JMGO Iris Ultra Max Is World’s First 4K/120Hz ‘Smart’ DLP Projector

With the Iris Ultra, JMGO has pushed single-chip DLP to display 4K/120Hz for the first time.

"The lifestyle 'smart' projector is an ingenious thing. Instead of large, boxy objects tied to one location, we get funky, flexible units that, thanks to built-in Wi-Fi and streaming services, can be placed anywhere within reach of a power socket to act as an entertainment-in-a-box device. While they seem to have popped up relatively recently, driven by fierce competition amongst the various Chinese players, these projectors have improved in quality at a remarkable pace.

This brings us to the JMGO IRIS Ultra Max: the first consumer single-chip DLP projector that can display 4K resolution at 120Hz.

This is possible thanks to the fantastically named 'HyperPulse Actuator', which shifts the tiny DLP mirrors 480 times per second to allow the DLP image to preserve full 4K detail at 120Hz. This means it should play well with the latest consoles, especially as it can be plugged in and placed on a table as needed. As you'd expect, it also supports gaming-friendly features such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM).

Another fantastic benefit of this is that JMGO says that as it moves so fast, it reduces the appearance of the rainbow effect that normally afflicts DLP, without having to rely on extra technology that increases the noise levels.

You might want to be careful where you point it, though, as JMGO claims it offers an astonishingly bright 6,500 ISO lumen output, which should make it work well even with the lights on. It also says that it can reach 110% of the BT.2020 color space and a claimed 10,000:1 native contrast ratio, which means it has got more than enough to make the best of its Dolby Vision capabilities. However, while it supports regular HDR10, there is no mention of HDR10+.

The rest of the spec list is impressive. The triple-laser light engine has a dual-iris, consisting of 15-blades, which JMGO claims delivers exactly 11.34% better stray light suppression than its previous 12-blade configuration. In addition, there's an AI DBL (Dynamic Black Level) feature, an AI-powered image processing technology that examines content on a frame-by-frame basis to reveal shadow detail without overblowing the brighter areas of the image.

There's also an array of tech inside to get the image placed just right. The optical engine has a flexible 0.88–1.7:1 throw ratio, as well as a four-way lens shift and an 'AI-powered gimbal', with a 360° pan and 150° tilt, an AI screen fitting option that automatically adjusts the image to fit the screen, and an AI Spatial Image Memory feature to save and recall projection positions for different walls.

After all that, it seems rather mundane to mention that it also supports standard modern projector features such as eARC and also 3D.

JMGO has also released an Iris Ultra (sans Max), which has a 'mere' 4,500 ISO lumens and a 7,000:1 native contrast ratio. It also has to make do with a manual, rather than AI, gimbal.

The Iris Ultra Max has already been on sale in China since May and has sold over 5,000 units, which should hopefully have proved a good shakedown for the technology in the real world. Pre-orders begin on September 4, 2026, at the JMGO Webstore. Pricing will be announced at IFA 2026, and I will update this once I have it.

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This article was originally published on Forbes.com