Optoma PT105

The key thing you need to know about the Optoma PT105 ($200 street) is that it's one of the first representatives of a new category of projectors. Designed specifically for casual game playing, it doesn't offer the level of image quality or brightness that a serious gamer would insist on. However, both are more than good enough to be usable, and probably better than you would expect for the price. More important, the PT105 is small and light enough to be just right for storing away when you're not using it and then setting it up quickly for casual game playing as needed.

You could make the case that the PT105 is a variation on pico projectors, with a DLP-based engine, LED light source, and widescreen VGA resolution (854 by 640) just like the Optoma PK301 Pico Pocket Projector ($400 street, 4 stars). But the PT105 is a lot bigger than pico size, it has a better lens, and otherwise has little in common with pico projectors.

You could also make the case that it's a variation on Optoma's GameTime projectors, like the Editors' Choice Optoma GT750E ($800 street, 4 stars). However, that's only true in the same sense that go-carts are a variation on cars, and Optoma draws that distinction by putting the PT105 in its PlayTime category. The GameTime projectors are aimed at serious gamers. They offer a brighter, higher-quality image and much better audio. A PlayTime projector is for decidedly less demanding users, and it costs a lot less.

Setup, Brightness, and Sound
Setting up the PT105 is similar to setting up a typical pico projector, at least to the extent that the lens lacks a zoom feature, so the only way to adjust image size is to move the 1.9-pound projector closer to or farther from whatever you're using as a screen. Unlike pico projectors, however, the PT105 offers standard connectors on the projector itself instead of adapters that plug into the projector to add the connectors.

The ports include a standard VGA port for a computer, three RCA phono plugs for composite video and stereo audio input, and an HDMI port for a computer or a video source. As with many projectors, the VGA port can also double as a composite video input.

Optoma rates the projector at 75 lumens, which is about the same as the brightest pico projectors. For my tastes I found it bright enough for comfortable viewing at its native 16:9 aspect ratio in a dark room at a roughly 55-inch wide image size (63-inch diagonal), which puts the projector a touch over 10 feet from the screen. For the level of ambient light that's typical for a family room at night, I adjusted the size to 39 inches wide (45 inches diagonally) with the projector about 7 feet from the screen.

Not so incidentally, the distance from the screen is particularly important for the PT105, because you need to sit near the projector if you want to hear the sound well. The 1.5-watt speaker delivers good enough audio quality to be useful, and it's loud enough for two or three people sitting nearby, but it doesn't put out enough volume to fill a room.

Image Quality and Other Issues

The PT105's image quality was a pleasant surprise. Despite being built around an engine with so many similarities to pico projectors, it delivers a much better image. Because the projector itself is so much larger than pico projectors, at 3.2 by 7.8 by 7.8 inches (HWD), it has room for a larger and much better lens, which makes all the difference. ?

Keep in mind that game images present a special challenge for projectors. Data images and video images are different enough so any given projector can handle either type of image well and the other badly. But games share some aspects of each, so for a projector to handle games well, it has to do well with both data and video. The PT105 succeeds well enough with both kinds of images to handle games well also.

The projector sailed through our standard set of?DisplayMate tests, offering fully saturated, eye-catching color and good color balance, with suitably neutral grays at various levels from white to black. Fine detail and text readability was also suitable for the resolution.

On our video tests, I saw a hint of posterization (colors changing suddenly where they should change gradually) and some loss of shadow detail (details based on shading in dark areas), but only in scenes that tend to cause the problem because of poor lighting?an issue that doesn't crop up in games. On the plus side, it did a good job with skin tones, and I didn't see any motion artifacts or other obvious problems.

For games, the PT105's strong points for both data and video images dovetail nicely with each other. What the PT105 does well for both kinds of images is exactly what you need for games, while the minor problems I saw simply don't come up with game images.

The one issue that's always a potential problem for single-chip DLP projectors is rainbow artifacts, the tendency for light areas to break up into little red-green-blue rainbows when something moves on screen or you shift your gaze. Like many DLP-based projectors, the PT105 shows rainbows easily enough with video so people who are sensitive to the effect may find it annoying for a long session, like watching a full-length movie. However they show far less often in data and game images. If you see the rainbows easily, as I do, you're far less likely to consider them a serious issue for games.

I'd like the Optoma PT105 even better if I couldn't see rainbow artifacts with it at all, but aside from that, it's an impressive projector for the price. And if you tend not to see rainbows, or don't mind seeing them, that's not an issue in any case. Serious gamers will still find it worth spending more money on a projector like the GT750E. But if you're looking for a small projector that's easy to set up, can handle games well enough for casual play, and doesn't cost much, the Optoma PT105 is not only a strong contender, it's really the only casual game playing projector in town.

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