Pico projectors are slowly but surely starting to become quite useful, affordable devices. They are small enough to carry in your pocket, have a power draw low enough to remove the need for a separate power cable, and can produce large projections at HD resolutions.
Acer’s latest pico project, the C120, is the perfect example of this. It is capable of producing a 100-inch display projected at up to 12 feet away. Support is included for 4:3, 16:9, and 16:10 output with resolutions up to 1280 x 800. The contrast ratio is 1,000:1, it achieves 75 lumens brightness, and has an LED bulb with an estimated lifetime of 20,000 hours.
As well as being a capable projector, the C120 does not require a power cable. You can plug it in to a laptop via a single USB 3.0 cable to get all the power it requires as well as handling data transfer. Plug in a power cable as well, and the brightness will get a boost up to 100 lumens. Size shouldn’t be an issue either, with the unit measuring just 4.72 x 3.23 x 1 inches and weighing a pocket-friendly 180 grams.
The C120 is listed for $259, but can already be picked up for $229 on Amazon. That 100-inch display should make it appeal to anyone needing to do a presentation, but also wanting to play a game on something significantly larger than an LCD panel.
With pico projectors becoming pocketable devices, we should see competition heat up like it did when video cameras such as the Flip and Kodak Zi8 appeared. When that happens a $100 price point for HD pico projectors is inevitable. And then hopefully the components will become small enough to make projectors inside smartphones a reality.
Read more at Acer, via Tom’s Hardware
