Hi this is Phil from Make Tech Easier and
welcome to this review of the H80 video
projector. This budget-priced projector
is all over the internet and boasts full
HD 1080 at a bargain-basement price. In this
video will tell you if it's any good and
more importantly what other options are
available for the price. What is it?
The H80 is a budget priced LCD video
projector or Beamer. In the box you have
the unit, a remote control and a power
supply. As advertised it has inputs for
SD card USB stick AV or composite video
and HDMI. To use it you put video files
on a stick or card put it into the
projector and then play - instant home
cinema!
Well not quite. This projector costs £27
which is about $36. Although often
advertised as having a native resolution
of 640 by 480 (which is kind of standard
definition like old TV) the LCD driving
this device is actually 320 by 240 which
is very low resolution. (For an in-depth
article on aspect ratios and resolutions
check out the link to our blog in the
description.) To give you an idea of what
we're talking about here
here is a frame from a movie at 1280 by
720 or HD. It's a large and detailed
image as you would expect. If the LCD
panel was actually 640 by 480 then you'd
expect to see this standard def
version. (Of course the projector squashes
the picture vertically to get the 16:9 ratio) This is what you would get from
a standard definition cable channel or
something like that. Not too bad! But what
you actually get is this, a 320 by 240
image which is the sort of thing you'd
expect to get from an 80s game console
or a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. If you look
you can see the individual pixels on the
screen.
So why do they advertise these devices
as HD projectors? Well it's a lie but
kind of a "white lie" based on true
technical aspects of the device. There is
an HDMI input on the device and if does
project HD videos; it just crams them
into a 320 by 240 pixel display before
it does so. Also this is not a bright
projector; at just 80 lumens you really
need to close the curtains and turn out
the lights to get full brightness out of
the picture. Why should I buy it? Despite
its slightly misleading advertising and
shocking technical deficiencies, low
budget low res projectors like this are FUN.
They're great for kids and you can watch
TV and films on them in a darkened room.
Just don't expect them to be a home
cinema for 40 bucks. What should i buy
instead? Around the same price as this
charming toy you can get a refurbished
data projector which easily projects
full 1080 HD for example there are
reconditioned Sanyo models with a
remote and a new lamp which will give
you hundreds of viewing hours. Also these
projectors are 1700 lumens and so easily
visible with the curtains open or the
lights on. One downside is they mostly
don't have HDMI in (although some do) but
you can get around this with an HDMI to
VGA adapter (which are available for
cheap also on eBay) and channel the
high definition to the projector through
the VGA socket. We'll put a link in the
description for current eBay choices on
the US and UK sites.
Conclusion. If something sounds too good
to be true then, well, it is! Read the
specs of video projectors very, VERY
carefully and even then take them with a
pinch of salt.
Mostly they will grudgingly disclose the
native resolution way down the page but
sometimes, as with this model, they will
either be flat-out lying or they're
reseller and (just like prospective
buyers) they didn't read the specs very
carefully before they wrote the ad. Where
possible read a lot of different ads
from the same device and see how they
differ to get a feel for what the true
specs really are.
Although the H80 is a fun little video
toy it's not a serious home cinema
option of course the clue was in the
price. But there are budget options which
will give you a lot of bang for buck if
you can't spring for a full price for a
new HD video projector. OK as always
thanks for watching and please like,
subscribe and leave your comments below.
See you next time!
