Test - Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2: Gaming on 300 inches for the price of an OLED TV

Projectors have not been particularly attractive to gamers so far. Too expensive, too slow, too complicated. Exceptions prove the rule, and more and more of them are appearing to overtake large televisions. This also applies to the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 and its three brothers, which come with slightly different features. Valerion promises incredibly immersive gaming on up to 300 inches, with lightning-fast response times, high frame rates and HDR. And of course great enjoyment for home cinema. Will these promises be kept?

Video games are fantastic benchmarks for televisions, especially when it comes to colors and contrast. In recent years there have been many opportunities to marvel at building blocks in this regard. But a projector? Despite an initial view at the IFA, we were skeptical. The still young sister company of the established projector manufacturer Awol was throwing around numbers that seemed too good to be true.

Tia, you can be wrong like that. Without wanting to give too much away: We are really excited about this long throw laser projector, which is also interesting for gamers thanks to the latest digital light processing (DLP for short). Not in every respect, but overall, the thing is a great value for money.

The pure facts

Before we explain what convinced us and what didn't, first a few simple facts: Valerion provided us with the VisionMaster Pro 2 model - the second strongest variant in the line-up. The only thing that is technically better is the VisionMaster Max, which is equipped with an Optiflex lens with vertical lens shift, but otherwise looks very similar. There are also two cheaper versions called VisionMaster Plus and Vision Master Pro (without 2 at the end). They lose some brightness and have to do without an optical zoom, but they are also excellent devices that share most of the features with the Pro2 version.

But now to our test device, the Pro2: The small 7.5 kilo metal box measures just 260 x 186 x 216 centimeters, is delivered in a practical transport box and, thanks to its aluminum cladding with struts, is so sturdy that it can be used Withstands pressure weight of 100 kilos.

Thanks to the Google TV operating system, it uses all streaming apps imaginable (Netflix, Disney, Paramount, YouTube and so on) and can also mirror the image of a cell phone thanks to special features such as Airplay. Otherwise, it receives image signals via three HDMI ports on the back. Two of these correspond to HDMI 2.1 (including an eARC port) and one remains at the 2.0 standard. Two USB ports and an SPDIF output for optical audio round things off.

Last but not least, the high-quality remote control should be mentioned, which fits comfortably in the hand and some of the buttons are backlit. Practical for a projector that you use most of the time in the dark.

Fast and sharp

Just an announcement. But what's more important is how well the thing brings content to the screen. The image offers UHD resolution at 3,840 x 2160 pixels and, according to the manufacturer, a response time of 15 milliseconds in gaming/PC mode in 4K. Calibration functions of several music games resulted in a value of 16 to 17 milliseconds in our testing, but this is probably within the range of a typical measurement error margin. Either way, it's only one frame per second and is therefore more than suitable for decent gaming.

However, the UHD image is not achieved natively, but rather through a cheaper pixel shift method, in which the built-in MT 9618 chip divides its 1080p-based output into several adjacent fields so quickly that you don't even notice it. Purists complain about something like this, but in fact it's not noticeable because the full number of pixels is still displayed. Just at a rapid pace one after the other instead of at the same time. In any case, the 4K image is crisp, absolutely stable without a trace of noticeable flickering and shows all the details of a native UHD display. In plain language: The image is not extrapolated or produced through other cheating. It's just the laser projection that puts several HD images next to each other instead of a full UHD image to achieve the high resolution.

This at least has the advantage that the three built-in lasers are fast enough to serve you a 1080p image at 240 Hertz - with an incredible 4 milliseconds delay. Meanwhile, film fans will be happy about native 24 FPS output without conversion to 60 Hz. If desired, this frame rate can be doubled to 48 images, which is used to soften camera movements. 3D films can also be played as long as you have suitable DLP 3D glasses.

Setting up is a breeze. Thanks to sensors on the front, the projector focuses automatically and also straightens its trapezium independently, so you don't have to be fussy about placing the device exactly parallel to the screen. We chose an angle of around 18 degrees and still got a top image without distortion. However, if you fully automate the process and tell it to dynamically correct changes at any time, the software tends to annoyingly increase the image size to the maximum again and again by optically shifting the lens. That's why we preferred to adjust the image manually, which is also very convenient.

Regarding power consumption: A 180 watt power supply is included with the device. We measured around 135 watts of consumption during bright HDR images. This is far below what a 65-inch OLED television consumes with HDR display.For comparison: A A 65-inch TV from LG's G3 series consumes around 190 watts in the same scenes, and a Sony 65-inch A95K QD-OLED even uses 230 watts.

Why a projector instead of a television?

The biggest advantage of a projector over a television is of course the projection surface. No joke: The immersion of a large image is crazy, especially in video games, especially since the sound has more power with the larger image. As if hearing and seeing enriched each other with growing impressions. Our Dolby Atmos system felt louder and rattled more violently, but it had the same settings as usual.

If you're out and about or no system is available, the device also outputs the sound itself via two twelve-watt drivers. And it's not bad at all, because good bass performance gives the sound spectrum the necessary foundation. Easily enough for a spontaneous football evening with friends. Nevertheless, we recommend an Atmos receiver with speakers or at least a decent soundbar so that the picture and sound turn into an experience.

In this respect, Valerion's lifestyle projector delivers real cinema conditions, if not even better in some aspects, because you won't see bright colors and highlights on the level of a television in a standard cinema. This projector currently supports HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and the Imax Enhanced format. When we first plugged in the box to play Astrobot, God of War and Forza Horizon 5, our jaws were on the floor.

Nevertheless, despite all your dreams of giganto immersion, we have to pull your tongue: The projector can display 300 inches, but the typical area of ​​application is between 100 and 150 inches. Not only because these are the usual sizes for home cinema screens, but because you have to keep in mind that a projector like this loses luminosity above a certain projection surface. Optical zoom (factor 0.9 - 1.5) or not, it needs a certain distance from the screen to reach the full 300 inches, and that costs even a laser projector's display power.

We were able to marvel at the fact that the Valerion Vision Master can actually project a huge, colorful image onto a monstrous screen at the last IFA. The screen was “only” 220 inches, but there is no doubt on our part that the thing can handle 300. Throw the next soccer tournament on a stadium facade or a larger-than-life Gran Turismo session on a house wall? No problem. It just won't be as bright as on a smaller screen.

Speaking of bright: even in daylight you can still see a lot with this projector. The thick one is enough for casual TV and gaming. We played Mario Kart 8 on the Switch (i.e. in low-brightness SDR) in wintry daylight on a normal white screen and the Rainbow Road track still looked like an intoxicating color candy. If you want to play games with full contrast or enjoy a film with good HDR highlights, you should still darken all windows.

You can also get a smaller image using digital zoom and a short projection distance. At the bottom it is 40 inches. Pearls before swine! For testing purposes, we were content with a comfortable 100 inches most of the time. In order to get the maximum impression, we visited specialist stores such as the home cinema boutique in Berlin and tried out several different screen materials there. More on that later.

Great luminosity at an affordable price.

Under ideal conditions, the Vision Master Pro2 creates just over 3300 ISO lumens in the brightest image mode, which would be equivalent to just over 1000 nits if the light didn't have to reflect back off the screen. The canvas has a strong influence on how the image ultimately appears. Since the “Vivid” mode is not particularly colorfast due to its red bias, the “Normal” and “Cinema” display modes are preferable. This still achieves an impressive 2300 to 2700 ISO lumens.

HDR highlights on a projector are of course not as sharp and powerful as on a high-end OLED television. This is simply the nature of projection. Nevertheless, it is definitely enough for a good HDR image, especially since the quality - as already mentioned - depends on your screen.

Calibrating for HDR effects on the game console is not exactly easy. Valerion's software for dynamic tone mapping works so well that the black test diamonds always become visible after a few seconds when you adjust the brightness value in the console menu.

That in itself is not a disadvantage. On the contrary: Valerion's software brings out a respectable 15000:1 dynamic contrast with great black levels from an already good 4000:1 static contrast. This became particularly apparent when we launched Ori and the Will of the Wisps on Xbox Series X. The black of the forest remained absolutely stable and rich next to the bright white of the main character. There was no black crushing, nor did the character's bright aura clip.

Speaking of which: Despite the obstacles in calibrating the console brightness, we fumbled out usable values. On Xbox Series This is an incredibly good value for a projector, especially since it has the advantage that you can watch something like ice hockey without having to worry about the white areas darkening in the long term, as is the case with OLED TVs.

Even with films like Mad Max Fury Road, Dune 1 and 2, Gladiator or Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, we were amazed at how well the software can maintain the balance despite strong contrasts. Of course, you won't see the inky super black of an OLED TV despite a well-functioning recalculation routine that's supposed to preserve deep tones, but the black value is still very respectable. Only during extreme scene changes from brightly bright to super dark did we sometimes notice that the black cinema bars of a film were pulled up or down very slightly with the luminance value of the scene due to the software contrast adjustment. But it's only noticeable if you pay attention to it with eagle eyes.

Can the device keep up with a JVC projector that costs 12,000 euros? No! But in practice the difference is surprisingly small. Too small for laypeople to recognize without direct comparison. When it is officially released in spring 2025, Valerion's powerhouse will only cost a fraction as much, namely around 3,000 euros. At least in this version.

The slightly weaker versions with the model name VisionMaster Plus and Pro are likely to cost between 2,000 and 2,500 euros. Still a lot of money, and the chance to take advantage of a 40% discount through the Kickstarter campaign has unfortunately gone. The equivalent value still speaks for a good price-performance ratio. In addition, prices are likely to fall in the long term.

The canvas is a factor

What must definitely be included in the purchase price is the canvas. Does it have to be a super expensive canvas? No, because the Valerion VisionMaster has an excellent light output on its own. In addition, some expensive screens are not particularly suitable for the device,

Triple laser projectors, which use a separate beam for each of the three primary colors (red, green, blue), have more than just advantages. Sure, the division of the color coding results in fantastic, even bright colors that spoil the show even on the two best QD-OLED televisions currently available. Sony's A95L and Samsung's S95D "only" come to around 90% of the lifelike Rec. 2020 range. That's pretty damn good, but the Valerion Vision Master does 110% in this color space. Rough color transitions are a foreign concept for the device.

The disadvantage of this: Laser projectors cause so-called laser speckle on expensive high-contrast screens - a light granulation that is similar to the Mura effect on a VR headset. We were able to confirm this by testing various screens in specialty stores. High-contrast screens reflect the laser light back so directly that a shiny color splatter is created, which can even be seen in the three primary colors when observed up close. If you still want to use such a screen, you should maintain a distance of at least four meters with a 120 inch projection. Then the granulation becomes almost invisible. However, we can only recommend such a screen to a limited extent.

This is unfortunate, because the difference to a normal screen is stark in every other respect and gets even more out of the projector's potential. After all: Valerion offers a specially developed high-contrast screen that is intended to eliminate the problem. And that even includes a Fresnel structure. Fresnel screens are typically intended for short throw projectors, but Valerion has optimized the system for their long throw projector. The slat angles enhance the VisionMaster's HDR highlights by a factor of 1.8 and at the same time exclude external light sources. In conjunction with a further revised black value calculation, which is currently being tested in the first new beta firmware, the impressions should come even closer to that of an OLED TV. The only disadvantage: Viewers are not allowed to sit far beyond the width of the screen because the focusing of the light narrows the maximum viewing angle. Anyone sitting far outside will only see a darkened image.

We don't know whether this will all work out as Valerion promises, as this canvas is not available to us. We asked for a fabric sample. If we learn more from this, we will update this article.

So it’s a normal screen after all?

When using a “normal” white or gray screen, the light granulation mentioned above is barely noticeable as it diffuses the incoming light. For our in-depth sessions, as mentioned, we used a standard mid-range 100-inch white screen, sat only about eight feet away, and had no laser speckle issues.

We had to live with the disadvantage that the light from the projector was scattered from the screen onto the walls and ceiling. So in bright scenes it was similar to someone turning on the light in the room. This also influences how deep you perceive the blackness of the image and how well HDR highlights come across, because a white ceiling reflects the light back onto the screen and makes black areas appear slightly washed out. That's why home theater enthusiasts take precautions with black walls.

Few weak points

Sounds really good, right? It is too. But unfortunately one point is a little annoying: only the most expensive version of the Vision Master (i.e. the Max version) has a vertical lens shift. In plain language, this means that with the Pro2 and all of its smaller brothers you have to align the projection manually by setting up the projector at the right height and at the right angle of inclination.

The lens shines slightly upwards. Estimated around 20 degrees. How exactly you project is up to you. In the operating system you can freely set whether you illuminate the screen upside down or via rear projection.

This would all be less of a problem if the device allowed for a typical projector suspension. Instead, it only offers a single central quarter-inch thread, as is known from mini projectors. This is certainly suitable for installation using a one-armed ceiling mount, but many cheap designs that support this type of screw connection are hardly trusted to carry the 7.5 kilos permanently.

Getting the projector to the right height and the right angle of inclination without a gimbal arm is fiddly millimeter work. Once set up, you'll never want to move it again.

Of course, this is a luxury detail and in our overall assessment it does little to change our enthusiasm. But we wanted to mention it anyway, especially because other lifestyle projectors like to brag about their mobility and sometimes even come with an adjustable suspension.

We also need to draw attention to the so-called rainbow effect, to which some people are more susceptible than others. And even if you are prone to it, it doesn't have to mean that it bothers you too much. It's about a phenomenon that occurs with the triple laser when dazzling white surfaces are displayed - for example super white writing. Everything looks good when you look at it normally, but if you move your eyes far left and right (for whatever reason), the white splits into the three primary RGB colors for the duration of the blink of an eye.

How often do you look hard to the left or right when you actually want to watch a film right in front of you? Almost never. And the phenomenon can only be seen on super white surfaces. So you have to provoke the rainbow effect to really find it annoying. But it exists, and some people just don't like it, so it shouldn't go unmentioned in this test.