Great Keystone. NO! ... Not the cops (Sanyo PLC SU50S)

Member Name: Plymyphil

Product:	Sanyo PLC SU50S
Date:	23/05/05 (274 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very Easy to use, Excellent quality

Disadvantages: Not the cheapest on the market

No hanging around with a flowery introduction - let's get straight to the point.
Great functionality - easy to set-up - superb brightness.
Expensive - poor sound.

In a nutshell those are the positive and negative points of this projector. For my overall opinion, read through to the end.

First of all allow me to explain the title for those that are not aware of keystone correction.
'Keystone' has to be the most bizarre term doing the rounds in technology today and if anybody can use their language skills and explain a little etymology of the word I would appreciate it as I have no idea where it comes from.
A data projector can be positioned absolutely in front of the screen, or above the screen shining down or below the screen shining up. Usually they are at least 5 feet from the screen to obtain a reasonably sized image although some of the more recent products on the market can still get a large image from closer to the screen that this distance.
Now, if you get a torch and shine it at the wall you will see a perfect circle of light. Try moving the torch higher and lower and watch how the shape of that circle of light changes. Now, the data projector works in the same way. In front of the centre of the screen the image is a perfect rectangle showing the computer screen. As you raise the projector the top two corners of the image come together and the bottom two corners separate leaving you with a trapezium shaped screen. No good - and this is where Keystone correction comes in. Keystone correction is the name given to the function of the projector that allows you to adjust the image to bring back the rectangle.

The whole 'keystone' thing is important in this opinion because this projector had one of the most adjustable keystone corrections of any projector I have used. You can put this on a high ceiling or on the floor and still adjust the image to the perfect rectangle. This makes it ideal not only for portable presentations but also for being permanently fixed in a room. Our projector is set in a cradle hanging just below the ceiling and produces a superb rectangular image on the screen about eight feet away.

The second point about this projector is the ease of use. This projector is easy to set up and a dream to use. I can't comment with any authority on the instruction book as I have never needed to use it. The remote control is totally intuitive and having been hung in its cradle we have never touched the projector or looked at the instruction book. Even people who label themselves technically illiterate have used this projector with ease.

One of the most important aspects of a data projector is the brightness. Unless you are fortunate enough to have complete control of the light in your environment and are able to produce a total blackout the ability of the projector to produce bright and colourful images is important. This projector is 2000ANSI lumens. This is the measure of bulb brightness and is a high figure. Other projectors with high brightness can loose some of the colours when you utilise this extra brightness. As you turn up the brightness the colours become more washed out - try this on your television set to see what I mean. I'm pleased to report that with this projector this just isn't the case. The projector is bright enough to be used in daylight without any blinds and still produces a clear, crisp and colourful image.

The only downers are the price and the sound quality. This is not the cheapest projector on the market and you will find similar functions for less money. I would suggest however that the image quality is great and makes it worth the little extra. The sound is poor. The speakers are relatively quiet and tinny. No real base to speak of. However, adding even a cheap set of powered speakers overcomes this problem. Arguably for the money being paid you might reasonably expect a little more volume and slightly deeper bass. I would say this oversight is worth it for the portability of the unit.

At this point I could list all the other features of the projector. I could tell you the resolution of 800X600, list the various different video inputs the projector will also take and then babble on in pointless techynical mumbo jumbo, probably involving a string of numbers and acronyms. This is not necessary because Ciao lovingly provide a data page containing all of this information. Therefore I move to my overall opinion.

OVERALL
This projector represents good value for money despite not being the cheapest on the market. The quality of the image is superb even at high levels of brightness and the ability to adjust the keystone to such a great degree will be really useful to many users. The sound quality is a small issue which can be overcome by not relying on the built in speakers.
If you are in the market for a data projector do check this one out - it comes recommended by Plymyphil.

Thanks for taking the time to read this opinion and all feedback as ever is gratefully received. - Phil

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