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Nov 1, 2005
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The bright side of portability
Be ready for your next projector purchase
by Alicia Zappier
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Like the smaller sibling vying for attention, the portable projector has turned the heads of the AV industry, garnering the lion's share of growth within the market in recent years. At less than 10 pounds, these units are not only lightweight enough to travel, but many also double as fixed installation units. Plus, they offer an excess of features, high brightness levels, and low prices.
"The first half of 2005 has seen a 15 percent growth over the first half of 2004," said Michael Abramson, vice president, front projectors, for Pacific Media Associates. "The education market has been booming for the past year and a half, ever since the first portable projector dropped under $1,000 in the summer of 2003." Prices will continue to drop, he said, with more and more models falling under the $1,000 price point.
As the portable projector market continues to evolve, choosing the right model for your needs can be daunting. Price, brightness, and image quality certainly need to be considered, but what other features are fundamental -- and which features can you sacrifice to save a buck?
You Say You Want A Resolution
The resolution of a projector refers to how many pixels it generates to project an image. Today's portable models offer four native resolutions: SVGA, XGA, SXGA, and UXGA. SVGA offers the lowest resolution, while UXGA provides the highest (see chart).
So, how much resolution do you need? "The answer to that question depends on your application," said Sander Scipps, Sony's product manager for projectors. "Typically, XGA projectors are ideal for graphics, while SVGA models are suited for PowerPoint or other text-based applications. For a basic PowerPoint presentation, a higher resolution can work to your detriment because the font size will get smaller and become harder for the audience to see."
SVGA projectors can sometimes produce what's called a screen-door effect, which means you can actually see the blocks and lines that form the images themselves. Still, they provide sufficient resolution for watching DVDs.
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| New from Sanyo are the PLC-XU73 and the PLC-XU48, designed for the mobile user and for the classroom. |
"They're not great for projecting on a really large screen, but they're widely used in the education market because they're less expensive than XGA models, and most teachers don't use a lot of graphics with their lessons," said Panasonic's Jim Holzel, product line business manager for projectors.
"SXGA models were pretty expensive two years ago, but most cost less than $4,000 now. XGA is becoming more affordable too," Abramson said, noting that more XGA models are finding their way into classrooms.
Getting ANSI About Brightness
As prices continue to drop, lumen output continues to increase. For example, Sony just rolled out two new portable projectors, the VPL-CS20A and the VPL-CX20A, which offer SVGA and XGA resolution, respectively. Both weight 4.2 pounds and deliver 2000 ANSI lumens. Compare that to the previous model, the VPL-ES2, an SVGA unit that was introduced last fall that weighs six pounds and delivers 1600 lumens.
But how bright is bright enough, and what the heck is an ANSI lumen, anyway?
A lumen is a measure of light. The acronym "ANSI" refers to the American National Standards Institute, a nonprofit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. In short, the group sets the standard for measuring projector brightness.
"Be careful though," warned Sony's Kevin Handerson, marketing manager for projectors. "Unless a manufacturer refers to the light measure as an ANSI lumen, they could be measuring it in a different way. There's no one method in the industry that's solely agreed upon."
For many experts, the "magic number" is 2000 lumens for most portable applications, "though the user really will decide if the unit is bright enough," Handerson explained. "We've learned that users adjust their individual circumstances to meet the projector's caliber, whether it's dimming the lights or drawing the shades in the room. But now, many manufacturers including Sony have made portable projectors that are bright enough to overcome ambient light because some conference rooms don't have curtains."
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| Sony's newest portable projectors, the VPL-CS20A and the VPL-CX20A, deliver better brightness and weigh less than previous models. |
The brighter a projector, the more powerful lamp it needs -- and lamps are expensive to replace. With brighter projectors, the optics are bigger, which also increases the cost.
Brighter, however, doesn't always mean better, according to Holzel. "Brightness is like peanut butter on a knife. You can spread it thick but it might wash away. A higher output allows you to spread it more, but on most portable projectors, it doesn't matter because you're most likely using a 60-inch screen.
"You can't see the difference between a 2200-lumen and a 2300-lumen projector, but lumens are really how people measure a projector, and a common thought is that the higher the lumens, the more you get for your money. You don't need more than 3000 lumens in a portable projector."
To some in the industry, brighter certainly does mean better. "With the extra light output, you get more vibrant color and a better image. Ambient light will bleach out the image, so if you can afford extra lumens, you should buy them," said Mark Holt, vice president of sales for Sanyo. "It's like a laptop. If you want the fastest, you'll pay a little bit more for it."
Sanyo recently rolled out two new projectors, the PLC-XU73 and the PLC-XU48, which are both six pounds and have an XGA resolution. The XU73 delivers 2000 lumens, while the XU48 offers 3000. "Since projector prices are dropping all the time, it makes sense to think about your budget and factor in the cost of a little extra light output," Holt added.
Contrasting Opinions
Contrast ratio is another area that has had its share of controversy. Contrast ratio measures the difference in light intensity between the brightest white and the blackest black.
Most of today's portable models have a contrast ratio between 300:1 and 1000:1. A projector with a "good" contrast ratio will produce rich, vibrant colors, and your type of application will dictate how much of a contrast ratio you need.
"Contrast ratio matters most for video applications. If you're doing mostly PowerPoint, it's not that important," said Holt. "With video, the projector will try to adjust the contrast by itself because video has more shades of darkness than a PowerPoint presentation. In a room with a lot of ambient light, contrast ratio is important because you want to be able to distinguish the different shades of dark backgrounds."
Much of the controversy behind contrast ratio is derived from a lack of standardized measurement. The ANSI-developed black-and-white checkerboard method is used in many cases. However, other manufacturers are using the full-on/full-off method -- a technique that measures the brightest white a projector can produce and the darkest black it can produce. The white reading is then divided by the black reading for the results.
Start Your Engines
Another area of widespread debate is display engines. The most common types of display engines are LCD and DLP, which have been at the center of a war of words between manufacturers for years.
DLP technology, short for digital light processing, uses an optical semi-conductor known as a DMD (digital micro-mirror device) chip that reflects light off a color wheel to produce reds, greens, and blues. LCD or liquid crystal display technology contains three separate LCD glass panels -- one for red, green, and blue. As the light passes through each panel, the pixels can either open or close to pass or block light.
EIKI offers both LCD and DLP projector models. "With an LCD projector, if you're giving a presentation in a room with all the lights up, you'll still get a vibrant, rich color. It's great if you want to show a movie also because the colors stay true," said Wayne Coombes, marketing manager for EIKI.
However, he added, DLP technology can provide a higher contrast ratio. "It sends either light into an optical system or a dead zone," he explained. "The optical system produces white and the dead zone produces black."
While LCD and DLP are the clear market leaders, there are other emerging projector technologies that boast of better resolution. Late last year, Canon announced its Realis SX50 projector (see Government Video, June 2005, for a review), which uses LCOS (liquid crystal on silicon) technology. Also last year, Sony rolled out a large venue projector with its SXRD technology, an offshoot of LCOS. And JVC incorporates its proprietary D-ILA (direct drive image light amplifier) technology into a handful of large venue, home theater, and professional projectors.
Focus On Features
Putting aside the technological arguments from various projection technology camps, often the choice simply comes down to choosing the projector that provides the image output you prefer and features you need at a price you can afford. So, with a glut of models on the market, how do you choose? The best approach is to define your application well and don't be afraid to sacrifice some of the less vital features.
There are some features that no projector should be without. Remote controls are a standard accessory, though form factor and ease of use vary widely. Also, an auto-setup button can be a godsend, particularly if the projector is a shared resource among several users.
Other features to consider include keystone correction (useful if your projector is located at an odd angle to the screen), monitor out (so you can see what's being projected on a separate monitor), and inputs (make sure you can plug in every source you'll need to use). Plus, do you need built-in speakers? Most portable projectors don't have great sound, and some have no speakers at all.
"Optical zoom is important because it makes the image larger or smaller without having to move the projector," said Holzel. "This is great, especially if you're in a classroom setting. Many of the lower-cost models use a digital zoom, which makes the picture size fluctuate electronically, and that just degrades your picture quality."
Projector cool-down time and fan noise may also come into play. Most projectors take less than two minutes to cool down, and releasing lamp heat from a projector before you pack it is imperative to its life span. "The worst thing you can do to a projector is pull out the plug without letting it properly cool down because that damages the lamp," Holzel warned. "The heat needs to escape because heat can damage the parts inside." Many of Panasonic's portable units include a backup capacitor in addition to the cooling fan, which helps cool the projector before it's unplugged.
If you're trying to avoid too much fan noise, you might want to consider the Off-and-Go feature included in many of Sony's portable units. "With this feature, the projector actually stores up energy during your presentation. It works like a small, internal battery," Handerson explained. "As soon as you're done giving your presentation, you can turn off the projector, pull out the plug, and head out of the room. The fan continues to run, and the 'Off and Go' feature helps save you time."
Lamps are expensive to replace, so it's important to take good care of them, he added.
For schools, networking can be an important attribute. "Schools that do use projectors have them in just about every classroom, and they usually only have one IT guy," noted Holt. "If the projectors are networked, it makes it easier to check on the filter and the remaining lamp life -- all through your network. A variable audio output is important, too, because you want the entire class to hear your lesson, and you also want to manage the sound volume through your remote control."
MORE INFO
Canon www.usa.canon.com
EIKI www.eiki.com
JVC www.jvc.com/pro
Panasonic www.panasonic.com
Sanyo www.sanyo.com/business
Sony www.sony.com/government
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