The Casio Pro XJ-H1650 is a step down in brightness from the 4,000-lumen Casio XJ-H1750 Pro Series, but at 3,500 lumens it's still bright enough to be suitable for use in larger classrooms or conference rooms, and in our testing it proved up to the job. This projector uses a hybrid LED/laser light source, which boasts an expected bulb life of 20,000 hours.
The XJ-H1650 has XGA (1,024 by 768) native resolution. Casio was the first company to introduce a laser/LED hybrid projector, though recently we've seen projectors with somewhat similar laser-based light sources from other manufacturers, such as the BenQ LX60ST and the Optoma ZX212ST.
Instead of producing red, green, and blue using a standard lamp and a color wheel, the XJ-H1650 produces red with LEDs, blue with lasers, and green by shining the blue laser light on a phosphor. Its optical system directs the red, green, and blue light to the DLP chip, and out the front lens. A big advantage of the hybrid light source is its 20,000-hour expected lifetime, which should last the life of the projector. The lifetime of standard lamps generally ranges from 2,000 to 5,000 hours, and bulbs can cost several hundred dollars to replace.
Size and Connectivity
The XJ-H1650 measures 3.8 by 13.7 by 12.7 inches (HWD), and it weighs 15.6 pounds, making it best for permanent installation (or at least, for use on a cart). It does come with a soft carrying case with a pocket for cables.
This projector has a generous assortment of connection choices; ports include 2 VGA-in (which double as component video); 2 audio-in; monitor-out; HDMI; S-Video, a set of 3 RCA jacks for composite audio/video; audio-out, an RS232 serial port; Ethernet; a USB type B port; and a USB type A port, through which the projector can read JPG and AVI files from a USB memory key, so you can run a presentation PC-free from the USB thumb drive.
Plug in a USB key, and the projector will automatically switch to it as the current source, and then give you a menu of options to find the files on the key and show them. (Casio includes a Casio-specific version of ArcSoft MediaConverter to move most common formats to JPG or AVI.).
The Casio Pro XJ-H1650 also includes a WiFi adapter that plugs into the USB type A port, so it can also connect wirelessly with WiFi-enabled Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile smartphones and computers running MobiShow software, so you can run a presentation from these devices.
Data Image Quality
True to its 3,500-lumen rating, the XJ-H1650 threw an image bright enough to stand up to considerable ambient light. I did most of the still and video image testing under theater-dark conditions, projecting an approximately 6 foot diagonal image on our test screen from about 7 feet away.
In data image testing using the DisplayMate suite, the XJ-H1650's image quality proved suitable for typical classroom and business presentations. There was mild yellow tinting in some white areas. Some yellows looked dull and mustardy, and some grays had a modest green tint. On our text tests, type was blurry at the two smallest white-on-black sizes, with the smallest barely readable, making the text quality about average for an XGA projector.
The XJ-H1650, like all single-chip DLP projectors, has the potential for showing rainbow artifacts. In the rainbow effect, which we frequently see in single-chip DLP projectors, little red-green-blue flashes may briefly appear, usually in bright areas against dark backgrounds.. I'm of average sensitivity to the effect, and noticed it in several data images—it was relatively pronounced for a DLP projector but probably not an impediment in data presentations.
Continue Reading: Video and Audio
No comments:
Post a Comment