mattmeow
11-12-07, 05:38 PM
My Review: Viewsonic PJ558D
http://www.projectorcentral.com/ViewSonic-PJ558D.htm
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/projectors/pj558d/
I couldn’t find any other reviews for this projector so I figured I would do my part and write one myself. Hopefully I'll add some pictures soon too.
Compared to other projectors I have used:
My first projector was an Infocus X1, which I got about 2 years ago. The Viewsonic would be replacing this. I also had the chance to use a sharp xr-10x for a few weeks. I was quick to come to the conclusion that the Viewsonic looked much better than the X1, and also a considerable amount better than the sharp. The Viewsonic is stunningly bright and clear. It is literally too bright at nighttime, and I have to turn it down. The X1 was a great projector but I could never watch movies during the day. The Viewsonic can handle daylight much better. The resolution increase from 800x600 to 1024x768 is nice. HD trailers look beautiful on the Viewsonic, where the quality was similar to that of DVD’s when seen on the Infocus. Compared to the sharp the Viewsonic looked much brighter. The sharp is rated at only 500 lumens less (2000 lumens) but the Viewsonic still looked significantly brighter.
Initial Reaction:
My first reaction to the projector was basically “Wow this is bright.” 2500 lumens is unimaginably brighter than the 1000 lumens of the X1. With just the white Viewsonic logo showing the entire room was lit up very brightly. The Viewsonic is about as loud as the X1 was, and they are both rated at 37 db. The picture looked very bright and clear, but was washed out on some of the light hues of grey. I turned the brightness down and it looked much better. When you turn the projector off it goes into a “cool down” mode in which the fans rev up to a very high (and very loud) speed for a few minutes.
Why I chose the PJ558D:
I initially considered upgrading to a native 1080p projector, but my screen was already built in 4:3. I also view a lot of 4:3 content, and use the computer (winamp) a lot. So I decided that I would stay with a 4:3 projector. Aside from that, I got an amazing deal on the Viewsonic, refurbished from a popular online retailer. The refurbished projector only has a 90-day warranty, but the retail units have a nice 3-year warranty, and 1-year bulb warranty.
Problems I Had:
After about a week, I couldn’t get the projector to turn on. The projector was receiving power but would not initiate its “boot” sequence. When I pressed the power button, the LED would flash once, and then go back to standby mode. I called Viewsonic and they didn’t help me much. 24/7 tech support is REALLY nice but the most they could tell me was to try a different outlet and request an RMA. I decided to research the problem myself, and tried a few different things. I removed the projector from the ceiling and plugged the projector into my computer using USB (this didn’t seem to do anything), I tightened the screws on the lamp cover, and I pressed and held the power button. I’m not quite sure what I did to fix the problem, but eventually I got the projector to turn on, and I haven’t had any problems with it since.
Setup:
Screen: Approx. 6’ * 8’ Panel board mounted on a wooden frame, and hung on the wall. Coated with Kilz II flat latex primer and topped with Behr Clear Matte Polyurethane #780. I used primarily the methods covered under the Fneasy screen project to build the screen.
The projector is mounted on the ceiling approx. 15’ from the screen. I built the mount myself using acrylic and a ball mount. This ended up being too close for the zoom range on the Viewsonic. A 15’ VGA cable connects the projector to the HTPC.
Sound: Onkyo Receiver powering Athena Point 5 MK II speakers. Subwoofer is one of the old (good) Dayton Sub-120’s.
HTPC: Athlon 64 3400+, 1GB ram, 750Gb HD, ATI x800. Windows XP Pro. Audio is connected via optical out. I use “ASIO 4 all” and winamp for music, and I use WinDVD for movies.
About Me:
I’m a 22-year-old college student studying Electrical Engineering.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/ViewSonic-PJ558D.htm
http://www.viewsonic.com/products/projectors/pj558d/
I couldn’t find any other reviews for this projector so I figured I would do my part and write one myself. Hopefully I'll add some pictures soon too.
Compared to other projectors I have used:
My first projector was an Infocus X1, which I got about 2 years ago. The Viewsonic would be replacing this. I also had the chance to use a sharp xr-10x for a few weeks. I was quick to come to the conclusion that the Viewsonic looked much better than the X1, and also a considerable amount better than the sharp. The Viewsonic is stunningly bright and clear. It is literally too bright at nighttime, and I have to turn it down. The X1 was a great projector but I could never watch movies during the day. The Viewsonic can handle daylight much better. The resolution increase from 800x600 to 1024x768 is nice. HD trailers look beautiful on the Viewsonic, where the quality was similar to that of DVD’s when seen on the Infocus. Compared to the sharp the Viewsonic looked much brighter. The sharp is rated at only 500 lumens less (2000 lumens) but the Viewsonic still looked significantly brighter.
Initial Reaction:
My first reaction to the projector was basically “Wow this is bright.” 2500 lumens is unimaginably brighter than the 1000 lumens of the X1. With just the white Viewsonic logo showing the entire room was lit up very brightly. The Viewsonic is about as loud as the X1 was, and they are both rated at 37 db. The picture looked very bright and clear, but was washed out on some of the light hues of grey. I turned the brightness down and it looked much better. When you turn the projector off it goes into a “cool down” mode in which the fans rev up to a very high (and very loud) speed for a few minutes.
Why I chose the PJ558D:
I initially considered upgrading to a native 1080p projector, but my screen was already built in 4:3. I also view a lot of 4:3 content, and use the computer (winamp) a lot. So I decided that I would stay with a 4:3 projector. Aside from that, I got an amazing deal on the Viewsonic, refurbished from a popular online retailer. The refurbished projector only has a 90-day warranty, but the retail units have a nice 3-year warranty, and 1-year bulb warranty.
Problems I Had:
After about a week, I couldn’t get the projector to turn on. The projector was receiving power but would not initiate its “boot” sequence. When I pressed the power button, the LED would flash once, and then go back to standby mode. I called Viewsonic and they didn’t help me much. 24/7 tech support is REALLY nice but the most they could tell me was to try a different outlet and request an RMA. I decided to research the problem myself, and tried a few different things. I removed the projector from the ceiling and plugged the projector into my computer using USB (this didn’t seem to do anything), I tightened the screws on the lamp cover, and I pressed and held the power button. I’m not quite sure what I did to fix the problem, but eventually I got the projector to turn on, and I haven’t had any problems with it since.
Setup:
Screen: Approx. 6’ * 8’ Panel board mounted on a wooden frame, and hung on the wall. Coated with Kilz II flat latex primer and topped with Behr Clear Matte Polyurethane #780. I used primarily the methods covered under the Fneasy screen project to build the screen.
The projector is mounted on the ceiling approx. 15’ from the screen. I built the mount myself using acrylic and a ball mount. This ended up being too close for the zoom range on the Viewsonic. A 15’ VGA cable connects the projector to the HTPC.
Sound: Onkyo Receiver powering Athena Point 5 MK II speakers. Subwoofer is one of the old (good) Dayton Sub-120’s.
HTPC: Athlon 64 3400+, 1GB ram, 750Gb HD, ATI x800. Windows XP Pro. Audio is connected via optical out. I use “ASIO 4 all” and winamp for music, and I use WinDVD for movies.
About Me:
I’m a 22-year-old college student studying Electrical Engineering.