AWOL Vision’s sister company, Valerion, has been making waves at CES 2025 with the launch of its latest project, the VisionMaster Max. Coming in with an MSRP of $4,000, the VisionMaster Max is a triple laser projector that joins the company’s other projectors–the Pro, Pro2, Plus and Plus2 models–which the Max is said to stand head and shoulders above on the performance side.
According to Valerion, the VisionMaster Max sports 3,000 ISO lumens of brightness and is capable of projecting an image ranging from 40 to 300 inches. The device also touts a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, making the projector well suited to brighter environments.
The projector also offers full coverage of the REC. 2020 color standard, ideally ensuring that the pictures on the screen adhere to the filmmaker’s original vision for color. It even runs at 1080p with a 240Hz refresh rate and 4ms of input lag for gaming applications.
Adding to this, the projector comes with Dynamic Tone Mapping, as well as an Enhanced Black Level mode that Valerion says can further enhance the “depth and richness” of black tones. The projector also features FHD to 4K upscaling as well as IMAX Enhanced and Filmmaker mode, all of which is powered by its MT9618 processor.
The device offers support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+ HDR, and Active 3D as well with additional audio support for Dolby Atmos, DTS, Dolby DAP and DTS: Virtual X. The device also comes with an in-built pair of 12-watt speakers, but it’s likely pros will want to hook up dedicated speakers to really achieve that ideal home theater audio.
Lightapalooza took place in late February, and the growth of the event has mirrored the rapid ascension lighting fixtures and controls.
What’s been generating the most amount of buzz among news outlets and CES attendees has been the new interchangeable lens technology the product introduced for this year’s show. According to Valerian, the company will offer alternate lenses for the projector to accommodate a variety of room sizes and orientations, however, which lenses will be on offer is not currently known.
Currently the Max runs with a stock lens throw ratio of 0.9-1.5:1, while New Atlas has reported the company was showing off an alternative with a 1.3-2.1:1 ratio while at CES.
While common for many of the projectors we often cover in the CEDIA channel, it is a noteworthy addition for a product at the Max’s price point. It also hints towards that sister company affiliation with AWOL Vision, who already have plenty of experience developing professional-grade projector solutions, with the company having attended CEDIA Expo for the past two years running.
Not content with stopping at simple visual performance, the Max can also act as a smart home controller, a trend that up until this point, has largely only been seen in TVs with manufacturers like Samsung and Google touting new control features in their most recent updates.
In fact, the Max runs on Google’s TV OS, which gives the projector access to major streaming services and apps provided through the OS. However, users do not have to be beholden to Google TV, as the projector can be hooked up to Apple TV 4K or Roku via hardwire inputs.
The projector has 3 HDMI (2 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x HDMI 2.0 (eARC) and 2 USB (1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0) ports, as well as Bluetooth 5.2 and W-Fi 6e connectivity.
Back to the topic of smart home control, however, the VisionMaster Max is capable of connecting with Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Amazon’s Alexa and even Control4 to be able to integrate with associated devices on those ecosystems.
The projector additionally has smart connectivity with AirPlay 2, Chromecast and Miracast wireless streaming.
While the device is currently available for preorder, there is no hard date as to when it will release for general purchase.
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