The menus offer six predefined picture modes, with the same six names showing for both SDR and HDR input. Each picture mode offers much the same settings options, with only a few exceptions. For example, frame interpolation (shown as “MEMC” on the menus) isn’t available in Office mode, so that entry is grayed out.
In addition to the picture-mode names remaining the same for both SDR and HDR input, the setting options remain the same. However, JMGO says that the projector stores the settings for each separately, and in my tests, I was able to use the same picture mode for both SDR and HDR input, set the gamma setting differently for each, and have the gamma switch back and forth automatically between the two settings every time I changed between the two types of input.
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(Credit: M. David Stone )
My preliminary tests left me without an obvious best choice for which picture mode to use for my viewing tests. Movie mode offered better color accuracy and good shadow detail, while Standard mode offered better shadow detail with good enough color and a brighter image. Depending on personal taste, you could reasonably prefer either mode. I picked Standard, but I made two changes to the default settings, adjusting the Brightness setting (meaning black level) correctly and turning off frame interpolation. Even at its lowest setting, the latter introduced an annoyingly obvious soap opera effect that made filmed material look like digital video.
After my adjustments, SDR image quality was easily good enough by most people’s standards. Most would find the colors acceptable, too; the black level was suitably dark; and shadow detail was excellent, letting me see all the fine points I know to look for in the dark scenes of our test clips. The contrast in bright scenes was low, making colors look a little flat, but the image quality overall was still more than acceptable for the price.
The one potential issue I saw was relatively frequent rainbow artifacts (the red/green/blue flashes that single-chip DLP projectors are prone to). If you tend to see them easily and find them obtrusive, be sure to buy the projector from a source that allows easy returns, so you can evaluate the problem (or lack thereof) for yourself.
(Credit: M. David Stone )
For HDR viewing, I also chose Standard mode, turning off frame interpolation once again. The image quality (including the disposition toward rainbow artifacts) was roughly the same as for SDR, except that the contrast in brighter scenes was improved enough to be noticeable. That also helped give colors more pop.
The 3D support, using DLP-Link glasses, works with any of the picture modes, but you have to turn it on manually and choose between left-right, top-and-bottom, and Blu-ray 3D formats. I didn’t see any crosstalk in my tests, and the 3D motion artifacts I saw were significantly less obvious than typical today.
Gamers will appreciate that lag times are easily short enough for casual gaming. Using the ultra-low-latency setting, I measured it with my Bodnar 4K Lag Tester at 18.3ms for 4K/60Hz input and 18.4ms for 1080p/60Hz. JMGO says it also supports 240Hz, but the projector wouldn’t sync with my test equipment at that refresh rate.
(Credit: M. David Stone )
The N1S 4K’s brightness rating is 1,100 ISO lumens. However, as with many projectors, using the brightest setting introduces enough green bias to the image that you probably won’t want to use it unless you absolutely must. For the settings I used, Movie mode was roughly as bright as I expect from about 550 to 600 ISO lumens, while Standard mode was closer to 725 to 775 lumens. Both were easily bright enough to light up my 90-inch, 1.0 gain, 16:9 screen in a dark room, while Standard mode also delivered a quite watchable 85-inch diagonal picture in a family room at night with lights on. The image was even watchable, though washed out, at that size on a bright afternoon.
That said, note that for my official viewing tests using discs and a Blu-ray player, the image brightness for HDR was far dimmer than for SDR at the same image size, forcing me to use a much smaller image for HDR, at 56 inches diagonally. The good news is that I did not see this issue with HDR in my ad hoc streaming tests.
