Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 Review: Brilliant brightness and contrast

Verdict

Although a smart projector, the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 is closer in performance and features to high-end home cinema projectors. While it can’t quite match the sharpness and contrast of a native, high-end home cinema model, this projector isn’t that far behind. Excellent contrast, sharp images, and the ability to cope with panning scenes, combined with built-in Google TV, make this a great choice for anyone who wants more than a lifestyle projector can offer but can’t stretch their budget to a native 4K model.

Introduction

Valerion is a new projector company, but the brand is from the same stable as AWOL Vision, so has a degree of pedigree already.

Focusing on long-throw projectors, the company is aiming to produce smart projectors a step above the standard lifestyle models, but coming in cheaper than the most expensive models from the big brands. The 4K Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 sits second in its line-up, just below the Max model.

High brightness, excellent contrast and punchy audio make this projector a clear step-up from the majority of the competition, and this could be a good choice for those that want a high-quality long-thrown projector at a lower price than the big-brand competition.

Availability

The Valerion VisionMaster range has four models in its line-up, of which the Pro 2 is the second-from-top, just behind the Max. The main difference is that the Max projector has vertical lens shift and a dynamic iris, but both projectors have the same brightness.

Below are the Plus 2 and Plus, which have a fixed lens and 2000 ISO Lumen and 1500 ISO Lumen brightness, respectively.

The VisionMaster Pro 2 is currently available on KickStarter at 40% off, and will go on general sale after the initial launch.

Design

• Comes with a carry case
• Sleek boxy design
• Three HDMI inputs

The Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 ships in a foam case, doubling as a carry case. It’s not dissimilar to the style of case that the JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K ships in. I like a case like this, as it saves on packaging and gives you something to store the projector in if you decide you want to carry it around.

The Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 is a cube, with metal ribs that run over the top of it. As a statement, it’s a powerful one: this projector immediately looks more expensive and well-made than the standard smart projectors that I’ve reviewed in the past.

At the rear is a fold-down flap that hides the projector’s ports. Here, you get three HDMI 2.1 inputs, with the third one supporting HDMI eARC, should you want to connect it to an external sound system.

Two USB, optical S/PDIF and 3.5mm headphone ports are also available alongside the power input.

Underneath, it’s nice to see a standard tripod mount, which makes the projector easier to place and line up with a screen. Plus, there’s a kickstand. This is exceptionally stiff on first use to the point where I initially thought that it must be controlled via a motor. After a bit of brute force, the kickstand came loose and folded down.

A Bluetooth remote control is provided in the box. Again, it’s more solidly made than the regular remotes with other lifestyle projectors, and has keys with positive feedback. Shortcut buttons for Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are nice to have, and then there are the usual navigation keys and a button to activate the Google Assistant. There’s partial backlighting too, which highlights the upper portion of the remote.

Features

• Supports Dolby Vision and IMAX Enhanced
• Smart picture configuration
• Lots of image configuration options

A CMOS sensor and TOF sensor on the front of the projector are used with the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2’s smart setup routines, which include auto focus and auto keystone correction, plus screen detection and obstacle avoidance.

It’s nice to see the optical zoom in the projector’s lens, which can adjust the throw ration between 0.9-1.5:1. Optical zoom makes it far easier to place the projector and then adjust the screen size without the need for a digital correction. The only other smart projector that I’ve seen with an optical zoom is the XGIMI Horizon Ultra.

I found the screen detection feature worked well, using the optical zoom and digital adjustment; I did have to fine-tune the final screen fit to get a perfect image, but the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 did the bulk of the job for me.

This projector runs Google TV, which makes setup a doddle using a smartphone (iOS or Android). As the OS is up-to-date, it also means that it natively supports Netflix. All of the main streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Paramount+, Apple TV+ and NOW, are available, too.

As I’ve come to find with other smart projectors, support for UK catch-up services is a bit hit-and-miss. I could get ITVX and Channel 4 to work, but iPlayer displayed an error.

Picture settings are comprehensive. There’s a choice of picture modes, which includes Dynamic, Standard, Sports, PC/Game, Energy Saving, Cinema and Filmmaker modes. Image modes can be selected for all inputs or the current source only, so you can choose the right mode for each input.

Once a mode is selected, there’s a wide range of adjustment options, including control over the laser luminance and an Enhanced Black Level option that adjusts laser power based on the current scene to boost contrast. It’s a good option, as you can see below in the Performance section, but this mode does lock the laser to maximum power.

There’s also a Brightness Enhancer, although turning this on did really weird things to colours, so I left it off.

Motion Enhancement settings are available. I’d normally say turn this feature off, but the XPR technology used by the DLP chip mean that the projector is locked to 60Hz at 4K, so some motion smoothing is required to deal with mismatched framerates.

It is good to see that the XPR mode can be turned off via the Ultra Sharp Setting. This switches the projector back to being a native 1080p model, which can make Full HD content look better. With this setting off, the projector supports 1080p at 240Hz and 120Hz.

Beyond basic Colour and Hue settings, there’s full colour calibration for the six primary colours, each with Hue, Saturation and Brightness controls.

If that’s not enough, there are also AI image controls, including AI Scene, which adapts the picture automatically; Dark Detail, which enhances detail in the darkest part of the image; and Super Resolution to boost sharpness and detail.

I did notice one bug with the interface and some apps. If I paused content (using the select key on the remote) and then selected options and chose an option, such as Picture settings, the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 unpaused the action.

Performance

• Excellent sharpness
• High contrast
• Vibrant colours

At 3000 ISO Lumens (around 3750 ANSI Lumens), the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 is one of the brightest projectors I’ve ever reviewed, above the 35000 ANSI Lumens of the JMGO N1S Ultimate 4K. This projector is even brighter than the AWOL Vision LTV-3500 Pro, although as a UST that projector loses less light over distance.

What this brightness means in practice is that you can watch this projector under pretty much any light source, including in a room with the blinds open. A darkened room is best, but it’s nice to have the flexibility, particularly if you’re using the projector in place of a TV. Below you can see a scene from Hot Fuzz, taken during the day with the blinds open.

A projector screen will get you the best picture quality, and Valerion sells Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screens for long-throw projectors, which will help boost contrast, reflecting light from the projector but not from other ambient light sources.

Screens of up to 300-inches are supported. At IFA 2024, I saw the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 running in a demo room with a 200-inch screen. That’s full-on cinema-sized screen; in fact, most of us don’t have homes big enough to fit in the types of screen size this projector can cope with.

Although a 4K projector, the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 uses a 0.47-inch DMD DLP chip, which has a native resolution of 1080P. XPR technology shifts the chip four times per second to build up a 4K image. Excellent image processing, and mature technology make it all but impossible to distinguish this technology from ‘real’ 4K. That’s true even when reading very small point-size text.

Locking the refresh rate to 60Hz, the new Film motion compensation mode works brilliantly, smoothing out wide panning shots without the soap opera effect.

A tri-laser backlight is used here, with a rated lifespan of more than 25,000 hours. That’s over eight years of use if you were to use the projector for eight hours per day, which is unlikely.

RGB laser backlights can suffer from laser speckling, but that’s really much of an issue here. If I really looked for speckling, I could see the occasional glimpse, but it’s for day-to-day use, and once I was absorbed in watching something, I didn’t find this an issue.

Format support is excellent, with HDR10+, Dolby Vision and IMAX Enhanced all available.

I did have a minor issue in that I’d set the projector to Filmmaker mode and then fired up Disney+ and watched some Dolby Vision content. After pausing the projector to sort out a delivery, the projector went into power saving mode, and when it turned back on, it didn’t go back into Dolby Vision mode and I had to restart the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2. Fortunately, there is a Dolby Vision banner that appears on screen, so you can see whether or not the HDR mode is turned on.

Image quality is exceptional, with the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 supporting 110% of the REC 2020 colour gamut. Sharp and vibrant images are the order of the day, with the

Shadow detail is good in the projector’s default mode. Watching the opening funeral of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, there’s a lot of detail to the baby chimp’s face. However, turn on the AI Dark Detail feature, and there’s even more detail without the image becoming noticeably brighter. You can compare the scenes below with the standard version (left) and the AI Dark Detail version (right).

Contrast is also excellent for HDR content. Again, the funeral scene is a good indicator of this, with the contrast between the bright fire and apes in the shadows. Again, the Dark Detail option really helps, boosting detail without affecting the overall brightness of the scene. Again, below is a comparison with standard (left) and Dark Detail (right).

It’s well worth turning on the Enhanced Black Level feature, too. Controlling the laser brightness, contrast and brightness settings on the fly, the feature dramatically increases contrast ratio, preserving bright parts of the image, while boosting shadow deatil.

You can see this with the running wheel scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, where the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 picked up more detail through the frame than I’ve seen from other lifestyle projectors.

With bright, fun content, such as Inside Out 2, the projector shines: it’s bright, bold and vivid, delivering a proper cinematic experience.

Blacks, with the Enhanced Black Level option turned on are as good as can be expected, but the nature of projected images mean that they do verge towards the grey, and you can’t get the same kind of black level as with an OLED TV, as you can see from this shot from Aliens.

Watching SD or HD content, the Super Resolution mode helps boost sharpness and remove that softness, but without obviously over processing the image. The comparison below shows a shot from Life on Mars, an SD TV show.

Dual 12W speakers are built in, and they’re great. There’s a choice of sound modes, including DTS Virtual:X, plus a choice of sound mounds including Standard, Theatre, Sports, Music, Speech, Late Night and Intelligent Sound. I suggest trying the one that suits you.

There’s even an Auto Acoustic Tuning mode that uses the microphone in the remote to tune the projector’s audio to your room. This is well worth using.

Fully tuned, the Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 is loud and clear for dialogue, and there’s enough bass to make the most of an action film’s soundtrack. A dedicated surround sound system will provide positional clarity and a greater soundstage, but if you need to use the projector standalone, it’s speakers are more than up to the job.

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