The market in 2019 is full of "home cinema" projectors at low prices. Many of these cheap products promise Full HD, when in fact their native resolution is worse than VGA. It's a bit of a nightmare. Obviously, making a high-quality AV kit costs money, and you should be wary of anything that promises high quality at low cost.
SummaryWhat is it?Home theater for familiesInexpensive qualityConclusionBut are there any inexpensive projectors out there that give you something you could credibly call "Home Cinema?" »
The Artlii HD Portable Projector is a low-budget, ruggedly built HD LED projector. And we have a unit to offer. Read on for more details.
In the box you will get the projector, a remote control, an HDMI cable, a power cable and a composite video adapter for the AV port.
The device also has control buttons on the top of the case if you can't find the remote and need to turn it off or pause a video.
The Artlii projector has a true native resolution of 1280×720, which is normal HD and not full HD 1080. It supports 1080 playback but scales it down to 720 for display. The quality does not suffer too much from this process. Its brightness is 2800 lumens, according to the documentation, so it's bright and watchable. You can see it in daylight, but it's much better in a dark enough room.
There is a dust cap for the lens when not in use, and behind the lens focus wheel on the top is a trapezoid wheel to adjust the tilt of the lens in order to straighten the edges of the frame. Under the housing there is an adjustable screw foot to raise the front of the projector.
The case is made of smooth white plastic and is attractive when sitting on a coffee table or shelf.
I'd bet most people are ultimately not concerned with projection quality and are looking primarily for HD. Most likely, they just want to grab the projector and some popcorn and roll the film, and this projector is suitable for that purpose. It's not a high-end projector, as it's really for families who want to set it up, stay in a movie, and cuddle up on a couch.
This projector is not intended for high-end hobbyists who are building a dedicated room with cinema seating and a curtain over the screen. This is a projector for ordinary people who want to grab the projector and watch movies in small groups in medium-sized living rooms with little to no setup and technical hassle.
It's easy to install, doesn't get too hot and although the cooling fan is audible and reasonably loud (as with almost all but very high end projectors) the sound is easily muffled by increasing the levels of the high end. internal speakers or sit a little further.
As for the internal speakers, these are surprisingly powerful considering they're only 3W, about the same as a pocket Bluetooth speaker. Sometimes you need to watch the volume levels because the case will vibrate, but all you have to do in this case is turn it down a bit.
The only real downside to a budget projector is the optics. The lens is adequate for the task but not terribly expensive, and the keystone control is mechanical rather than digital. This means that the edges of the image become blurred if you use the keystone control to tilt the image plane and straighten the edges of the frame on your screen. The way to combat this is to make sure the projector is level with the screen and to keep the keystone control as close to zero as possible.
The manual gives the minimum projection distance at 1.2m or about 4 feet. At that distance you should get a 40 inch image, and at 1.8m or 6 feet you should get an image around 60 inches. I tested it from a distance of about 6 feet and can confirm that the image is almost exactly 60 inches diagonally. Refreshing honesty.
In addition to displaying any HDMI and VGA computer source, the projector also has a built-in media player that plays video in a wide variety of common formats. Videos can be played from an SD card, USB stick and even composite video devices via the AV socket and the supplied composite video and stereo sound adapter. This means it can be a screen for your HDMI devices or just a standalone home theater projector with just a power cable, coffee table and suitable screen.
Priced at $130, this is a perfectly decent quality HD projector. It's fully watchable, provided you have proper screen hardware. If you add the ability to set the projector up as level as possible with this screen, you'll get the best resolution this projector can muster. It's easy and fun to use, and while it has its limitations, the entertainment value it offers is good.
The Artlii HD Portable Projector is available from all good online retailers (as well as in the UK) and costs just $129 (or around £109). If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below.
