Projectors

The model's high brightness gives its pictures a delicious punch in a dark room setting, and help it produce a more convincing sense of high dynamic range support than most projectors in this price range manage (HDR being, after all, designed predominantly for TVs).

Maybe the best thing about the Aura's luminance skill is how relatively little it damages the projector's black levels. The truck/prisoner transport chase through the blackened streets of Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises (4K Blu-ray) really convinces. There's little sign of a grey wash hanging over dark areas, good amounts of visible shadow detail, reasonably natural dark colours, and a sense of depth that's almost as defined as it is during the film's bright scenes. In short, there's not much of a distracting drop in image quality as the picture transitions from bright to dark.

These credible black levels are mildly beneficial in bright room settings, but come into their own with the lights down for movie night. Indeed, the Aura is one of the most adaptable ultra-bright projectors I've experienced, despite its far from stratospheric price tag.

And it's worth adding that its pictures aren't saddled with hot spots (excessively bright areas), the like of which very bright UST projectors can sometimes display.

Sharp Shooter
Like any remotely affordable DLP projector on the planet, Xgimi's Aura doesn't have a native 4K pixel count (which would involve fitting 3,840 x 2,160 tiny mirrors on the back of its 'digital mirror device'). It therefore offers a pseudo 4K image by flashing its mirrors multiple times per frame to create the impression of a 4K resolution.

This technique was once viewed with scepticism but is now an established part of the AV landscape, and even on the huge scale the Aura is asked to project, its sharp pictures look at the very least 4K adjacent. This is something easy to appreciate in the way it clearly shows the differences in The Dark Knight Rises' 4K transfer, as it switches between ultra-clean and detailed 16:9 'IMAX' scenes and the less crisp, slightly grainier 2.35:1 sequences. The least commendable aspect of the PJ's performance is a slightly washed out and 'off' colour palette. This is mostly noticeable with the colour temperature set to Warm, which tends to inject more yellow rather than red, and doesn't help with low-lit skin tones. In fact, aside from perhaps the Football preset, such colour limitations make the Xgimi's Custom picture mode the only really usable one, with reds increased and greens decreased in its colour temperature menu. Unhelpfully, the Aura doesn't let you tweak the non-Custom presets in any substantial way.

It handles motion quite awkwardly, too. Judder is unusually excessive without the motion processing system in play, yet the system proves rather basic, with even its minimum power setting generating noticeable artefacts around the edges of fast-moving objects. But I wouldn't say these motion issues are a deal breaker. A more minor niggle is that it's impossible to get a perfect balance of contrast and brightness. Using the default 50 brightness setting with HDR can cause black crush in dark areas. This can be fixed by increasing it, but you can only nudge it up one or two levels before blacks start to look elevated and bright areas start to bleach.

It's back to positive territory with the Aura's audio, though. A 4 x 15W speaker system has been cooked up with audio brand Harman Kardon, and it sounds strikingly warm, rounded, detailed and dynamic. Dialogue handling is also naturalistic, while impact effects emerge with a decent sense of attack. The only problem, ironically, is a lack of projection. Voices sound quite detached from the images sitting above the projector, and the rest of the mix doesn't spread far from the Aura's bodywork, meaning your monster visuals aren't accompanied by suitably sized sonics. It's superior to many other built-in projector sound systems, however, and an optical audio output supports external hardware.

Brace For Impact
While Xgimi and other manufacturers have a job on their hands to propel the idea of UST projectors as TVs into the mainstream, the Aura's combination of a decent price, elegant style and sharp, impactful performance are a healthy step in the right direction n

HCC Verdict

Xgimi Aura

Price: £2,399
uk.xgimi.com

We say: Surprisingly good sharpness, brightness, and contrast – and impressive Harman Kardon-aided sound quality – make Xgimi's Aura an ultra-short-throw bargain.

Overall: 4.5/5

Specifications

3D: Yes. Active shutter 4K: Yes. 3,840 x 2,160 (via DLP double flashing) HDR: Yes.HDR10 CONNECTIONS: 3 x HDMI inputs; 3 x USB; headphone jack; optical audio output BRIGHTNESS (CLAIMED): 2,400 Lumens CONTRAST (claimed): N/A ZOOM: N/A DIMENSIONS: 606(w) x 139.5(h) x 401(d)mm WEIGHT: 11kg

Features: Ultra-short-throw projector; single-chip DLP with single laser and colour wheel optics; built-in Harman Kardon-designed speaker system; 20,000-hour claimed laser life; Movie, Game, Office, Football and Custom picture presets; 100in image from 9.7in throw distance; Android TV smart system