Shootout: $700 SVGA Projectors

(This is part of a series of articles. For the first page, click here)

The first thing we noticed about the SD110U is that the casework is rock solid. Small projectors sometimes feel flimsy or cheaply-made, but the Mitsubishi SD110U feels very well put together.

The projector puts out 1400 ANSI lumens out of a stated 1700, which is still enough to light up just about any screen. Black level was also quite good, when ambient light was mostly absent. Brightness uniformity on the SD110U was the best in the group, measuring in at 82%.

The SD110U did a stellar job with compressing an XGA signal, which places it in a deadlocked tie with the Optoma EP716 and the BenQ MP610 -- all of which take a back seat to the Epson PowerLite S3. However, its performance is quite good on its own, showing great clarity and sharpness.

Color on the SD110U was acceptable, but not up to the same level as the Microtek MS4. Saturation was a bit lacking, and red was being overdriven slightly. However, some adjustment brought things under control, though it was still not a match for the MS4.

With video, the Mitsubishi SD110U was also a strong performer, though its color performance was not quite up to the level of the MP610 or EP716. Black level was better than that on both of those units, though brightness needed adjustment to bring back some shadow detail that was being lost. It also has a more visible pixel structure than either the BenQ MP610 or the Optoma EP716, which is less distracting in data presentations than it is in video.

Keystone adjustment yielded nearly identical results to that on the BenQ MP610, which is to say quite good. The SD110U can easily handle small text without losing clarity, and even XGA signals look good after being adjusted.

The SD110U is fairly quiet at 34dB, but is by no means silent. Still, this is quiet enough to allow a presenter to speak over it easily without amplification. Eco-mode, of course, is significantly quieter. Cool down time is rather lengthy, at 1 minute 31 seconds.

Mitsubishi's remote for the SD110U is based on their remote designs from their home theater line, and as such is very solidly built and ergonomically pleasing. While there are no pointing devices, there is still page up/down ability, as well as freeze frame and screen blanking. Mitsubishi's menu is labeled intuitively, and while it takes up a lot of screen space, it doesn't seem bloated.

With the SD110U's excellent black level and lumen output, complex graphics or other high-contrast images look great on this projector. Because of its impressive performance with text as well, this projector excels at powerpoint slideshows involving heavy graphical content as well as text.

Introduction

Page one: The BenQ MP610

Page two: The EPSON PowerLite S3

Page three: The InFocus X2

Page four: The Microtek MS4

Page five: The Mitsubishi SD110U

Page six: The Optoma EP716