Aiptek Pocket Cinema V10

Aiptek’s Pocket Cinema V10 has LcoS techology (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) developed by 3M (who have their own mini-projector, the MPro 110).
The device is a direct competitor to Optoma's Pico PK101. Both have a white LED light source, so how do they compare?

Handling

The Pocket Cinema V10 is slightly bigger than Optoma’s model, but it has both an internal memory of 1GB and a SDHC slot for up to 8 GB. You can therefore copy a film on its memory or watch it from a card. This handheld projector comes with a remote control, an alloy tripod, a USB cable, an AV Cable, a power adapter and a cover for transport.


The model we tested had a problem as the lamp would switch off when the projector was plugged in. A firmware update should normally resolve this, but in our case did not. Aiptek agrees to exchange your projector if it falls into this category.

Projected image

The device projects image size up to 42" at over 5 feet away and the quality is quite stunning. It is however not as good as DLP. Aiptek comes second in terms of picture quality with this Pocket Cinéma V10, just behind Optoma’s Pico PK101. The corners of the zone of projection are deformed (see picture representation below).



Colours and images are less vivid. Nonetheless, it is better than the 3M model which takes third place. The black is less deep. As like with the Optoma’s model, you have to be in total darkness to enjoy the images projected. Unless of course you project on a very small zone. In this case, the light is concentrated and quality increases.

T10 soon to come

Aiptek will be soon launching the Cinema T10. With a 640 x 320 pixels resolution (half of 720p HD Ready) but no memory card slot or internal memory, it will be the be a true contender for the Pico, and is meant to put extra emphasis on image quality.