XGIMI Elfin Flip Laser - Review / Test

Measuring colour accuracy is not a subjective matter; it is something that can be measured objectively. The measurement is carried out with a device such as a colorimeter or spectrometer, which measures the difference between the reference colour and the colour displayed. This difference is expressed as Delta E, abbreviated as dE. A dE value above 3 indicates a deviation that is visible to the human eye.

The dE value should therefore be as low as possible, but projectors rarely achieve a dE below 3 straight out of the box. They are often between 5 and 10, and proper calibration is the only way to correct the colours accurately.

For perfect calibration, you should use a professional service. I am sharing the settings that work in my own environment. They may also work in yours, but there is no guarantee, so they should be treated as a general indication of the direction to follow.

Brightness is absolutely crucial for a projector. It is measured in ANSI lumens, and the values provided by manufacturers are very often higher than the real-world results.

I measure brightness with a lux meter and convert the measurements into ANSI lumens based on the projected surface area. This provides a realistic value.

Even a bright projector cannot compete with a television. Any additional natural or artificial light will drastically reduce the contrast of the image. With brightness below 1,000 ANSI lumens, the projector needs to be used in complete darkness.

On/off contrast measures the difference between white and black. This gives an indication of a projector's ability to reproduce dark scenes properly.

A contrast ratio below 500:1 should be considered very low, and the impact will be most visible in dark scenes, where detail will be lost. This is less of an issue for sport, bright films or animated content.

A low contrast ratio does not mean that a projector is unusable. You simply need to be aware that in films such as Aliens, detail in dark scenes will be harder to distinguish.

Many projectors operate at a frequency of 60 Hz, which means they display 60 frames per second. Many films are produced at 24 frames per second. This means that the source does not contain enough frames to fill all 60 frames displayed by the projector.

This usually results in visible judder. Some projectors can reduce this judder with a motion compensation system, also known as MEMC. If the setting is used too aggressively, it creates the so-called “soap opera effect”, which gives the image an artificial appearance similar to television series from the 1980s.

Throw distance determines image size, while image size is determined by the projector's throw ratio. A projector with a throw ratio of 1.2 will produce an image 83 cm wide for every metre of distance, potentially with a grey border.

Distance also affects brightness because brightness decreases with the square of the distance. A projector placed four metres away will therefore lose four times as much brightness as one placed two metres away.

Keystone correction does not alter the projection cone. It resizes the image within that cone. This means that significant correction will create a large grey border around the image.

A screen is not always essential for a projector. It depends on the projector you choose and the surface onto which you are projecting.

I have tested many screens, which I cover in detail in my comparison article, to help you choose the type of screen that best suits your projector and budget.

I explain the differences between white screens, grey screens and ambient-light-rejecting screens.

I use several types of music to demonstrate the projector's sound quality, but the result will always be limited by the recording equipment. Because I always use the same device, you can compare the differences on a consistent basis.

I regularly use well-known copyrighted songs to demonstrate the audio quality of a projector. YouTube may occasionally block my videos for this reason. In that case, you can listen to the soundtrack directly on YouTube, provided that the platform has not completely blocked my channel.

To play comfortably on a projector, input latency needs to be low. Latency is the response time between pressing a button on the controller and seeing the corresponding action on screen. It is measured in milliseconds and is also known as input lag.

I measure latency with a specialised device. For fast-paced online FPS games, latency should be below 30 ms. For games where reaction time is less important, anything below 100 ms should be suitable in most situations.

I generally test ShadowRunner through GeForce Now on my Nvidia Shield, except when this is not possible. I am not used to playing with a controller, so I am not particularly skilled, but the purpose is to demonstrate the projector's capabilities rather than my own.