Choosing a Portable Projector
Whether you’re watching a movie in your hotel room after a long day or turning the campsite into a movie theater, a portable projector can make it happen. These devices come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and weights that determine their capabilities.
The smallest portable projectors are small enough to fit into a jacket pocket. They usually have a low brightness rating (ANSI lumens) and require onboard batteries.
Brightness
There was a time when portable projectors could only throw up a dim version of your movie on the screen. But these gadgets have been getting brighter and smarter as they get smaller and less expensive.
The smallest and lightest models are known as pico projectors. They weigh under a pound and can fit into a pocket or backpack. They tend to have low brightness (less than 100 ANSI lumens for the very smallest ones) and include onboard batteries. Their small size and convenient battery power make them the most portable of all models. They can be used anywhere for short presentations or to watch movies and TV shows after the sun goes down.
LED-based mini projectors are the most common type found today. These use a lot less power than the halogen lamps used in many full size projectors, making them good for extended periods of unplugged operation without the need for an extension cord. They also have superior contrast ratios that eliminate washout and enhance detail.
Choosing the right level of brightness for your portable projector depends on your needs and the environment you plan to use it in. Different types of content – movies, presentations, and gaming – have varying inherent brightness and contrast requirements. You may also have a personal preference for the image brightness level that works best for you.
Contrast
With a wide range in size, weight, brightness, resolutions, and Smart Projector other key features, portable projectors cover a lot of ground. Whether you’re a business traveler who makes presentations in various venues, a college student who shows movies to friends and fellow students, or just someone who wants the flexibility of taking a projector from room to room or to tote it outside for movie nights under the stars, you’ll find a suitable model for your needs.
One of the key things to consider is the contrast, which determines how well you can see shadow detail and color saturation. Contrast is typically stated as a ratio like 1,000:1 or 10,000:1.
Manufacturers know that buyers can get easily distracted by contrast specs, and they often boost them to stand out from competitors. But what really matters is not the absolute number but how well the projector can distinguish between light and dark scenes.
To do that, a projector has to be able to adjust its light output on the fly to match the ambient light. That can be accomplished by reducing the power of its lamp, opening and closing an auto iris, or shutting off a laser. This lets it produce crisp, bright images while also showing the darker parts of a scene without looking washed out or gray.
Image Size
Projectors let you see images much larger than flatscreen TVs, and some can even be used to display presentations and other content. Unlike full-size projectors that aren’t designed to be moved from place to place, portables fit in your bag so you can take them with you for work or school, camping trips, or even to the movies.
When shopping for a portable projector, you’ll want to think about its brightness and resolution. Brightness is measured in lumens and determines whether the image can be seen in ambient light or in a dark room. Low lumen counts result in faded, washed-out images, and they’re not suitable for any environment where the image might compete with bright sunlight.
Resolution is the number of pixels that make up the image and determines how crisp or detailed it will be. The higher the lcd projector wholesale resolution, the sharper the picture. Current models range from SVGA at 800 x 600 pixels up to 4K UHD at 3840 x 2160 pixels.
Many portable projectors use LED technology that provides brighter and more energy-efficient projection than traditional projector bulbs. They also last longer and emit less heat, reducing maintenance needs. Most offer a variety of connection ports, including HDMI and USB-C. Some models are smart, letting you connect them to your devices using Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and control them with your smartphone or tablet. Other features include water resistance and drop proofing.
Image Adjustment
The image adjustment capabilities of a projector are an important consideration when selecting one for your application. These include auto keystone and auto-obstacle avoidance, which allow you to project a sharp image in rooms with varying shapes and sizes of viewing surfaces. They also include color functions like Auto adjust and Select white point, which allow you to set a target white point for your image that will make the rest of the colors in the image appear more vivid.
The Image Adjustment panel is a dockable window; you can place it within the main BrainMaker windows or float it on your display. When you click an icon in the panel, a properties dialog box specific to that type of adjustment opens.
If you’re using an image with a multi-channel color representation, you can use the Image Adjustment panel to change how each channel is represented (for example, from a linear to a nonlinear curve). You can also perform advanced adjustments by selecting control points on a graph representing highlights and shadows.
Some adjustment layers affect all pixels in the image; others are applied selectively by creating a clipping mask. To limit the effects of an adjustment layer to a particular area of the image, select the image layers and then, in the Layers panel, right-click on the adjustment or fill layer and choose Create Clipping Mask.