Epson MG-850HD iPod projector first look RSS feeds

Epson MG-850HD iPod projector first look RSS feeds

TrustedReviews says

The MG-850HD is thoughtfully designed, user-friendly and practical, but we're not sure it will appeal to home cinema fans.

Epson MG-850HD iPod projector

As part of its apparent drive to bring projection to the masses, Epson used an event on the eve of the latest IFA technology show in Berlin to unveil arguably its most practical and user-friendly projector yet - complete with built-in iDock.

The MG-850HD really isn’t like any projector we’ve seen before. While the off-centre lens on its front edge establishes that it is definitely a projector, its rear end looks more like a micro hi-fi or docking iPod speaker system, thanks to the iDevice mount at its centre and the appearance of two surprisingly chunky and imposing speakers to either side. It’s even got a carry handle to stress its casual nature.

The docking section of the projector can, rather impressively, take an iPad as well as the more predictable iPod and iPhone devices, while the speakers are rated at 2 x 10W. This goes well beyond the sort of speaker power usually found in a projector - though it’s pretty necessary, really, given the music-centric way most people use their iDevices.

Inside the 850HD is an LCD chipset with an HD Ready native resolution. Some people might be disappointed that it’s not a full HD projector, we guess, but then it does only cost £650. And in any case, a 720p-resolution is arguably ample considering that iDevices only output a 480i signal anyway, and it seems more likely that the 850HD’s target market will be attaching a DVD player rather than a Blu-ray deck.

The first thing we noticed about the 850HD as we tried to use it was that finding its rather small docking ‘point’ was quite difficult in the sort of darkened environment a projector is most likely to be used in. Maybe a little light above the docking slot would have been a good idea. On the upside, even iPads feel quite sturdy and stable once they have finally been settled into position.

The onscreen menus for the projector are clean and simple to follow, and they allow you to handle all the features you should need on your iDevice too.

Playing back a few photographs and videos from an iPad revealed a rather mixed performance. In the plus column, the 850HD’s brightness output is strikingly high, delivering perfectly watchable pictures even with a couple of large lamps switched on in the demo room. This is, of course, likely to be very helpful in a normal domestic environment, where most people will be projecting onto a wall rather than a highly reflective screen, and where achieving total darkness can be difficult.

The most obvious problem with the 850HD's performance was the low resolution of iDevice pictures. This isn’t entirely Epson’s fault, of course; it’s Apple which limits the photo and video output from its devices to 480i. But there’s no getting around the fact that this lack of resolution is particularly obvious when it's combined with an image of the size you’re likely to want to get from a projector, with lots of jagged edges and a generally rather soft and undetailed appearance that really doesn’t do justice to your digital photos at all.

It was clear, too, that the 850HD sacrifices black level response to achieve its high brightness levels, with dark scenes looking grey and colours generally looking slightly offkey as a result.
Probably the best that can be said about the 850HD’s picture quality from our relatively brief hands on was that images are ‘fun and functional’. But they certainly aren’t likely to satisfy a cinephile.

As for the built in speakers, while they’re louder and cleaner than most speakers built into a projector, they sound too boxy and tinny to compete with a good standalone speaker dock.

In the end the 850HD feels like a series of compromises made to hit a price point and deliver a certain type of practical functionality. Only a longer test period will tell if the compromise balance feels right.

Posted in: Teknologi