Projectors Tests Reviews

Formovie Theater Premium: test / review

Published on: 27-10-2024 / Modified: 10-12-2024

The Formovie brand may not be as well known as XGIMI or more traditional brands, but it is making its way into homes with products that are appreciated by their users. Formovie markets entry-level products such as the Formovie Xming Episode One, as well as high-end products like the Formovie Theater. The latter has been the unanimous choice of testers and users for the past 2 years, and is considered the best ultra-short-throw projector. I thought we'd have to wait a long time to find a successor, but Formovie hasn't been idle. This new projector is a little brighter than its predecessor, the sound has been improved, the projection distance shortened and it now runs on Google TV and has native Netflix compatibility. From a technical point of view, this new model picks up where its predecessor left off. Beyond the usual test, I'll try to answer the question that a lot of people will be asking: Formovie Theater or Formovie Theater Premium?

Where to buy

The Formovie Theater Premium is available from NothingProjector with a
3-year warranty!

Temporary promotion, 10% discount using code NPHW, final price: 2998€ (instead of 3332€)

+ free calibration for best image quality

Formovie Theater Premium / NothingProjector.com

With this promotion, the price difference and free calibration make this new model very interesting

Price Formovie Theater Premium

Not yet available / tested

Timeline

October 26, 2024: Received the Formovie Theater Premium from NothingProjector.com (stock in Germany), testing can begin.

Why this projector?

I test many projectors but they are not all of equal quality, it is often a question of budget and among all these projectors, I can only keep one for my daily use. I used an XGIMI H1 for a long time before starting to test projectors, I then switched to the Xiaomi Laser Cinema 2 for 2 years and I finally replaced this great projector with a Formovie Theater in 2024. With the arrival of the Formovie Theater Premium, I will probably have to make a choice to see if this new model will replace the old one in my projection room. There comes a time when the eye will no longer be able to clearly distinguish the differences between 2 good projectors, I think we are slowly arriving at this kind of situation.

The previous model had undeniable qualities to the point that one could reasonably wonder how it was possible to do better. The color fidelity was good, the brightness was good, the contrast was excellent... what more could you ask for? This new model brings some new features including more brightness, a shorter projection distance and native compatibility with Netflix. These new features increase the price of the premium version to over €3000, so this test should allow you to determine which version is the most interesting for your type of use.

Unpacking

The Formovie Theater Premium is packed in a double layer of cardboard with two layers of protective foam, so the box is much larger than the projector. For a projector in this price range, this excess of caution in terms of packaging is a good thing. The projector box contains the projector, a manual, the remote control (without batteries) and a power cable.

Operating system

This new version of the Formovie Theater runs on Google TV and it's a good thing for several reasons.

The first is the natural transition of your accounts to the projector. This was already possible with Android TV to a certain extent but here, managing devices in your Google environment is made easier. You can synchronize your accounts from a QR code and your smartphone, the projector takes care of the rest. The initialization procedure does not require much intervention on your part, on the other hand it is longer because the synchronization time can take several minutes. I had noticed the same thing with the Formovie Xming Episode One thinking that it was related to the performance of the projector but the Formovie Theater Premium is more powerful and the synchronization is also slow. It is therefore not related to the performance of the projector.

Google TV will allow you to unify most streaming applications with a more sophisticated search engine than that of Android TV. You will be able to launch a search for a film or a series in all streaming applications at the same time. You can also browse content based on themes. No need to know which movie/series is in Netflix, Amazon or Disney, the search engine is able to combine them in a single search.

Google TV also offers a feature to manage profiles to, for example, offer recommendations for children who would use the same projector.

Finish

The formovie Theater Premium is a fairly large projector, measuring 55 cm by 35 cm with a height of 12 cm. These are the same dimensions as the previous model, the differences are minimal as you can see in the following photo:

The front panel is covered by a fabric behind which are the speakers that will broadcast sound to the front of the projector. We find the same grilles on each side of the projector as well.

A small wheel on each side will allow you to adjust the height of the feet at the front of the projector.

The grilles on the side will help to evacuate the heat produced by the projector, but you should not worry about it. The projector emits heat, but not to the point of creating any inconvenience.

Underneath the projector there is a 4-point mounting system that will allow the projector to be attached to the ceiling. Even if it is technically possible, I would still have some concerns about placing such a projector in this position because it is still quite heavy (about 10kg).

For the sound part, Formovie has teamed up with Bowers and Wilkins as for the previous model but this is the second generation with a power of 2x15 watts (2 tweeters and 2 woofers).

The connectivity at the back is quite complete with 3 HDMI 2.1 ports including one in eARC, an SPDIF optical output, an Ethernet port, two USB A 2.0 ports and a jack type audio output.

The remote control is quite basic, it is equipped with a YouTube shortcut and another for Netflix. The other buttons are the usual buttons with a different relief to make it easier to locate.

Projection room

My projection room is rectangular, 4.6m by 2.9m (height 2.2m). I have two projection walls, one white wall 2.9m wide with just white paint with a possible 4m setback. I then have a 133 inch ALR screen on another wall with a possible setback of 2.8m. I mainly use the ALR screen except when the layout or type of projector is not suitable for this situation.

Battery autonomy

This projector is not equipped with a battery.

Power consumption

The Formovie Theater Premium is a very energy-hungry projector. In normal mode out of the box, it consumes more than 320 watts. You have the option to change the brightness mode in the settings, unfortunately you have to search a little. By switching to standard mode, consumption drops to 270 watts and in night mode, it drops below 200 watts but at the cost of a huge drop in brightness.

My Xiaomi Laser Cinema 2 was also power hungry but other projectors have a better power consumption to brightness ratio, I'm thinking in particular of the XGIMI Aura 2 which I'm testing alongside this projector.

Operating noise

If I measure the noise produced by the projector directly by placing the measuring device on the projector, I get a little less than 45 dB. This projector emits a hum that is not disturbing. If I measure the noise 1 meter from the projector, the value falls below 35 db.

Image quality

I test projectors with objective data to identify its strengths and weaknesses but to make it more concrete, I will try to restore the image quality by filming the projection screen. I just need to clarify a few things before you watch the video:
- laser projectors are difficult to film because of their wide color space, cameras cannot capture colors well, some hues (often red) are too strong
- this projector works in 60hz but for some unknown reason I had to film in 1/40 to reduce the flickering effect without being able to make it disappear
- as I use content for which I do not have the rights, YouTube will probably block this video on my site but you can watch it directly on YouTube
The image is actually much better than what you will see on the following video.

I used the following three trailers:
- Top Gun (HLG)
- Costa Rica 4k (HDR)
- Rings of Power (Dolby Vision)

Colorimetry

More explanations on colorimetry

Measuring color fidelity (colorimetry) is not a subjective question, it is something completely measurable. This measurement is carried out with a device (colorimeter, spectrometer, ...) which measures the difference between the real color and the displayed color. This difference is expressed in delta E (abbreviation: dE). A dE greater than 3 indicates a deviation perceptible to the human eye.

The dE must therefore be as low as possible but projectors rarely have a dE lower than 3 out of the box. They are often between 5 and 10, only a calibration can correctly adjust the colors.

For a perfect calibration, you must call a professional. I give you my parameters which correspond to my situation. These settings might work for your situation but it is not a guarantee, so take them as an indication of the direction to follow.

Measurement results (dE colors / white temperature)

Standard: 14.51 / 11933K

Vivid colors: 14.92 / >12000K

Sport: 14.81 / >12000K

Film: 8.6 / 8898K

Gaming: 13.35 / 9995K

I took these measurements with my ALR NothingProjector BlackSeries screen. This is an excellent screen for this type of projector, but it has a natural tendency to make colors look cooler. Measurements on a white screen would result in a warmer colorimetry, but still insufficient.

The Formovie Theater out of the box had a colorimetry that was too cold regardless of the configuration used, and this problem is further accentuated with the use of an ALR screen, which has a natural tendency to cool images. Unfortunately, this is once again the case with the Formovie Theater Premium, where I measure a significant colorimetric discrepancy for all configurations used. This is quite common, and for an entry-level projector it's probably more acceptable than for a projector costing over €3,000. To get the most out of this kind of projector, you ideally need to calibrate it, but this will also affect the overall price.

How do I go about it? I have several scenarios depending on your budget

- using the projector in film mode, which is the mode that gives the best results. It's still a long way from perfect colorimetry, but it's already much better than all the other configurations

- use the projector in film mode and change the color temperature to a warm one, you'll gain a few points here

- use my calibration data, which will greatly improve the situation and possibly play with the blue level depending on your screen. I've tested over 20 screens in my comparison, so if yours is one of them, you'll be able to assess the level of blue to be corrected. My settings may or may not work, depending on the type of screen and the brightness of your room.

- pay a professional for a home visit and a perfect calibration of your projector (budget: +/- 400€ + travel expenses)

Calibration

I'm a bit late with my work, I'm sorry for those who were waiting for my calibration parameters

Here are the parameters used for the SDR:

These parameters will vary depending on your screen. If you use an ALR setting, it will enhance the blue, so you'll need to attenuate that color and enhance the red like what I did for my screen.

Here are the settings for HDR:

Here, in addition to blue, you need to boost the brightness of each color according to the screen gain. My screen has a gain of 0.6, so I had to boost most colors. If you have a gain closer to 1, these values will have to be adapted.

Brightness

More explanations on brightness

The brightness for a projector is absolutely crucial. The brightness is measured in ANSI lumens and the values provided by the manufacturer are very often higher than reality.

I measure the brightness with a lux meter and I convert my measurements into ANSI lumens in relation to the projection surface. You thus obtain a real value.

A video projector, even if it is bright, cannot compete with a television. The contribution of light (natural or artificial) will have the effect of drastically reducing the contrast of your image. With a brightness lower than 1000 ANSI lumens, the projector must be used in total darkness.

The Formovie Theater Premium is brighter than its predecessor, it is capable of producing in theory 2200 lumens where the previous model went up to 1800 lumens. These are theoretical values because in reality, these projectors are perhaps capable of reaching these values but often at the expense of image quality. The brightness depends on the configuration used and when the projector is calibrated, the brightness is generally well below the technical specifications.

I measured very little difference in brightness between the different configurations, the standard mode is the brightest but the difference with the other configurations is not significant.

I obtained the following results on my ALR screen which has a gain of 0.6, the lumen values are therefore lower than what you could obtain on a white screen or with a different gain.
Standard: 788 lumens
Bright colors: 754 lumens
Sport: 760 lumens
Movie: 762 lumens
Game: 759 lumens

The brightness is therefore much lower on this type of screen but it allows you to obtain a very deep black, my measurements place the black between 0.06 and 0.04 cd / m². With a neutral screen, you should get a brightness between 1500 and 2000 lumens. If I have time I will test this projector with my white screen but for now, I have a projector traffic jam with 4 projectors to test at the same time.

I share with you a photo taken with the light on and one with the light off to show you that the image remains clearly visible but that the blacks become gray when the ambient light is too high:

Sharpness

The Formovie Theater Premium has impeccable edge-to-edge sharpness. I can perfectly distinguish the 1-pixel gap both in the center and at the edges of the image, the sharpness is uniform and there are no aberrations

Contrast

More explanations on contrast

Contrast (on/off) is used to measure the difference between white and black. This measurement gives an indication of the ability of a projector to produce a good rendering in dark scenes.

A contrast lower than 500:1 should be considered as a very low contrast and the consequence will be especially visible in dark scenes where you will lose details. This is less of a problem for sports, bright films or even cartoons.

A low contrast ratio does not mean that a projector is not usable, you just have to be aware that for films like Aliens, dark scenes will no longer allow you to distinguish details.

Contrast was the strength of the Formovie Theater and it is again the strength of this Formovie Theater Premium. This projector is capable of exceeding 3000:1 depending on the configuration used, the "standard" configuration is paradoxically the one that provides the most contrast but its colorimetry is too cold. After calibration, I obtain a contrast of 2875:1 as you can see in the following image.

I obtained this level of contrast with an ALR screen (gray canvas). If you use this projector with a white screen, you could also get good contrast values but with a much less deep black which will give a grayish side to all dark scenes.

If these numbers don't mean anything to you, it doesn't matter, I think I can illustrate the contrast level of this projector with the Batman trailer. This trailer is very dark and only projectors with good contrast are able to correctly render this trailer. The real result is even better, capturing a projector image never fully renders the capabilities of a projector, the colors are actually a little colder.

Motion compensation

Image size and projection distance

More explanations on the projection distance

The projection distance determines the size of the image and the size of the image is determined by the projector's throw ratio. If a projector has a throw ratio of 1.2, it will have an image width of 83 cm with possibly a gray border.

The distance also plays a role in the brightness because the brightness decreases with the square of the distance. A projector placed at 4 meters will therefore lose 4 times more brightness than a projector placed at 2 meters.

Keystone image correction does not modify the projection cone, it resizes the image inside the projection cone. This means that in the event of a significant correction, you will see a large gray border appear around your image.

This projector has a projection ratio of 0.21:1, which is better than the previous model but slightly worse than the XGIMI Aura 2 (0.17:1). This is the shortest throw ratio I have had the opportunity to test, this allows you to obtain a large image with a fairly short distance. To obtain a 100-inch image (diagonal), you must place the projector's optical block 47 cm from the wall, which is a little less than 20 cm between the wall and the projector. For a 150-inch image (diagonal), you must place the projector approximately 50 cm from the wall/screen. With the brightness of this projector, you can consider using this projector with ambient lighting. An ALR/CLR screen will allow you to eliminate some of the light. However, you should not consider this projector as a replacement for a television because if you use it in full daylight, you will lose a lot of contrast.

Screen choice

With an ultra-short throw projector it is recommended to use a screen because the slightest irregularity of a wall will cause a change in the sharpness of the image. I used a NothingProjector BlackSeries screen for this test, it is particularly suitable for this type of projector. If you have the budget for a screen in addition to this projector, I advise you to order the projector with a screen (several sizes are available).

This video projector produces digital grain linked to the laser (also called "speckle"), most projectors of this type have this problem. If you use a white screen this digital grain will be quite visible, an ALR type screen like the one I used can reduce the problem. You have to see the budget as a whole because to fully enjoy a projector like this, a screen is really necessary.

Audio quality

More explanations on audio quality

I use several types of music tracks to illustrate the sound quality of the projector but the rendering will always be limited by the recording device. Since I always use the same device, you will be able to compare the difference on the same basis.

I regularly use well-known songs protected by copyright to illustrate the sound quality of a video projector. It therefore sometimes happens that YouTube decides to block my videos for these reasons. In this case, you can listen to the soundtracks directly on YouTube and hope that YouTube has not completely blocked my channel.

The Formovie Theater Premium is equipped with 2 Bowers and Wilkins woofers and 2 tweeters with a power of 2x15 watts. The sound is of excellent quality as on the previous model, the projector is comfortable in both bass and treble sounds and with 50% of the volume, I do not perceive any sign of saturation. I have the same feeling with the Harman Kardon speakers of the XGIMI Aura 2, these two manufacturers have reached a level of excellence, I would just give the advantage to the XGIMI for the resonance it manages to generate.

Video games

Encoutered bugs

Not yet available / tested

ALR/CLR Projection screen

Are you looking for a good ALR/CLR screen for your projector? I may have what you need:
ALR/CLR NothingProjector Screen

Test / Review conclusion

Some conclusions are easier to write than others, and this is one of them. The Formovie Theater was considered the best UST projector of the last two years, and its successor will undoubtedly take its place. This new model takes all the strengths of its predecessor and adds a few new features.

The image quality of this Formovie Theater Premium is irreproachable on every level, but to enjoy it to the full, you need to be aware of two things. First, there's the need for adjustments, as the projector is not optimally set up out of the box. Then there's the choice of screen. Using a screen isn't strictly necessary for the projector's operation, but not having one can affect your experience negatively (colors, sharpness, uniformity, etc.). With these two elements combined, you get a superb image with very faithful colors, high contrast and impeccable sharpness. Increasing the brightness level will also enable you to use a screen with a gain of less than 1 to enjoy very deep blacks and greater immersion in the darker scenes of cinema. The digital grain produced by the laser is also well controlled

The picture is good, and so is the sound. The Bowers & Wilkins speakers are at ease in all registers, volume is good and there is no noticeable distortion except perhaps at maximum volume.

This new model runs on Google TV, which will enable better integration between the search function and all connected applications, but will also bring native compatibility with Netflix. This was not the case with the previous model. The depth of settings under Google TV will also make it possible to adapt the image to your situation, but an inexperienced user could get lost.

You can easily combine a games console (XBOX, PlayStation,...) with this projector, and the low latency will give you an excellent gaming experience. However, I didn't see if it was possible to increase the frequency by connecting a latest-generation console.

If I had to look for a few weaknesses in this projector, I'd start with the power consumption, as it's a fairly greedy projector. What also bothers me is that for a projector in this price range, I'd have liked it to be ready to use without the need for adjustments to obtain a better image. I also think that it doesn't have enough RAM, or maybe the memory isn't fast enough, because when playing uncompressed files on my local network, I regularly had to deal with buffering

What should I choose between the Formovie Theater and the Formovie Theater Premium? I'd say it's mainly a question of budget, because both projectors are very good and you could stop at the basic version. If the price difference fades (e.g. for Black Friday or other types of promotions), the Premium version will be the obvious choice

Strengths

Color fidelity (after adjustment)

Contrast

Sharpness

Sound rendering

Neflix compatibility

Brightness

Throw ratio

Suitable for use with games console

Operating noise

Google TV

Weaknesses

Power consumption

Basic settings

Buffering for large files

LAURENT WILLEN
Head of myself on this blog

I share my passions on my blog in my free time since 2006, I prefer that to watching nonsense on TV or on social networks. I work alone, I am undoubtedly one of the last survivors of the world of blogs and personal sites.

My speciality? Digital in all its forms. I have spent the last 25 years working for multinationals where I managed digital teams and generated revenues of over €500 million per year. I have expertise in telecoms, media, aviation, travel and tourism.