Acer K330 Projector - Performance

Acer K330 Projector - Brightness

The K330 is rated at 500 lumens.  As there is no zooming ability, all measurements were taken with the projector displaying an 80” diagonal image with the projector just under 8 feet from the screen.  Consistent with other reviews, our measurements were taken at the brightest point of the image (usually near the center bottom of the image).

Selecting the Bright picture mode (the brightest), we measured a high of 424 lumens, about 15% less than advertised.  Using Presentation mode, the output dropped to 349 lumens.  Next, Standard mode dropped slightly to 312 lumens.  Video and Picture modes, which were very similar in appearance, also were nearly identical in lumen output at 297 and 312 lumens respectively.  Game mode matched Video mode with 297 lumens and User mode (in its default settings) was equal to Standard or Picture modes at 312 lumens.

In addition to the above picture modes, the K330 also has settings to maintain proper color balance when projecting on walls of different colors.  The wall color setting is available in any picture mode and affects the lumen output of the Bright picture mode as follows:  White (default mode) – 424 lumens, Light Yellow – 318 lumens, Light Blue – 371 lumens, Pink – 301 lumens and Dark Green – 265 lumens.

Somewhat unusual for a mini projector, the K330 has an Eco lamp mode.  Measuring the Bright picture mode with the Eco lamp setting, we came up with 380 lumens, a minimal 10% drop.

Acer K330 Projector - Audible Noise

The Acer K330’s LED light source runs cooler than traditional lamp-based projectors and the reduced heat generation allows the two small fans that create air flow through the projector to run relatively quietly.  Acer does not provide a dB rating, but, like the K11, I would suspect it is around 30 dB in Eco lamp mode.  Subjectively, the projector is relatively quiet for its small size and the built-in two watt speaker is able to overcome the fan noise.