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Acer H7531D review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £750
inc VAT

Great connectivity, but picture quality lets the H7531D down

Specifications

1,920×1,080 resolution, 2 ANSI lumens, 95x294x229mm, 3.2kg

http://www.box.co.uk

Acer’s H7531D is a Full HD 1080p home cinema projector firmly aimed at the living room. It’s small enough to sit on a book shelf, so you should have no trouble finding somewhere to put it. Plus, it’ll look great wherever it goes thanks to its attractive white and silver case.

Acer H7531D

A decent array of ports on the back make it fairly simple to connect to your existing setup – two HDMI ports, component, S-Video and VGA outputs should be enough for most equipment. The single 3.5mm audio input isn’t so useful: the feeble 2w speaker isn’t going to challenge a proper hi-fi system. It could at least make itself heard over the cooling fan, which stayed very quiet even after a few hours’ use.

Acer H7531D

There are a few controls on the top of the unit, but you’ll mostly rely on the remote control to tweak picture settings. It’s hardly comprehensive, but there are zoom and aspect ratio controls. Lens adjustments are manual, though, so you can only alter the picture digitally without reaching for the projector itself. Keystone correction is present as expected, but degrades image quality.

Acer H7531D

The on-screen menu system is plain, yet easy to navigate – picture options include brightness, contrast and colour tone, as well as tint, saturation and black levels. If you prefer using presets, there are eight different picture modes – Movie and Sports look the best, creating the most accurate flesh tones and balanced colours. Game and Presentation both pushed the brightness too far, creating a washed-out image.

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Details

Price £750
Details www.acer.co.uk
Rating ***

Specifications

Projector technology DLP
Lamp brightness 2 ANSI lumens
Lamp life 2,500
Lamp life in economy mode 4,000
Contrast ratio 50,000:1 dynamic

Picture

Native resolution 1,920×1,080
Max compressed resolution 1,600×1,200
Aspect ratio 16:9
Other aspect ratios 4:3
Max diagonal at 7ft 59in
Throw ratio 1.51:1 to 1.83:1
Optical zoom 1.2x
Projection distance 1.5m to 10m
Mirror image yes
Invert image yes
Lens shift horizontal 0%
Lens shift vertical 15%
HD Ready yes
Special view modes Movie, Dark Cinema, Game, Sports, User, Bright, Standard, Presentation

Inputs/Outputs

VGA input yes
DVI input No
Sound inputs 3.5mm
Composite input yes
S-video input yes
HDMI input yes
PAL support yes
SECAM support yes
NTSC support yes
Audio output none
Video output none
Others inputs/outputs RS232

Other

Noise (in normal use) 30dB(A)
Size 95x294x229mm
Weight 3.2kg
Internal speakers yes (2W mono)
Extras remote, carry case, cables (VGA, component video)
Remote special features aspect ratio, zoom, freeze
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 285W

Lamp

Lamp cost (inc VAT) £130
Lamp supplier www.projectorshop24.co.uk
Lamp cost per hour of use £0.05
Lamp cost per hour of use (economy) £0.03

Buying Information

Price £750
Supplier http://www.box.co.uk
Details www.acer.co.uk