NexiGo - Aurora Pro MKII UST Tri-Color Laser Projector

If you're going to use it in a living room, you should really consider UST projectors. They're sometimes referred to as "Laser TV's" - but it's just a projector you put on a bench in front of your screen on the wall. The screen needs to be a specific ALR (ambient light rejecting) screen. That screen technology combined with how the projector is firing light from below makes them untouchable for use in a somewhat lit environment, even compared to high lumen long throws. Your budget is problematic. You can't get into an UST with a proper screen for quite that amount. It's close, maybe $2500 or so would do it, something like a Nexigo Aurora Pro and a cheap Wemax or Nothing Projector 120 inch ALR screen. No projector performs well without a screen, but UST's especially stand or fall with having an ALR screen imo. For any projector solution you absolutely want the ability to at the very least block all outside light coming in, but with a long throw projector on a white screen you need to pain the walls black too... which can be an issue in a non-dedicated room.

Nexigo Aurora Pro, the previous version, can be had for $2 grand but you also need to spend $700 or thereabouts (or up) for a 120 inch ambient light rejecting screen for UST's. The Aurora Pro is possibly still the best UST projector for black level and dark room viewing. The screen you have won't cut it for an UST, you need a specific one for a "Laser TV". Built in sound is not going to cut it, but if you spend about $2.5k on the projector and screen, the remaining $1000 can buy you an entry level 5.1 (or 7.1, sometimes those are cheaper) AV receiver, an affordable subwoofer and five affordable speakers to dot around the room. A Denon entry level AVR being one choice, like the AVR-S770H or the X1800 or the X1700 (the 1700 being previous gen but still great).

Nexigo Aurora Pro... will need a new ALR screen, and new media furniture probably. :) The Epson LS800 isn't bad - I love the image from mine with a 0.5 gain screen - but it's not a match when it comes to contrast numbers. But yeah, UST's are not for everybody. They have their pros and cons.

I'm biased since I already did, but I'd consider an ultra short throw projector. 100 inches is way better than 70-something, it's more surface area than that sounds. 110 is a bit of an oddball dimension (I mean it does exist, but usually it's 100 or 120 that's the "norm" especially for UST's). You can get TV's now up to an insane 115 inches, but now we're talking 200 lbs, it takes four guys to move, and it's a glossy mirror (which I personally find extremely annoying). An UST requires a bit of planning but it's easier with 100 inches than 120; a Nexigo Aurora Pro for instance, they get very good reviews generally speaking and produce a great image. Pair that with a 100 inch Formovie Fresnel screen from Projectorscreen.com at under $800 for the screen (an ALR screen is basically mandatory for these types of projectors in my opinion). In fact, I'm sure they'll sell you the Nexigo too. All you need for an install is a media bench up front to park it on, more or less. You also need curtains to control incoming light - the ALR projector screen, especially the Fresnel type, will do a great job rejecting ambient light (that's what ALR stands for, ambient light rejecting) but you still want to darken the room. A big OLED TV will give you way better contrast, but that doesn't mean you'll get a bad one with an UST. Another option for the screen would be a 100 inch motorized floor-rising screen for UST projectors. Price for that would go up from a static always-up screen, but it would give you higher WAF if the screen can just discreetly go away behind the media furniture when not viewing content. The tricky part with UST's is mounting a center speaker. Mine had to go under the projector on a shelf, so that's something to ponder and have a plan for. [Best Ultra Short Throw Projectors 2023 (UST) || AWOL LTV-3500 Pro, Nexigo Aurora Pro, Epson LS800 | The Hook Up, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef0tNjGDoOU) - I mean, see for yourself what an assortment of good UST's can look like. Is the contrast worse than OLED? Sure. Is it *bad*? Hell no. (Why am I not pushing the LS800 I have? Lower contrast, higher price - but it does not have a rainbow effect and its very bright, and the two latter concerns is why I went with this. The Nexigo is considerably better in dark rooms. I love my Epson, but even so.)

The two front runners right now are probably the Nexigo Aurora Pro MKII and the Hisense PX3-Pro. Both mid-priced at $3000+ and triple lasers. Also add $1000 and up for an ALR (ambient light rejecting) screen for UST projectors (99.9% mandatory imo). At 100 inches, possibly the Formovie Fresnel one. The Nexigo Aurora Pro (previous gen) is sold around $2000 and is still a top notch choice for dark room movie viewing, it has solid black levels and dark image handling. The UST specific ALR will let you have some light in the room and still a satisfying level of black in the image (albeit not remotely plasma blacks or OLED blacks, but good). Without a screen you'll have a lesser image and need 100% blackout in the room; 100% blackout recommended even with an ALR.

Nexigo Aurora Pro Mk II + an ALR screen (Nothing projector makes a seamless 132 inch if that fits on the wall, or a 120). A side benefit is that you wouldn't have to rip out the ceiling lights and fans since the projector would be on the floor in front of the screen. Without building a fake wall in front of the window you can't have an in-wall center anyway so you don't need something like a perforated screen. If you can't fit bigger than 120 (or less) I'd concur with ProjectionHead (aka Brian from Projectorscreen) that a floor-rising motorized ALR screen that comes up over the window would let you keep this room way more general use and then have a fantastic home cinema time anyway. You'd need blackout curtains over the window(s) instead of actually doing work to seal them. Alternatively if you prefer longer throw, a Valerion Pro 2 or Max, with the appropriate fresnel based ALR screen they sell. There are somewhat better projectors around the $5 grand mark but you're not buying just half the solution, you need to factor in the screen which can run $1-2 grand (or vastly more than that, you want a Screen Innovations Black Diamond in their Zero G motorized form it's more like five figures). But sure, you could go with a white screen and black everything but imo you absolutely don't need to. The clincher in my view is the available wall real estate you have to work with. If you could fit a 150, 175 or some other honking huge screen then a long throw and black walls would be the way to go. If you're limited to sub-150 anyway, why not UST?

The top of the line JVC projector is pretty good value for money. I mean, sure, it's $30000, but still great value for money if you're rich. And what I mean by that is state your darn budget... If you plan to go all in and start playing with anamorphic lenses for 2.35:1 and installing a MadVR processor then you want a long throw projector to accommodate that use case, but there's a lot to be said these days for UST projectors as well, the ALR screens really help, even in a darkened room. They're also silent (well, quiet) since they're expected to be in the room with you. Long throw projectors should ideally be in another room with a hole hacked in the wall for the lens. I personally qustion the wisdom of putting a device with fans literally over your head when watching a movie now that options exist. You'd have to pay a pretty big chunk of change to beat the image from a Hisense PX3 UST and, say, a 132 inch Nothing Projector ALR screen, or some other screen like Spectra Vision or similar that does cost more. Or the Nexigo Aurora Pro projector, that's still by all accounts the champ of dark room viewing and is in the $2000 ballpark (without screen). There's a pre-order opportunity for the Aurora Pro MK 2 that will sell for $1999 on pre-order, but that's still a few months out from shipping and of course there's some risk it won't be great (but honestly, I personally expect it to become the best UST on the market based on specs and what info is out here).

The top of the line JVC projector is pretty good value for money. I mean, sure, it's $30000, but still great value for money if you're rich. And what I mean by that is state your darn budget... If you plan to go all in and start playing with anamorphic lenses for 2.35:1 and installing a MadVR processor then you want a long throw projector to accommodate that use case, but there's a lot to be said these days for UST projectors as well, the ALR screens really help, even in a darkened room. They're also silent (well, quiet) since they're expected to be in the room with you. Long throw projectors should ideally be in another room with a hole hacked in the wall for the lens. I personally qustion the wisdom of putting a device with fans literally over your head when watching a movie now that options exist. You'd have to pay a pretty big chunk of change to beat the image from a Hisense PX3 UST and, say, a 132 inch Nothing Projector ALR screen, or some other screen like Spectra Vision or similar that does cost more. Or the Nexigo Aurora Pro projector, that's still by all accounts the champ of dark room viewing and is in the $2000 ballpark (without screen). There's a pre-order opportunity for the Aurora Pro MK 2 that will sell for $1999 on pre-order, but that's still a few months out from shipping and of course there's some risk it won't be great (but honestly, I personally expect it to become the best UST on the market based on specs and what info is out here).

AWOL 3500 is bright but has atrocious black level. Avoid imo. Hisense great. LG is old shit, it's not worth the money, I believe its RBE is reportedly also bad. Formovie Theater Premium, top notch, like the PX3 Pro. Another option not listed: Nexigo Aurora Pro, has the best black level vs these and is great for dark room viewing, should be gettable for about 2 grand, not sure of exact price now. But, Aurora Pro Mk2 is in pre-order for $2299 if you want to roll the dice, they added features that on paper should make it superb. On paper. Sight unseen. Thus, "roll the dice". Whichever one you get *you need a proper ALR screen* and those are maybe a thousand bucks for a 120 inch, and I think Nothing Projector has a 132 inch for under 2 grand. A motorized floor rising from Spectra Vision, Vividstorm or similar is in the $2 grand ballpark for a 120.

I'm immediately going to be that guy and say you meant "put the onus on" the manufacturers rather than the impetus. ;) Noteworthy to me is that the Nexigo had the top score for black level and shadow detail, a hugely important criterion for movie viewing in a light controlled room. Epson also seems to have made some questionable choices there, indeed. My LS800 looks pretty good when dialed in (but then again, Epson also fucked up by removing most of the calibration options, an inexplicable choice to this day and if anyone at Epson ever reads this, consider yourself to be staring at two middle fingers raised in your general direction for that). In fact, since I got my HTPC set up with madVR filters and let that do the dynamic HDR instead it became even better. Also: all the projectors are listed as 3840x2160 native, which is pretty wrong across the board.

I have Nexigo MkII. Picture is great. Very bright, colors are sweet with some adjustments. Valerion was my second choice but ultimately wanted to go with a UST pj. All im missing is a screen. Can see that my wall isn't perfectly flat. Good luck

I finally received my Auroa Pro MKII a month ago. Im not disappointed at all. Bright, clarity, sound, colors are amazing. I do want to get an ALR screen. My wall isn't perfectly flat.

Px3-pro is great but if you are coming from oled i would recommend Nexigo aurora mk II pro instead. You'll loose some brightness but get a way better contrast that is closer to oled then the hisense.

I have the Nexigo MkII. It's freaking amazing, regardless what content it's displaying.

I've been researching this and I feel best for money is the nexigo aurora mkii

I game on an UST and it's an epic experience. Input lag is completely unnoticeable. If you're not going to spring for an expensive UST/ALR screen combo, I recommend getting some blackout curtains. Ditto for any projector setup, really.

I feel validated that the judges gave the Nexigo a basically failing grade for 24p content. I bought that projector to watch movies in my blacked out theater and while the black levels are amazing, it can't reliablely play 24p content and it's a deal breaker. Nexigo says it's a known issue. Anyone want to buy a Nexigo so I can upgrade to the Highsense?

Leave the OLED VIVIDSTORM S PRO Motorized Tension Floor Rising UST ALR Projector Screen 110” $1440 Nexigo Aurora Pro $2699 That should would be pretty nice combo if in budget. Verify throw measurements before ordering. Epson LS800 another good one. Size matters a lot for movie enjoyment. Big difference between 75” and 110” although 110” is on the small side for 14’ viewing. You would want closer to 135” or more for the immersive feel or get your distance closer.

I have the Nexigo Aura Pro and it’s fantastic. I’m not familiar with this model though

Go for nexigo aurora pro. I got mine few months back and can’t be more happier.

Nice to see the aurora pro with a better showing this year. I have one and love it.

If you are in a room with some ambient light, or even with white walls, Nexigo is better. If you are in a completely dark room, Hisense might be better.

Not sure if it helps or makes your comparison harder, but the Nexigo does drop to around $1399-1499 on sale. Maybe even the Valerion Plus or Plus 2 should merit consideration at that price point.