NEC VT670

NEC's VT670 is one of the few business oriented LCD projectors available, with most manufacturers choosing DLP chips in their corporate range of projectors. DLP projectors are often cheaper for consumers while still being able to provide higher specs, specifically in their contrast ratio and image brightness. The VT670 is a viable contender for users who want to avoid DLP technology, but still need a strong performing projector with high quality image traits.

At 294 x 93 x 260mm and weighing 2.9kg, the VT670 is not quite a portable projector, but its still light enough to be carried between the office and home, and this is made even easier with the included carry case. Exhaust fans are located on the side of the unit, which is handy when placing the projector against a back wall, or bookshelf. In operation, we noticed the fan noise to be distractingly loud, rating up at 35dB in Normal brightness, one of the highest operational noise ratings we have seen so far. Users can set the lamp to Eco mode, which drops the brightness from 2100 ANSI lumens to 1700 ANSI lumens and also reduces the fan noise down to 30dB's, which is much more normal. Placing the projector away from the audience will reduce the noise audibility, and is definitely recommended with this projector.

Users will find the ports located at the back of the unit including 2 VGA ports, composite video, S-Video, 3.5mm audio in/out, RCA audio in and VGA out. This provides plentiful support for common office usage, although there is no composite or DVI input available for high-definition video lovers. This projector is aimed primarily to be used with a computer, indicated by the multiple VGA inputs and the native XGA (1024 x 768) resolution. When up and running, users are presented with a helpful amount of configurable options, and these features include colour adjustments to compensate for the projection wall, aspect ratio control and digital magnification. The machine can also be set up in a front or rear projection mode with a ceiling mount, or off a regular desktop.

The first thing users will notice when projecting an image is the incredible brightness of the image. The VT670 has a 2100 ANSI lumen lamp, which enables projection in a variety of ambient lighting. We were even able to view images with some sunlight in the room, obviously not recommended, although impressive none the less. We expected to find the images washed out due to the high intensity lamp, although luckily this was not the case with the VT670, which still retained its contrast levels. The contrast ratio is a measly 400:1, sufficient for business presentations, but not suitable for dark scenes in movies or video playback.

The colour range was deep and vivid, and even though image quality can be quite subjective, a comparison to the likes of PT-AE700E proved that the colour reproduction was very accurate. NEC's VT670 is also able to reproduce many unique different shades when viewing gradients, exemplified in beautiful skin tone representation. The projector also produced sharp imagery and crisp text rendering, an important feature for any projector. For the most part, we were impressed with the projection, although the low contrast ratio did limit the final image quality.

In all, we had a pleasant experience with NEC's VT670. It provides all the functionality that should be expected out of a high quality data projector, with a brightness rating rivalling Epson's EMP series of projectors. Comparatively, this is an expensive projector, especially when considering similar specified DLP projectors, and this contributed to a lower rating. For users who are turned off by the prospect of the rainbow effect or flyscreen effect found in cheaper DLP projectors, the NEC VT670 might just be worth it.