WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.879 I'm getting very mixed messages today. On the one hand, the Athereion Max from 00:00:04.319 --> 00:00:11.120 Awol Vision is very easy to set up with only a 9-minute installation video. On 00:00:09.040 --> 00:00:16.720 the other hand, here's everything that came with it. They sponsored this video, 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:23.199 sending us over a complete package with the projector itself, their Vanish 00:00:19.119 --> 00:00:25.439 cabinet, a 130in screen that rises from 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:32.399 the floor, presumably out of the Vanish cabinet, and also the Thunderbeat, a 4.2 00:00:29.439 --> 00:00:38.000 2.2 sound system that works with the speaker and the projector for 5.2.2. A 00:00:36.239 --> 00:00:42.399 major focus for AWOL Vision in the design of the Athereion Max was 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:46.879 apparently what they're calling pixel level clarity. Kicking off with some 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:52.640 speeds and feeds. This thing supports pretty much everything. [music] Dolby 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:55.039 Vision, HDR Plus, 110% coverage of the 00:00:52.640 --> 00:01:00.079 Rec 2020 color space along with gaming features like variable refresh rate and 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:02.800 auto low latency mode. Of course, ah, 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:07.200 the entire other side is dedicated to this tagline. Precision in every pixel. 00:01:05.119 --> 00:01:10.080 Apparently, clarity was a major focus during the design of this product. Pun 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:16.080 intended. [music] This thing is absolutely packed with clarity enhancing features like 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.799 highindex sapphire glass with what they're calling a rare earth coating 00:01:17.520 --> 00:01:22.960 which supposedly will reduce reflections, a titanium thermal mesh 00:01:21.119 --> 00:01:27.439 that's supposed to reduce focus drift and anti- rainbow effect technology 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:31.360 which I will be very interested to see because I do have a bit of sensitivity 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:34.720 to the rainbow effect. Like the way everything's laid out in here. You got 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:38.400 your power cable, you've got your HDMI C. This is a USBC cable. 00:01:38.251 --> 00:01:44.119 >> [music] >> What an interesting selection. USB microB 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:50.799 composite and a remote, but no HDMI. Pretty 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:55.680 standard remote. Nice prominent voice control button. Free TV. And of course, 00:01:53.600 --> 00:02:00.000 it has an AI button because what wouldn't these days? Now, let's take a 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:05.439 look at the projector itself. Bold design. We've got an IR sensor on the 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:11.440 front. And then moving around to Hey, look. Cooler Master fans. 00:02:08.160 --> 00:02:12.879 fun. It makes sense, you know, masters 00:02:11.440 --> 00:02:16.319 of cooling. They can cool a projector just as well as they can cool a PC. Uh, 00:02:14.640 --> 00:02:22.560 what else we got out the back here? Got our power in, three HDMI inputs with one 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:24.400 of them supporting EER, a type-C input 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:27.200 that, huh, they want you to use for a 00:02:25.760 --> 00:02:32.160 computer. So, I guess that's DisplayPort, USB port for connecting a media 00:02:29.200 --> 00:02:34.959 device. There's that composite. uh RS232 for if you have like a home automation 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:39.840 system or something like that, as well as wired Ethernet and optical audio, 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.200 which I do still like to see even though it's kind of an older standard. Oh, 00:02:42.160 --> 00:02:46.800 look, I missed something. [music] There's a USB 3 port over on the right 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:52.400 along with the power button. And then on the bottom, you've got your various mounting options. Either your adjustable 00:02:50.160 --> 00:02:56.000 feet if you want to just sit it down or if you want a ceiling mount, you've got 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:00.319 your bolt pattern right there. The Max boasts a maximum of 3,300 lumens output, 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:04.159 which they claim is good for up to a 200 inch screen. I would say that's probably 00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:09.680 getting close to the limit, unless you have a perfectly [music] light controlled room. And it'll do up 00:03:07.440 --> 00:03:13.360 to a 6,000 to1 native contrast ratio with some black enhancement that will 00:03:11.440 --> 00:03:18.400 hopefully boost it beyond that. Now, it's time to hook it up to all this 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:20.560 other stuff, which hopefully is not too 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:26.080 hard to figure out. This is cool. Well, the middle unit of the media console has 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:30.560 a built-in power hub as well as some fun stuff in here. Remote control, power 00:03:28.720 --> 00:03:38.959 adapter. So, that's presumably for that barrel jack before. And then we've got a 00:03:33.440 --> 00:03:41.519 really fun USBA to dual USBA female port 00:03:38.959 --> 00:03:47.200 thing. And then an A to C cable along with a baggie of drywall screws and a 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:48.799 cute little screwdriver. So, stubby. Oh, 00:03:47.200 --> 00:03:52.959 another built-in power bar. [music] There's a fan grill here, but I think 00:03:50.959 --> 00:03:58.720 that's just meant to be a passive intake for [music] the active exhaust that's 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:01.040 over here. Oh, this is also metal on the 00:03:58.720 --> 00:04:06.480 top. That explains why the whole thing is so faking heavy. There's a third 00:04:04.239 --> 00:04:11.519 power bar. How much stuff do they expect you to be 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:14.080 hooking up to your projector? Okay, so 00:04:11.519 --> 00:04:19.120 we have ultra short throw light rejecting screen. 00:04:17.440 --> 00:04:24.880 Oh, an extra year of warranty. Look at that. Please keep. They may be needed 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:28.880 for the future use of your screen. Okay, inside this box is some 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:33.360 interesting stuff. We have a third remote, which apparently I don't need 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:36.720 cuz it should automatically lift and lower the screen when the projector 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:44.880 turns on and off. So, I guess we'll see. As well as this power cord. Oh, sticker. 00:04:42.960 --> 00:04:49.040 Put that wherever I want. Also, I may have gotten the order of operations 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:52.560 confused again because these all have to go together before I can put the 00:04:50.240 --> 00:05:00.680 projector screen on them. Derp. I think the feet just kind of slide on. 00:04:56.960 --> 00:05:00.680 Am I missing anything? 00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:09.560 I don't know. Sure. Right. Like, do I 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:09.560 just Yeah. Yeah. 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:19.360 Oh, that's kind of cool. See, I thought the sliding feet was a bug, but it turns 00:05:17.840 --> 00:05:24.800 out it's a feature. It allows you to very easily adjust it and get at this 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:28.800 power plug over here. Okay. Oh, hey, there's a 3 and 12 mil ox 00:05:27.440 --> 00:05:34.080 jack in the side of the projector. I didn't notice that before. I'm going to 00:05:31.039 --> 00:05:35.919 plug this into here. Oh, it said uh 00:05:34.080 --> 00:05:40.479 don't try to open it before removing the protective film. So, I'm on it. I'm on 00:05:38.080 --> 00:05:45.120 it, boys. It's easy to lose track of the scale of this product a little bit 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:49.520 because it's in front of a 150in screen. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:52.720 This is a giant giant screen. Wow, those 00:05:49.520 --> 00:05:54.240 cooling fans rip. I would probably want 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:59.120 to put that on a speed controller myself. Does it have one? No. But it's 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:04.240 just standard mounting holes, so nothing would prevent you from putting a Noctua or something in there. In fact, it would 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:08.639 match the color scheme. Built-in cable management holes are nice. You'd love to 00:06:06.479 --> 00:06:15.840 see it. We figured out what the USB splitter is for. This guy goes right 00:06:12.400 --> 00:06:19.840 here. Okay, that handles the screen. And 00:06:15.840 --> 00:06:23.600 then this guy, that USB A to C goes into 00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:26.479 this USBC port down here in the base 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:32.319 what that one does. Not sure yet. With that all connected, theoretically, 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:38.240 it's opening the thing. It's firing my laser. Oh, it's a laser projector. Did I 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:41.039 mention that? Damn. Now, 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:48.960 all right. Heck yeah. Okay. It needs to be aligned. 00:06:45.039 --> 00:06:52.000 This is This is normal. 00:06:48.960 --> 00:06:54.160 Wow. It's dark back here. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:58.880 Oh, this is cool. Yeah. It has like acoustically transparent material here 00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:02.400 so that you can put speakers right below the screen at the bottom. We haven't 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:06.080 even set up the speakers yet. That is a lot of speaker built into the projector. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:10.400 They really intend for you to use this as a center channel. Like obviously all 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:16.080 I'm hearing are interface dootes so far, but it's really loud. Okay, auto 00:07:14.479 --> 00:07:21.680 keystone correction. Let's see how this goes. Ensure the projected image is a 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:24.880 rectangle. Okay, I think I was playing with them when I was unboxing it and 00:07:23.280 --> 00:07:30.080 getting the B-roll, so they're just super not even right now. Okay, we tried 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:34.000 uploading our picture of the screen. It did not work. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:40.039 We need to get it so that the edge of our screen is inside the border area. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:46.880 >> Liner stops liners. [laughter] I'm not going to do it again. I'm not 00:07:44.479 --> 00:07:54.240 going to touch it now. Long story short, some hours of micro adjustments to the 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:56.000 feet as well as playing around with the 00:07:54.240 --> 00:08:01.919 height of the screen when it reaches its maximum and we got this far. Bottom 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:07.840 line, it did need some keystone. We do still have about an inch of blank space 00:08:05.440 --> 00:08:11.440 at the bottom that it looks like from all the other videos we've seen of this 00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:16.240 product are pretty normal. And there is some winess at the edge that seems to be 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:19.360 a function of this extending and retracting projector screen. You 00:08:18.080 --> 00:08:24.355 wouldn't get that if you had a fixed screen. There's also other downsides of 00:08:21.280 --> 00:08:24.720 this style of screen. 00:08:24.355 --> 00:08:34.235 >> [laughter] >> That's not cuz I was running really fast. But 00:08:29.039 --> 00:08:34.235 can your setup do this? Hey, [screaming] 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:47.440 definitely cool. Now we turn it on. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:53.120 I'm going to try and figure out the motor for this guy now. Uh the plug 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:55.120 might have come deplugged. Brief update. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:00.160 We're trying to get the whole thing to, you know, 00:08:57.440 --> 00:09:04.480 you do the thing. And it turns out CEC is too good. And this remote is now 00:09:02.959 --> 00:09:09.760 controlling the NVIDIA Shield that we plugged in. And so when we power it off, 00:09:07.040 --> 00:09:14.720 it doesn't power off the projector. Quick update. We have solved the drawer 00:09:12.160 --> 00:09:17.120 retraction detraction. Traction. [music] 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:23.279 We've solved the drawer issue. All right, boys. We're there. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:28.000 It always comes down to cables, doesn't it? That's why you should get your 00:09:24.959 --> 00:09:30.240 cables at ltstore.com 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:34.399 in a couple months when we have stock. >> Let's go. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:35.680 >> There we go. Get these remotes out of 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:39.200 here. Who needs them until I'm troubleshooting? >> What did you do? 00:09:37.920 --> 00:09:44.320 >> I didn't do anything. >> What do you mean? This has never happened before. >> I didn't do anything. 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:48.480 >> Oh my god. It's in thermal protection mode. It could take 10 minutes before. 00:09:46.160 --> 00:09:52.480 It's in thermal protection mode cuz we were lifting it and retracting it so 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:57.440 much. You know what? I have an LMG review. I will go do that and then I 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:04.640 will return. Okay, we waited for the thermal protection. A boom. 00:10:01.680 --> 00:10:09.279 It took a lot more than 9 minutes, but we finally got there. Finally, time 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:12.080 to check out some content. We haven't played around with image settings pretty 00:10:10.800 --> 00:10:17.040 much at all yet, but right out of the gate, HDR is looking really nice in a 00:10:14.880 --> 00:10:20.959 light controlled environment. And AWOL points out that their Noircene system 2 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:26.800 combined with their strong native and dynamic contrast really helps to make 00:10:23.680 --> 00:10:31.600 HDR content pop. You can't have highs 00:10:26.800 --> 00:10:33.200 without contrasting lows. AI contrast. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:40.160 Whoa. Huh. Wow. You can tune this to be really 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:43.519 poppy if you really want to. High might be a little bit much for me, but it's 00:10:41.839 --> 00:10:48.000 definitely doing something. Do you know what? 00:10:45.182 --> 00:10:52.880 [sighs] This is the first device that I've been like, "Okay, yeah, vivid. 00:10:49.760 --> 00:10:54.959 Fine. The skin tones are a little off. 00:10:52.880 --> 00:10:58.560 They're a little red and vivid." The darkest image setting and highest 00:10:56.800 --> 00:11:03.120 contrast. Okay, I'm I'm down for some high contrast. Definitely a unique value 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:08.800 proposition. the high. I mean, it's huge. And I gotta 00:11:07.120 --> 00:11:14.240 say, with the content on the screen, when's the last time you thought about the ripple at the edges? Like, could it 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.440 be kind of irritating? Yeah. But it's in your peripheral vision for the vast 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:23.680 majority of what you're going to look at on a screen this size, right? Like, it's, you know, we shouldn't make 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.920 excuses for, you know, poor tensioning, 00:11:23.680 --> 00:11:28.959 right? But it's going to be a limitation of this style of screen. And you're not 00:11:27.680 --> 00:11:34.480 married to this style of screen. You can use a different style of screen if you want. Oh, right. That's right. They have 00:11:32.079 --> 00:11:37.360 150 in as well. That would be I think that would be towards the limit of what 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:42.399 I would want to do with this level of brightness. Should we fire up a game? 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:44.240 Switching over to games. Filmmaker mode. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:49.600 Not going to work for that. Definitely too much latency. But game mode. Well, 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:55.440 that's much better. Actually, actually really good. High 00:11:52.560 --> 00:12:01.120 refresh rate mode. Hold on a second here. But it totally does it. It totally 00:11:59.760 --> 00:12:04.640 does it. It even supports Fresync Premium Pro. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:09.120 Definitely still has some rainbow effect, which I especially notice with 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:14.000 like a mouse cursor moving around like that. Image quality, yeah, not quite on 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:18.800 par with what we saw in filmmaker mode or, you know, fine-tuning the image in 00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:24.079 some of the other modes, but if that's the cost of having latency this low, 00:12:21.040 --> 00:12:26.800 this is extremely usable and obviously a 00:12:24.079 --> 00:12:31.040 gigantic screen, so the immersion is undeniable. Sponsored or no? before they 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:35.200 actually ship this Kickstarter. There's definitely some rough edges that they 00:12:32.560 --> 00:12:40.320 need to file off a little, especially with the uh ease of alignment and the 00:12:37.680 --> 00:12:45.680 deployment and and undeployment. But in terms of cool factor, 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:47.600 I mean, it's kind of undeniable. It's 00:12:45.680 --> 00:12:50.959 just a matter of whether the cool factor is worth the price. We'll have their 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:55.639 Kickstarter links down below. If you guys enjoyed this video, hey, subscribe to ShortCircuit.