Performance

To evaluate the projector we are using the Grandview Dynamique DY3 100" ALR screen, which provides a 140° viewing angle and gain of 0.4. It is set in a living room with some indirect lighting from doors and windows from the left. While this particular ALR screen is made for ultra-short throw projectors, the brightness measurements are done in front of it, so the screen provides a clean and exactly dimensioned surface to do the testing in the case of the Dangbei Atom.

We test real world luminance the same way ANSI lumens are measured. This includes a nine-segment white screen across the 100" or 2.75 m² canvas in a dark room where the ambient luminance (it boosts the values of the digital light meter) around the area of the projected image is just under 1 Lux. While the projector's brightness and contrast may be adjusted to see the eight shades of gray in a control image, we test the unit at its default settings. The used measuring device has a variance of 4%, which should be taken into account when considering the final result in lumens. Lastly, as measuring the nine zones is a manual process, some variance is expected, especially with short throw and ultra short throw projectors, as one has to point the measuring device at the light source instead of laying it flat against the wall as with classic projectors.

For the test the brightness is turned all the way up, HDR is turned off, and the color setting is meant to be set to a hidden "High Performance Mode" on the device. As mentioned, this cranks the fan up to 100% - as such, this setting is really not something you should be using on a daily basis. With this, the Dangbei Atom clocked in at a very consistent 280 lux across all nine measuring points before considering any device-specific variances across the surface area of 2.75 square meter, which results in nearly 800 ANSI lumens. In recent years, many Asian brands have started using their own standard called ISO Lumens to essentially compete with the long-standing ANSI Lumens way of measuring brightness. The main result here is that advertised ISO Lumens is always a higher number than ANSI. So the unknowing customer will think these units are brighter than established North American or European brands. On top of that, it is based on ISO 21118, which allows for fairly large delta in "error between the measured value and nominal value ≤ 20%," meaning that brands communicate an ideal ISO Lumens number, but the mass-produced average could be up to 20% less. This discrepancy and conflict is unfortunate, and there is no easy way to convert from ISO to ANSI, but some are using a general rule of thumb of ANSI = 75% of ISO Lumens. We have seen brands switch from ANSI to ISO on existing products using that rule as well, meaning 600 ANSI Lumens marketing has been changed to 800 ISO Lumens.

With that said, the Dangbei Atom advertises 1200 ISO Lumens but outputs essentially 800 ANSI Lumens. This means roughly 1000 ISO Lumens which - unsurprisingly, is exactly within that 20% allowed delta. The thing is, 800 ANSI is actually quite useable for casual viewing during the day if you do not have any bright secondary light sources and perfectly fine for nighttime viewing. The Dangbei Atom is not meant to be used in a sunlit room or with the living room lights on, for example.

During normal use, not the Performance Mode, the unit is a little noticeable in terms of noise, but emits a very tolerable hum at 36.2 dBA. In terms of audio, the Atom manages to deliver clean audio at sufficient volume, but it does sound quite flat. While we are not expecting a compact unit like this to perform like larger variants, it should be clear that the speakers are not of a particular brand. Dolby Audio in this case has no direct relationship to the speakers but instead refers to the output formats the unit is capable of. This is naturally different to the speaker branding you see if a particular manufacturer is sourced for the actual speakers inside the unit.


Taking our favorite trailer: Top Gun: Maverick, the Atom does well, but as expected, it does not manage to provide details in the black. The human in the fighter elevator scene is not visible and some of the details in the group hangar scene are not visible either. In terms of color balance, the Dangbei Atom does well but feels just a tad bit on the cooler side which is something you can tweak if you want to. Post-processing like motion smoothing manages to do its job as well, but fast scenes with stark contrast changes do end up with small noise artifacts here and there and as with other projectors out there, it just feels better to just turn this off completely in favor of the cleanest picture possible.


Looking at cartoons that skew towards a cooler color palette becomes a bit more apparent with fairly compact number of colors present but again, is not something that feels like a dealbreaker. Here the stark lines are clean and the image is clear, making the Dangbei Atom a good option for those enjoying shows like Rick & Morty or The Simpsons.


Gaming continues the trend where the Dangbei Atom manages to not overblow the sky and still provide a visible cloud cover, but lacks the oomph to show you the fauna on the dark cage walls. Similarly, shadowy landscape elements loose a bit of that detail, similar to the group hangar scene of Top Gun: Maverick.