The test rig used to "drive" the projectors was an Apple Power Mac Dual 2.7 we tested as part of the "Desktop dream machine" review. This machine was equipped with nVidia Geforce 6800 card with DVI. All the projectors which had DVI were connected to the Apple. While the Epson and Panasonic, which only had VGA inputs, were connected to an Acer Veriton 7800 which also had an nVidia Geforce 6800 based graphics.
In addition to image quality, the projectors were assessed for workmanship, design, as well as location of controls and ports. We also considered ease of use.
We measured the relative brightness of each projector with a Topcon IM-2D digital luxmeter. Included was a series of subjective "jury" display quality tests -- for this purpose we used the DisplayMate for Windows from Sonera Technologies. 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 DisplayMate, each of which is designed to highlight specific flaws. Firstly, by whether they showed any of these flaws and 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.
Warm up/cool down
This was done to see how quickly a user can power up and shut down a projector. We connected a projector to a PC that was already running and then turned the projector on and timed how long it takes it to display an image on the screen. We also allowed the projector to run for 60 minutes before we would power it down and then time how long it took for the projector's fan to shut off.
Noise
We performed a sound level test to see how loud a projector's fan can get. Projectors tend to be quite loud when first started and turned off. We measured their fan noise after letting them run for 30 minutes. The background noise was less than 50 decibels prior to noise testing each projector.
Temperature
We measured how hot a projector gets using a digital thermometer which we held 10cm from the hottest part of a projector's hottest part -- its main fan exhaust grill. All the projectors were running for 30 minutes before we recorded any temperature readings.
Lux pattern
We measured the uniformity and relative brightness of each projector with a Topcon IM-2D digital luxmeter. The Topcon allowed us to measure the brightness of the display from 13 points around the screen and derive an average, maximum, and minimum range for each projector that we then plotted. We developed a special test pattern for this purpose with a very pale green background and 13 large white "target" spots for the Topcon to take a lux value from.
Master test pattern
The MTP was used as an ancillary check for interference patterns arising from the blocks of fine lines and dither patterns.
Extreme greyscale and colour bars test
The clustered dark greyscale tests the black level and accurate intensity reproduction near black. Most of the steps should be visible and distinct. Alternatively the clustered bright grey-scale tests for white saturation and accurate intensity reproduction near peak white. All of the steps should be visible and distinct. The colour bars in this test image, red, green, and blue in particular were subjectively examined for colour richness. We also played back two DVDs, The Incredibles animation movie which has a lot of vivid colours and digitally created characters and The Matrix which is quite a dark movie allowing us to see the detail displayed in dark objects.
Master test pattern
Extreme greyscale and colour bars test
Lamp doesn't last long enough for the price.
There isn't enough IR ports.All ok if you don't mount it but once mounted IR ports just not good enough