This newer feature is starting to show up on some ultra-short-throw projectors. In fact, I just reviewed the new Hisense PX1-PRO that offers this feature. The JMGO 01 PRO Digital Lens Focus allows focus tuning via controls on the upper right side of the projector's remote control. DLF is a handy feature giving the user the ability to choose a screen size from the projector's stated screen size range.
I'll start by pointing out that just having this feature is an advantage for JMGO. That being said, I was not overly thrilled with how well it worked. Part of my concern was the overall softness of the image the 01 PRO displayed. To get the best clarity from the projector, I made sure to turn off any Noise Reduction settings.
Focusing the image at the top of the screen as much as possible made the middle and bottom of the picture noticeably softer. If I brought either the middle or bottom into the best possible focus, the rest of the image suffered. To get the best overall focus, I had to settle for an image that was more out of focus than it should have been. To make matters worse, after compromising the overall image focus, the top and bottom of the projected image were no longer straight; instead, the upper and lower edges of the image appeared slightly bowed outward.
COLOR
JMGO does include color adjustments as well as some manual presets. The preset color temperature adjustments only helped a little with the inaccurately displayed colors. The Warm mode tended to introduce too much yellow into the picture. However, the Standard mode displayed blue hues, which improved the projector's tendency to oversaturate the image.
One of the most impressive things about the JMGO 01 PRO is that it is an ultra-short-throw projector at a much lower price than other similarly featured ultra-short-throw projectors. Reaching such a low price does come at a cost. For example JMGO does not appear to have spent much time calibrating the projector's color accuracy.
Left side original color. Right side color adjusted in the projector
For example, SDR content appears to display wildly inaccurate and oversaturated colors. Is this a deal-breaker? No. Users can adjust the projector's color to their liking.
While not accurate the 01 PRO can display visually pleasing color even when the projector brightness is cranked up to maximum. I think this is a clear benefit to their very practical partnership with Leica which resulted in a projector that offers the ability to display colors that are pleasing to the eye with just a little adjustment. As far as performance goes pleasing, although not terribly accurate, color is the stand out for me on the 01 PRO.
BRIGHTNESS
As I wrote at the opening of this review, the listed brightness rating of the 01 PRO is all over the place on the manufacturer's websites and product videos. The JMGO product web page has a marketing video for the 01 PRO listing the projector's brightness as 1,250 ANSI, but the JMGO Indiegogo page lists the brightness as 1,400 ANSI. When you head back to the JMGO product page and scroll down to the key features and the brightness is listed as 1,500 ANSI. Lucky for you, we here at Projector Reviews do our own testing.
I set the JMGO 01 PRO to its brightest mode, which is High Brightness. It uses the full brightness output of the projector's LED light source. I then took three to four readings about 15-20% out from the center of the lens.
The 01 PRO measured 666 ANSI lumens, less than half of JMGO's most conservative rating of 1,250 ANSI lumens.
This low lumens rating reinforces my initial opinion that the JMGO 01 PRO is massively underpowered for a home theater projector.
BLACKS AND SHADOW DETAIL
There are quite a few home projectors in and below the 01 PRO's price point. These projectors may display better black level and shadow detail, but they are not ultra-short-throw units.
Frankly speaking, the black level and shadow detail performance of the 01 PRO are an issue for me when you consider even their modest claim of 6000:1. I think this is directly related to the LED light source. I’m sure that JMGO and their partner on this projector have done their best to get the most out of the LED light source in terms of brightness but you can’t have both with this projector. The harder you push it to maximize the brightness the more that black level and shadow detail suffer.
As is typical of many DLP projectors, the blacks displayed were darker gray, not deep black.
HDR PERFORMANCE
I think I'm going to start every projector HDR review with the following sentence: "HDR is tough to do on a video projector." It is very challenging because of the projector's limited light output, especially when compared to HDR flat-panel televisions.
The 01 PRO's HDR benefit was tough to discern except for a noticeable, and not unpleasant, color saturation increase when not feeding an HDR signal into the 01 PRO. HDR is limited primarily due to the projector's low brightness. There were minimal differences in detail when watching HDR content vs. SDRcontent. I don't think the average consumer will notice much of a difference except for the bump in color saturation you get when turning HDR off at your source.
MEMC
Removes judder for smooth video
Motion Estimation Motion Compensation (MEMC) technology uses an advanced, algorithmic technique to predict where a frame is in video content and, through the algorithm, insert an additional frame between each of the originals. MEMC is a type of frame interpolation technology designed to smooth out the blur when watching content that requires a clearer image, such as sports and video games.
My only complaint about the JMGO 01 PRO regarding motion compensation is that everything I watched, even when the feature was turned off, looked like it was set in the low motion Compensation mode.
GAMING
I am pleased to report that the 01 PRO's rated input lag of 30 ms, based on my gameplay, is accurate. This is great for games where the time it takes from pressing the button on the controller to seeing the corresponding action on the screen is critical, even the deciding factor in winning or losing a game.
In my testing using the Playstation and Xbox first-person shooter games, I did not experience any noticeable lag, and the gameplay was excellent. This is good news if you are an on-the-go gamer wanting to take advantage of the 01 PRO's size and weight. This projector is the only ultra-short-throw HD projector that I have seen with a dedicated gaming option available.
SOUND
The sound quality on the JMGO 01 PRO is decent with a dynamic range is excellent, providing a good amount of boominess to action movies and crisp, sharp highs and mids for music.
Most ultra-short-throw projectors benefit from a large cabinet which provides improved resonance. The 01 PRO is about a third smaller than the typical UST projector or Laser TV, yet it still brings the boom. I suspect this is partly due to JMGO's partnership with Dynaudio.
When it comes to the overall sound, I found the JMGO 01 PRO to produce a very dynamic sound with a bit of nice mid-bass and sharp, clear highs. My only complaint about the 01 PRO's sound is that it does not surround you despite JMGO's marketing claims. The 01 PRO sound stage is narrow, mainly front and center. Even the stereo performance was less than average. It's like putting a Bluetooth speaker in front of the projector.
NOISE
The 01 PRO's noise output was noticeable but not distracting when sitting within six feet of the projector. In Auto mode, this projector is relatively quiet. When you turn up the 01 PRO Dynaudio sound system, you will not hear any noise regardless of the distance you are sitting from the projector. Curiously, the JMGO 01 PRO gets super loud when the Cooling mode is set too high. This projector does not run hot, so I'm not sure why JMGO has the fan running at the speed it does in High mode. I recommend you never use the projector's high cooling mode. In my testing, the high cooling mode's fan speed is unnecessary and distracting. Stick with Auto mode.
