NEC NP-P350W

NEC Display Solutions of America bills its NP-P350W ($1,800 street) as an entry-level professional installation projector, though at 8.6 pounds it?s still light enough to be used as a tabletop or cart-top projector that can be moved between classrooms or conference rooms. Whichever its role, this is one capable business projector.

The NP-P350W, powered by a 3LCD light engine rated at 3,500 lumens, has a native WXGA (1,280 by 800 pixels) resolution. This white projector with rounded corners measures 4.5 by 15.7 by 11.1 inches. While nobody?s going to be racking up Frequent Flyer miles lugging it around, it?s easy enough to move between conference rooms on a cart, or even to carry. ?But should you choose to mount the projector on a ceiling or floor, the vertical lens shift feature will prove handy to this end.?

This projector is rife with connectivity ports, including two VGA ports for a pair of computers, each with an audio-in jack; another VGA port for connecting to a monitor; an audio-out jack; an Ethernet port; HDMI-in; a trio of RCA jacks for composite video; an S-video port; a serial port; a B-type USB port for connecting with a computer; and an A-type USB port for running a presentation off a USB thumb drive. You can also transmit images wirelessly to the projector using NEC?s Image Express 2.0 utility.

Data and Video Image Testing

The NP-P350W threw a bright and clear image that easily stood up to considerable ambient light in our test studio. I tested it from about 10 feet away, with an image about 66 inches (diagonal) The 1.7 zoom makes it easy to adjust to a variety of test images.

The projector did well in data image testing using the DisplayMate test suite, with no major issues. Some white lines against dark backgrounds showed a yellowish tint, and some grays appeared slightly greenish. In our text testing, both black-on-white and white-on-black type was a bit fuzzy though readable at the smallest size, and some of the tiny black letters looked green. Nonetheless, image quality is good enough for any normal business or classroom presentation.

Video quality, as tested using selected scenes from Terminator 2 and The West Wing, was very good for a data projector. Some bright areas looked a bit washed out, with some loss in detail, and I also saw some minor posterization (abrupt shifts in color where they should be gradual). Nonetheless, video quality is good enough to make it suitable for watching longer clips or even movies.

Other Issues

Another plus for video watching is that the NP-P350W?s 10-watt speaker provides audio of decent quality, loud enough to fill a mid-sized conference room. If you want even louder audio, there?s a variable-audio output that lets you connect to a powered external speaker. The projector?s 3-year warranty is a nice plus.

The NEC NP-P350W is an impressive machine, worthy of being on the short list for businesses looking for a capable projector in its weight class. The occasional, mild tinting that I noticed in the NP-P350W?s data image testing shouldn?t be a problem in normal business or classroom situations, but should you require exacting color (say, for museum or photo-studio presentations), the Canon REALiS SX80 Mark II ($3,000 street, 4 stars) is up to the task. The Editors? Choice Epson PowerLite 1880 Multimedia Projector ($1,399 direct, 4 stars) is brighter (4,000 lumens), lighter (7.4 pounds), and less expensive than the NP-P350W, while providing a nearly identical suite of connection ports and similar image quality for both data and video.

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