We emphasize the essentials and avoid going into technical detail in order that the information can be understood by all types of users.  It’s not just engineers and those who are already knowledgeable in this domain that want to know if a product is worthy of purchase.

Before giving our opinion, we conduct a series of tests that don’t appear on the specific product page.  The product description that you find, although short, is based on practical and technical tests which describe here in detail.  Our main tool in our test suite is the ColorFacts Professional, a calibration system developed by Milori which includes two sensors.  The first, the Trichromat-1, is used for all types of monitors.   The second, the Eye One Beamer,  (the one we use) is specific to video projectors.

The step by step procedure:

We start by turning the device on and then we take a coffee break – for about an hour.   This is the warm-up time.  Some put this at 15 minutes, however, to optimize color rendering we prefer to wait one hour.

ColorFacts Professional

•  Brightness levels on the projection area:
The sensor is pointed toward the projection wall.  We first measure the level of black and white which is expressed in candelas per square meter (cd/m²) in the different modes that are offered (presentation, cinema, etc.) in order to determine contrast levels.

·  Gamut :

The graph obtained represents the reproducible intensity of the three primary colors (red, green and blue).   We stress that this doesn’t represent the number of colors the projector is able to display but rather their individual intensity.

•  Gray scale :
This is a measure of the color temperature of RGB and brightness based on a set of various grays. Results are given in several forms including a CIE graph.  For a perfect result, curves should follow the dotted line and the CIE points (from black to white) should be superimposed on 6500K (D65), which is a multi-use color temperature setting we select.


We repeat these three steps for the different user modes.  Before doing a software calibration, we try and obtain the best rendering with a few manual adjustments.

•  Calibration :
Projectors which offer manual adjustments of red, green and blue tables in the "Gains" and "Cuts" options menu in ColorFacts also can undergo a real hardware calibration.  This procedure generally takes a little less than a half an hour and results in an optimal color adjustment, or at least the best of which the projector is capable.

•  A second gray level measurement: we repeat this step after calibration to determine the improvement.

After the use of ColorFacts Professional, there are a few practical tests:


•  Measuring the projection zone :
Done in native mode (4/3 if it’s the Internet or text and 16/9 for home cinema) with the projector placed 3 and then 4 meters from the wall.

•  Evaluation of the number of colors displayed:
We count the number of distinguishable red, green, blue and gray nuances.

•  Movies:
This is "harder" part of testing.  We use two standard DVDs each time, the Matrix for its dark rendering, and The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain for colors.  The other movies we use change depending on what is most current.  Quality is evaluated with a Philips DVP720 SA/02 DVD player and then our laptop as sources.

•  Game console quality:
An X-box is connected to the projector via the best connection possible.  We have an entire arsenal of cables provided by Monster Cable (to whom we are grateful).



•  Office:
Verification of the sharpness uniformity and the evaluation of rescaling capabilities at different resolutions.