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Vivitek QUMI Projector - Image Quality

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Art Feierman

Vivitek QUMI Color & Picture Quality

As usual, I started with my laptop connected via HDMI and fed the QUMI its native resolution (1280 x 800).  In any picture mode, the QUMI provided a very nice, sharp image.  In Bright picture mode (which sets Brilliant Color at 8), colors were a bit dark.  Bright mode would probably be best with presentations that required good contrast, but not highly accurate color balance.  Switching to Presentation mode resulted in a very good color balance, one that could be used with any source.  Movie, TV and User modes also displayed good color, with a modest reduction in lumen output as compared to Bright mode.  The unfortunate thing about Movie mode is that, although it has the best blacks, there is too much red in skin tones, making Presentation a better choice for video.  Game and User modes were similar and sRGB mode leaned more toward Bright in its color profile.

Switching over to the QUMI’s VGA input (via the included adapter) resulted in some changes to both the Bright and Game modes.  The Bright mode got brighter, as Brilliant Color was increased to 10, as did Game mode, which was essentially equal to Bright mode through this input.  Other modes displayed no noticeable changes in color reproduction.

As mini projectors can often have problems with brightness uniformity across the screen, we checked the QUMI across a 60” diagonal image.  The QUMI did quite well overall.  The right side of the image was slightly brighter than the center and the drop off was minimal until you got to the extreme left edge of the displayed image, where it was about 20%.

Bright Mode
Presentation Mode
Movie Mode
Presentation Mode
Movie Mode

Vivitek QUMI Projector: Readability

As we found with the recently reviewed Acer K11, the QUMI maintained a sharp, clean image across the displayed image.  Using our usual spreadsheet with a range of text sizes and colors, there was no problem reading small (8 pt.) text on a 60” diagonal projected image.  White text-on-black and yellow text-on-dark blue backgrounds were equally readable as well.

Moving to different resolutions and aspect ratios than the default 1280 x 800, the QUMI proved to be a excellent performer.  Switching to 1400 x 1050 and then down to 1024 x 768, the OUMI was able to provide readable text of any size, with minimal distortion.  We did try to display the QUMI’s maximum specified resolution of 1600 X 1200, but got an “out-of-range” response from the projector.  It should be noted that in most presentations, the input resolution is unlikely to be higher than the QUMI’s 1280 X 800 resolution, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

In 1400 X 1050 Resolution:

Click Image to Enlarge

Vivitek QUMI Projector: Video Quality

The QUMI was a pleasant surprise when it came to video reproduction.  I used the DVD playback from my laptop computer, connected via HDMI, to check out the video quality.  Since I wouldn’t recommend using the Bright mode, the low lumen output requires a light-controlled environment if you’re going to project an image size approaching the QUMI’s maximum (around 90”).  A big plus is that with no color wheel, the typical DLP rainbow effect (most often noticeable in low cost DLP projectors) is eliminated.  As mentioned previously, skin tones look quite good in Presentation mode.  If you want better contrast and deeper blacks, Movie mode will work best, albeit with a surplus of red in skin tones.

When it comes to audio, the QUMI’s tiny, one-watt speaker is only suitable for very small groups or for sound effects more than speech.  Fortunately, the QUMI has an audio output, so you can easily hook it up to externally powered speakers or headphones.

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