A Great Traveling Companion: IBM's Data/Video Projector
Big Blue's debut Digital Light Processing projector offers good value and performance.Gordon Meyer, special to PCWorld.com
It was bound to happen. With fellow top-tier notebook manufacturers such as Toshiba and Compaq mining the growing projector market, it was only a matter of time before IBM followed suit. IBM has recently introduced a trio of projectors manufactured for the company by InFocus, including a virtual clone of the LP340 projector that we reviewed in November 2000. We took a look at IBM's ultralight projector, the $4699 IL 2210 UltraPortable Data/Video Projector. We found a sub-5-pound, 1000-ANSI-lumen Digital Light Processing projector that offers a solid balance of performance and value--though some of its features could have been better executed.
As a rule, DLP projectors generate brighter images overall and are considerably lighter in weight than LCD projectors, which typically display richer, more saturated colors than DLP projectors do.
There are advantages to buying this projector from IBM as opposed to a similar model branded by InFocus: IBM backs its product with a three-year warranty, versus InFocus's one-year warranty. Plus, IBM provides an international service network, which means you won't be out of luck if your projector breaks while you're on the road.
The sleek, black projector has a footprint of 9 by 10.5 by 2.5 inches (width by depth by height), and its 4.8-pound weight makes it easy to carry (a soft case is included). As with many InFocus-made projectors, connecting the IL 2210 to your notebook or desktop computer is slightly cumbersome because the projector uses a Digital Video Interface connector rather than the standard VGA connector. While this arrangement makes the IL 2210 ready for future notebooks (or desktops) equipped with DVI-out, today it means you will need to use a proprietary cable instead of a standard VGA cable.
The DVI cable also includes a USB connector to plug in to your computer so that you can use the IL 2210's remote as an alternate mouse for your PC. Though including pointing functionality on a projector's remote is a fairly common feature now, having the USB connector on the video cable does present an advantage, since it combines two cables into one. While a number of projectors now have USB connectors, InFocus-made projectors are the only ones we've seen that combine video and USB through one cable and connector on the projector.
Assessing Image Quality
We began our performance tests by looking at the image quality of both text and pictures at multiple resolutions from an IBM ThinkPad 390 with a 260-MHz Pentium II and a Compaq Presario 5868 desktop system with a 600-MHz Athlon.
We examined text quality from Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Adobe Acrobat files, plus a variety of JPEG images and Web sites (using both Netscape 4.75 and Internet Explorer 5.5). When we used the IL 2210's native XGA (1024-by-768-pixel) resolution, we found the readability on par with that of a good CRT display. We were also pleased to see that the IL 2210's scaling technology worked very well at all of the lower resolutions (SVGA at 800 by 600, and VGA at 640 by 480) as well, with no noticeable distortion of text or graphics.
DVD video from the Compaq, using MGI's SoftDVD Max software DVD player, looked respectable at different sizes and resolutions, though the image was a bit more grainy and lower in contrast than what we saw when we piped video straight in from a Pioneer DVL-919 DVD player's S-Video feed.
The 1000-ANSI-lumens display provided a bright, clear image that was easily viewable even with ambient light set at a level normally found in an office or conference room. Of course, as with any projector, the darker the room, the better the picture looks.
Surprisingly though, unlike most other XGA projectors we've tested, the IL 2210 had a hard time handling resolutions higher than XGA. When we bumped up the resolution to both 1162 by 864 and 1280 by 1024 from the desktop (the notebook's maximum resolution was XGA), the IL 2210 went a little nuts. At both higher resolutions the image was squeezed horizontally by a third, with solid black and random geometric patterns on either side of the image, giving the desktop an elongated appearance. Needless to say, we can't recommend using this projector at anything higher than its native resolution.
Beyond the Boardroom: HDTV Video
In addition to the standard composite and S-Video compatibility that most projectors offer, the IL 2210 also supports the most common HDTV signals currently broadcast. We tested all three types of video signals using an RCA DTC-100 combination DirecTV receiver and DTV/HDTV set-top box. Predictably, the higher the resolution signal coming into the IL 2210, the better the image quality. Composite video was good, though there were times when we noticed something resembling horizontal scan lines, especially when there was a lot of movement on screen. Both S-Video and HDTV rendering were excellent.
Even though its upward scaling abilities are unacceptable, the IBM IL 2210 UltraPortable Data/Video Projector is a solid value if you're looking for a light, very portable XGA projector that's bright enough to use in most meeting rooms.