ViewSonic PLED-W500 review

The PLED-W500 has four picture modes (Brightest, PC, Movie and Picture) and we found Movie and Picture the most accurate, with the latter providing a slight extra boost to colours. This made presentations with stark graphics and text stand out more. Whatever mode you choose, you’ll see the downside of the LED lamp’s low brightness – a lack of contrast. Even with the lights turned out, we found blacks weren’t deep, and when watching a film we noticed the black bars above and below the movie were lighter than the black fabric of the screen around them.

We also didn’t like the PLED-W500’s controls. The control panel on the projector itself is too small, and its flat, oddly-shaped buttons are frustrating to use. The menu system itself isn’t that clear, with black text on a dark grey background that’s barely legible under bright lighting, and the main control panel doesn’t mirror the controls found on the remote control. The projector also took around five seconds to switch between each video input.

Its low weight and carry case make the PLED-W500 ideal for presentations on the move, as long as you can turn out the lights, or don’t need to project a large image. However, the Epson EB-W12 is brighter, has better image quality and is only slightly larger, so is a better bet unless you really value the Viewsonic projector’s low power consumption and huge bulb life.