#Cheap mini projector for iphone manual
#Cheap mini projector for iphone full

The quality varies enormously, with some dishing out a timid, tinny racket and others producing a half-decent impression of stereo sound.

#Cheap mini projector for iphone full

If you’re using a portable projector, you probably don’t want to lug a full surround-sound setup with you, so most include built-in speakers.

#Cheap mini projector for iphone manual

The same goes for auto-focus features, although most models have a manual slider or wheel. The best portable projectors do it automatically, so you can spend less time setting up your screen and projector and more time enjoying what you want to watch. Nearly all projectors have some form of correction to sort this out. This distorts the picture so that the rectangular image looks like a trapezoid (or worse) – an effect known as keystoning. Projectors are best positioned with the lens facing directly at the centre of the screen, but in practice this isn’t usually practical, so the projector has to be placed above or below – or even to one side – and angled up, down, left or right. Keystone correction is another must-have. Try to fill a 120in screen with a 100 ANSI lumens projector and you won’t get much contrast, colour or anything else. Remember that your maximum size will also be affected by the brightness. Most of these portable models have a relatively short throw, and the shorter the better if you’re stuck for space or planning to project from a coffee table. All projectors have what’s called a “throw ratio”, which determines how big the picture will be at any given distance, and some are what’s called short-throw projectors, meaning they’re designed to give a bigger picture even from a distance of one or two metres. Because of the way they work, by beaming an image onto a flat surface, the size of the projected picture will be determined by the distance between the projector and screen. As a rule of thumb, the more you spend, the brighter the image and the higher the resolution, giving you a better experience overall. In a dark room, you can still get a decent picture, but if you’re expecting true cinema quality or something that will work with the curtains wide open, you may end up feeling disappointed. LED portable projectors tend to achieve anything from 100 to 2,000 ANSI lumens, with the vast majority sitting somewhere between 300 and 800 ANSI lumens. Even in a sunlit room, the picture should still be watchable. A proper home cinema projector will dish out 2,000 ANSI lumens or more of brightness, so that you can have bright whites, deep blacks and rich colours in dark conditions. You won’t get the same levels of contrast and brightness with a portable projector, either.

Sounds good? You might just have found a new way to enjoy your favourite TV, games and films. Better yet, because they’re small, light and relatively cheap, you won’t mind lugging them around. Given decent weather, you can even use them outdoors in the summer.

You can use them with a big screen in the living room or pair them with a portable screen when you take them away on holiday. With battery-powered operation, built-in speakers and lamps that last for tens of thousands of hours, these portable projectors are perfect for take-anywhere entertainment. You can now buy a projector the size of a Rubik’s cube or smartphone. But a few years ago the combination of small, high-quality DLP chips and energy-efficient LED lamps made it possible to build projectors the size of a hardback book or even smaller. They used to be massive things, ran hot, were power-hungry and needed a chunky stand or coffee table to sit on – if not a dedicated home cinema room. In case you haven’t noticed, projectors have got a lot smaller.