Viewsonic PJD5533w Projector - Performance

Posted on July 21, 2013 by

Viewsonic PJD5533w Projector - Brightness

The PJD5533w is rated at 2800 lumens. As light meters and measuring methods vary quite a bit, typically if our measurements are near 90% of the rated output, that’s a solid result. As the PJD5533w has a limited 1.1:1 zoom, there was virtually no difference in the output throughout the zoom range. At full wide zoom in Brightest mode, we were able to achieve 2488 lumens.

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At mid zoom (where all other measurements were taken) and the projector displaying a 70” diagonal image, there was no change in output, coming in at 2488 lumens as well. Full telephoto zoom was 2486 lumens. Consistent with other reviews, our measurements were taken at the brightest point of the image.

Using PC mode, the output dropped to 1973 lumens, which is still plenty for most uses. The two User modes, Movie, Dynamic PC and Dynamic Movie modes also all came in at 1973 lumens. ViewMatch mode registered 1541 lumens.

Dropping the lamp into Eco brightness mode resulted in a drop of about 20%, which still provided 1973 lumens in Brightest mode. The rated lamp life is a very good 5000 hours in Normal lamp mode and increases to an even more impressive 6000 hours in Eco mode, so either way you’re getting very good brightness and lamp life. As we’ve noted with previous models, turning Brilliant Color (BC) off has a great affect on lumen output.

With the PJD5533w, turning off BC results in a whopping 70% drop in output, dropping the Brightest mode from 2488 lumens to only 720 lumens. As turning BC off has no positive effect on image quality, there’s no good reason to do so.

Above, the Viewsonic PJD5533w projector in its brightest mode.

Viewsonic PJD5533w Projector - Audible Noise

The Viewsonic PJD5533w is rated at 33 dB in Standard lamp mode and 29 dB in Eco lamp mode. This noise level is only slightly higher than many home theater projectors in the PJD5533w’s price range and better than the average for multimedia projectors, especially ones this bright.

The Eco lamp’s 29 dB level in particular is noteworthy, as it is basically inaudible from a few feet away while the projector is still putting out almost 2000 lumens in Brightest mode. That’s a good thing because the built-in 2-watt speaker doesn’t have enough power to overcome much projector noise.

Viewsonic PJD5533w Projector - Networking

The PJD5533w has no network control or projection capability. If networking is desired, Viewsonic has the PJD6543w projector, which is similar to the 5533w in all other aspects.