HDR10/HLG laser projector with Dangbei Atom, Dolby Sound, Chromecast, Google TV, and more

Dangebei recently contacted me and told me that they have a new projector called the Atom. It looked interesting on paper, but because of its 1080p output, I was initially confused by his world of 4K everything. Heck, even smartphones have higher resolutions, but this train of thought couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Atom I actually got has 1200 lumens with Dolby HDR10 and HLG support, and it also provides very good results as a laser projector, even better when you dim the lights. This is not a sponsored review. Dangbei was kind enough to send this to me so that I could research and write about my honest experience using projectors in my daily media consumption.

The best thing about this product for me is the ability to run Google TV with lots of smart connectivity and already installed apps such as YouTube, Prime Video, Netflix, and others that are “familiar through Google integration”. There is an option to install apps. ■ Android Play Store and app sideload functionality. A nice feature of Google TV is that your watchlist is tied to your Google web search results. For example, if you search for movies or TV shows on Google on your PC,[見たい]Click the button.

It will now appear in the Watchlist area of ​​your Google TV home screen on Atom.

Another advantage of Google TV compared to Android TV is that apps like Netflix are officially licensed and integrated well with no performance issues I’ve found.

Atom is available from Amazon in the UK/EU for £799, but strangely, it is not available from Amazon USA at the moment or at the time of writing. Very strangely, the Atom doesn’t come with a carrying case, which I fully expected to see in the box at this price point, given the projector’s Nintendo Wii-like size. You have to buy a carrying case separately, but get this. It is not available on Amazon UK, only available on Amazon US for $50. However, Atom is not available.

Anyway, on to the review.

specification

construction

Atom is made entirely of metal alloys. It feels solid, has some weight to it, and isn’t too far from the size of the Nintendo Wii, which is a comparison that most people can appreciate.

There are grills on both sides, but the speaker itself is only on the left side. There is a virtual surround sound option that you can enable in settings, which is off by default.

There seems to be one fan that is always active, but by default the laser lamp is not in its brightest mode and only reaches that mode when you manually set the brightness. It’s not much brighter than Auto, but it can make a small difference in rooms that are too bright to effectively control ambient lighting.

There are very few connections on the back of the unit. The only thing that really matters is the HDMI ARC port. Please note that the 3.5mm output can be used as a line output to a home theater system or other audio setup. Stereo only.

The bottom of the unit features a large non-slip circle and tripod mount, as well as enhanced ventilation.

set up

I had no problems setting up Atom. This projector doesn’t actually have any physical elements to adjust. There are no dials or knobs to make adjustments like on traditional units. If you want to fix it to a ceiling or something like that, just use a standard tripod mount. Legs (I used a tabletop tripod for some testing) That’s it.

The remote control is of very good quality, with a much better feel due to the alloy back cover, and is well-built with premium-looking rubber buttons rather than the cheap sticky rubber that is common on other remotes. quality. It takes 2 AAA batteries and connects to the Atom using Bluetooth LE, so you can point it at the Atom, do whatever you were doing using muscle memory, or point it at the wall every time you do something. No need 😅.

The microphone button works as expected, and audio input is recorded on the remote and sent to the Atom via Bluetooth. The delay between saying something and seeing it on screen is almost instantaneous, and if you’ve ever used voice search on a modern phone, you’ll get the same experience here.

When you first start it up, it’s a simple case of logging into your Google account and signing into the rest of your apps like Netflix/Prime. If you need additional apps, a quick search from your home screen will show you the results using the following command: Play Store. I installed Solid Explorer because I use it on my phone and tablet to view content shared on my home network.

General navigation and configuration is also easy, with an interface and speed that is essentially the same as any modern smart TV. When the projector is moved, automatic image calibration and automatic keystone correction/adjustment functions are activated to realign the image and focus.

There’s also automatic obstacle avoidance, which stops the adjustment process from fitting if something gets in the way. The Atom also performs a prefocus calibration every time you turn it on, so you always get the sharpest image possible.

The Atom also works as a Bluetooth speaker mode, allowing anyone with a phone to stream music as if it were a Bluetooth speaker. I don’t know when this will be useful for my needs, but I’m sure someone somewhere will need it.

performance

Whether streaming content from my phone or playing directly from the native apps on the Atom, everything worked as you’d expect from a modern display device. If you’re used to using smart TVs, using Atom is no different.

The interface is smooth and responsive, but if you hit back to go to the home screen while playing something like Netflix, there’s a quick load time of a few seconds before you get back to the home screen. I think this is probably it. When streaming from your phone, you won’t experience any lag when it comes to processing speed since the unit doesn’t have to do all the processing in the background.

I watched a variety of content, from trailers to TV shows to my own videos on YouTube, as well as various HDR demo reels. Everything plays out with excellent color and brightness, and while the video above may not be overly enhanced, there’s no banding or graininess in the projected image that you’ll find with other projectors. There’s also no fringing along the edges of sharp lines in the content, which is common with traditional projector lenses with standard lamps.

Thanks to the time-of-flight sensor on the front of the Atom, the automatic alignment and adjustment feature works well and reacts quickly to any changes. Also, when movement of the projector is detected, the onboard gyro will start recalibrating and adjusting (if automatic mode is enabled).

Dangbei created a clip that shows how each one works better than I could with my limited space.

What this means is that, unlike traditional projectors, you don’t have to worry if the projector isn’t perfectly straight or pointed at the center of the projection area; you can just make small adjustments with automatic alignment. about it.

conclusion

As the review excerpt begins, the best way I can describe the Atom is pleasantly electrifying. This is the kind of thing I never thought I’d want, but after using it now I can think of several situations where something of this quality would come in handy, both for home use and for photography. Masu.

It’s a shame that a carrying case is not included. £800 is a lot of money for just a basic unboxing experience. Also, the official case is not available at his Dangbei Amazon store in the UK.

But these are small details, what matters most is image quality, and the Atom seems to excel here as a 1080p projector. In addition to support for all the biggest streaming platforms, you can download other apps from the Play Store, play via USB, stream over your home network, and use Atom as a Chromecast device, so you can do it all. It looks like the box is checked. .

This is not a projector to use in a bright daylight room. Ok, but note that there is only one emitter, so additional emitters are needed to compensate for glare from the sides of the projection wall. However, if you have a room with normally bright surroundings, the Atom will work well. Don’t forget to close the curtains to make the most of the day.

I only encountered one bug while using this unit in retail format that Dangbei sent me. This was when I was setting up in another room to test something, and noticed that the home screen went blank, showing only a gray thumbnail background. After about a minute, Atom restarted itself and everything was fine from then on. FYI, there are no new system updates as of this writing.