Viewsonic PJD6383S Color & Picture Quality
To begin, I started with my laptop connected via HDMI and fed the PJD6383S its native resolution (1024 x 768). With this input and using the PC mode, the PJD6383S provided a very nice, sharp image. As is often the case with a DLP projector, colors are kind of washed out when using the brightest picture mode (in this case, Brightest). With many DLP multimedia projectors, reds are very dark and yellows lose their brightness and tend to look like mustard. With the PJD6383S, reds were darker than normal, but the yellows did not suffer as much, just looking a little green.
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Click Image to EnlargeIn general, the PJD6383S did not suffer from the "Brightest mode" color issues as much as some other DLP projectors we’ve reviewed in this price range. Dropping down to any other mode improved color accuracy and balance greatly. PC mode was quite good (see photos), while ViewMatch and Movie mode both displayed well balanced color and depth. As is usually the case with DLP projectors, colors are still a bit short of what some of the better LCD projectors can produce, but the differences are very small in modes other than Brightest. For use with surfaces other than a screen, there are settings for projecting on a whiteboard, greenboard or blackboard, while still retaining good color balance.
Photo presentations look very nice with the PJD6383S, in either Presentation or Movie modes. If you need the extra brightness of Bright mode for a photo presentation, you can cut back on the Green Gain in the color management. Switching over to the PJD6383S’s VGA input provided no noticeable changes in color reproduction.
It should be noted that with most short throw projectors, brightness uniformity can be an issue as there is often a noticeable drop in brightness (25-30%) from the center of the displayed image to the edges. As we’ll discuss in the Performance section, the PJD6383S has excellent uniformity, easily equal to most normal throw projectors.
Viewsonic PJD6383S Projector: Readability
The PJD6383S provided a very sharp, clean image with any of our text-based source material. Our usual spreadsheet, which has a range of text sizes and colors, was easily readable for all color and size combinations (from 8 pt. to 36 pt. text and white text-on-black or yellow text-on-dark blue backgrounds). In particular, there was no image distortion even in the corners of the displayed image (see the corner text picture). This is often a failing of short throw projectors and good sharpness across the image is an indication of a well designed and manufactured lens system.
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Click Image to EnlargeSwitching to higher resolutions and aspect ratios than its default 1024 x 768, the PJD6383S came through with flying colors. We tried both 1600 x 1200 (higher resolution, but same aspect ratio), or 1920 x 1080 (higher resolution and different aspect ratio) resolutions and the PJD6383S continued to display a sharp, clean image. Small (8 pt.) text remained quite readable and there was no color separation or overlap as can be found on some LCD projectors (mainly due to slight convergence issues inherent in a three-chip projector vs. a single chip DLP). As we’ve noted in recent reviews, compression and scaling technology has gotten to the point where the display quality of non-standard resolutions and aspect ratios is nearly indistinguishable from the projector’s standard resolution. In this regard, the PJD6383S is no exception. Again, this image sharpness with non-standard resolutions is well maintained across the image.
Viewsonic PJD6383S Projector: Video Performance
While the PJD6383S is more likely to be used for still presentations rather than video, it accounted for itself quite nicely. I used the DVD playback from my laptop computer, connected via HDMI, to check out the video quality. The 15000:1 contrast ratio is a very good ratio for a multimedia projector and is comparable to home theater projectors in this price range a few years ago.
That being said, you’d likely only achieve that ratio in a light controlled environment and even then, probably only when using the Dynamic Contrast Ratio function, which automatically switches the projector between Normal and Eco lamp modes based on the source. Still, with almost 2200 lumens in Dynamic Movie mode, you’d still have plenty of brightness, even in Eco lamp mode. Video displayed with good color balance in Movie mode and flesh tones were reasonably accurate (see photo).
When it comes to audio, the PJD6383S has enough power (one 10-watt speaker) to create a usable volume level for most classrooms and small conference rooms. In most cases, combined with the relatively low noise level of the projector, this negates the need for external, powered speakers.
Overall, the PJD6383S is able to provide solid video reproduction in a variety of lighting conditions, while maintaining good color and is non-fatiguing.
