Acer's S5200 projector is intended primarily for educational use and its ultra short-throw means it could easy be positioned closer to the screen than the presenter. This has the dual advantage that the beam won't shine in the presenter's eyes and that he or she won't cast a shadow on the screen.

The lens used to achieve the very short projection distance - it can project an image up to 200cm diagonal from a distance of just 1m - is large and convex. Unless you have a very large wall to project on - the S5200 can produce a picture of over 7.5m diagonal - the projector has to be positioned close to the screen. It throws its picture up quite a bit above the horizontal and if you pull the projector back too far, you can end up projecting on the ceiling. There's no optical zoom adjustment, though a digital zoom of x2 is provided.

Image quality from the XGA-resolution optics is generally pretty good, with rich, vibrant colours coming from Acer's six-segment colour wheel. There's a slight red emphasis, but this can be adjusted down. The projector uses a DLP chip, which helps prevent colour fade, but we still noticed some pixel flicker when running SD TV content.

The projector comes with a five-year warranty, partnered by one-year, unlimited use cover on the 3,000 ANSI lumen lamp. The lamp is easy to replace, as it's pre-mounted in a unit which drops in from the top of the case.

Connections include two separate VGA inputs, as well a feed-through VGA output. There's S-Video and composite, too, and separate control via serial and network ports. The projector is compatible with the Crestron Network System, so it can be controlled entirely through an Ethernet link. This is of use in a set-up controlled from a central PC, as you might want for a repeating video in an exhibition.

There's also an HDMI connection, though with a native resolution of 1,024 x 768, anything over 720p HD is down-sampled. The S5200 supports data streams of up to 1080p. It's also 3D ready, as it has a 120Hz refresh rate and can support the two separate images needed to work with a suitable PC graphics card and shutter glasses.

Precious little detail is provided on 3D setup, beyond the on-screen menu function which turns it on and off. It's up to you to experiment. The menu system offers the usual adjustments, though the range of keystone settings and colour modes for different media is wider than normal.

Verdict
The S5200 is ideal for classroom use, either for still or video display. Its ultra short-throw makes it particularly easy for a teacher to combine projection with presentation from the front of class and the projector is bright enough for use in a normally lit room. Whether 3D will be a major part of its remit is less certain, as the cost and maintenance of 30+ sets of specs and the current lack of 3D educational content may hold it back.

Company: Acer

Contact: 0870 853 1005

Tags: video hdmi graphic display resolutions video graphics array acer lumen (unit) digital light processing 3d television