Handtops, UMPC - LED Projectors by Mitsubishi, Samsung an

12/21/05 + AI

I posted a reply on the post link
But I thought it be appropriate to post it with a new title.

I have been keenly searching for Mitsubishi PocketProjector for the last six months and as most of us are perhaps aware that official release has also been postponed several times. From July to September, and now 19th Dec 2005. So I called up Mitsubishi and they regretted that it is still delayed.

Mitsubishi Taiwan Asia market is reporting 1Q 2006.
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Samsung is also releasing its LED based projector called Pocket Imager (model SP-P300MK), due to be released next month (January 2006)
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The Toshiba LED powered micro projector is out in France and it is to be released in UK around Christmas (or early New Year).
Find below the hyperlinks for detail perusal:
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The images on this link are detailed however I believe the description in the article quoting 400 ANSI lumens is a mistake. Verify it with product release info from toshiba France website.
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Those interested in checking out the projected images by Mitsubishi LED projector (model PK10 or PT10) and by Toshiba LED projector (model FF1) follow the links below:

More detail review and images with battery of Mitsubishi Pocketprojector at:
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Click the last image in the gallery at the bottom of the page to see the projected image by Mitsubishi PK10
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The projected image by Toshiba FF1 is shown in the penultimate image on the link below. The attached battery is also visible.
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The important question is ANSI Lumen and LUX values. Samsung states 23 ANSI Lumens while Mitsubishi and Toshiba indicates 250 and 400 LUX respectively.

Using the formula described on the following hyperkink:
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My calculations for producing a projected image of 70cm(W) by 50cm(H), approximately 83cm(33inches) diagonal view:

Mitsubishi probably has 102 ANSI Lumens (calculated) and 250 LUX(stated) compared to Samsung having 23 ANSI Lumens(stated) and 55.9LUX(calculated). Whereas Toshiba’s LED projector is rated 400 LUX (stated) and 165 ANSI Lumens(calculated). I could have miscalculated, so verify with the formula! Please note that resolution 800 X 600 is 4:3 ratio or (1.34) therefore I choose screen size 70cmX50cm, ratio (1.4).

All three projectors have SVGA (800X600)native resolution. Weight wise Mitsubishi is the lightest 450 gm (without battery) and Samsung is the heaviest 660gm(perhaps without batter). The Toshiba is 556gm (without battery)

In my assessment Toshiba LED Projector is perhaps the best of the three. I have ordered mine.

01/12/06 + garylm

I think we might be seeing the results of the low contrast of the projector (in addition to the washout from the flash).

Recent Blog: Travelling With the OQO

01/12/06 + zzonbi

15lm?... less than the calculated 16lm, so the stated lx round values were a bit optimistic. I wonder if it's the case with the new 25lm of the Samsung too.
You see, that is the problem: I am shopping for an LCD now and serious tests show that paper values can be rather off: example 600:1 contrast, in reality at most 300:1; 350cd/m2, in reality barely over 200...
Yes, if the 1000:1 value is real, it can be considered excellent. You need not only darkness, but also non-reflecting adjacent walls to really see it. Practically a 300:1 value is already sufficient, if it is for real.

Good to hear about Viewsonic. Infocus and Benq showed prototypes too. A trend I don't like is limiting the max screen area too much. There is no need for that.

01/12/06 + educationk12

Question...

At night I like the lowest brightness (lowest lumens/lux) as possible, therefore I am leaning towards the Mitsubishi. However, during sunlight hours I would want the highest lumens/lux.

If I were to pick the one with the highest lumens/lux. How low could I make the output at night? Or is it going to be set at 501lux. If so, then I'll go with the 250lux mitsubishi.

thx

01/12/06 + AI

I guess you'll have to controll the ambient light in the environment.

01/12/06 + educationk12

Well, I would have nearly zero ambient light in the environment.

I don't use traditional lighting at night, I use LEDs and candles at night, but that would be turned off with the use of this due to the fact that it is so bright.

Essentially, I have my house set up where I can have night vision in the house using candles and yellow and red LED lights, but these would be turned off and the outside lighting coming in aren't high enough to be a concern.

I was really wondering how low this thing can go in brightness, but I guess I am going to have to test this out by buying one. Are any of these being sold yet?

I guess I'm the only one concerned about how low it can go and still be readable. Max is important for daylight hours, but night is more interesting to me.

01/13/06 + garylm

educationk12: Any decent projector will have a brightness and contrast adjustment. You should be able to set any projector as dark as you please.

Recent Blog: Travelling With the OQO

01/13/06 + AI

The Mitsubishi USA website is now receiving online purchase orders:
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01/13/06 + zzonbi

lol, yeah, your too high lumen concern over a 25lm value is funny. With these projector the opposite is the concern. A 500lx value is about fine in total darkness too. It is not that bright. Even without controls on the projector you can always reduce it by increasing the projected size. It varies with its inverse square, so twice the diagonal, 1/4 the lux. We do not want to go too low for a simple reason: we gradually lose the ability to distinguish colours, and turn into b/w night vision (scotopic). At about 1lx you can still tell them apart, but they're a far cry from a quality picture.
So don't be concerned about that. You can always limit the aperture of the front lens with a circle cut in a black paper.

01/13/06 + educationk12

okay, cool...

do you think it is possible to go above the svga native resolution of these things? I'm not really feeling SVGA...guess xga isn't available yet.

01/13/06 + zzonbi

go above the svga native resolution of these things

Definitely not, and that is a universal thing. What they may do though is use higher resolution input signals, and (de)interpolate them so they can still be displayed. But you will lose detail. It is better to use an equal resolution input signal, since usualy only analog things like CRTs do that interpolation nicely (with detail loss too, of course).
For movies XGA is good enough, for Windows on large screens there is room left.

01/16/06 + AI

Have a look at this italian website which mentions Toshiba's LED projector brightness as 20 lumens.
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Quoting myself of earlier comment:

AI said: "Here is the official Toshiba lumen value from Toshiba New Zealand website:
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It is mentioned 15 which is close to what we calculated on this forum."

Although Toshiba New Zealand is reporting 15 lumens, I could not find any datasheet for the product to describe its brightness. Toshiba France and Germany both have datasheets in their respective languages mentioning 400 LUX, I wonder if Toshiba New Zealand reporting is an official figure?

Having said that, I ponder how did the avmagazine italy website calculated 20 lumens?

01/16/06 + AI

Addendum:

The previous links taking to Toshiba New Zealand website does not seem to be authentic because there is no separate inclusion of New Zealand on Toshiba dot com’s countries listing website. Pull down the list on the left side of the following link:
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However, Australia and New Zealand are covered as one region on the url address below:
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On the above Monaco Corp Ltd is not listed as distributor for New Zealand. Interestingly its url address is also very different. Note the spelling http:// www toshibanz co nz

Moreover, no where at official Australia-New Zealand (joint) website, the LED projector is cited. In fact there is no mention of its release!!

Anyhow, the bottom line that as yet still there is NO official knowledge of brightness in lumens of Toshiba LED projector, model FF1.

Hence there is more reason to assume that 20 lumens mentioned by a European(Italian) website is perhaps near-to-actual value, because the product is available there. I have written an email to Emidio Frattaroli to enquire about his calculations or may be direct instrumental measurement of true lumens.

From what I see on the projected still images and streaming video, Toshiba seems to be better than the other two manufacturers. This is my subjective assessment.

01/16/06 + zzonbi

Once again, those 400lx, 500lx, 15lm or 20lm paper values don't mean that much. They are unreliable, so only a serious measurement done by a 3rd party (preferably the end user, ie you, with a luxmeter) will definitely clarify things. And as you see, LED improvements could come overnight, so the model on the shelf could turn a bit different.

01/17/06 + AI

zzonbi said: "those 400lx, 500lx, 15lm or 20lm paper values don't mean that much. They are unreliable,"

I totally agree

01/17/06 + AI

Emidio Frattaroli replied to my email saying "20 lumens is the value mentioned from Tohiba people at the InfoComm International, last June."