The Next Generation of Pocket Projectors

I know that CES 2011 was a little while ago but I'm pretty sure it is going to take until next year's event before everything worth mentioning from this year's event is covered. That being said, despite all the great things at CES 2011, there was one thing that a lot of people were talking about, pocket projectors. Pocket projectors were all the rage at CES 2011 and with good reason because the ones on display will definitely blow you away.

Remember when pocket projectors were first introduced? They were low-lumen, low-resolution devices that didn't have any pizazz. Well, you don't have to worry about your mother's old dull pocket projectors anymore because the new ones coming out will be able to project in HD as well as 3D and will be bright enough to use in low ambient light.

These new pocket projectors will also have the ability to connect to your iPad, handle HDMI input and even include built-in speakers. And one day they will even be able to output in full 1080p HD. But just exactly what are these incredible speakers of which I speak? Well, that would be the Vivitek Qumi and the LG HW300T.

The Qumi is the first pocket projector produced by Vivitek and it could very well set the standard for the next generation of portable pocket projectors. The device is a 300-lumen pocket projector with a native resolution of 1280X800 (WXGA) and mini-HDMI input allowing it to project in HD. It is also 3D ready and has a built-in 1W speaker. The Qumi only weighs 1.6 pounds and is capable of connecting with your digital camera, laptop, smartphone or tablet.

Next up is the HW300T from LG. The HW300T is an LED pocket projector and is also the very first pocket projector to incorporate DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) technology. This allows you to transfer stored digital content from devices like your PC or Blu-ray player completely wirelessly. The HW300T also has a built-in ATSC Tuner that allows you to watch HD Broadcast signals without having to have a separate external content source. You also get access to online content like Facebook, Accuweather and Twitter. The HW300T has a 1200x800 (WXGA) resolution, 2,000:1 contrast ratio and a life expectancy of 30,000 hours.

These are some pretty amazing specs for pocket projectors and should get anybody excited that is into projectors or portable entertainment. Unfortunately, no pricing or release dates have been announced yet but once they are I'm sure people will jump all over it.

Source: Projector People - Why you want the pocket projectors that debuted at CES 2011

The Problems with Pocket Projectors are Being Solved

Pocket projectors are becoming much more advanced and useful. They are now beginning to feature more lumens, increased resolution, and better battery life. These are definitely some of the reasons why the pocket projector industry is showing rapid growth, which will most likely only continue as the projectors improve even more.

This past spring DisplaySearch reported on the pocket projector market in Pocket Projector Technology and Market Forecast Report. They predicted that by 2018 there would be more than 140 million pocket projectors in use. The company had said that there needed to be some serious improvements in pocket projectors' brightness, resolution, and battery life. Since there have definitely been some improvements in these areas, DisplaySearch feels that by 2018 there will most certainly be pocket projectors that are leaps and bounds ahead of the ones that we see today, and due to their portability and convenience, there will therefore be a great increase in pocket projector sales.

DisplaySearch had already predicted that brightness and battery life would greatly improve from 2009 to 2012. In 2009 the pocket projector only featured a brightness ranging from 5 to 50 lumens. The average device then only had 15 lumens. This year HP released a pocket projector that featured 100 lumens of brightness, but unfortunately, it does not run on batteries. DisplaySearch has said that they believe in 2011 that all pocket projector models will be above 20 lumens, and in 2012 there should be models with 200 lumens.

Battery life has also improved. In 2009 the battery life of pocket projectors ranged from 30 minutes to 2 hours, with the average projector coming in at about an hour. By 2011 DisplaySearch claims that all pocket projectors should feature a battery life of over an hour, and by 2012 there should be models with a battery life of more than four hours.

Some of the newest pocket projectors that have been released show that the devices are definitely moving in the direction that DisplaySearch believes they will. 3M has recently announced two of their newest models, the MPro160 and the MPro180, that feature 30 lumens and two hours of battery life when in standard mode. Both of these devices will be available in January of 2011. These new projectors show significant improvements over some of their previous models. The MPro110, which was released at the very end of 2008, featured only 10 lumens, and the MPro120, which was released in 2009, had only 15 lumens of brightness. The MPro180 not only has improved in the amount of lumens it has, but it also features a 2.4-inch LCD touchscreen, much better resolution, and many other things.

3M is not the only one that has been improving their pocket projectors though. Philips has recently released three new pocket projectors, the PPX 1430, the PPX 1230, and thePPX 1020, in their PicoPix line. All of the projectors feature 400:1 contrast ratio, 20 to 30 lumens of brightness, and 2.5 hours of battery on the 1230 and 1430 models.

All of these advances show that pocket projectors are moving in the right direction. They are featuring more lumens, better resolution, and much longer battery life. It will be great to see how they improve them in the future. Hopefully, it won’t take too long. I guess we’ll just have to see if DisplaySearch is correct that by 2018 more than 140 million pocket projectors will be in use. With the direction that things are going in, it seems like they could definitely be correct.

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3M MPro120 Pocket Projector

3M’s new pocket projector called the MPro120, is “the next-generation of battery operated pocket projectors” claimed by 3M. This product is advertised saying that you can project videos, photos, business presentations, slideshows, ect. on almost any wall, almost anywhere. The MPro120 is compatible with computers, MP3 players, iPods, smartphones, and digital cameras. The MPro120 projects only 12 lumens of brightness, with VGA resolution (4:3 aspect ratios) and projects image sizes from 8” to 50”. The MPro120 has a long battery life of up to 4 hours. It also has 2 built in .5 speakers, and the bulbs are energy efficient LED lights that last 20,000 hours. This lightweight projector only weighs 5.6 ounces and has the dimensions of; 0.98" H x 4.7" D x 2.3" W. When you buy this product it comes with all the essential cables, a protective bag, a rechargeable battery, a table-top tripod, and it’s all backed by a 1 year warranty.

As of right now the MPro120 is going for $385 USD, which in my opinion is pretty steep for something that is only 12 lumens because it would have to be a pretty dark room to get a really good picture from the projector at that brightness level. I don’t find this product very efficient for my everyday use, sure it’s pretty cool but I don’t think that I would be willing to pay almost $400 for something I would only use occasionally. But then again, I’m not a traveling businessman who has to give presentations on the go. I think the MPro120 is a very cool product, and it is a very big step from the MPro110, offering a lot of new specs and some impressive new features. Not many people were very happy about the MPro110 because of the brightness level of the projection and not only that, but the image quality was horrible. But the MPro120 isn’t much brighter than the MPro110 and I really want to see how many people actually like this new product.

Dell M109S Pocket Projector

Palm projectors have been seen on the net for a while now, but Dell is the first to offer a pocket projector to the mass market. The Dell M109S projector is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand (3.64” x 4.12” x 1.46”). The specs are nothing spectacular with a brightness of 55 lumens, resolution of 858x600 and a throw distance of 8 feet, but who cares when the projector is smaller than my hand. The main selling point on M109S is that it is tiny and has a weight of only .8 pounds and lets not forget the price either. With a pricetag of only $500 this is one gadget that will be on many tech enthusiasts holiday shopping list.