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PROJETOR REViEW
Plus V-1080
Plus, a company that makes several larger, better-performing projectors, has been in a race (primarily with itself) to make the world's tiniest projector. The mythical 2pound projector is finally here and Plus can now declare victory - I suspect that's what the V in its name stands for.
Yes, at 2 pounds, the V-1080 is tiny. But you must also remember that its total carry weight is twice that. The video and power cables have been optimized to be as lightweight as possible. But stuff everything into the supplied soft case and the scale tips to more than 4 pounds.
The other looming question: Can the V-1080 light up a big screen? Plus claims the V-1080 will put out 800 ANSI lumens, but I found a considerably lower maximum output of 584.5 ANSI lumens.
The V-1080 does not have a zoom lens, presumably to save weight, and the lens it
does have has a fairly short throw distance. In fact, the lens didn't allow an image to hit the screen in my conference room - the end result was too big and too high. To put the projector's image on the screen, I had to use a separate lower projector stand, put it closer to the screen, then prop up the back of the unit to get the angle right.
Using the same contrast and brightness settings used to measure lumens, I found the V-1080's ANSI contrast ratio at 205-to-1. That's a decent number and about average for modem one-chip DIP projectors. I also quantified the white-- black sequential contrast ratio and found that the Plus V-1080 measured a strong 531-to-1 sequentially - a number much lower than the company's almost unbelievable 800-to-1 advertised spec. Overall, the V-1080's performance was OK, and the high contrast went a long way toward making up for its lack of brightness, but neither the brightness nor the contrast matched the advertised spec.
The V-1080's measured color saturation was higher than I've found in some one-chip DLPs, but the color wasn't balanced. I measured the V-1080's...