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I used to love going to the movies. But now, I’m a crotchety 35-year-old with a small bladder and likely undiagnosed ADHD. I want to drink my Diet Coke without worrying that I’ll have to dash to the bathroom during a pivotal scene. I’m distracted by the lights on people’s phones. I have strong feelings about theater etiquette that no one seems to share. The floor is sticky and I didn’t use to care but now I kind of really do.
But I still love the experience of a dark room and a giant screen with audio that I can feel in my chest. There’s an immersiveness to that experience that finally gets me to stop second-screening on my phone, playing a game or shopping or looking up the actors’ dating histories. The Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 delivers that movie-theater experience in the comfort of your own home.
VisionMaster Pro 2I’m not a mega techy person, so when it comes to TVs and projectors, I’m ultimately most concerned with the final experience, and not all the doo-dads and whatsits contributing to that experience behind the scenes. The tl;dr is that this thing is souped-up. It throws between 2500 and 3000 lumens. Translation: in darkness, it’s bright enough that it’s lighting up the room. But even in moderate light (think a sunny day with the shades closed, or even just turning off the light source closest to the projector), the images are vibrant and clear.Buy At Amazon$2999
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Set-up is super easy; the VisionMaster Pro 2 can be placed on a table or you can choose from a variety of additional stands or mounts depending on if this will be a pop-up for movie nights or the centerpiece of a dedicated home theatre. Valerion offers a variety of screens that promise even better image quality, but even casting onto an incredibly imperfect, off-white wall (Natural Choice by Sherman Williams, bay-bee), I found the image to be miles beyond what my TV delivers.
The biggest adjustments are manual—based on the size of your screen, physically moving the device does most of the work. A simple, guided set-up process helps fine-tune the exact dimensions, ensure images are crisp, and neutralize for any tilt if you’re not projecting at a perfect 90-degree angle. And that’s basically it. The projector connects natively to all major streaming apps and has great native audio, so no external speaker required. From unboxing to watching a Marvel flick was under 15 minutes flat.
So truly, when I’m in an electronics store, I can see side by side displays and generally choose which one is better, like it’s an eye test at the optometrist. But put me in front of any single TV and it all seems good enough. The VisionMaster Pro 2 was so high quality that even I, tech-impaired as I am, noticed a distinct difference.
The blacks were deep, but also layered – HBO’s grittiest dramas didn’t fade into a single swath of darkness; I could see everything that was happening without cranking the brightness level to “explosion from Oppenheimer”. The colors were so saturated and intense, it made me wonder if this is what being on drugs is like? (If I know little about technology, I know even less about psychedelics.) When streaming live video, there was no noticeable dip in quality or delay—I was watching Everybody’s Live, but sports and video games would be great, too.
The projector packaging doubles as a permanent case, so this projector can be trotted out for backyard movie nights or camping trips, but after just a few hours, I’m convinced: this is going to make you want to toss your TV for good. With a larger screen and better image, why wouldn’t you? You’ll have picture so good that you might even reconsider that next theatrical release. We have popcorn at home.
The post Scouted: If You’re Over the “Movie Theatre Experience,” This Projector Gives You a Reason to Stay Home appeared first on The Daily Beast.
