Toshiba TDP-EW25 review

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Verdict:

Review Date: 19 Dec 2008

Price when reviewed: £1,035

Supplier: http://www.lambda-tek.com/componentshop

Reviewed By: Barry de la Rosa

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

Toshiba's TDP-EW25 is the largest and heaviest of the projectors here, and therefore not ideal for constant travel between work and home.

However, it's still adept at showing both presentations and videos. It's unique in being the only DLP projector submitted for this category. It's also a short-throw projector, which means it's ideal for small rooms because it can produce a large image from a short distance.

The TDP-EW25 doesn't have an optical zoom, but can project a 166in image at a throw distance of 7ft. It's designed so that it projects at an upward angle, so it can be positioned almost at the same level as the bottom edge of the screen. However, at such a short range, image adjustment is very sensitive, and we found it quite tricky to get a perfectly rectangular image without resorting to keystone correction, which reduces quality. The built-in digital zoom should be avoided as it degrades quality even further.

Once we'd positioned this projector, we were impressed by the colour accuracy and amazing contrast, which is a result of the DLP chip. In our presentation tests, we noticed a shimmering effect in large areas of white. Photos were outstanding, though, demonstrating excellent contrast with plenty of detail in dark areas.

The TDP-EW25 has a 1,280x800 resolution, but it has no HDMI or DVI inputs. Since this meant we couldn't connect our Blu-ray player, we tested HD video playback using a full-quality HD movie from our PC over VGA, and were impressed by the image quality. Colour accuracy and contrast were better than the LCD projectors in this category, although this is a bonus only if you can get used to the DLP's rainbow effect.

The TDP-EW25 costs over £1,000, and the lamp costs are 11p per hour in standard mode and 8p an hour in economy. Despite the benefit of the short-throw projection and the great image quality, it isn't good value.

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