When I see the marked improvement in color accuracy and features in just three generations of projectors, JMGO is making remarkable progress as a projector manufacturer. Regarding out-of-the-box color quality, the JMGO N1S is excellent. Watching films and showing the projectors MOVIE, USER, and STANDARD modes display rich colors that can be as dynamic or neutral as the content requires.
While not the most natural I’ve seen on a projector, skin tones are incredibly balanced, considering that this projector uses an RGB laser light source. RGB laser projectors often display some of the most over-saturated images of any projector, especially outside of the mainstream manufacturers that take the time to factory-tune their presets. JMGO engineers have effectively tamed the BT.2020 beast, allowing this projector to display a fairly color-accurate and balanced image across a range of content. And when the content calls for it, like game content, the projector can reach into that large color palette and produce stunning reds, greens, and blues.
If you are watching movies or television content like Game of Thrones, the best mode for color accuracy is the N1S MOVIE mode. MOVIE mode pulls back on the projector brightness, softens the image (not too much), and shifts to a warmer overall tone that gives everything you watch a rich cinematic look.
The JMGO N1S Ultimate does feature HDR compatibility, allowing the projector to identify and display HDR10 and HLG content, including HDR-encoded games. I’ll discuss this in more detail in the HDR section below.
One of the biggest changes JMGO has made with this new N1 series projector is how they officially measure and report the projector's brightness in ANSI lumens instead of CVIA lumens. The other
The JMGO N1S Ultimate has a manufacturer's rated brightness of 3,500 ANSI lumens. Meeting this rating would make the N1S the brightest lifestyle projector I have reviewed and possibly the brightest currently available. So, did it measure 3,500 ANSI lumens? Yes, but it cannot hit this high brightness only using the projector's built-in preset picture modes.
Let’s start with the out-of-the-box preset picture modes. The brightest is the VIVID mode in SDR, with all processing turned off, including any auto geometry functions. VIVID mode measured 2,792 ANSI lumens, over 600 less than the manufacturer's rated brightness.
To get the most brightness out of this projector, put it in USER mode, set the brightness to 10, and then select the SUPER BRIGHTNESS toggle in the same menu. When you do this, the NIS Ultimate measured 3,583 ANSI lumens. A cynical person could say that JMGO did this only to hit this high brightness number. Still, this setting is very useful when projecting in spaces with large amounts of uncontrolled ambient light sources. In these situations, getting a usable image is the priority, not black level and color depth. You won’t use this mode 99% of the time, but you will be glad you have this option when you need it.
To get my measurements for ANSI lumen calculation, I set the projector to STANDARD mode, the brightest picture mode, and then took three to four readings about 15-20% from the center of the screen. I measured each of the projector's preset picture modes in SDR. The results are in the chart below.
The JMGO N1S Ultimate GAMMA adjustment mode greatly increased dark details without blowing out the picture. On some projectors, this is listed as a DETAILS adjustment setting, or I’ve seen it as an HDR BRIGHTNESS adjustment excerpt. It is available in SDR modes as well. This extra dark area detail control is nice when playing FPS, role-playing, or driving games. You can see in the three slides below from Willy Wonka watching a particularly dark scene.
The MOVIE and STANDARD modes offered some of the best out-of-the-box HDR images. The best part of watching movies, shows, and games on the JMGO N1S Ultimate is watching 4K HDR content. All of the projector's picture modes support it. There are separate HDR modes for each regular picture mode. I like that you can turn HDR on or off in the picture menu instead of doing it at the source.
The N1S doesn't have a special HDR brightness setting, but it has a GAMMA function that works similarly for both HDR and SDR. This GAMMA function differs from the more detailed GAMMA adjustments in the N1S CMS settings.
HDR content looks amazing on the JMGO. Movies, television shows, and even games look more realistic with HDR, more accurate colors, and increased detail in the shadows, making the viewing experience on the N1S Ultimate more immersive and lifelike.
Unfortunately, JMGO did not add support for formats like Dolby Vision or HDR10+ because the projector's remarkably high brightness would allow an even better viewing experience with the ability to leverage the advantages of the dynamic metadata that is a core part of both of these advanced HDR codecs.
Most TV shows and live broadcasts will likely remain in HD for years, making exceptional 4K upscaling crucial. The JMGO's impressive upscaling capabilities seamlessly elevate 720p sports and 1,080p Blu-ray content to a visually stunning level.
The JMGO N1S Ultimate offers motion smoothing for slicker motion in sports and video games. This feature inserts additional frames between the original ones to reduce judder and enhance overall smoothness.
Sports and live content, like talk shows, looked fantastic on the N1S Ultimate. The projector delivers vibrant, colorful images that are enjoyable to watch. Even high-contrast content, such as animation, appears balanced and free from excessive oversaturation, a common issue with many DLP laser projectors.
The N1S Ultimate has a special game mode that, with the projector's HDMI 2.1 inputs, gives you a better gaming experience. JMGO says the N1S Ultimate has a delay of 15ms at 4K 60 Hz. I couldn't measure the delay for this review. Still, I didn't notice any delay between pressing a button on the controller and seeing the action on the screen, even when playing fast-paced games where any delay can be the difference between life and death for your character.
