Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour Posted on October 23, 2007 By Art Feierman 1. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review - Acer PH530 Projector Highlights - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review: Overview2. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones - Acer PH530 Black Levels and Shadow Detail4. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality2 - Acer PH530 Black Levels and Shadow Detail5. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-4 - Acer PH530 home theater projector: Sharpness7. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-5 - Acer PH530 Overall Picture Quality8. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - Acer PH530 Menus - PH530 User Memory Settings - PH530 Projector - Remote Control9. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance2 - PH530 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Acer PH530 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Acer PH530 Projector Brightness - PH530 Projector - Light Leakage - Acer PH530 Audible Noise Levels10. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance3 - PH530 Projector Screen Recommendations - PH530 Projector Measurements and Calibration - Before adjustment - By applying these changes - Grayscale balance was almost dead on the ideal 6500K for movies - PH530 Image Noise11. The PH530 from Acer: Projector Review – Warranty - The PH530 from Acer: Projector Review - Warranty12. Home Theater Projector Review: Acer PH530 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Home Theater Projector Review: Acer PH530 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Acer PH530 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Acer PH530 Projector: Pros - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Cons - Acer PH530 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Acer PH530 Summary13. Acer PH530 Projector Specifications Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical TourOK, let’s start facing the front of the Acer PH530. The manual zoom lens is offset to the left side. It has a 1.2:1 zoom ratio. To focus, turn the trim ring around the lens. The zoom adjust is a slide bar located on the top of the PH530, just behind the lens. Also on the front, is an infra-red sensor for the Acer remote control. At the bottom of the front, near the center, is a bar for dropping the center front foot. There is exhaust venting on the front right. Moving to the top of the PH530, as I have already noted, is the slide bar for zooming in and out. If you move the slidebar to adjust, plan on having to refocus the projector. This is simply less than great build quality, and quite honestly, is fairly common on lower cost projectors – both for home and business. Looking at the top from the rear, you’ll find the control panel toward the back left. The layout is a good one. There is the traditonal power button (once for on, twice for off), a source select button and resync. The rest of the control panel consists of the Menu button in the center, and the four arrow keys. There are also two indicator lights, labeled Temp and Lamp. The Power button lights up as well. OK, that takes us to the back of the PH530, which was a tad disappointing. With the latest generation of home theater projectors, almost everyone has two HDMI (or, less frequently, one HDMI and DVI) inputs. Not so, the PH530 with a single digital input. This is a negative if you lack an AV receiver with HDMI switching (or similarly, an HTPC). After all, ultimately, if not now, then soon, you’ll want a digital source for your hi-def DVD player and another for your cable/satellite feed. Yes, you can buy an outboard switchbox for $299 or so, complete with remote, but that sort of kills off the key feature of the PH530 – its low price. As to the rest of the inputs, there are the usual composite and S-video inputs, plus one component video input (three RCA jacks). There is also an HD15 connector for the classic computer input (analog). Lastly, there is a USB port. I should point out, that the Acer PH530 is one of the smallest and lightest home theater projectors out there, which may be important to some who plan to “take it with them” on vacations, etc. The remote control will be covered in the General Performance page. Time now, though, to consider image quality! 1. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review - Acer PH530 Projector Highlights - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review: Overview2. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones - Acer PH530 Black Levels and Shadow Detail4. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality2 - Acer PH530 Black Levels and Shadow Detail5. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-4 - Acer PH530 home theater projector: Sharpness7. Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-5 - Acer PH530 Overall Picture Quality8. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - Acer PH530 Menus - PH530 User Memory Settings - PH530 Projector - Remote Control9. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance2 - PH530 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Acer PH530 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility - Acer PH530 Projector Brightness - PH530 Projector - Light Leakage - Acer PH530 Audible Noise Levels10. Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance3 - PH530 Projector Screen Recommendations - PH530 Projector Measurements and Calibration - Before adjustment - By applying these changes - Grayscale balance was almost dead on the ideal 6500K for movies - PH530 Image Noise11. The PH530 from Acer: Projector Review – Warranty - The PH530 from Acer: Projector Review - Warranty12. Home Theater Projector Review: Acer PH530 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Home Theater Projector Review: Acer PH530 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Acer PH530 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Acer PH530 Projector: Pros - Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector: Cons - Acer PH530 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Acer PH530 Summary13. Acer PH530 Projector Specifications Acer PH530 Home Theater Projector Review Acer PH530: 720p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality