Today, in a completely globalized society, we are accustomed to traveling constantly, both inside and outside our borders. Because of this, there are many occasions in which we will find ourselves with the need to take with us electronic devices that can be used to make presentations of our work or to help us to comfortably enjoy the leisure time.
Due to the reduced space available in travel, it is essential that these devices are small and manageable, such as the mini LED projector.
That is a kind of projector that you can carry comfortably in your luggage thanks to its small dimensions. In this article, we will delve into the tiny world of the portable projector to tell you everything you have to know when choosing aprojector more in line with your needs.
What is a miniature projector?
A mini projector has the same function as a standard projector, receives the video signal and projects it on a screen using a lens system. The characteristic that differentiates this type of projector is the size. And while theusual projector has the approximate dimensions of a folio (21 cm wide x 29 deep), smallHD projectors can get to measure less than half.
Today, due to the rapid advancement of technology, the pocket projector ismanufactured fully portable,and is thereby also known by the name of pico projector. I bought my own LumiHD projector at myMobileGear.com and must say I am so pleased with it. If you’re interested to find out more about this particular projector click the following link below:
Pico projectors
Pico projectors are a separate type of small projectors. These projectors, manufactured in an ultra-compact size, are ideal for those who have to make presentations constantly and need to carry a projector with them all the time. Despite its small size is slowly getting the picture quality is not diminished and therefore may be useful in any scenario.
These projectors are designed primarily with mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones or tablets.
Many of these mobile devices have different inputs, USB charging ports, even Wi-Fi connection to be able to reduce the use of the always annoying cables.
What should you keep in mind when buying a projector of this kind?
Today the market offers us many different proposals, so you have to be clear about what use will be given to the projector. In order for you not to be wrong about yourchoice, we have prepared this buying guide with the fundamental characteristics that you have to check and the questions that must be asked before acquiring the mobile projector. If you’re wise enough to turn to professionals like myMobile Gear, your decision will not be with any errors.
Do you need a laptop?
As we said at the beginning of the article, if you have a job that requires you to travel most of the time, have several residences, or like to go out on weekends with your family or friends, such aprojector will be quite useful. If, on the other hand, the device is to be installed in a fixed place in one place, perhaps another type of projector is recommended.
Dimensions
To meet the expectations of being an easily portable equipment, the projector must have a reduced size and weight.
The pico projector Philips PPX2055 has dimensions of 7.2 x 7.2 x 2.7 centimeters. This is equivalent, to give you a clearer idea, to the width of a smartphone, which will allow you to carry it even in the pocket of the shirt.
The weight of these projectors is around 250 gr, so you will not even feel that you are carrying it.
What image quality is the right one?
The image quality offered by the projector is a fundamental aspect to take into account. The fact that this type of projector is small does not mean that you should settle for a mediocre image. If you need to make presentations and want to give a professional and quality image, you cannot neglect this point.
We have several parameters that measure the quality of the image:
Contrast Ratio: Contrast is the difference in intensity between an image point and its surroundings. In a projector,it will measure the difference between the brightest white projection and the darkest black. The Philips we have mentioned before has a contrast of 1000: 1, which means that white is 1000 times brighter than black.
Brightness or luminosity: this parameter indicates the projected light output. Its unit of measurement is the lumen (lm). There are two types of lumens which are ANSI lumens (Standard Measurement) and PICO lumens. The value of the pico lumens is much higher than that of the ANSI lumens, so much that the eye needs to compare and verify that it is the same parameter. The proper light will change depending on the environment in which you are going to use the projector, since it is not the same in a room completely dark to a room with windows and much illumination.
Depending on the general use you are going to make of the projector, you will need more brightness. For a small projector between 50 and 100 ANSI lumens is a reasonably good value.
Resolution: This parameter may already be familiar to you from other imaging devices. It indicates the degree of detail that can be distinguished in an image. It is measured by the number of points in a unit of length: for example, pixels per inch. It is a resolution of 854 x 480 (horizontal x vertical)
Native resolution:It is the ratio for which the projector is designed. It can be 4:3 which means that every 4 units of width have 3 units of height; 16: 9, on each 16 units of width there are 9 units of height; or both. It is recommended that you have the option to toggle between them, since HDTVs use the ratio 16: 9, compared to 4: 3 of the normal.
Projectors with higher image quality will, therefore, be those with a higher contrast ratio, brightness, and resolution.
Projection technology
If you have ever been looking for projectors, you will have met the acronyms LCD and DLP usually. They refer to the type of technology used in the projection of images.
LCD: Liquid crystal display system. In this case, 3 color crystals are used to process the images.
DLP: Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology was created by Texas Instruments and is now used by most brands. More than 50% of projectors on the market today use this technology. These are micro mirrors arranged in a matrix on a semiconductor chip, where each mirror represents a pixel. There are two subtypes of this technology: 1-chip and 3-chip systems. The 3-chip systems are the most sophisticated.
LCoS: It is a technology that works with a concept similar to DLP projectors, but instead of mirrors it uses liquid crystal. It combines the two previous technologies and stands out for achieving an image of high definition and high accuracy in color.
LED: a LED projector is not defined by the display technology it uses, but by its light source. There are some DLP projectors which are actually LED projectors. Another type of small projector, that is the pico projector, commonly has LED technology installed as well. In these projectors, the traditional lamp is replaced with more efficient and longer-lasting LED lights, colored in blue, green, and red. The LED lights in this type of projector have a much longer lifespan, rated at 10,000 or even 20,000 hours as opposed to 1,000 hours to 5,000 hours in traditional projector lamps. Hence, the LEDs are meant to last the entire lifetime of the projector without the need for them to be ever replaced. This feature gives aLED technology a great advantage in multimedia setups as replacing traditional lamps can be a huge expense in projector maintenance.
Other recommended features
In addition to all the above features, we should not neglect some aspects that may be important when choosing one or another projector.
Type of lamp and duration: It is important that the lamp is of quality and has the maximum possible duration. However, in case you ever need to change it, it should be accessible.
Wireless connection Wi-Fi: If you want to connect remotely, this feature interests you. The projectors with this feature allow that by installing an application in your smartphones, computers or tablets you can already have access to the images, videos and even presentations, to project them immediately, without the need of cables.
Internal and external storage capacity: it may be useful for the projector to have SD card inputs to carry your presentations or movies without having to connect another device to the projector.
Input Connections: There are projectors that come with the classic 19-pin connector so it can be connected to a computer. On the market today we can also find the traditional RCA cables to receive the image that will be projected later. AV, VGA inputs are also common and there are more and more computers with inputs, USB, SD and HDMI cards. Even as we have seen before, there are projectors that will receive the image through Wi-Fi technology. Top-end companies like myMobile Gear have incredibly good Wi-Fi projectors for sale, so you should definitely visit their official website.
Conclusion
We hope you find this projector guide useful and tell us about your experiences with your new small portable projector.