a more cinematic and professional presentation, closer to what you’d experience in a commercial theater. The black borders also improve perceived contrast because they prevent light from spilling into unused screen areas. This makes the image appear richer, with deeper blacks and more vibrant colors, especially in dim or dark viewing environments.

The StreamPro has a 4.5-inch border and is 8 inches thick, so it is easy to integrate into most spaces. The  StreamPro is available in sizes up to 200 inches diagonal, and it is available in a wide range of screen materials. The screen's masking system supports several aspect ratios, including 1.85:1, 16:9, and 2.35:1. The screen is designed to integrate effortlessly with third-party automation systems, like Crestron and Control4.  

Stewart Filmscreen is recognized for manufacturing high-quality screen materials for both commercial and residential applications. The StreamPro is designed to meet the needs of users looking for flexibility without compromising image quality. In a dedicated home theater, a properly masked screen not only looks cleaner and more polished. but also But it also enhances the viewing experience.

An ultra-short-throw projector is designed to be placed just inches away from the screen, resulting in a steep projection angle. The DarkStar UST 3 ELEVATE screen material has an optical structure engineered specifically for bottom-mounted UST projectors, which filters out ambient light from above. This helps maintain image contrast, color fidelity, and black levels, even in rooms that lack light control.

The DarkStar UST 3 screen material has a 0.8 gain, which delivers good black levels without sacrificing overall image brightness. Combined with a 180° viewing angle, the screen supports flexible seating arrangements without hot-spotting or brightness falloff. The DarkStar UST 3 ELEVATE is its motorized floor-rising design, the screen emerges from a low-profile enclosure, making it a great solution for spaces where visual clutter is a concern.

The powered cross-rising spring scissor mechanism lifts the screen while keeping the surface taut and flat. The screen can be raise or lowered using included Infrared (IR) and Radio Frequency (RF) remote controls or via 12v trigger,

The DarkStar UST 3 ELEVATE is not just a performance screen—but a flexible component of interior design, enabling high-end projection in rooms where a ceiling-mounted motorized or wall-mounted screen might be impractical or undesired. The EPV DarkStar UST 3 ELEVATE  in diagonal sizes 126”, 138” and 150” in 16:9 aspect ratio.

Kaleidescape delivers 4K content at bitrates of up to 100 Mbps. This is more than four times the bitrate of streaming services. The impact of this difference is especially visible on large projection screens, where compression artifacts, banding, and loss of fine detail can become distracting.

The Strato E includes 480GB of internal solid-state storage, enough to store several 4K UHD movies at full bitrate. If you have a larger collection of movies, they can be stored in the cloud and downloaded in minutes via high-speed internet. The Strato E is particularly well-suited for single-room installations or users seeking a streamlined, plug-and-play entry into the Kaleidescape ecosystem. For customers who want to expand later, the Strato E is compatible with Kaleidescape's Terra servers, allowing users to scale their systems as their movie libraries grow.

The Kaleidescape Strato E is designed to appeal to enthusiasts upgrading from streaming devices who want to maximize the performance of their 4K projectors or high-end AV systems. It provides all the core benefits of the Kaleidescape experience, including high-bitrate video, lossless audio, and access to a large curated content library. By lowering the entry point to under $3,000, Kaleidescape is now offering a realistic option for users who value quality but previously viewed the brand as out of reach.

The Murideo MU-STIX-G and MU-STIX-A are affordable, compact, portable devices designed to simplify HDMI testing and troubleshooting. These tools provide professional installers with a straightforward method for generating and analyzing HDMI signals up to 40Gbps, making them ideal for verifying 8K signal paths and troubleshooting issues during installation.

The MU-STIX-G ($249 MSRP) is a test pattern generator that outputs various resolutions and formats, including 8K60 at 4:4:4 chroma subsampling. It can simulate different signal types and EDID profiles, allowing installers to verify the signal chain even when the source device isn’t available.

The MU-STIX-A ($249 NSRP), on the other hand, functions as a signal analyzer. It reads incoming HDMI signals and displays critical metadata such as resolution, frame rate, HDR format, HDCP status, and audio characteristics. When used together, the MU-STIX-G and MU-STIX-A create a closed-loop testing system that can help isolate issues in HDMI distribution setups, from cable problems to EDID mismatches. Both devices are powered via USB-C and small enough to fit in a pocket or tool bag, making them highly convenient for on-site diagnostics.