Pros & Cons
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- Highly portable, at 1.7 pounds including battery.
- SVGA (800-by-600) resolution.
- Comes with 22.5-inch folding screen.
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- Included screen makes the carrying case relatively large.
- Volume for built-in audio is too low to be useful.
Toshiba TDP-FF1AU Specs
| Aspect Ratio: | 4:3 |
| Built-In Speakers: | Yes |
| Computer Interfaces: | Analog VGA |
| Depth: | 4 inches |
| Engine Type: | DLP |
| Height: | 2.2 inches |
| Keystone (Optical or Digital): | Digital |
| Native Resolution: | 800 x 600 |
| Rated Contrast Ratio: | 1500:1 |
| Remote Mouse Support: | No |
| RGB Pass-through Connector: | No |
| Supported Video Formats: | 1080i |
| Supported Video Formats: | 480p |
| Supported Video Formats: | 576i |
| Supported Video Formats: | 576p |
| Supported Video Formats: | 720p |
| Type: | Business |
| Type: | Consumer |
| Video Interfaces: | Composite |
| Warranty Labor: | 24 months |
| Warranty Parts: | 24 months |
| Weight: | 1.1 lb |
| Wi-Fi connectivity: | No |
| Width: | 5.5 inches |
| Wireless Connectivity: | No |
| Wireless Remote Control: | Yes |
When the Toshiba TDP-FF1AU Mobile Projector ($699 direct) arrived at my door, I took one look at the box and thought that someone must have made a mistake and sent me a large-screen notebook instead of a tiny projector. Opening the box to reveal the soft yet sizable carrying case—13.75 by 18.75 by 5 inches (HWD)—did nothing to change my mind. But when I opened the case, I found the reason for the large size: a bundled screen, an essential extra that the TDP-FF1AU's competition lacks.
The screen, complete with its own stand, measures 20 by 16.75 inches, with the screen material measuring roughly 22.5 inches diagonally. (Toshiba fudges on the size, calling it 23 inches.) Folded in half and packed up in the case, it measures a still-large 10 by 16.75 inches. But even folded, the screen is less than half an inch thick, which leaves plenty of room in the 5-inch-deep case for a separate compartment to hold the power block and cord, the VGA cable, and the credit-card-size remote. The projector itself comes tucked away in a corner of the case, in its own small compartment.
The TDP-FF1AU measures just 2.2 by 5.5 by 4.8 inches (HWD) and weighs a scant 1.7 pounds, complete with the included battery, which Toshiba says is good for 2 hours on a full charge. Without the battery, the projector's depth is only 4 inches, and its weight is 1.1 pounds.
The TDP-FF1AU is one of a new breed of projectors that combines a DLP chip with an LED light source. Traditional DLP engines create the primary colors—red, green, and blue—by shining white light through color panels on a spinning wheel. LED-based engines use three LEDs that cycle through the primary colors. Leaving out the wheel yields a smaller engine size, which means a smaller projector. The
Toshiba's model is notable among these projectors for making the battery standard, rather than optional. Other goodies include the remote control, a built-in audio system complete with a speaker, and, of course the folding screen. The audio isn't loud enough to be truly useful, but it's paired with an output that works with both headphones and external speakers.
Aside from the audio input and output, the only connectors on the TDP-FF1AU are a VGA port, a composite video port, and a USB connector to let you plug in a thumb drive and show JPEG files stored on the drive. Setup consists of plugging in the cables and power cord (assuming you're not using the battery), selecting the source, pointing the projector at the screen or any handy wall, and manually focusing the image. I found the focus ring a little clumsy to use because it's recessed so far into the top of the projector and resists turning just a bit, but it was still easy enough to focus.
The current generation of LED-based projectors isn't bright enough to let us measure contrast ratio reliably, but there's no problem measuring brightness, which came out to 16 lumens for the TDP-FF1AU. That may sound like almost nothing compared with most projectors, but keep in mind that the perception of brightness is nonlinear—that is, if you double the lumens, the perceived brightness barely changes. You have to increase the lumens a lot to see even a little difference.
Based on some informal tests, the TDP-FF1AU is in the same league as the other LED-based projectors I've seen, such as the Samsung Pocket Imager. At night, with typical ambient room light, it can project a usable 40-inch image from about 58 inches away. Dim the lights and you can stretch out the image a bit more. On a bright day, with sunlight streaming through windows, the image is bright enough to let you take advantage of the full 22.5-inch screen size. Of course, on a standard screen, that might not be possible, but the Toshiba's screen is engineered to handle less-than-optimal room-lighting conditions. The screen's gray surface helps deal with ambient light and improves contrast ratio by helping to keep black areas dark. It's also made of a high-gain material that reflects most of the projector's light into a relatively narrow cone. The image is brighter within that cone than it would otherwise be, and dimmer outside of the cone. In addition, the screen is designed to absorb ambient light from above, such as ceiling lighting. According to Toshiba, the horizontal viewing angle for the screen is 33.3 degrees in either direction, and the vertical viewing angle is 15.8 degrees up and down. This combination of features gives a notable boost to both perceived brightness and contrast ratio for any projected image.
As with most DLP-based projectors, the TDP-FF1AU suffers from a rainbow effect, with white areas on the screen breaking up into red, green, and blue when you shift your gaze or an object on screen moves. Some people are more sensitive than others to this effect, but it tends to be more prominent in LED-based projectors. If you see the effect with any DLP projector, you can be sure you'll see it with the TDP-FF1AU.
The image quality was otherwise suitable for giving presentations, watching DVDs, playing games, or showing images from any device with an appropriate output. If you want the small size and high portability that you can get only with LED-based projectors, the TDP-FF1AU offers more features than any other current choice, and it costs less, too. That makes it the clear winner—and the first Editors' Choice—in its category.
Benchmark Test Results
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Final Thoughts
Toshiba TDP-FF1AU
The Toshiba TDP-FF1AU Mobile Projector is less expensive than other projectors that use LEDs, offers more features, and comes with its own 22.5-inch screen.