3 Budget Projectors

We all love a big screen to watch that enjoyable movie, and sometimes even 60-inch plasmas can be inadequate. Yes, that is the nature of us human beings, and especially when it comes to our own entertainment why should we compromise. Thus we have projectors, many of which these days have fallen in price, and have scratched out the myth that projectors are only for the wealthy or extreme enthusiasts. We feel everyone going for a home theater should think of a decent projector as the visual display, movies actually do look better if the unit is bright enough. That’s what this feature is about. We throw light on 3 very viable options for that first entry level projector. This is NOT a shootout, rather 3 equal choices based on their performance and price.

BenQ MP771
Rs. 85,990

This model, reviewed by us a couple of months back, still holds fresh in our memories, even though dozens of products have gone by. That’s the mark of an honest attempt by a brand. I must admit that BenQ has not yet scaled to the reputations of some of the mammoth projector brands out there, but the MP771 is a very nice projector. The main USP: it is a short throw model, meaning the healthy throw ratio enables us to place it nearer than normal projectors. You can theoretically get an image as large as 72 inches from just a meter away. Thus this makes the list easily.

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The native is XGA, though it displays upto 1080p signals. The native resolution is XGA (1024 x 768). Brightness is at 3000 ANSI lumens and contrast is at 2000:1. The performance has some impressive blacks and good depth in the image. The brightness also is more than enough for dark to slightly ambient lit rooms. Motion images are generally smooth. Only on close watching we can see a little detail misbehaving.

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NEC NP500
Rs. 75,000

This 3LCD model is a short throw model again, and it is even more reasonable in price. It has been reviewed by AVMAX magazine, which is published by our sister concern Infomedia 18. Pick up last month’s copy for a detailed review.

The projector is a 3LCD technology adoption, with native res of XGA 1024 x 768. It can go upto 1600x1200 pixels, plus it can display an image ranging from 21 inches to 300 inches. A VGA to DVI cable is supplied in the box itself. Speaking of connectors we have a DVI-D, composite, S-video and PC (VGA). The brightness is 3000 ANSI Lumens, while contrast ratio is 3000:1.

Vivitek D825MX
Rs. 45,000

The D825MX DLP projector, reviewed by us, costs the least in our list. It’s a good projector that comes under the Rs. 50,000 mark. And considering the fact that one can get a screen size of upto 255-inch it makes a very good buy.

The form factor is simple and straightforward, with a complete glossy black finish for the chassis. The shape of the latter is more or less rectangular with a slight trapezoidal contour on the top panel. This unit also has the proprietary BrilliantColor feature which basically uses secondary colors as well as primary colors in the DLP chips circuitry. In a nutshell, better color reproduction. The contrast ratio is 2200:1 and brightness is 2500 lumens.