Luxury has come to the portable projector. The PLC-WM5500 from Sanyo boasts 5,500 lumens along with a Durable In-Organic Optical System (D.I.O.S. ), which improves the LCD panel durability. While LCD technology is not new, it is fast becoming a very affordable option for HD and widescreen display solutions. Sanyo identifies this unit as a "portable" projector. In the past, I have always defined a portable projector as "basic with a fixed lens." The inputs available on portable units were generally very simple VGA, RGBHV, Component, and Composite. Sanyo, however, has re-defined the portable projector with the PLC-WM5500; while it still has everything you would expect in a portable projector, it is the "luxury" (my definition) upgrade Sanyo added that separates this projector from the rest. Luxury in a portable projector, is that possible? Yes. But, to substantiate that statement, I need to provide you with my background, reasoning, and testing, which brought me to the use of the word "luxury."
Reviewer & Product Background
The church where I work has many Sanyo projectors, so many, in fact, the bill each year for lamps alone would cover the cost of purchasing the PLC-WM5500. I mention this only to identify my experience with Sanyo projectors. Of our Sanyo inventory, half are portable and half are large venue. All of our portable projectors have a fixed-style lens without any lens shift capabilities. Only one of our large venue units has left and right lens shift; the rest lens shift up and down only. The Sanyo projectors on our campus are controlled through PJ Net a TCP/IP network-based system. To accomplish this, we had to purchase the optional accessory cards for each projector. In fairness, most of our portable units are between three and five years old, but when purchased they were considered "portable."
Why do I say the PLC-WM5500 is luxurious? Let's start on the outside; it's unassuming, covered in a simple white plastic shell. On the back, you will find a full featured input panel and on the side are the integrated control buttons. The first sign of luxury is an integrated HDMI port on the input panel. Okay, an HDMI port may not be luxurious, but it does show Sanyo has embraced the explosion of HDMI in almost every new consumer and prosumer video product on the market. The input panel also has everything you would expect a projector to have: VGA, RGBHV, Component, and Composite. The only missing input on the panel is a true DVI port. The good news is DVI and HDMI use a very similar digital signal transport and, in most cases, a simple DVI to HDMI adapter is all you will need to connect your DVI device to the HDMI input. (There is, however, one caveat when using an HDMI to DVI adapter: not all signals will pass or connect with an adapter, so make sure you test any adapted sources before your service or presentation.)
A Closer Look
The appointments made to the controls of this projector are where you will find real luxury. Lens shift up and down is almost expected today on any new projector over $3,000. The ability of lens shift left and right on a portable projector is luxurious. I cannot count how many times I have been called in to a worship space only to find the image from the projector is just slightly off the left or right side of the screen. Depending upon the space, I know this minor adjustment will require either a large ladder (in a small space) or hydraulic man lift (in a large space), which is a very time consuming option. It's in the smaller spaces, after climbing up on the counter, standing on my toes, leaning way over the edge to grab the projector and mount-giving them a slight twist-only to find the image is now completely off the opposite side of the screen. After making the adjustment a few times and losing feeling in my hands from my arms being over my head, I think to myself, how great would it be to stand on the floor with a remote control in my hand and simply lens shift the image into the correct position? Well, if PLC-WM5500s were installed in all of our venues, I would be standing on the floor using the remote control or the standard integrated network connection. Yes, the integrated network connection.
The network connection allows you to control all aspects of the projector through a web-based application. After you configure the projector and your network, you can simply connect to the projector IP address and control the functions of the projector from your computer. The network option is great for controlling the unit when it is installed on the ceiling or in a rear projection room. You can upgrade by purchasing the PJ Net control as an accessory. One of the main differences between the standard control and PJ Net is that with PJ Net, you gain the ability to control and configure multiple projectors (even different models within the Sanyo line) at the same time from one user interface. While you can control multiple PLC-WM5500s, each with its network interface, you cannot group them together. You can only access each one independently.
In addition, the menu structure and control options are full-featured. This is the first Sanyo model I have seen that allows you menu-level access to the high and low white balance levels for the red, green and blue spectrum. This is a great feature when you need to color match multiple projectors.
While the luxurious control set is great, ultimately, it is the quality of the picture that matters most. In my extensive testing, I found the picture to have great contrast, while the quality of the image was excellent. It was exactly what I expected from a three-chip LCD. I saw better contrast than I expected in images displaying dark night scenes or shadow areas of bright daylight scenes. The image does suffer in one area, which is common with all LCD projectors. When you move into the brightest, being 80% of the image (simply speaking, where the image begins to display what we perceive as pure white), the projector cannot re-produce the blue spectrum with the same intensity as the red and green spectrums (see Figure 1). This differentiation is almost unnoticeable to the untrained human eye. However, it does become slightly noticeable when you place the projector next to or in the same room as a non-LCD style projector, such as a DLP.
The quality image is generated by the optics path and the LCD panels. Sanyo's use of the new D.I.O.S. panels in this projector not only provides a stunning image, but they also reduce the maintenance needed for this projector. We have a group of Sanyo widescreen projectors on our campus that use the older style LCD panels, and have found that they require more maintenance than a newer projector we own that uses the D.I.O.S. panels. On that newer D.I.O.S projector, after 2,500 hours, we have only replaced filters and lamps. No other maintenance to the panels has been needed.
After taking all of the items you would expect on a $30,000 projector and packaging them into a simple, portable, go anywhere, use anywhere projector, you end up with a great looking image and a feature-rich projector, the Sanyo PLC-WM5500-a small projector with a touch of luxury.
