A Buyer's Guide To Mini Projectors

People who give presentations on business trips will often benefit most from using full-sized projectors. However, their large size, weight, and consumptive power needs don't make them the best travel companions. In this article, we take a look at some of the available options for traveling professionals, illuminate some unexpected pitfalls, and offer advice that may not have otherwise occurred to you. At first, you should know what projector is.

What is Mini Projector?

A mini projector is a compact projection device that is usually used for office presentations or personal video viewing. Often weighing no more than mobile phone, Smart Mini Projector can fit in your pocket, and is operated as a handheld device. Just like its bulkier big brother, these projectors can connect to various forms of devices, such as cameras, smart phones, DVD players & laptop computers.

Mini Projectors are shrunken down versions of normal projectors, that use laser or LED light to project an image and they run on batteries. Their small size makes them perfect for traveling or for people who have meetings and are always on the run. They weigh considerably less than their big brothers and thanks to their small bodies, they can be carried in a pocket.

How Portable Does It Have To Be?

The smallest projectors today fall into two categories: palm-top and pico. There's some confusion about the categories, because most manufacturers call palm-tops pocket projectors. But with dimensions that top out at about 2.5 by a little more than 5 by 5 inches, the pocket description is more metaphorical than real. pocket LED projector, on the other hand, are comparable to a cell phone in size and weight, so they can easily fit in a shirt pocket. Palm-tops are portable enough to carry with you easily when you need them. Mini projectors are small and light enough to carry all the time.

Some of projector also enhance their portability by being able to read files directly from a USB memory key. Ask yourself whether taking advantage of that feature will let you leave your computer at home. If so, a somewhat larger and heavier projector with a USB reader feature can be more portable in a practical sense than a lighter projector that won't work without your computer.

What Resolution Do You Need?

Ideally, for best image quality, you should match the projector's native resolution (the number of physical pixels in the projector's display chip) to the resolution you use most often. Unfortunately, you don't have the luxury of making that choice yet with either palm-tops or pico projectors. Palm-tops are universally SVGA—and in many cases not the standard 800 by 600, but a little off target (858 by 600, for example). That means the projector has to scale even a VGA image, which can degrade the image quality somewhat.

Pico projectors offer a little more choice in resolution, but currently top out at VGA (640 by 480), which is suitable for video or for basic presentations without much text or fine detail on any one slide. At least one projector offers only half-VGA (480 by 320) and is meant strictly for video or still images. None of the mini projectors—pico or palm-top—offers native widescreen resolutions. Pico projectors, and some palm-tops, are also relatively limited in the range of resolutions they can accept and then scale down to their native resolution. So make sure the projector can accept the signal you plan to send to it.

How Bright Should It Be?

The general rule for projectors is that brighter isn't always better, but you can ignore that rule for palm-top and pico projectors. None of them is bright enough to qualify as too bright under any lighting conditions for any reasonable-size image. So for these projectors, brighter is better. Always.

The rated brightness for pico projectors starts at about 10 lumens. As a rule of thumb, that's bright enough to let you project a useful image for extended viewing in a darkened room at roughly a 24-inch diagonal size. Ratings for current palm-top projectors run from well under 100 lumens to somewhat short of 200 lumens. As a rule of thumb again, that's bright enough even on the low end for at least a 40-inch diagonal image in dim lighting. On the high end, it's bright enough for at least a 70-inch diagonal image, even with some ambient light.

Don't Take Contrast Ratio Too Seriously

Though a projector’s specifications can’t be complete without mentioning the contrast ratio, it’s not much of a big deal. But you should understand that a contrast ratio refers to the ratio of the brightest and the darkest areas a projector can create. In any case, the contrast ratio a projector comes with has to play an important role in a darkened room to ensure exact display or graphics or visuals.

How Do You Plan To Connect?

How you plan to connect a mini projector is also one of the most important concerns. Though a couple of pico and palm-top projectors come along with only composite video, most of them are provided with both SVGA and composite connectors. Before you buy a mini projector, you should always make sure that the ports available on the projector are enough and compatible with those on your computer/video equipment.

Brand/Model

Among other selection attributes, the brand and the model of a mini projector is also of great importance. In case you’ve already used a particular brand earlier, you can be sure of the quality you’ll get. Your family or friends may also suggest you some specific brands. If a particular brand has a history of delivering real value in the past, there are maximum chances that it will stick to its policies in future as well. However, you should also be open to experiment with new makes/models because you never know when one of them will turn into your most liked brand for future.

Cost

Any mini projector that you choose to buy should match your budget as well. It’s always advisable that you check out the prices really well before placing an order with a local or online retailer. Most importantly, you should consider all the above mentioned factors and features (speakers, batteries, SD cards, internal memory etc.) so that you can get the best deal on the mini projector you buy for outdoor or indoor uses.

Though a projector’s specifications can’t be complete without mentioning the contrast ratio, it’s not much of a big deal. But you should understand that a contrast ratio refers to the ratio of the brightest and the darkest areas a projector can create. In any case, the contrast ratio a projector comes with has to play an important role in a darkened room to ensure exact display or graphics or visuals.

After seeing what to look for when buying a pico projector, we’ll be giving you a head start in your search. Here is a great choice that you might consider if you wish to invest in such a gadget.

Jimilab Q Shot8 Smart Mini Pocket Projector

Offering users a picture brightness of 80 Lumens spread over a 854 x 480 pixel resoluton, this pico projector is the perfect gadget for those who want to have a very small, but yet powerful device with them. it also provides support for HDMI, USB and AV input and with its internal memory of 4 GB which can be expanded with an SD card, it has all the right features for most users.

Mini projectors are not too powerful now, but in a few years, we’re certain that they will become much better and more popular. As their performance increases and their battery life is longer, more users will want to own such a device. We can’t hardly wait for that moment.