Product Survey: Video Projectors : 3M MPro 110
2. 3M MPro 110
How does LcoS work?
The path of light goes as follows. The lamp on the left gives off a white light. This beam is divided via a series of prisms into three rays. The rays hit the red, green and blue LCOS reflective panels which decide, depending on the color to be created, whether or not to send the light. The three colored beams are combined via a prism and compose the final image.
When applied to an LED mini-projector there are three LEDs (red, green and blue) instead of the lamp. The picture comes from a tiny LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) panel inside the machine that works the same way.
3M created the LcoS technology (also in the Aiptek Pocket Cinéma V10). Out of the three mini-projectors we've tested, this is the most professional model, mainly because it comes with a VGA connection.
Handling
Smaller than the Aiptek, the MPro comes with a power adapter, an AV cable kit and a VGA cable. The unit measures 0.9 x 4.5 x 2.0 inches and weighs 5.6 ounces. It is slightly bigger than the Optoma, but the fact that there is no speaker, no memory card slot, nor internal memory is unfortunate, since this means the product can't stand on its own.
Projected image
To connect to a video source you have to use either a VGA or a composite connection. We strongly recommend using VGA for a better signal and less video noise (parasite pixels). The MPro is the only one of the three small projectors to offer VGA but despite this it still comes in last place in our tests. There are four reasons for this. The image is washed out and appears muted. Moreover, it is deformed in the corners. The composite connection is unsatisfying because of all the noise in the images. Finally, the maximum size of the image is restricted by the focus. At 1.5 meters the focus is fragile and beyond 1.8 meters it is just plain bad, with blurry images impossible to correct.
However, for a frequent business traveler this could be a perfect product. Who needs striking colors for a PowerPoint presentation? What comes really handy in this case is VGA, which allows crisp images directly from the laptop.
| 3M MPro 110 | |
|---|---|
| Pluses | Minuses |
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The 3M Mpro 110 is a device for professionals (because it is tiny and comes with VGA) and would deserve three stars in that sole context. For for the general public however, because of the washed out images and the poor quality via the composite connection, it looses a star.
- MPro110 LCOS Projector...
"...For example, when these mirrors rapidly reflect red and yellow, you will see green..."
This mirrors reflect white light. The color wheel is the device which lets the right color component pass in synch with the DMD.
For example: the DMD is reflecting the blue channel of the image but this is white light coming from the lamp, so the color wheel is letting only the blue part of the spectrum. The same with red and blue.
There are also DLP projectors that use three dmd's with three colored light sources( red green and blue) so no need for a color wheel. A frame being displayed with all color information on the screen at once. This means you can obtain 3 times the frame rate at a broader color depth with no rainbow effect.
Besides being technically wrong as pointed out by bboysil, don't you mean red and green will create yellow? Red and yellow (which isn't a primary color of additive light) makes orange!
http:\\diyprojectorkits.com
I am a member there, and am going to build my own 1080P projector this summer. 40 *THOUSAND* hours of life per bulb. Commercial projectors are for amateurs...
COMPARISON CHARTS PLEASE
Either use standard Or metric but don't mix them both. Inches and ounces in one place, meters in another. Seeing how this is tomsguide/us I would assume standard US measurements, but at least be consistant. Even better, translate the articles or make a simple conversion program.
Wow, this article is a mess. Seems like it was written by half a dozen people and connected in random order. No format consistancy between products. Some mention power consumpsion, some price, some show screen shots, size, weight, etc.
COMPARISON CHARTS PLEASE
I'm guessing that's why no charts, no product has the same info.
OK, I swear this is my last comment:
I couldn't figure out why they were using a condom for size comparison. Turns out it is a Euro coin! How about using something recognizable by the majority it of people reading this article.
Why is this site generating such poor quality articles these days (look at the equally useless webcam article)? What is this Digital Versus? Some copy and paste bot?
I read the Panasonic review then gave up. Doesn't anyone bother proof-reading:
"The fans this shape can relax"
"I ended up forcing the it manually"
"The image below" - it's not below
"When uscaling"
And how useless is the zoom option to see the two(!) Star Ratings?
LOL!@! At first I thought that coin was a condom!!
A very wordy review. This needs metrics to compare each model if this is going to prove of any use.
Nic topic coverage. Bit weird as I have just persuaded the wife that our front room would make a great home entertainment room.
First purchase required.... Projector. Think I'll pop down to my local Sony shop and see for myself just what they are like. The reviews here have done nothing more than give me a starting point. Nothing that allows me to proactively compare the products.
I have the same prob, Firmware update doesn't help me use AC charger while projecting..HELP PLS!!
now my aiptek pocket cinema is dead.i've upgraded the firmware, now it won't turn on...pls help...