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A matter of image: 11 projectors tested November 22, 2002 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/coolgear/electronics/soa/A-matter-of-image-11-projectors-tested/0,139023382,120270083,00.htm
 
Presenting on the go? We look at 11 ultra-light projectors that take the drag out of presentations. We all know how much of a drag it can be lugging around a notebook, briefcase and data projector on your way to a presentation. The data projector market has come along way in the last year or so. Projectors are now much sharper, more affordable but also much lighter and smaller -- some don't even require you to carry around a notebook because they allow you to do your presentations from a flash memory card. For this feature we looked at portable LCD and DLP projectors. We classified portable as those units weighing in at less than 3kg. Most of the vendors were able to submit a projector that met our spec however there were two projectors that were a few grams over 3kg. None of the projectors we received were fitted with a motorised mechanism to adjust the focus or zoom; instead they were fitted focus and zoom rings. This is one way manufacturers are able to keep these projectors under 3kg and make them more affordable. It's been a year since we last looked at projectors. The main push back then was for brighter and lighter products. Last year we saw a handful of projectors with lumens rating of 650-700 and most seemed to weigh just over 2kgs. This time round all the projectors are rated well above 1000 lumens and one even weighed an incredible 1.1kg. In this review, we have provided you with information that will help you make a decision as to which data projector suits you best. Each of the leading manufacturers has provided a model for review with not many left out. All the portable projectors shipped with some sort of carry bag or case, which is a must especially as these projectors will be used on the run almost all the time. All the projectors come with a two-year limited warranty. Lamps usually have a 90-day warranty.
PROJECTOR TECHNOLOGY LAMP TECHNOLOGY SCREENS And if you're unlucky enough to have to cart around a screen you do have some options. There are portable screens that fold into compact cases and are ready to use in seconds. They are also smaller than most other screens, and very light-weight. There are also tripod screens, which are slightly larger but can also be folded, stored, and moved between rooms quite easily. THINGS TO CONSIDER Another image quality indicator is the contrast ratio. The greater the contrast ratio, the more colour detail you should be able to see. DLP projectors usually have higher contrast ratios than LCD projectors. At 400:1 blacks tend to appear grey but at 1000:1 and higher blacks usually appear as solid blacks. Brightness on the other hand is measured in lumens. The projectors in this review ranged from 1100 to 2000 lumens. There is also a relationship between the brightness of the projectors to lighting requirements. You should take into consideration how dark the room has to be in order to properly view what's on the screen. You should also consider whether you would need some additional light for your audience to take notes if they want to. You should also look to see how many computer, video, and audio ports the projector has. And also ask yourself whether there will be several presenters using the same projector from different computers during the same presentation. If this is the case you have to make sure you have the extra computer connectors. Also the new DVI (digital video interface) standard is making its way into projectors. Some projectors offer a digital zoom lens, picture in picture capabilities, and pointing devices (laser pointers), which can be handy but also add to the cost of the projector. There are also projectors available that are able to read flash memory cards such as PC Card, CompactFlash, or Memory Stick, which can store presentations (this means you can leave your notebook behind). If your presentation has sound effects, look for a projector with decent built-in speakers. Most have single 1-Watt speakers but some have two. Another important factor is the weight of the projector. After packing cables, remotes, and other accessories these projectors can get quite heavy. Last but not least, you should look to see how expensive replacement lamps are and look to see how long they last. List prices for the reviewed projector's lamps ranged from AU$704 to AU$923. Most lamps have a lifespan of 2000 hours, but a few are rated to last only 1500 hours, even though they cost about the same.
BENQ SL705X
The Benq is the heaviest of all the DLP projectors, but lighter than any LCD projector. It's also
the most expensive of the DLP projectors and up there with the most expensive projectors. It is
rated 1100 ANSI lumens and has a contrast ratio of 600:1.
The Benq uses a 120W P-VIP lamp, which is good for 1500 hours and costs $799 to replace. While it doesn't come with a wide range of connectors, this projector offers HDTV compatibility (YPbPr) via an RGB-to-RCA cable. The Benq was the dimmest projector we tested according to our meter, but keep in mind that even this projector does an excellent job in pitch-black conditions. It's only in situations where there is a lot of ambient light that this would be a problem. The Benq displayed the very sharp and clean text, but colours were a little dull.
CANON LV-X1
The Canon LV-X1 uses LCD technology and is rated at 1100 ANSI lumens. It has a powerful
150W UHP lamp and can display images at 1024 x 768.
The Canon has a nice set of controls and indicators. They are quite large and are well labelled. The remote control is user friendly, but doesn't feature a laser pointer. The projector has all the standard connectors on the side, and also has three RCA video input jacks (YPbPr). The Hitachi is the only other projector to have a similar setup. Image quality on the other hand was poor. Text appeared quite blurred and even though the projector could project a bright image it tended to be very uneven.
EPSON EMP-720
The Epson EMP-750 is a nice compact LCD projector that offers 1500 ANSI lumens at a contrast
ratio of 400:1. It is the lightest of all the LCD projectors we reviewed. Connectors include VGA, S-video, composite video, PC audio and a USB connector which can be used to connect the projector
to a computer. (Most of the other projectors use serial ports to connect to a PC.) All the standard connectors are located on the back of the unit, as is the remote control holder. The remote control itself is very small and doesn't have a laser pointer.
A replacement lamp will cost you $704, which is reasonably inexpensive, but it only has a rated life of 1500 hours. The Epson offered excellent contrast and brightness. Its only downfall was it wasn't as sharp as the Sony.
HEWLETT-PACKARD SB21
We haven't seen an HP projector before, and we were pleasantly surprised to find the company submitted the smallest and lightest projector we have come across. Weighing in at just over 1kg, it's light even for a DLP projector. By contrast, the lightest LCD projector came in at 1.9kg.
The HP uses a 132W UHP lamp, which is fairly expensive to replace. This projector is also missing a zoom ring, which is a real pain. It makes it very difficult to set the image size up quickly. Our main concern with the projector was that it was only capable of SVGA (800 x 600) resolution. This may seem adequate in most cases, but we feel that a XGA (1024 x 768) projector would come across as far more appealing. Nevertheless the HP is equipped with a DVI connector like the InFocus projector. HP has also supplied a DVI to RGB cable. Another thing worthy of a mention is its compact and stylish design. The HP was the least sharp DLP projector. However it had good contrast--blacks appeared very dark, while colours were warm and vivid. While in use, the HP projector got extremely hot, which was a little concerning.
HITACHI CP-X380
The Hitachi CP-X380 is a LCD projector that has a rating of 2000 ANSI lumens. Only the Sony was
rated as high as the Hitachi. It makes use of a very powerful 200-Watt UHB lamp that unfortunately doesn't last more than 1500 hours.
The Hitachi was the heaviest unit; it weighed a little over the 3kg cutoff we had set. Being a large projector it had plenty of space for a good selection of connectors. Not only did it have 3x RCA type video input jacks (YPbPr), it also had RCA type audio connectors and a second RGB connector. This would come in extremely handy especially if you were planning on using two PCs to do your presentation. Another plus for this projector is its ability to project an image from 15 metres away. The Hitachi was the brightest projector according to our meter. It performed quite well in all our tests and it didn't display much variation in brightness across our test screen.
INFOCUS LITEPRO LP70
The InFocus LitePro LP70 is a DLP based projector that weighs a mere 1.1kg--only the HP is
lighter. The InFocus uses a low power 120W UHP lamp that can produce 1100 lumens, which is
quite remarkable for such a small projector. The UHP lamp lasts for around 2000 hours and replacement lamps are $720. This means it will cost you $0.36 per hour to run--the least expensive of the projectors we looked at.
The InFocus features a DVI connector and a DVI to RGB cable, just in case your notebook or PC doesn't support DVI. In our tests, the InFocus appeared sharper than the HP but not as sharp as the Benq. Its contrast wasn't as good as the HP, but it sure didn't get as hot as the HP did.
MITSUBISHI XL 1U
The Mitsubishi XL 1U is quite a large projector and one of the heavier projectors we tested. It
weighs a bit under 3kg. Like the Hitachi, this projector has a few extras connectors you wouldn't
find on a smaller projector. Another interesting point is that the larger projectors don't get as hot as the small DLP projectors.
The Mitsubishi is only rated at 1000 ANSI lumens, which is a little on the low side. Even with its low rating, however, we were able to project a decent picture with the room lights turned on, but a sunny room might present challenges. This may be thanks to a new technology Mitsubishi is using, known as IRIS (Intelligent Room Illumination Sensor). The sensor automatically detects light volume and colour density, and adjusts your projector's colour tones accordingly so you have the best possible picture up on the screen. This projector is one of the few projectors to feature a low lamp mode, which essentially decreases the brightness of the lamp and increases the lamp's life. The image quality wasn't the best in this mode. In standard mode the picture quality was reasonably good, with slightly fuzzy text our only real complaint.
NEC LT157
The NEC LT157 is an LCD-based projector rated at 1500 ANSI lumens. On paper, this suggests the
projector would be quite bright, however this wasn't the case. It features a 130W NSH lamp that has a lifespan of 1500 Hours- a little on the low side. This also makes it quite expensive to run, considering the replacement cost of the lamp is just as high as some of the longer lasting lamps.
One of the the most impressive features of the NEC is the PCF Card slot. This allows you to insert flash memory cards (or PC card hard drives) so you can run slide shows directly from the projector without the need of a notebook or PC. The NEC's contrast was very good, but most of the test patterns appeared a little too dull for our liking. We found out later that this projector had racked up quite a few hours of use before it was submittd to us for testing, which most likely would have contributed to its poor performance.
PANASONIC PT-LC75E
The Panasonic PT-LC75E is one of the two projectors that weigh a little over 3kg. This projector
is also quite bulky in appearance much like the Mitsubishi and Hitachi.
It uses adjustable feet to elevate itself, which tends to slow down your setup time considerably. It's up to you to make sure both sides of the projector are at the same level, which takes a little bit of time to fiddle around with. On the back it has an extra RGB connector, so you can connect a second PC to this projector. There are also RCA audio connectors, which not many of the other projectors have. The Panasonic is rated at 1200 ANSI lumens and has a powerful 160W UHM lamp. These lamps however tend to diminish in quality over time. In testing, the Panasonic was quite bright, but we noticed we had to have the brightness control adjusted quite high to get a reasonably bright picture. Image quality on the other hand was good.
SONY VPL-CX5
The Sony VPL-CX5 is the smartest projector we have ever come across. As soon as you power the
unit up it automatically opens the lens protector and corrects the keystone for you. It has a powered tilt adjuster, which raises and lowers the projector. More impressively, it can automatically raise itself into the position it was in before it was powered. This is a great little option that takes away the pain of adjusting the legs that some of the projectors still use to elevate themselves.
Like the Hitachi, the Sony is also rated at 2000 ANSI lumens, and the Sony has the highest rated UHP lamp. The menu buttons are unusually located on the side of the projector where all the connectors are. The buttons are relatively small and hard to use, but fortunately, there's a remote control unit which is easier to use. The Sony also has a built-in Memory Stick Slot, which means you can do a presentation without a computer. It has two large fans that operate on the side of the projector, which are a little on the noisy side, but do a great job keeping the projector cool. In our tests, we found its image quality was excellent. All our test patterns appeared nice and bright all over and its contrast was exceptional.
TOSHIBA TLP-B2 ULTRA
The Toshiba TLP-B2 Ultra is priced just over $7000, making it one of the most expensive projectors we looked at. We were a little disappointed with what you actually get for the money. Like most of the projectors it handles XGA resolution (1024 x 768), but its brightness rating of 1250 ANSI Lumens is a little on the dim side. It features a 125W UHP lamp, which is very expensive to replace, but you only have to replace it every 2000 hours. Despite being quite large, it doesn't feature any more connectors than some of the smallest projectors.
In testing, the Toshiba offered good contrast but was one of the least bright projectors. On the plus side, there wasn't much variation in brightness across the test screen, but this was common with most of the less bright projectors.
Editors' Choice:
•Sony VPL-CX5 • Infocus LP70
How we testedEach of the projectors was connected to the test rig and given adequate time for the lamp to heat up and stabilise. This proved to be, in general, less than ten minutes. All the projectors were placed four metres away from the screen. They all projected images on a screen that were two metres in diagonal. In addition to image quality the projectors were also assessed for workmanship and design, which included location, ease of use and array of controls and ports, sound quality, portability (if relevant), and dust filter replacement. We measured the relative brightness of each projector with a Topcon IM-2D Digital Illuminance Meter. Also included were a series of subjective jury display quality tests using Display Mate for Windows from Sonera Technologies (http://www.displaymate.com). This series of images is designed to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a range of attributes, including geometric patterns, colour scales, greyscales, uniformity, and resolution. The jury tests consisted primarily of examining images from Sonera Technologies' Display Mate for Windows, each of which is designed to highlight specific flaws. Jurors rated the monitors first by whether they showed any of these flaws. If they did, the jurors decided whether the flaws were “barely visible”, “easily visible but not an issue for real-world use”, or “distracting in at least some circumstances.” We also rated each of the projectors in the areas of Interoperability, Future Proofing, ROI, and Service: Interoperability: We looked at the number of connectors that were available. RGB, DVI, PC Card Slot, Audio connectors, PC Control Futureproofing: With future proofing we were concerned about the brightness levels of each of the projectors. There may be times where you will need a brighter projector especially if you were to do a presentation in a well lit up room. ROI: We looked at the overall cost and performance of the projector including replacement costs of the lamp as well as life. Service: For the service rating we looked at the length of warranty of the projector and on the lamp. Sample ScenarioThis company wants to equip its sales staff with data projectors to take with them on sales calls to clients. Sales staff have been complaining about the weight of all the gear they have to carry around with them. Approximate budget: $6000 per projector Requires: Five projectors weighing less than 3kg each. Concerns: Weight is the primary concern, because sales staff are out on the road a lot. The ability to store presentations on CardBus or CompactFlash cards would be a big bonus. 1024 x 768 resolution preferred. Best solution: If weight is the major concern, the Infocus would be your best bet. For best overall value, we'd recommend the Sony VPL-CX5. It was brighter than most and it can save you time setting up by being able to do some nifty things like automatically adjust the keystone for you and raise the height of the projector to where it was before it was powered off. It was also one of the sharpest projectors and it was well priced. About RMIT Test Labs
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