6,000 ANSI lumens on the Nebula X1S, and the number that matters is 5,000:1

AlrightMister

New member
I ran a projector in a room with two south-facing windows for about three years and learned the hard way that lumens are not what fixes daylight viewing. Black level is. So when the Nebula X1S turns up claiming 6,000 ANSI lumens and gets written up as watching movies outside in broad daylight, the spec I went looking for was contrast, and Anker has published it: 5,000:1 native in SDR, up to 56,000:1 with Dolby Vision content and the iris working.

The brightness jump is real, to be fair. It comes from a fourth stack of RGB lasers where the X1 had three, against the X1's claimed 3,500. It covers 106 percent of Rec.2020 in vivid mode, throws 4K up to 200 inches from 13 to 22 feet, and the iris varies between f/2.0 and f/4.5 to hold contrast in HDR. There is a 14-element lens with a motorised micro-gimbal that keeps alignment when the unit is tilted up to 25 degrees, which is a genuinely useful thing on a projector you carry into a garden.

Audio is 40W built in, two 15W full-range drivers and two 5W tweeters plus passive radiators, and you can add two wireless satellites at 80W each to make a 4.1.2 with the internal drivers demoted to subwoofer duty.

What I did not see anywhere was a price. At dusk with a decent screen this will be excellent. At two in the afternoon on a white wall, 5,000:1 native is still 5,000:1. Has anyone here got a triple-laser unit to genuinely look right in daylight, or do we all just wait for the sun to go down?
 

KL111

Member
Daylight viewing is a marketing category, not a real one. Best I have managed is heavy shade under a gazebo and even that flattens the shadow detail badly.
 

horizon936

New member
The micro-gimbal is the bit I want. Every outdoor session I have ever run starts with twenty minutes of shimming the projector on a garden table.
 

SimonK

Member
Four laser stacks in a portable chassis. What is the fan doing at full brightness? Nobody quotes dB on these until the reviews land.
 

pricelesslambo

New member
X1 owner here. 3,500 claimed was optimistic but not a lie, and it is a properly good projector after dark. If the X1S keeps the same tuning I would believe 6,000.
 

TV-Guide

Member
Add an ALR screen and the picture changes completely. Spending on the screen beats spending on lumens almost every time in a bright room.
 
Top