PJD7822HDL as a Business Portable Projector
[sam_pro id=1_53 codes="true"]
First thing that comes to my mind for those that are considering the Viewsonic for business use, is excellent value.
What Viewsonic brings to the party for the business/education/specialty users, is 1080p resolution for less than virtually all of the competition. Now in fairness, not everyone needs - or wants 1080p. The business world has shifted more and more to widescreen projectors - 16:9 (like this Viewsonic) or 16:10) primarily because the wider formats work better for most applications. That said, by far, most business projectors are still WXGA - a mere 1280x800 (16x10) or 720p (1280x720).
PJD7822HDL in PC color mode. Good colors throughout the spectrum, including respectable reds and bright yellows!
This Viewsonic, therefore, offers up much smaller pixels and over twice as many for better clarity, detail, and sharper text, and especially more readable small type and diagraming.
Since this Viewsonic has the horsepower - the brightness - to compete against those WXGA projectors, the difference is likely in other areas. Many of those WXGA projectors will have some networking (or impressive) networking skills, and some will have built in media players, for "PC free" presenting, and some Wifi (usually optional) at the price point of this Viewsonic. Those with more similar feature sets to the PJD7822HD that are only WXGA will sell for less. (Warranty should be a factor too, so see below.)
But the Viewsonic gives you that sharper, better looking image by virtue of being higher resolution! Every few years the world steps up the standards for good resolution. We went from VGA, to SVGA, then XGA, WXGA, and now we're seeing more and more moving to WUXGA or 1080p. At the same time, we're starting to see the first 4K business projectors, but so far those are still more than 10x the price of this Viewsonic. Let's just say that this Viewsonic with 1080p resolution has more long term staying power than those lower resolution projectors.
Color is very good, for a business portable, but not the best. Generally you'll turn to some of the 3LCD projectors for the best color/brightness combination, but then, you won't find any 1080p 3LCD projectors at this price point. As to everyone else, the Viewsonic's color isn't by any means perfect, but it should meet the needs of virtually all presenters, except, perhaps someone who uses a projector to show professional photography... Those folks if they want truly great, highly accurate color, will be spending a lot more though, to get all they want.
The feature set overall, is fine. True, no networking, but I describe this 4.6 pound projector as a "business portable." Viewsonic, like others, offers up projectors with that networking if needed, but for someone using the projector portably, or only occasionally, no networking should be just fine. Although lacking MHL, the Viewsonic can work with streaming devices, another way to be "PC free" if needed.
And for a business user, the warranty is exceptional!
As a Home Entertainment Projector
[sam_pro id=1_53 codes="true"]
The Viewsonic PJD7822HDL has to be considered a very good choice for low cost home entertainment with true 1080p resolution. Home entertainment/home theater projectors really do need to be 1080p, not lower resolution, after all, we're the folks with the "big screens."
True, this Viewsonic doesn't "own" the low cost 1080p space, like its predecessor, the PJD7820HD did two plus years ago. Back then with the 7820 started selling, the least expensive other 1080p projectors was about 50% more! Today there's several competing projectors from the likes of Optoma, BenQ, Vivitek, etc. sporting 1080p all with offerings that street price from the mid $800's and down. And today there's even a 3LCD projector for under $900 (barely).
So the Viewsonic has some competition this time around. Still it holds up well.
I'll discuss color and picture quality below, but for the rest, let's say that you'll be hard pressed to find a brighter projector for the bucks, so it should provide an image that can hold up to significant ambient light better than the competition. The remote control and the menus are nicely done, but I have to diss the PJD7822HD for not offering a backlit remote control. Some of their competition does, and that's always a plus. (In fairness, as a reviewer I spend far more time using remotes and menus than a typical owner ever will, so I tend to bitch about things like this.)
Because this is a 1080p projector, it will keep you satisfied a lot longer than if you spent the same or a little less on a 720p projector. Therefore having a long, and excellent warranty is another factor that favors this Viewsonic.
[sam_pro id=1_53 codes="true"]
Brightness and Picture Quality
Brightness is outstanding. The Viewsonic easily beat its 3200 lumen claims, in fact, This projector's brightest mode - which they call Brightest, isn't pretty, but then, neither is the competitions'. (Most companies call their brightest mode "Dynamic".) The PJD7822 projector still managed to beat claim in one of its better looking color modes - ViewMatch. Now beating claim in anything but brightest mode is rare! Impressive.
More impressive though was that pure reds, and bright yellows are usually a big problem for single chip DLP projectors, in all but their least bright modes. That's not the case with the PJD7822HD. As you can see in the color wheel pie charts on the Picture Quality pages, most of the modes do at least a respectable job. Reds are not dark and murky like red wine, and yellows manage not to be overcome with a mustardy yellow green shift. Mind you not all modes look really great, but Viewsonic has done a particularly good job for a single chip DLP, especially at this price point.
