Hitachi iPJ-AW250N Projector - Performance

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Art Feierman

April 2012 - Anthony Arrigo

Hitachi iPJ-AW250N Projector - Brightness

Projector brightness is obviously one of the most important factors in buying a projector. Interactive projectors are no exception. The iPJ-AW250N is rated at 2500 ANSI Lumens buy the manufacturer. I should point out that there are always deviations from what the manufacturer specifies and what is measured during testing. There are many factors that can contribute to the differences, but we try to at least determine how close to the manufacturers specifications a projector performs.

Being that this a ultra short throw projector, measuring can be be more prone to errors. For instance when measuring a long throw projector you simply place the meter against the screen and get a measurement. However, with ultra short throw the angle of the meter is extremely important. For my measurements I play the meter against the screen and I do not tilt the meter to towards the lens at all. Tilting the meter results in very obvious readings that are not correct. Now lets move on to how the projector performed under the testing method mentioned.

In Normal Mode which is the projectors brightest setting the lumen output was 2184. I should note that the iPJ-AW250N has two modes. A Normal Mode where the projector produces its brightest image and a ECO Mode for lamp conservation. However, within each Normal and Eco mode there are various color modes that change the brightness of the image. The next measurement was Normal Dynamic Mode and it measured brighter at 2224. The next mode is Normal Board(Black) Mode which measured 2380 lumens. The projector is boosting brightness to compensate for the darker surface. There is also a Normal Green Board Mode and it measured 1792. Normal WhiteBoard Mode produced 1162 lumens. Normal Daytime Mode really boosted brightness to 2380 lumens. The final mode was Normal Cinema Mode and it came in at 2058.

Moving to ECO Mode we find a a pretty sharp decline in brightness, but this exactly what ECO Mode is suppost to do. Eco Normal Mode produced 1386 lumens. ECO Dynamic Mode produced 1036 lumens. ECO BoardBlack produced 1484 lumens. ECO BoardGreen Mode dropped sharpness quite a bit to 1064. ECO WhiteBoard mode I got a reading of 742. Daytime ECO Mode had a meter reading of 1470 and ECO Normal Mode produced 1386 lumens.

Hitachi iPJ-AW250N Projector - Audible Noise

When evaluating the projectors audible noise I often look for how many times I noticed the projector working while I am taking notes. The specs show that in the projectors Normal Mode it produces 34dB and 28dB in its lower brightness ECO Mode. Projectors often have a lower brightness mode to extend the life of the lamp. Recommend using it if it produces a image that works well for your environment.