NEC NP-P525UL Review: An Affordable 3LCD Laser Projector

The NEC P525UL is a laser light engine installation class 3LCD projector having WUXGA, 1920 x 1200, resolution and a bright 5,000 lumens rated light output. It offers many features for its current list price of $3,099. This is a commercial/installation class projector that falls toward the lower end, in terms of size, weight, and price, of the installation class of projectors rated at or near 5,000 lumens, especially those using a laser light source.

The P525UL uses a laser/phosphor wheel light engine rated at 20,000 hours of life, which is unusual to find in an installation projector at this price point. The P525UL utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in the previous P502WL series which improves its color reproduction.
While this is an installation class projector, it is also suitable for use in a conference room or classroom. For education use it would probably be of most interest to colleges/universities looking for a low maintenance projector with networking capabilities and perhaps the ability to simultaneously display content from multiple sources, including mobile devices.

While the P525UL is missing some features found on more expensive installation class projectors, including interchangeable motorized lenses, edge blending and projection mapping, at a retail price of just $3,099, the NEC P525UL is still a great value. The P525UL received our Higher Education Best in Classroom: Performance - Runner-up award for being a versatile projector capable of being a very good larger venue ‘entry-level” installation projector as well as suitable for use in certain conference room and classroom applications.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors report.  

A couple of years ago we gave the NEC P502WL a Special Interest award for being a very good large venue installation laser projector for someone looking at entry level units suitable for large conference room and classroom applications. The NEC 525UL offers several enhancements over the P502WL to make it even better.

The NEC 525UL is a small footprint 5,000 lumen installation WUXGA projector with a laser/phosphor light source which is rated slightly brighter than the P502WL. Like the older P502WL, the P525UL uses a laser/phosphor wheel light engine rated for 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation. There is also a Constant Brightness mode to ensure that the P525UL delivers consistent looking imagery over the life of the projector.

The P525UL utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in the P502WL series which improves color reproduction. To ensure consistent color, the P525UL has Self-Color Correction that automatically compensates based on usage hours for the natural color shift that occurs as a projector ages. I’m sure switching from DLP to LCD is also a factor in the projector’s increased contrast ratio. The P525UL is rated at 500,000:1 (with Light Adjust) compared to the P502UL 20,000;1 (with dynamic contrast)

While the P525UL is a WUXGA projector, it can accept 4K@30P content via HDMI or HDBaseT for increased clarity and detail. Like other NEC P Series projectors, the P525UL has manual horizontal and vertical lens shift, 1.6x zoom lens, dual HDMI inputs and a HDBaseT input. It also features USB 2.0A support to power third-party devices and a LAN port for network control and asset management. Combining the optional Wireless Module (NP05LM1) with the MultiPresenter software lets you display for up to 16 simultaneous connections.

What really makes this NEC projector unique is how incredibility quiet it is for such a bright installation projector. The NEC P525UL produces only 22db in ECO Mode and 27db at full power! The P525UL was so quiet in ECO mode that I could barely heard it from 3 feet away.