ViewSonic LS700HD Laser DLP Home Projector Review - Hardware

ViewSonic LS700HD Home Theater Projector Review – Hardware: Overview, The Lens, The Control Panel, The Input and Connector Panel, Menus, Remote Control, Speaker, 360 Degree Installation, Keystone

The ViewSonic LS700HD is on the smaller side of the typical home theater projector. It’s not small per se, but it’s small compared to other comparable home theater projectors. The LS700HD measures 15.59 wide x 12.36 long x 6.18 tall inches and weighs 15.7 pounds. Automatic vertical Keystone Correction makes setup easy. Projector placement is flexible because the LS700HD can be installed on a table top or ceiling mounted in front of the screen, or behind on a table or ceiling mounted if paired with the right screen. Front table or ceiling mounting will be the most common placement.

The front of the LS700HD houses the lens and an IR Remote Sensor for the included remote control. The projector features adjustable front feet to control the elevation of the projected image. ViewSonic included audio with a 2-watt amp and a speaker located in the rear. The left side of the projector is where the hot air exhaust is found, with the exhaust vent wrapping around to the front corner of the projector.

Manual zoom and focus controls are located on the top of this unit, along with the control panel. The rear of the projector houses all the inputs and connectors; there are few connections but plenty for its primary intended use as a home entertainment projector. Enough of the overview, let’s get into the hardware on this projector.

The projector’s lens has manual zoom and focus rings located on the top of the chassis above the lens under a cover. The LS700HD has a 1.3x zoom and a throw distance of 1.5-8.79m (100"@2.5m). In addition, its projected image range is 60" on the short to 300" being the largest recommended projected image size. This lens offers a projection offset of 100%+/-5% and a throw ratio of 1.13~1.47.

All of my demo content was projected onto a Da-Lite Cosmopolitan 120” screen which is just under the mid-size screen recommended by the manufacturer. I could see no distortion or image artifacts that could be attributed to this lens. It appears to be well matched to this projector, as it should be. I think you’ll be happy with the theater experience that is provided by this lens.

Throw Distance for a 16:9 Screen

The LS700HD’s control panel is located on the top of the projector when facing the projector’s lens. Whether the projector is placed on a table or ceiling mounted, the control panel will still be easily accessible.

The power and standby button is located toward the top rear of the projector. The rest of the panel is located just right of this featuring 3 LED indicators that show power status, temperature alert, and light source status. Next to this is the main control section. Two smaller, round buttons control menu activation and exit and the second button controls inputs. Above these two buttons is a four direction controller used for navigating the projector’s menu system as well as manual keystone adjustment and volume control. Lastly, there is a single enter button in the middle of the directional controls.

The ViewSonic LS700HD offers a simple panel of inputs and connections on the rear of the unit, but it’s everything you need for your home entertainment/gaming purposes. The A/C power cord connects in the bottom left corner of the panel. On the right side, there is a blue audio-in 3.5mm mini-jack port. Below that you will find a green audio-out mini jack port to connect external audio equipment and speakers to the projector.

To the immediate left of the audio ports are the dual HDMI ports for connecting High Definition video gaming systems and Blu-ray Disc players, as well as laptops and other similar media sources. Next is a Mini USB port on the top left, which provides connectivity for fast data, audio, video. Then, we have a VGA port labeled “Computer In” which is useful to connect PCs for computer gaming on the big screen, an RS-232 port for legacy command and control.

There is also a Mini-USB port for connecting card readers and other media for PC-Free Presentations, and a yellow Component Video (RCA) port for legacy video game systems and other old-school video devices. It’s not a huge amount of connections, but it’s still plenty for most primary uses and its price point.

Once the LS700HD is positioned, the user can select the desired picture mode and make the usual adjustments (contrast, brightness, color and tint) to the picture. There are 5 preset and 2 user picture settings in the easy menu. There are also multiple gamma settings available in the advanced color settings. After spending some time with the unit, I determined S-RGB looked the best.

The LS700HD comes with a built-in 2-watt mono speaker located on the side of the projector. The volume adjustment is located on the remote. There’s not much that I can say about this speaker other than it makes sound. It’s not loud and it tends to distort as you turn it up, especially with dynamic entertainment content. I’d highly recommend that all users connect the projector into an external sound system. The sound was always too quiet for my personal taste.

So, what does 360-Degree viewing mean when it comes to the ViewSonic LS700HD? Robust mechanical construction allows the projector to be installed in nearly any position, at any angle from floor to ceiling. You can mount the projector pointing at the walls, ceilings straight up or down for pretty much any installation need. If you are using this projector in a more professional fashion, this feature is well-suited for an art installation or tradeshow. Upside-down, right side up even at a 45-degree angle should you require it, it’s flexible.

While it doesn’t offer lens shift, the LS700HD does provide horizontal and vertical keystone correction to square up the image on the screen if the projector can’t be placed in an ideal location. This is super handy if needed, but remember engaging keystone correction also degrades picture quality so, as we’ve stated in numerous reviews on our website, we at Projector Reviews do not recommend using it unless there’s no other way to position the projector optimally.