Lighty and flighty: Six sizzling portable projectors

For business and pleasure

Canon LV-X300ST

Canon’s LV-X300ST is a good deal larger than all the other projectors in this group, not least because it utilises a conventional lamp rather than an LED light source, but at 2.8kg it still warrants the sobriquet of portable.

This an XGA short throw model (0.61:1 projection ratio), ideal for when space is limited. Build quality is high. The gloss white cabinet sports silver buttons on top, should you not want to use the credit card style remote zapper. Backside inputs comprise an HDMI, dual D-Subs, RS232 control, composite video, S-Video (something of a rarity these days), audio in/out minijacks and Ethernet port.

Menu options

The unit is also Crestron Connected, meaning that it will work out of the box with Crestron control and automation kit. This is clear indication that Canon sees its major appeal lying with the corporate/education marketplace. At just 1m from a wall or screen it'll throw up a large, bright images, 1.8m diagonal; pull back to get an even larger 4:3 image.

The projector is nothing, if not, really, really bright, and is easily usable in even a brightly lit room. Rated at 3,000 ANSI lumens with a contrast of 2300:1, it offers searing peak whites. You can mute these by switching off TI's brilliant Colour mode, but the result isn't as deliciously dynamic. Colours are suitably cranked too. Native resolution is 1024 x 768. There's a honkingly loud (10W) onboard speaker – good for the board room, but you’d really never choose to use this for any recreational pursuit. As a consequence though, operational noise is rather high at 36dB.

Price £534
More info Canon