Though big-screen televisions still dominate many living rooms around the globe, smart laser projectors have been making steady inroads of late – particularly those you can push right up to the wall. AWOL Vision has now launched another contender, one that aims to "deliver 4K clarity at screen sizes up to 200 inches."
"Aetherion is the culmination of everything we've learned in pushing UST boundaries," said Andy Zhao, company founder and CEO. "It's engineered to outperform on every axis, speed for gamers, scale for home-theater and sports enthusiasts, and sharpness that outclasses every 4K UST projector. Whether in the living room, man cave, or backyard, with Aetherion, you can see the difference down to the pixel."
UST here stands for ultra-short-throw, meaning that users can plonk the triple-laser projector a few inches from the wall for sizable visuals, or pull back a little to go full size. Whatever the picture size, AWOL says that its PixelLock technology guarantees 4K fidelity.
The company notes that where other UST models can suffer pixel drift and color separation thanks to their challenging up-throw optical design, its pixel-alignment tech aims for consistent sharpness across the whole of the projected image.
This system combines optical, mechanical and digital elements to compensate for "lens element tolerances, temperature-induced expansion, micro-warping of UST angles, reflective path inconsistencies, and DLP sequencing artifacts." That's said to result in uniformly sharp, color-rich 4K visuals "even at extreme screen sizes up to 200 inches."
The RGB laser light source at the heart of the Aetherion puts out 3,300 ISO lumens for the Max model or 2,600 ISO lumens for the Pro version. Either way, the engine covers 110% of the Rec.2020 color gamut and native contrast comes in at 6,000:1. When paired with the company's Enhanced Black Level algorithms, the latter gets bumped up to 60,000:1 for extra immersion. Plus shadow detail gets some special attention from a seven-level IRIS system.
There's Dynamic Tone Mapping for optimized high dynamic range tweaking, and tech is cooked in to significantly reduce any rainbow effects – where "distracting flashes of red, green and blue" can sometimes plague playback. This anti-RBE feature can also be found the sister company Valerion's recently updated Max projector. Support for Dolby Vision, IMAX Enhanced, HDR10+ and Filmmaker Mode complete the home-theater picture.
Though Google TV runs the show over Wi-Fi 7 or Gigabit Ethernet, both models in this series sport three HDMI 2.1 ports. For gamers this could bring a competitive edge thanks to the promise of up to 240-Hz variable refresh and input lag as low as 1 millisecond. Dolby Vision Gaming is also on hand to provide "brighter highlights, deeper shadows and richer color using dynamic metadata."
AWOL's flagship Aetherion line will launch on Kickstarter in February, where backers will be tempted by early bird offers. Retail sales are expected to start from April – with the Max coming in at US$4,499 and the Pro priced at $3,499. If you're in Las Vegas this week, AWOL Vision can take questions at its CES 2026 booth in the Central Hall of the Convention Center.
Source: AWOL Vision
