The VisionMaster Max: Is It Worth the High Price Tag?
The Valerion VisionMaster Max projector has finally hit the market after a successful Kickstarter campaign. It's the latest model in the VisionMaster series, promising top-notch image quality and convenience. However, it's also quite pricey and faces tough competition from other projectors like the Anker Nebula X1 and the XGIMI Horizon 20 Max.
Design and Setup
The VisionMaster Max boasts a sleek, squarish design with a glossy black finish and chrome fins on the sides. It's smaller and more stylish than the Nebula X1, which is designed for outdoor use. The projector is also quite flexible when it comes to setup. It has a 0.9-1.5x optical zoom and a +/- 105% vertical shift option, making it easy to get a perfect screen fit without affecting picture quality. The company also promises an anamorphic lens for users with CinemaScope screens, but it's not available yet.
Connectivity and Features
The VisionMaster Max comes with:
- Three HDMI 2.1 ports, including one with eARC for a soundbar
- S/PDIF optical and 3.5mm audio outputs
- A gigabit ethernet connection for a stable internet connection
The projector lacks liquid cooling like the Nebula X1 but claims a similar fan noise level of 28db. It's only a touch louder than the X1 and not bothersome at all.
Image Quality
The VisionMaster Max has several features designed to optimize image quality:
- Dynamic iris and Enhanced Black Level (EBL) for improved contrast
- RGB triple-laser light source paired with a 0.47-inch DLP chip that projects 1080p natively or 4K video via pixel shifting
- Supports every HDR format, including Dolby Vision and Samsung’s HDR10+, along with Valerion’s own tone-mapping HDR setting
The projector can output 4K 60 fps video at up to 3,500 ANSI lumens with a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, easily besting its main rivals. It promises an impressive 110% of the Rec. 2020 HDR color spectrum, with a delta E (color accuracy) value of less than 0.8 straight out of the box. Another key feature is the reduction of the rainbow effect that can occur with DLP projectors.
Performance
After some fine-tuning, the image quality of the VisionMaster Max is impressive. Brightness is high enough in “standard” mode to watch content like sports or TV shows without lowering the blinds. In Filmmaker mode, contrast levels are outstanding, with true blacks showing in dark-lit scenes. Color accuracy is also outstanding straight out of the box, both in HDR and non-HDR modes.
The VisionMaster Max is also great for gaming. It delivers:
- Latency as low as 4ms
- A refresh rate up to 240Hz at 1080p
- 15ms for 4K at 60Hz
The built-in 12W stereo speakers work well and are fairly loud, but it's best to connect it to a nice home theater audio system with support for at least 5.1 surround sound.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Valerion VisionMaster Max is a highly capable indoor projector that offers the best image quality thanks to the dynamic iris and Enhanced Black Level features. However, it's also a lot more expensive than rival models at $5,000. It's hard to justify that extra money unless you're really fussy about picture accuracy and gaming performance, or need other features like the 1Gbps ethernet port. Most buyers would be better off spending a lot less on Valerion’s own VisionMaster Pro2, Anker’s Nebula X1, or the XGIMI Horizon 20 Max.
