NEC NP-MC382W Business/Education Projector Review

The NEC NP-MC382W is a capable LCD projector, well suited for business and education environments. This WXGA (1280x800] resolution projector is compact and portable, making it easy to transfer between conference rooms, boardrooms, and classrooms. Feature-laden and versatile, this NEC is fit for a variety of applications in both the business and education environments, including exhibitions, K-12 classrooms, meeting rooms, conference rooms, and even retail spaces.

Its 3,800 claimed lumens combined with its LCD technology makes the NEC NP-MC382W is bright enough to tackle the ambient light seen in these types of environments, and is one to consider if it meets your needs in terms of specs and feature set. I will begin this review with an overview of the projector, followed by its highlights and special features, and a detailed discussion of the hardware. Then, we’ll dive deep into the projector’s capabilities, discussing picture quality and performance, before wrapping it all up for you and providing some insights into competition and its pros and cons.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors Report. 

NEC is well known for their part in the business and education markets, manufacturing projectors ranging from entry level to high-end large venue. The first NEC I reviewed was a 4K capable WUXGA (1920x1200) pixel shifter with excellent picture quality. It won an award in the large venue projector class in our Classroom Projectors Report a couple years back, and since then, I have held high expectations for NEC projectors. So far, so good – I have yet to be disappointed.

Speaking of 4K, the 3,800 lumen MC382W has WXGA (1280x800) resolution – the business and education world’s 720p – but can accept 4K content, and NEC says the projector is “fully upgradable to 4K when available” on their sales page. This gives the projector longevity in a world where resolution and technology are quickly evolving. The NEC has LCD technology and a lamp life of up to 10,000 hours at full power, 15,000 in ECO Mode, which lowers the cost of ownership.

The MC382W is set up for command and control – a desirable feature for school districts and business environments that have a fleet of projectors. NEC has their own free proprietary software called NaViSet Administrator 2 to manage multiple projectors at a time, from a single location. The projector is also Crestron Roomview compatible, which allows for command and control of a projector fleet, even if the projectors included are of different manufacturer makes.

It has a host of features for presenting purposes, such as a multi-presenter function that allows up to 16 devices to be connected simultaneously, dual VGA inputs for connecting PCs, and PC-Free Presentation via USB. I have to say, I am a fan of the integrated media player, which I’ll talk about in detail on the next page. The NEC NP-MC382W also has a 16 watt speaker and two HDMI ports with HDCP. It also has wireless capabilities via an optional wireless dongle. We’ll save the rest for the Special Features Page – for now, let’s take a look at the projector’s highlights.