Now that's a good resolution!

An easy-to-tote projector that’s easy to set up and projects good-quality images, the Acer K330 LED Projector is a single-chip DLP (digital light processing) projector with HD ready resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels. 

Although it’s HD-ready, it supports Full HD resolution of up to 1080p and can project movies and images in 4:3 or 16:9 as well as Full and Letter Box aspect ratios.

Acer provides a bag for you to carry the projector around, which is easy as it measures a neat 217.5 mm x 168 mm x 46.5 mm and weighs just 1.3 kgs. 

The projector comes with all major input ports, including an Analog RGB/Component Video (D-sub), a Composite Video (RCA), an HDMI port with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), a full-size USB port and a mini USB port as well as an SD card reader slot.

K330 is easy to set up thanks to its advanced digital keystone correction. This feature automatically corrects the projected picture so it’s properly aligned even when the position of the projector is not aligned with the screen.

I tested the K330 by projecting it to my bedroom wall and was impressed with the image quality. I can imagine how much better it would be if a proper screen were used.

During the test, I placed the projector on a small table and used the tilt adjusting wheel to raise its angle so that the image would be projected higher. Normally, that would mean some distortion but the K330’s advanced digital keystone correction function managed to display the image in its proper aspects.

I connected the K330 to True Visions HD Plus satellite receiver to test it with the HD movies channel broadcast and enjoyed the “Chronicles of Riddick” projected through the K330 in sharp detail and vibrant colour. “A Bug’s Life” movie on the Fox Family Movies channel also looked great. The K330 has a built-in speaker, which was good enough for enjoying the movie sound.

Another nice feature is that the projector can be connected to a desktop computer or a notebook computer wirelessly to simultaneously display whatever is on the screen.

Just plug in an option wireless adapter from Acer to the full-size USB port behind the K330 and select the “USB A” port option of the projector.

The wireless adapter will function as a wireless access point with the SSID label of AcerProjector. You can use the wireless adapter on your notebook or PC to connect to the AcerProjector SSID directly. Then, you have to use Acer Projector Gateway Setup Wizard to install the Acer eProjection Management software on your computer. The eProjection Management will connect your PC or notebook to the K330 and everything on your computer screen will be projected by the projector.

Since the K330 supports the native resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels, the eProjection Management will automatically adjust your computer display’s resolution to optimise the projected image.

I connected the K330 using the wireless connection from my HP notebook computer and the projected image was bright and sharp. I played a slideshow of photos from my folder and the photos were displayed beautifully with vibrant colours.

I then played the Full-HD Avatar movie from my notebook to the K330 and the movie played smoothly as well. But the wireless connection did not send along the audio signal, so you will probably need to listen to the sound from the notebook computer.

The K330 can also be connected to an iPhone,  iPod or iPad using an optional adapter and a 3.5mm jack A/V cable. You must then select the AV source on the projector and play either photos or movie clips on your device and the photos or movies will be projected by the K330.

The K330 also has the Media Gallery function for displaying photo files and video files from a USB drive or an SD card connected to the projector. The Media Gallery function has the Office Reader utility for accessing Word, Excel, PPT and PDF files on your USB drive or SD card attached to the projector.

Acer K330 LED Projector has a suggested retail of Bt25,900 and comes with a free USB wireless adapter.

        

Key specs:

_ Projection system: DLP

_ Resolution: WXGA (1280 x 800)

_ Video compatibility: NTSC (3.58/4.43), PAL (B/D/G/H/I/M/N), SECAM(B/D/G/K/K1/L), HDTV (720p, 1080i, 1080p), EDTV (480p, 576p), SDTV (480i, 576i)

_ Contrast Ratio: 4,000:1

_ Lamp Type: PhlatLight LEDs 

_ Lamp Life: LED life 20,000 Hours

_ Aspect ratio: Full, 4:3, 16:9, L.Box

_ Displayable colours: 1.07 billion colours

_ Projection lens: F# 1.5, f = 13.92 mm

_ Projection screen size (diagonal): 30" (0.76 m) - 80"(2.03 m)

_ Projection distance: 0.91 m - 2.40 m

_ Throw ratio: 1.4

_ Keystone correction: +/- 40 degrees

_ Weight: 1.3 Kg

_ Dimensions (W x D x H): 217.5 mm x 168 mm x 46.5 mm

_ Power consumption: Normal mode: 120W +/- 20% @ 110Vac (Bright mode @ full power); ECO mode: 60W +/-20% @ 110Vac (Video mode @ eco power)

_ I/O connectors: Power socket x1, SD x1, USB A x1: for multimedia, Mini USB B x 1: for DoUSB, HDMI x1, VGA input x1, Composite input x1, Audio/Video input x1, Audio output x 1