Peter has checked 3M’s MPro110 projectorette out and he says it’s pretty great. It displays up to 1280×768 (via VGA or RCA cable) at a size up to 50″, but with such a small light source that’s probably pushing it. The LED bit is said to last 10,000 hours, which isn’t saying much (that’s just how long LEDs last) but at least you know you won’t be replacing some expensive-ass bulb after a month or two.
This really isn’t the kind of thing you want for a home theater system, obviously, but it’s tiny, it works, and it costs less than $350 on what we like to call “the street.” It even runs on a rechargeable Li-ion battery and not AAAs or something weak like that.
That’s pretty amazing – anyone have info on the LED it uses?
Well, I surely could use one of those on my tour.
It’s, like, 10 lumens or something. Brightness conspicuously absent on the specs page of 3M’s flash-based website. And battery life of 40 to 60 minutes… I’m guessing more towards 40. Barely enough for one episode of Scooby Doo.
I like the resolution though.
Yeah, but those are the two areas where you really expect compromise in a small form factor thing like this. I think if they advertise a 50-inch image, that means that it’s usable at like 30-35 inches, which is good for small presentations or playing a game of contra on your studio wall. :)
Cool. But Aaxatech and Aiptek’s micro projectors are the same size but have higher resolution, better brightness, and have onboard video decoding. The Aaxatech unit even has onboard 1GB!
no, Aiptek uses the same optical engine, their resolution is the same. 640X 480. it is known for its heat problem. and it’s SD card reads limited type of files.