Optical lens shifting is a big win for house digital projectors

[ad_1] <img class="e_ng" decoding="async" loading="eager" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="xgimi horizon 20 ifa" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="xgimi horizon 20 ifa" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa.jpg"/> Stephen Schenck / Android Authority

I really feel like lots of people comply with an identical journey in relation to projectors. They’re initially wowed by the attract of an enormous image, bringing the cinema expertise house. And possibly they’re additionally intrigued by the pliability of having the ability to set issues up at a second’s discover wherever there’s a clean wall. However then the truth of the tech shortly units in.

For all of the promise they provide, projectors have been plagued since day one by compromise after compromise — they could ship big-screen thrills, however at what value? Possibly you’ve been let down by poor brightness, leading to a washed-out image, or distracting rainbow results from the best way they cycle colours. However the excellent news is that issues have been getting so much, LOT higher, and whilst a long-time skeptic, I discovered myself getting on board a pair years in the past, because the positives lastly began outweighing the negatives.

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There’s nonetheless work to be carried out to additional shut that hole, however this yr at IFA 2025 in Berlin, I’m getting to take a look at a few of the newest progress corporations have been making to resolve these remaining projector issues. And considered one of my favourite developments comes from XGIMI and its line of Horizon 20 projectors.

Although fashionable projectors will be fantastically moveable, oftentimes we’re restricted in the place we’re capable of place them as a consequence of components like room structure or furnishings placement. And since that doesn’t at all times imply we’re capable of properly level them straight at a wall, projectors make use of fancy digital methods like keystoning to form their output to accommodate.

The times of projectors forcing you to compromise on picture high quality are numbered.

Digital picture resizing options like object avoidance and keystoning use software program to vary the form of the picture being projected, in order that when it hits your wall at an angle, the image appears to be like good and sq. once more, or it doesn’t find yourself overlapping with that annoyingly positioned mild swap.

The large drawback with this, although, is that you simply’re beginning with a finite variety of pixels to start with — and solely a lot mild obtainable to light up them — so digitally altering the form of the projector’s output inherently means cropping issues down and never utilizing all these pixels, leading to a softer, dimmer picture.

It’s a trade-off we’ve lived with to this point, because the comfort overcomes the downsides for many people. However possibly we don’t should.

For those who’re searching for the very best output from a projector, one large trick is to do as a lot as potential optically, benefiting from high-quality lenses, moderately than leaning on digital processing. XGIMI already made me a fan of this method with the optical zoom on the corporate’s earlier Horizon Extremely, supporting rooms of many various sizes with out impacting picture high quality.

<img class="e_ng" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="XGIMI Project" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="XGIMI Project" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/XGIMI-Project.jpg"/> Paul Jones / Android Authority

With the brand new Horizon 20 collection this yr (the Horizon 20, 20 Professional, and 20 Max — the distinction between them mainly simply being most brightness), XGIMI upgrades that optical zoom to additionally supply lens shifting. As an alternative of the projector at all times beaming its image out straight forward, this new optical system means that you can shift the picture up, down, left, and proper, all with no need to crop into the sting in any respect, retaining full decision and brightness.

That may be a HUGE development in my thoughts, and mixed with optical zoom, XGIMI projectors can now supply the identical kind of flexibility with {hardware} placement as they did earlier than, however with out the sort of downsides which have to this point been inevitabilities.

Simply because it is a new function doesn’t imply it’s being applied in a half-finished manner, both, and I used to be notably impressed with the UI XGIMI has give you for adjusting lens shift.

<img class="e_ng" decoding="async" loading="lazy" sizes="(min-width: 64rem) 51.25rem, 80vw" title="xgimi horizon 20 ifa lens shift 2" srcset="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2.jpg 1920w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-64w-36h.jpg 64w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-1000w-563h.jpg 1000w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-1536w-864h.jpg 1536w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-675w-380h.jpg 675w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-300w-170h.jpg 300w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-1280w-720h.jpg 1280w, https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2-840w-472h.jpg 840w" alt="xgimi horizon 20 ifa lens shift 2" src="https://www.androidauthority.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/xgimi-horizon-20-ifa-lens-shift-2.jpg"/> Stephen Schenck / Android Authority

Reasonably than leaving you guessing as to only what your choices seem like, an in depth on-screen interface clearly reveals what’s potential, letting you employ the projector’s distant to shift round its display output inside the vary of that grey circle — once more, with no cropping or discount of picture high quality.

It’s not fairly a full-on alternative for digital keystone correction, as that provides assist for excessive angles unachievable by this optical system, however for conditions the place you'll be able to nonetheless level your projector instantly on the wall however want to maneuver its output a bit off-center, that is the perfect answer. Seeing it involves moderately priced house projectors just like the Horizon 20 collection provides me hope that that is removed from the final high-quality optical reply to a digital drawback that may assist elevate projectors from big-screen treats to gadgets which are as commonplace as conventional TV screens.