A Baker's Dozen, Plus One

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Video Systems'7th Annual Projector Roundup

InFocus’ LP650, a 9.4lb. chassis with manual zoom lens isincluded in this year’s portable category.

This year's projector roundup represents a concession to theinevitable. In the past, the projector testing took place in August,and it was difficult to get access to the newest, post-InfoCommsamples. Eventually, I got tired of hearing that the review unitswouldn't be ready until September, so I moved back the testing periodto improve my chances of getting the projectors on time.

This year's edition of the projector roundup, therefore, may seemlate, but it is more comprehensive than previous editions. I expandedthe field to 14 projectors — one company never sent its promisedentry — and added some newcomers.

It seems that there are as many categories of projectors as thereare models, caused by the incorporation of small imaging devices. Nineyears ago, when I first started testing front projectors, anything witha handle on it was considered a portable projector. This included some25lb. to 30lb. behemoths that cranked out an amazing 250 lumens.

Now there are portable, ultraportable, microportable, and evenpicoportable. (I suppose it's only a matter of time before someoneconfuses a remote control for its projector!) The original portablemodels are now used as installation projectors, and many of theportables from four to five years ago fall into thedesktop/installation category.

I also used brightness as a performance category. For years, thebarrier was 1000 lumens, and then it became 1500 lumens. Now there areplenty of true portables (and more than a few ultraportables) thatoffer that kind of illumination. For this year's roundup, I separatedthe entries into my own arbitrary categories, based on a complexformula of weight, brightness, connectivity, operating features, and aseries of coin flips.

There were three entrants in the small portable category.BenQ sent along the SL705X, a 3.8lb. DLP design.Epson entered the popular PowerLite 730c, which usesthree 9in. LCD panels and weighs 4.3lbs. Optoma's EZPro 735,another single-chip DLP projector, which weighs 3.3lbs., rounded outthe category. All three projectors in the small portable category use amanual zoom lens.

The portable category included InFocus' LP650, a 9.4lb.chassis with manual zoom lens; NEC's LT260, which tips thescales at 6.5lbs. and employs manual zoom optics; and Toshiba'sTLP-T701, a 9lb. design with manual zoom.

The portable/desktop category was well represented with fourLCD-based entrants. Hitachi's CP-X990W weighs 14.3lbs. andfeatures a power zoom and focus lens assembly. Mitsubishi'sXL30 ColorView projector is a 13lb. package with manual zoom.Panasonic entered the PT-L780NTU, with power zoom andfocus design that weighs 13lbs. Sharp's 11.2lb. XG-C50Xuses manual zoom and focus.

Need something bigger? In the desktop/installation category,Christie's 18.5lb. Vivid LX41 LCD projector includespower optics for zooming, focus, and lens shift. Sony enteredthe new VPL-PX40, a 16.5lb. LCD creation with manual zoom andfocus (The review sample was a pre-production unit).

JVC's DLA-G150CL, a 32lb. LCoS projector with powerzoom and focus, and Sanyo's 27.6lb. PLV-70 widescreen LCDprojector, with power zoom, focus, and lens shift optics, comprise theinstallation category.

Price, brightness, weight, and size no longer solely determineconsumer preference for projectors. To lure buyers, manufacturers haveadded extras to their products. The following are the bells andwhistles that were on various projectors in this roundup:

Wired LAN connections: Panasonic's PT-L780NTU, InFocus'LP650, Christie's LX41, Mitsubishi's XL30 ColorView, and Sony'sVPL-PX40 offer a wired LAN connection.

Wireless LAN connections: Several models offer wireless LANconnectivity, specifically 802.11b WiFi ports for remote connection toa single PC or hub. Panasonic's PT-L780NTU, Toshiba's TLP-T701, andNEC's LT260 all offer this type of port.

Color management systems: Mitsubishi was one the firstprojector manufacturers to praise the virtues of RGB color interfacesand full-blown color management systems. These adjustments areavailable on the XL30 ColorView, as well as Sanyo's PLV-70, NEC'sLT260, and Sharp's XG-C50X.

Digital inputs: Got DVI? Optoma's EZPro 735, InFocus' LP650,Hitachi's CP-X990W, Panasonic's PT-L780NTU, Christie's LX41, Sony'sVPL-PX40, JVC's DLA-G150CL, and Sanyo's PLV-70 do. The interfaces vary— some are DVI-I (combination of analog and digital), whileothers are DVI-D. Check with your dealer to find out which DVIinterface is available.

Other features: True 16:9 imaging is available with Sanyo'sPLV-70. Sharp's XG-C50X has an anti-theft key code. NEC's LT260features three-axis digital keystone correction. Hitachi's CP-X990W,BenQ's SL705X, and Sharp's XG-C50X have picture-in-picture mode.Panasonic's PT-L780NTU and Toshiba's TLP-T701 contain a memory card forshowing of JPEG, BMP, and converted PowerPoint images. Toshiba'sTLP-T701 includes a built-in video copy stand. The input connectionsfor InFocus' LP650 are color-coded.

Usually, the number of connections increases with size and weight.There were, however, a few pleasant surprises this year. In Focus'LP650 had one of everything, except BNCs, in a compactportable/desktop/installation package. Panasonic's PT-L780NTU offers arack of BNC jacks, in addition to DVI, 15-pin, and video inputs. Sony'sVPL-PX40 includes a 5×BNC jack field. JVC's DLA-G150CL also hasone of everything, and Hitachi's CP-X990W supports two 15-pinmulti-signal jacks plus a separate DVI connection.

Mitsubishi gets extra credit for including a 5×BNC jack field.Christie's LX41, which has Sanyo parentage, does not include a 5xBNCjack field, but Sanyo's PLV-70 does. Both projectors provide DVI-Dinterfaces.

The tiny portables had the fewest inputs. The BenQ and Epson entrieseach had one composite, one S-Video, and one RGB input. In contrast,Optoma swapped out the 15-pin analog connector for a DVI-I interfacethat also supports YPbPr DTV and DVD formats.

All but one review model, JVC's DLA-G150CL, have an on-board audioamplifier, with either mono, dual-speaker mono, or stereo audiooutputs. Power levels range from 1W on the small models to 4W onInFocus' LP650. The sound from most of the review projectors onlycarries in small rooms, and there are no tone controls.

The quietest fans are in the models from InFocus, Sony, BenQ,Hitachi, Sharp, Christie, and JVC. The Panasonic and Epson projectorswere louder than expected, and the Optoma was too noisy for tabletopoperation. The Optoma, despite its noisy fan, and BenQ projectorsheated up during operation.

The small remote for the Optoma EZPro 735 was impossible to read,making it easy to hit the wrong button. The small remote for BenQ'sSL705X could only scroll down through menus, not up. Toshiba's TLP-T701remote had hard-to-read text and tiny buttons, and Panasonic'sPT-L780NTU remote buttons were too small and the navigation system wasconfusing — I used the buttons on the projector instead. Epson'sPowerLite 730c came with a credit card remote with small, tactilebuttons.

Sharp XG-C50X

InFocus' LP650 came with two remotes with varying functionality thatranked high ergonomically. Hitachi's CP-X990W remote featured goodbutton size and adequate labeling for easier reading. Sharp's XG-C50Xremote had large buttons, large text, and an intuitive layout.Christie's Vivid LX41 remote was large, with minimal buttons andbehind-the-back operation. The remote for JVC's DLA-G150CL had cleanlayout, large buttons, and was easy to read. Sanyo's PLV-70 had gooddesign, but a sloppy MouseDisk. Sony did not provide a remote with itsprototype entry.

Why toggle through unused inputs when you only need to switchbetween two or three sources? Direct input access isn't a difficultfeature to implement, but few projector manufacturers provide it ontheir remotes. Models that include direct input access were Sanyo'sPLV-70, JVC's DLA-G150CL, Sharp's XG-C50X, and NEC's LT260.

InFocus has consistently tried to make its projectors easier to use,but the LP650 uses a slow input selection circuit that unnecessarilyscans for signals each time the user changes inputs. It missed severalactive inputs. Toshiba provided one input button on its remote and ascroll menu, creating extra work. Hitachi and Panasonic broke RGB andvideo input into groups for scrolling.

Most of the entries were compatible with digital-television signals,such as 480p, 720p, and 1080i, connected through a 15-pin jack orseparate component video connections. But, not all of the review unitssupport DTV signals in RGB mode. BenQ's SL705X could not handle 1080ias RGB. Toshiba's TLP-T701 required aspect ratio tweaking. Sony'sVPL-PX40 did not accept any RGB DTV input, and the Epson PL 730c RGBDTV signal came up as 4:3. On some models, the aspect ratio settingshad to be changed in the menu to get the correct image size.

The best menu designs — logical icon placement, fastnavigation, and range of adjustments — were found on NEC's LT260,InFocus' LP650, Sharp's XG-C50X, and Sony's VPL-PX40. The Sanyo andChristie menus were identical in appearance and offered control overthe image, but the Sanyo MouseDisk navigation was sloppy — Ifound myself inadvertently jumping from one menu item to another.

Toshiba's remote brought up four small menus that have to benavigated with the MouseDisk, which was sloppy and tricky to master.The Panasonic menu was confusing, and Optoma's menu blocked about 25%of the screen, a hindrance when trying to adjust contrast andbrightness. BenQ's menu was better designed; it sat lower in the image.JVC's menu was small and located in the corner. Some menus haveselectable transparency, allowing the projected image to be seen behindthem.

This year, I wired new equipment for the performance and imagequality tests. For RGB signal sources, I used my Pentium III withDiamond Stealth video card (sorry, no DVI this time around), an ExtronVTG200 test-pattern generator, and an AccuPel HDTV test-patterngenerator with RGB and YPbPr output.

For video sources, I used a Sony DVP-S7000 player (for 480icomposite and S-Video) and a Panasonic DVD-RP56 player (for 480pcomponent). For DTV sources, I used Samsung SIR-T150 and T151 ATSCset-top receivers and a JVC HM-DH30000U D-VHS deck (for 480p, 720p, and1080i DTV). The signals were switched to each projector through anExtron 16×16 RGBHV matrix switcher.

In the small portable group, Epson's PowerLite 730c took top honorswith 1843 ANSI lumens, almost twice that of BenQ's SL705x. With onlyhalf a pound difference between the two projectors, and not much morejuice in the Epson projection lamp, the Epson offers more lumens perdollar.

BenQ SL705X

In the contrast competition, the two DLP-engined boxes performedbest, with the BenQ SL705x topping out at 290:1 RGB contrast, 241:1video contrast, and 740:1 peak contrast. Because of lower black levels,this is an area where DLP technology usually bests three-panelLCD-imaging engines.

The color balance was best on the Epson, which offered a colortemperature slider in its menu that is close to the actual measuredtemperature. The red, green, and blue drive can also be tweaked. Eventhough BenQ has adjustable color temperature, its lamp burns cool.Optoma's projector is positively cold at close to 9500 degrees K.

At around 2300 ANSI lumens, the InFocus LP650 topped the brightnesstest in the portable category and took top honors for RGB at 433:1 andpeak contrast at 882:1, the highest peak contrast measurement in theroundup.

Toshiba's TLP-T701 measured 1711 ANSI lumens and achieved the bestvideo contrast ratio at 286:1 (not bad for LCD imaging). In addition,the color temperature out of the box was 7776 degrees K. In contrast,NEC's LT260 measured 10280 degrees K and didn't have as much horsepowerat 843 ANSI lumens, but did have the second-highest peak contrastmeasurement at 732:1.

In the portable/desktop crowd, all four entrants used three-panelLCD imaging, and the resulting brightness measurements spanned 380lumens. In first place was Hitachi's CP-X990W with a reading of 2298ANSI lumens. Mitsubishi's XL30 ColorView came in a close second with2290 ANSI lumens, and Sharp's XG-C50X came in third with 2261 ANSIlumens. Panasonic's PT-L780NTU rated last with 1918 ANSI lumens.

Hitachi won the contrast categories with readings of 264:1 RGB,274:1 video contrast, and 382:1 peak contrast. It also had the highestbrightness uniformity score at 89%.

The desktop/installation projectors varied in brightness. Christie'sVivid LX41 took first place with 3639 ANSI lumens, more than five timesbrighter than JVC's xenon-lamped DLA-G150CL. The Vivid LX41 turned in325:1 RGB and 299:1 video contrast scores. Sanyo's PLV-70 had the bestpeak contrast at 561:1. The JVC DLA-G150CL had the most accurateout-of-the-box color temperature readings, measuring 6706 degrees K.Using a xenon correction table for my CA-1 color analyzer (courtesy ofCliff Plavin at Progressive Labs), I tweaked the JVC reading closer toD6500.

I used a series of text patterns and grids to measure overall lenssharpness, lens distortion (uneven focus), and pincushioning whilezooming the lens. Nine projectors rated “excellent” for thequality of projected images: Optoma's EZPro 735, Toshiba's TLP-T701,Hitachi's CP-X990W, Mitsubishi's XL30 ColorView, Panasonic'sPT-L780NTU, Sharp's XG-C50X, Christie's Vivid LX41, Sony's VPL-PX40,and Sanyo's PLV-70.

The image quality on the BenQ, InFocus, and Epson projectors wasaverage. NEC's LT260 scored even lower in this area because of problemswith soft focus. JVC's projector came with a 2:1 to 3:1 power zoom lenswith a fine, slow motorized vernier adjustment. It was difficult totell when this projector was focused correctly. In contrast, I foundmyself overshooting the sharpest image on the Panasonic PT-L780NTUbecause of its high-speed power zoom and focus.

This year's results indicate that the majority of projectormanufacturers can make a functional autosync circuit. Only thePanasonic PT-L780NTU and BenQ SL705X set up fewer than 20 out of the 25RGB fine-text test signals with no adjustment.

Hitachi's CP-X990W tied with Sharp's XG-C50X, correctly setting up24 signals, and scoring 25 usable signals after adjustment. Sanyo'sPLV-70 correctly set up 23 without adjustment, and scored 25 usable.It's not surprising, judging from past performance, that Sharp andSanyo once again scored in the top three. Mitsubishi's XL30 Color View,Christies's LX41, and JVC's DLA-G150CL earned honorable mentions bysetting up 24 usable signals.

The projectors were tested for composite, S-Video, and componentvideo quality with a mix of DVDs. I started with VideoEssentials for setup and calibration, and then changed to TheWho in Concert, The Fifth Element, Apollo 13, Toy Story II, andMen in Black for general comparison. To test HDTV, I usedprogramming from NBC (The Tonight Show), CBS (The Young andthe Restless, NCAA basketball), and ABC (Alias) recordedoff-air to D-VHS. RGB signal quality was evaluated with fine-textpatterns and a series of generic images and desktops.

For RGB images, the projectors were limited only by the projector'sinternal autoscaler and/or projection lens. Optoma's EZPro 735 won inthe small portable category with a contrasty and evenly illuminatedimage, plus the optics kept text and fine details crisp across theimage. The projector's only drawback was a high color temperature.

Toshiba's TLP-T701 had the best RGB image quality in the portablecategory. It has good optics and its factory setting of 7776 degrees Kwas fairly neutral (high color temperatures tend to turn many saturatedcolors into pastels). NEC's LT260 tested poorly because of lensproblems, and InFocus' LP650 also needed help with its optics.

The four portable/desktop entrants performed well with RGB images,but Hitachi's CP-X990W won thanks to a neutral color temperaturesetting and excellent contrast and brightness uniformity. Among thedesktop/installation projectors, Sony's VPL-PX40 pre-production modeland Christie's Vivid LX41 were tied for RGB quality. Sanyo's PLV-70 hadthe best RGB images in the installation competition.

Most of the projectors had sub-par composite video performance,probably caused by ineffective comb filters or the use of notchfilters. There were some exceptions, and these models had excellentcomponent video image quality. I liked the video from InFocus' LP650,despite a weak comb filter. With a better lens, this box would haveexcellent video quality.

Hitachi's CP-X990W looked good with component video, although itscomb filter was also ineffective. In progressive mode, it exhibitedsome interlaced motion artifacts. Sharp's XG-C50X also did well withmotion compensation and had great video in component mode, but its combfilter left something to be desired.

Christie's Vivid LX41, with an effective comb filter for compositesources and outstanding component video performance with great fleshtones, good contrast, and not much noise, had some of the best video inthe group. Sony's VPL-PX40 also had good performance in component mode,but its four motion-correction modes left artifacts on the screen.

Sanyo's PLV-70 worked best with component or S-Video sources. It hadgood color saturation, nice white balance, and some motion artifacts.There were some false contours in low-level scenes, also a problem withJVC's DLA-G150CL. Since the JVC had great color rendering, perfectwhite balance, and nice grayscale tracking, I would have liked to tryit with a few other lenses to see if it could produce crisperpictures.

Panasonic's PT-L780NTU had the best composite video performance. Itscomb filter left no color moire artifacts and preserved detail in 300-and 400-line Zone Plate test patterns. It also cleaned up most motionartifacts on the flag-waving sequence in Video Essentials.

Not all of the roundup projectors have sufficient bandwidth forHDTV. I used chrominance and luminance multiburst test patterns fromthe AccuPel HDG-2000 generator to gauge detail preservation at 18.5MHzand 37.5MHz.

Toshiba's TLP-T701 and JVC's DLA-G150CL were the only projectors todisplay full-bandwidth luminance and chrominance detail in both 720pand 1080i modes. Most other projectors smeared out, filled in, or hadnoise problems with the 37.5MHz and sometimes the 18.5MHz patterns.BenQ's projector didn't work right with HD signals.

Some projectors look alike, so you have to investigate them tonotice the real differences. The majority of projectors are becomingtrue plug-and-play devices, as far as connecting RGB sources, but videoand HDTV are another story.

Manufacturers need to improve menus and remotes, many of which aresimply too small and difficult to read. Direct input access should comemore easily, as well as menus that take up less room. Optics must beimproved.

In the small portable category, I liked a lot of things about theOptoma EZPro 735, but its fan was too noisy. Epson's PL 730c was thebrightest, but it had problems with video and HDTV sources and needs alarger remote. BenQ's SL705X scored well, but the menu did not functioneasily, and the projector had problems with HDTV signals.

Toshiba's TLP-T701 was my pick in the portable class. It had goodvideo performance and image quality, as well as nice optics, but themenu and remote need better design. If the InFocus LP650 had a betterlens, it would have gotten my vote.

The competition was close in the portable/desktop category, but inthe end I liked the Hitachi CP-X990W best. It swept the bench tests,had great optics, and its video performance was adequate. Thisprojector also has an excellent autoscaler circuit. Christie's VividLX41 received my approval over Sony's prototype VPL-PX40 in thedesktop/installation group, largely due to Christie's outstanding videoperformance and great optics.

I found plenty to like about JVC's DLA-G150CL and Sanyo's PLV-70.Although they're horses of different colors, they both do their jobswell. The JVC unit has great white balance and good video performance,but could use more horsepower and has an expensive lamp (close to U.S.$1,000). The Sanyo projector turned in great test-bench numbers anduses upscale Canon lenses, but still needs help with video scaling anddeinterlacing.

To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorialstaff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.