Every so often you may find an affordable projector that includes all of the features you would want for your home theater or office environment. According to this review, the NEC NP100 Portable Projector is a “budget-oriented” projector that is appropriate for both business presentations and home theater usages, and might be perfect for your budget. The price is around $499.00, which compared to other projectors of the same class is very affordable and could be worth checking out. Weighing about 5.3 pounds, this projector is ideal for portability. In addition to the light weight, the features are 2,000 Lumens, and a native resolution of 800 x 600 (SVGA). The reviewer states, when testing, “the NP100 displayed generally good results—including sharp text and well-rendered color graphics—when hooked up to a notebook PC’s VGA port, as well as when connected to a DVD player’s composite-video port.” Due to the lower cost of the device, it may be lacking a few features which could otherwise be necessary, like a pointer on the remote, or mouse support; but all-in-all, this projector is a great bargain for the home or office user.

[via PC World]

For the Dell 1800MP, it’s not uncommon see a performance enhanced, light weight, entry-level projector that can be used for any type of presentation. With its standard looks, and competitive features you might ask if this projector price is undercut at $659.00. According to this reviewer, the Dell projector is loaded with features and packs powerful specifications, such as a native resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA), and 1600 x 1200 (UXGA), 2,100 Lumens, a contrast ratio of 2000:1, making it well worth the value. In addition to this, it weights around 4.6 lbs, and uses DLP technology. For the verdict, according to the reviewer, “This is a bright projector that impressed us with the clarity of images, as well as the size of them. While the connections are kept to a minimum, this projector will suit any office or education establishment, as it’s easy to set up and run.” The connections included are VGA, S-Video, Composite, and 3.5 mm Stereo mini phone jack.

[via Tech Radar]

If you are a home theater enthusiast, you might interest to learn that you can have the same setup outdoors – with exceptions like the weather, and the neighbors of course. Either way, you can still enjoy your outdoor entertainment with a quality screen and projector. This article gives you some rules to follow when recreating that outdoor movie experience you typically have at the drive-in. For the screen, this reviewer recommends “the garage door, the side of the house, a bed sheet, or any light-colored, flat surface.” She recommends the Sima XL-8 96-inch HD Format Inflatable Movie Screen, which runs about $999. For the projector, there are a few recommendations that all have built-in speakers and a DVD player; Epson Moviemate 50 ($699), Optoma MovieTime DV11 ($899), and the Toshiba TDP-ET20U ($1,399).

[via NJ]

Recently, Acer announced their new P3250 Projector for use in professional presentations, and office settings. The projector will be marketed as an ultra-light and portable projector with high quality display performance that will, without doubt be a step above the competition. This projector weights only 1.2Kg, and is measured around 210 x 165mm. The projector features 2,000 Lumens for optimum brightness, has 1024 x 768 XGA resolution, and also supports 1680 x 1050 WSXGA+ format that is based on SmartFormat technology. This projector includes a contrast ratio of 2000:1, and connections such as NTSC, PAL, SECAM, and HDTV. To add to the impressive functionality of this device, the projector is equipped with the cutting-edge Acer ColorBoost Technology.

[via Acer]

There are some people that would enjoy using their projector as a computer monitor but are unsure about which one to choose in order to do this. It can be a daunting process because you want the text to turn out clear but at the same time have a decent resolution to work for your images. The article mentions the Panasonic PT-AX200U, to use as a computer monitor due to its low cost, a 2,000 Lumen lamp brightness, and image performance. However, the issue is with the resolution, which might be around 1680 x 1050 on the computer monitor, but for projection may end up at a lower resolution.

[via IGN]

For holographic projection, the possibilities are endless; and according to Indian outsourcer Satyam, that reality will soon be available to industries across the world. The technology uses a holographic projector and sonar sensors that measure movement and position in a virtual environment. For an example of this technology, Satyam has a 2D prototype in use where a piano is projected onto a floor for people to walk on, and is monitored by 64 sonar sensors on the ceiling. No word on when this technology will be available for consumers.

[via Silicon]

Recently, Pioneer announced the KURO KRF-9000FD Projector, which uses Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology and has a 30,000:1 contrast ratio. Other features include 2x motorized zoom/focus lens, 80% vertical and +-34% horizontal lens shift, 600lm brightness, 2 HDMI ports, uses 280W of power, a 24db noise level, and a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The design is a “signature style” of the KURO, and the projected images have deep black levels and rich colors, resulting in a film look. If you want this projector for your home theater, it will cost around $12,000.

[via I4U]

When you purchase a projector, there are various features that you should be looking for, and this reviewer has managed to categorize a few of these for you to take note of. High definition projectors use a resolution of 1920 x 1080, which is optimum compared to that of 800 x 600. Other features to look for in a projector are Sharpness and Clarity of the images that are projected, image quality from sources such as HD DVD and Blu-ray. When buying a projector, you should take into consideration the “Contrast Ratio, Lumen Output, Deinterlacing, Black Level, Zoom lens, Lens shift, Connectivity and Compatibility, Audible fan noise, warranty, and of course the price.”

[via The Projector Blog]

If you looking for a projector with a lens-to-screen distance of around 2 metres, then you will want a “short-throw” projector, which has a wide-angle lens that can create a big picture from a shorter distance. While these lenses are typically expensive, they offer XGA resolution at 1024 x 768, and WXGA at 1280 x 720. This reviewer recommends the Epson EMP-TW1000 projector, which is priced at around £1,952.85.

[via Ask Jack]

Some consumers might be interested to know a little more about the JVC DLA-RS2, which according to this review, is the “best projector you will find.” In addition to this, the projector is affordable and uses Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology. The projector uses 1080p D-ILA which produces 30,000:1 contrast ratio that can be done with variable iris. According to the reviewer, the DLA-RS2, “focuses on color accuracy”, and adds “For a home theater, most people look for screens, projectors, speakers, and of course, movies.”

[via Entertainment 005]