MaximumPC 2007 07

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our current video projector has a 4:3 aspect ratio, but you’re planning to

move up to a high-def model with a 16:9 aspect ratio next year. In the

meantime, you need to replace your projection screen, which your two-year-

old recently mistook for an artist’s canvas. Quite the pickle, eh?

Epson has an easy solution for your dilemma: Its unique Accolade Duet

projection screen can deliver either aspect ratio from the same package.

Instead of unrolling up or down from a horizontal position, the Duet is verti-

cally oriented and opens to the left and right. Open it (one-handed) to the

first position and it becomes a 65-inch screen with a standard-definition 4:3

aspect ratio; open it to the second position and it’s an 80-inch screen with

an HD aspect ratio of 16:9.

The screen fabric is a typical matte white and can be washed with a

rag moistened with water. In our test environment, the Duet was slightly

less reflective than our Draper Piper portable screen, but it exhibited excel-

lent off-axis viewing, which is important if you’re entertaining a large audi-

ence that can’t all be seated directly in front of the screen.

The Duet’s screen clips onto its tripod stand, so you can carry both items

as a single unit, but you won’t want to lug it far: It weighs 27 pounds (more than

twice as much as the Piper). The tripod contributes to a rather large footprint:

33 inches deep by 37 inches wide. If you need to keep the screen closer to your

wall, you can mount it there—Epson provides the necessary hardware in the

box. You can still close the screen when it’s mounted, and you can take it off

the wall and again pair it with the tripod to take your show on the road.

The fact that the Duet is $100 cheaper than the Piper makes up

for the fact that it’s not quite as bright; in fact, we think we’ve

found our new favorite projec-

tion screen.

—MICHAEL BROWN

Accolade Duet Projection

Screen

Epson lets you have it both ways

W

ith apologies to the Beach Boys, wouldn’t it be nice if there were an inex-

pensive video projector that was small enough to fi t in the palm of your

hand yet capable of throwing a 68-inch image? And while we’re dreaming, how

about giving it the option of operating on a Li-Ion battery. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice?

Toshiba’s go-anywhere TDP-FF1AU delivers on much of that dream.

There’s just one crushing problem: This projector is about as bright as a black

hole. OK, maybe that’s too harsh, but with a brightness rating of just 400 ANSI

lux, you’ll need a room that can be darkened to pitch black in order to be satis-

fi ed with this tiny device’s output.

If you can’t do that, you’ll want a projection screen with both high con-

trast (in order to enhance the display of black and other dark colors) and high

gain (in order to achieve maximum brightness). High-contrast screens, however,

typically have negative gain ratings. This is because they use gray or silver

fabric, which renders dark areas of the image closer to black while keeping

bright areas of the picture about the same as they would be when displayed on

a matte-white screen.

Toshiba bundles a rigid 23-inch tabletop screen with the projector,

which is manufactured with a high-gain silver coating on its display side.

It proved capable of reflecting an image in a room darkened only by mini-

blinds, which is something neither our usual Draper Piper test screen nor

Epson’s Accolade Duet (reviewed above) could do. Toshiba’s screen, how-

ever, is really useful only for business presentations: It folds up to fit in the

included carry bag, but a vertical seam right down the middle of it remains

visible when in use.

As a business tool, we think Toshiba’s projector is a better value than the more

than twice-as-expensive Casio XJ-S35 we reviewed in May (which is also powered

by DLP technology), but we can’t recommend it for home-theater or gaming

applications unless you can abso-

lutely darken your media room.

—MICHAEL BROWN

Toshiba TDP-FF1AU

Video Projector

Now we understand how it can run on batteries!

84 MAXIMUMPC july 2007

reviews TESTED. REVIEWED. VERDICTIZED

The absence

of support in

the center of

the screen

could cause

it to sag over

time.

A tiny footprint and an ultra-quiet cooling fan are among the few

upsides to this DLP projector’s dim image.

7

TDP-FF1AU PROJECTOR

$700, http://www.toshiba.com

ACCOLADE DUET

$250, http://www.epson.com

9

MAXIMUMPC

KICKASS

5.5” wide by 2.4”

deep x 4.9” high