Hitachi’s CP-X1250 Projector

In all the excitement over the new two- and three-pound projectors, it’s easy to forget that similar advances are occurring at the other end of the spectrum. Projectors weighing 15 to 20 pounds are beginning to replace 30-to-40-pound projectors that were previously installed in medium and large venues.

Hitachi’s CP-X1250 is a prime example of this new breed of luggable projectors powerful enough to light up an auditorium, yet lightweight enough for one person to set up. Why pay tens of thousands of dollars to install multiple projectors in multiple locations when you can buy a single projector and share it among various locations?

At a hefty 17 pounds, you won’t be carrying the CP-X1250 onboard with you on your next flight. On the other hand, no portable projector can come close to approaching this projector’s 4,500 ANSI lumens. The XGA-resolution CP-X1250 has several features that make it easy to configure for different environments. If you have an unusually narrow room with acoustically reflective walls, you might use the whisper mode to bring down the noise level from 39 dB to a more acceptable 35 dB. The whisper mode reduces the brightness as well, though the reduced brightness should still be strong enough for most environments. Similarly, if you have an abnormally wide room with a screen mounted higher than usual, you can use the CP-X1250′s built-in lens shift to mechanically adjust the vertical angle of the lens.

For other difficult environments, you might add one of four optional lenses for the CP-X1250: a 16mm fixed lens, a 23mm-31mm zoom, a 46mm-82mm zoom or a 80mm-144mm zoom. These lenses supplement the standard 31mm-46mm zoom lens included with the projector. With this array of lenses, you should be able to accommodate a wide range of auditoriums, training centers, conference rooms and lecture halls.

Other notable features include a generous selection of AV connectors (including component, BNC and DVI inputs), the ability to perform maintenance via an Ethernet- or WiFi-based network (including e-mail alerts) and four memory slots for user settings.

I found the CP-X1250′s projected image to be uniformly bright and sharp. Its LCD-based optical system produced accurate and well-saturated colors. On the downside, the 800:1 contrast range seemed a bit flat, especially when compared to recent DLP projectors. Also, the plastic case felt flimsier than it should for a projector in this price range-which is unfortunate, because the CP-X1250 is otherwise ideally equipped to be moved from room to room.