According to JMGO, accurate picture quality was a major priority. We were incredibly impressed when the JMGO N1 picture quality right out of the box.
JMGO provides six preset picture modes: VIVID, STANDARD, MOVIE, GAME, OFFICE, and USER. The N1 Ultra out-of-the-box is set to STANDARD mode, so the colors appeared slightly oversaturated.
Each of the projector's preset picture modes looked good, but MOVIE mode offers the best overall color reproduction. Most of the modes measured cooler resulting in a bluish image but they looked better than most projectors we have, except for Epson, BenQ, Sony, and JVC.
Unlike the two JMGOs we reviewed previously, the N1 Ultra has a full suite of calibration adjustments. Like most projectors with Android-based OS, the projector offers single-point color temperature adjustment.
We use Portrait Displays Calman color calibration software to test the projector's color accuracy.
Pre-Calibration Color Tracking and Grayscale
When calibrating projectors, we target an average color temperature of 6500K and a Gamma of 2.2 The MOVIE mode measured very close to our color temperature target. While the color temperature of the MOVIE mode was 6500k, the white balance (Grayscale) was incorrect.
It was strange that the projector does not have a BRIGHTNESS control, so its BLACK LEVEL can not be properly adjusted using a black pluge pattern.
Out of the box, the N1 Ultra did not accurately track REC709 colors because the default AUTO option in the COLOR SPACE setting doesn't function properly.
When the COLOR SPACE setting is switched to ON, the projector correctly tracks Rec709. When viewing HDR, this COLOR SPACE setting automatically switched OFF, which looked correct.
Picture Mode: CUSTOMIZED
Gamma: 1.98
Color Temperature: 6495K
Average Grayscale dE: 14.6
Average Color Tracking dE: 9.22
Post-Calibration Color Tracking and Grayscale
A Gamma adjustment is available in the advanced settings menu, and setting it to DARK achieved our target of 2.2.
The N1 Ultra offers a complete suite of calibration adjustments, including Color Management System (CMS) and 11-point white balance adjustments.
I set the COLOR TEMPERATURE to USER and adjusted RGB GAIN settings to correct the grayscale quickly. An 11pt WHITE BALANCE adjustment is available for fine-tuning, but the basic color temperature adjustments work so well that I did not feel it was necessary to use it.
Once the projector's color temperature was adjusted, and COLOR SPACE was set to ON, color tracking was good, just slightly under-saturated.
I did use the CMS to increase saturation and reduce the brightness of red, blue, and magenta resulting in a great color sweep and color checker measurements.
Picture Mode: MOVIE
Gamma: 2.19
Color Temperature: 6503K
Average Grayscale dE: 1.1
Average Color Tracking dE: 0.82
Delta E measurement of 3 or less is considered ‘Excellent’ and imperceptible by the human eye. After calibration, the projector had a grayscale average dE of 1.1, which is outstanding. An average post-calibration Color Tracking dE was just 0.82, which is great.
HDR has its own setting adjustments per mode. There are also dedicated COLOR TEMPERATURE and CMS adjustments for HDR.
HDR Grayscale
When viewing HDR, like SDR, the color temperature was good when set to Movie mode. However the RGB Balance (Grayscale) needed to be corrected.
Each HDR picture mode has its own color temperature adjustments. We again used the single-point color temperature adjustments found in the COLOR TEMPERATURE setting to achieve good grayscale.
Once the grayscale was adjusted the JMGO did a good job tracking colors in HDR content.
BRIGHTNESS
The JMGO N1 Ultra has a manufacturer's rated brightness of 4,000 ANSI lumens. So, how close did the N1 Ultra come to hitting that target? I set the projector to VIVID mode, the brightest picture mode, and increased the projector's Blacklight setting to 10. I then took three to four readings about 15-20% out from the center of the screen.
The JMGO N1 Ultra measured 2511 ANSI lumens which is about 1500 lumens less than JMGO’s brightness claim.
Out of the box, the projector's Backlight setting is set to 5 so the brightness of each picture mode is about 60% of the maximum. I measured each of the projector's preset picture mode's brightness. The results are in the chart below.
Preset Picture Modes
Brightness
Color Temperature
VIVID
1686 ANSI Lumens
8,456K
STANDARD
1,435 ANSI Lumens
8,423K
MOVIE
1,369 ANSI Lumens
6,495K
GAME
1467 ANSI Lumens
8,472k
OFFICE
1435 ANSI Lumens
8,468K
USER
1,451 ANSI Lumens
8,472K
While the JMGO N1 Ultra did not meet its rated brightness, the projector's brightness output was still impressive for its compact size. The N1 Ultra was definitely bright enough to be used in a room with moderate ambient light.
BLACK LEVEL AND SHADOW DETAIL
The JMGO N1 Ultra produces good black levels and shadow detail. While the black was closer to the deep gray, the N1 Ultra is better than most other projectors in its class and price point. I’m not saying it can match the black levels and native contrast of an LCOS-based home theater projector but you will get black levels, but its performance was impressive for a compact DLP projector.
There are noticeable details in both shadow and bright highlights in HDR and SDR content, even in a space with ambient light. This projector does not crush blacks.
HDR
The JMGO N1 Ultra supports HDR encoded in either HDR10 or HLG. Since most HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content is either backward compatible with or available in HDR10, you can watch most of the HDR content available on 4K Blu-ray Discs and streaming services. HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) was developed for live broadcasts, so you can enjoy sports and award shows when the networks start broadcasting.
While RGB laser light source can offered on several ultra-short throw projector, they are rarely available on standard throw projectors. The JMGO N1 Ultra is one of the few standard throw projectors equipped with an RGB laser light source so it can reproduce a wider range of colors than most standard throw projectors can not. JMGO’s in-house designed MALC triple-color RGB laser system can reproduce over 100% of the BT.2020 color gamut, so the N1 Ultra can easily reproduce the DCI-P3 color space commonly used in HDR content.
While the projector does not include dynamic tone mapping, it did a great job delivering overall brightness while still displaying a good amount of highlight detail. When displaying HDR content, the N1 Ultra can display a brighter image with more saturated colors than most projectors.
HD AND SDR
Even before calibration, the JMGO U1 Ultra produced good-looking skin tones when viewing HDR or SDR content. There are very few RGB laser smart projectors at the same price point that can match the JMGO N1 Ultra picture quality.
Most TV shows and live broadcasts will be in HD for at least several more years so good 4K upscaling is still critically important. The JMGO N1 Ultra did an excellent job upscaling. Whether I was watching 720P sports from ESPN or 1080p Blu-ray content, everything looked very good.
GAMING
The N1 Ultra has a preset game mode, and when combined with the projector's HDMI 2.1 inputs, it provides an optimized gameplay experience. JMGO lists the N1 Ultra’s latency as 15ms at 4K 60 fps. 60 Hz is the projector's maximum refresh rate, even at 1,080p.
From my experience of console gaming with this projector, I found the N1 Ultra to offer a fast low lag level of performance. The N1 Ultra provides an enjoyably immersive 4K HDR gaming experience.
SOUND QUALITY
Overall this projector has been a pleasant surprise, but the sound coming out of this little square cube is big, loud, and, best of all, deeper than many other Laser TV projectors I have reviewed.
JMGO continues its collaboration with Dynaudio taking advantage of every single bit of the projector's chassis to produce an audio experience that surpasses that of their previous projectors, including the JMGO U2. The N1 Ultra’s impressive sound system complements the projector's picture quality. With Dolby Audio and DTS certification, the Dynaudio 10W x2 sound system produces 45Hz Low Frequency (for a projector) bass.
The N1 Ultra features four audio preset modes: STANDARD, MUSIC, MOVIE, and SPORTS.
AUDIBLE NOISE
We do not measure audible noise, but the fan noise produced by the JMGO N1 Ultra is specified at 26 dB. The N1 Ultra is a quiet projector. Even with the projector set to its brightness light level, I could barely hear the N1 Ultra fan from where I sat to the projector's left side, about three feet away.
