Casio XJ-F211WN Laser/LED Hybrid Projector Review – Performance

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Nikki Zelinger

Casio XJ-F211WN Projector Review – Performance: Brightness, Contrast, Audible Noise

Brightness

Color Mode	Lumens
Standard	2563
Graphic	1757
Theater	1629
Blackboard	1501
Natural	2032

Casio claims 3,500 lumens for the XJ-F211WN. I measured its brightest mode, Standard, at full wide-angle (the iris wide open, so the most amount of light gets through), and it came in at 2,972 lumens. Casio's hybrid LED/laser light engine habitually measures below claim, but the XJ-F211WN got the closest to claim of any Casio I've reviewed over the years.

The rest of the modes were measured at mid-zoom (the iris is closed halfway), as it is common for projectors to be installed with a little bit a zoom at play. That same mode, Standard, measured 2,563 at mid-zoom, full power. That’s plenty for most classroom and conference room environments, even with a bit of extra ambient light.

I’ve included two photos in the slider below – the first shows what the image looks like in some serious ambient light, and the second, in a fully darkened room. These photos were taken in Graphic Mode, which is the "best mode" for presentations and graphics, and claims a healthy 1,757 lumens. It performed well! If your environment calls for a bit more brightness, you can go ahead and use Natural Mode, which measured at 2,032 lumens. Standard is best saved for the direst of ambient light circumstances.

The Casio XJ-F211WN projecting in a bright room, with ambient light coming in from a huge sliding door on the right, at high noon.

The Casio XJ-F211WN projecting in a fully darkened room, for comparison.

❮ ❯

Theater, the "best mode" for video, measured 1,629 lumens. Blackboard is the dimmest of the Casio's modes, at 1,501 lumens. Those are all still reasonably bright for most classroom environments, and conference rooms, but I'd want to have at least some degree of control over ambient light. That is, I'd want to be able to turn off the lights during presentations and videos. The room doesn't need to be fully darkened with these measurements.

Contrast

The Casio XJ-F211WN has a contrast claim of 20,000:1, which is pretty standard on a projector at this price point, serving the kind of functions this projector serves. Contrast refers to black level performance, or "how black" the blacks look. Business and education projectors don't require great black level performance in the same way a home entertainment or home theater projector does, so they tend to hang out in the medium grey to medium-dark grey spectrum. We don’t expect them to have true black.

A scene from Journey to Space that shows the projector's black level performance, in color.

A scene from Journey to Space that shows the projector's black level performance, in monochrome for comparison purposes.

❮ ❯

Are the blacks recognizable as black? In the case of this Casio, yes they are. I would call them a medium-grey, which is completely acceptable for such a projector. In the slider above, I have provided a color and black and white photo of the same image from Journey to Space. The color photo shows what the blacks of the projected image look like in real life, and the monochrome photo shows the lightness of the blacks. These images are overexposed to resemble the colors I saw in person, and to give you an accurate idea of what to expect.

Audible Noise

The Casio XJ-F211WN has a pretty loud startup sound, but once it's been on for a few minutes, the audible noise lowers drastically. It has a rated fan noise of 33db at full power, 29db in ECO Mode. That's pretty quiet for a business/education projector. My own home theater projector has a rated fan noise of 31db at full power – for your reference. I can't hear the fan noise on that, and I can't hear the fan noise on this Casio. If you're standing right next to it, you may hear a gentle hum, but it's no worse than any air conditioning.

You likely won't need to kick it into ECO because the fan is already so quiet, but that's always an option. For most, this projector will be ceiling mounted, not placed on a table or desk, so it's really quite unlikely that the operating noise of this projector will be distracting to anyone. When projecting video content with sound, you won't be able to hear it at all.

That does it for our review of the Casio XJ-F211WN projector! On the next page, I summarize everything you learned in the review, and tell you my take on the pros and cons of the XJ-F211WN, as well as discuss the award it won in this year's education report. See you on the last page!