A New Tech Data Projector - Casio Green Slim XJ-A145U

Price - $999.99 direct

Not many projectors offer both a 2,500-lumen rating and a light source designed to last the life of the projector. In fact, the Casio Green Slim XJ-A145U and a few closely related Casio models are the first to make that claim. The secret is Casio’s innovative Green Slim hybrid light source. Not only does it last a lot longer than the traditional lamps, it has the additional benefit of being mercury free, which makes it a much more ecologically friendly projector than most.

In some ways, the 1.7-by-11.7-by-8.3–inch (HWD) XJ-A145U is a typical lightweight...

XGA (1,024-by-768) DLP projector, but instead of producing red, green, and blue using a standard lamp and a color wheel, it produces red with LEDs, blue with lasers, and green by shining the blue laser light on a phosphor. One of the key advantages of the hybrid light source is its 20,000-hour expected lifetime—which is 4 to 10 times longer than the claimed lifetimes for standard lamps. And adding to the portability of this unit is its ability to read JPG and AVI files from a USB memory key, so you can leave your laptop at home.

I measured the XJ-A145U’s brightness in its brightest mode at 1,927 lumens, or about 77 percent of its rating—and bright enough to throw a reasonably large image, even in a well-lit room. On our DisplayMate tests, the XJ-A145U handled most images without a problem. However, like all DLP projectors, it showed a slight rainbow effect, with light areas breaking up into little red-green-blue rainbows when you shift your gaze or something moves on screen. Also, I saw obvious posterization and a greenish tint to skin tones in videos. So although this projector is not great for video and the rainbow effect is a bit distracting, it is still a bright, portable system that’s environmentally smart and easy on the wallet.—M. David Stone

Pros Lightweight. Mercury-free light source with a 20,000-hour lifetime and 6,000-hour warranty. Reads files from USB keys.

Cons Some image quality issues, particularly for video, as opposed to data, images.