LG PF85U LED Projector Review - Hardware

LG PF85U Hardware Overview

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The LG PF85U is a reasonably lightweight portable weighing in at under 5 lbs.  I should mention that it does not come with a carry case.  With the two remotes it will just top the 5 pound mark.

The lens is mounted off center (near the right edge if you are facing the projector), and is a fixed lens - no zoom capability.   Most of the front is a grating for the hot air exhaust.  Intake vents are on the sides.

The top of the projector sports the control panel, although its touch and embedded, so that without power to the projector its invisible.  During normal operation only one "button" is lit, but at the touch, you get the basic control panel features which we describe below.

All the inputs and other connectors are on the back of this LG projector, and there are a surprising number of them, even compared to much more expensive projectors.  Let's say, the LG is very well endowed.  We'll run through each of them below.

On the bottom of the PF85 you'll find four fixed pads for feet, and one screw thread adjustable, long metal front foot with a whole lot of vertical range.  It should be noted that this LG projector has no adjustable lens shift, but does have auto keystone correction to keep images rectangular.  It seems to have 0 offset, that is, the image is rectangular without using the keystone correction, when the lens is even with the bottom of the screen.

Before I forget, Keystone correction seems automatic.  I couldn't locate a menu item to turn off auto, but the remote can bring up the keystone correction for manual override.

Lens

The lens of the PF85U is a little shorter throw than many projectors have, but still sits far enough back to be considered a standard throw projector.

There is no zoom lens, so the only control of the lens is the manual focus which is accomplished by turning the lens ring until the desired sharp focus is achieved.  Overall, the lens provides a nice sharp image, and more significantly, an overall, pretty evenly illuminated image.

Now almost all projectors are a little dimmer in the corners than n the center of the image, but roll off to the sides and corners seems to be greater on many of the small LED projectors.  This LG, though, seems comparable to most more expensive projectors.

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Control Panel

The LG control panel has a twist - something I've not found on any other. Perhaps it think's its Superman - make that SuperProjector, because there's an S.

In reality, the S apparently stands for Smart, because touching it will bring up the LG PF85U's smart menu system.

Think of the S as also a traditional menu button.  Once you are in the menus, the rest of the control panel consists of the four navigation arrow keys in a typical diamond configuration, with the Enter button in the center.

That only leaves one other touch sensitive button, which is power.

The control panel's backlighting dims automatically, and after time, only the S remains lit at all.  Touching the S, or any of the arrows that are visible, will bring up one more icon, and that one's the power button.

Once illuminated, touching the power button one time will power down the projector.  When the projector is off, only the power button is illuminated.

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Inputs and Connectors - PF85U Projector

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Above is a nice large image of the back input panel, which you can further expand if you desire.

As is typical, I'll review each of the inputs and connectors on the back of the LG85U, starting on the left (when facing the back of the projector), until I've covered them all.

On the far left is a Kensington lock slot.  Next over, a nice touch - a headphone jack.  Moving over one more is the Digital Audio Output - with a Toslink connector.

The next connector over is an RJ45 ethernet connector for a wired local area network.

A pair of mini connectors come next, labeled Component In, and AV In.  The LG PF85U comes with two special cables for those two small jacks. For example the Component cable has three color coded female RCA jacks for the traditional component video configuration.  The AV 's connector cable supports composite video with an RCA jack, and two stereo RCA jacks for audio.

Moving right along, come a pair of USB ports, followed by the two HDMI inputs.  Note that it is HDMI 2 that supports MHL.

We're almost done.  There's a small gray area that seems to be the rear IR sensor, and to its right is the 75 ohm coaxial connector for antenna or cable.   That folks, is it, except of course for the last one, which is the power receptacle.   The LG uses a 3 prong "mickey mouse" connector for power instead of the larger traditional two prong plus ground.

That's it for the inputs and connectors.