A low-cost competitor to the Editors' Choice NEC NP-M311W($578.36 at Amazon), the Epson EX6220 WXGA 3LCD Projector ($599.99) delivers the same resolution and essentially the same brightness (at a rated 3,000 lumens, compared with 3,100), along with excellent quality for data screens. It lacks the NEC NP-M311W's 1.7x zoom lens, which is enough to keep the latter projector firmly in place as Editors' Choice. But the EX6220 ($535.78 at Amazon), with its 1.2x zoom, is a highly attractive alternative at a lower price.

As the WXGA 3LCD in its name indicates, the EX6220, like the NEC NP-M311W, is built around a three-chip WXGA (1280-by-800) LCD engine. That gives both projectors the same resolution as the ViewSonic PJD6683ws, which is built around a DLP engine. Either of those differences—the lens or the type of engine—can be enough to make you prefer the Epson or NEC model on the one hand or the ViewSonic model on the other.

The short-throw lens on the ViewSonic PJD6683ws lets you project a big image from close to the screen. That can be an important advantage in a small room, particularly if the audience is also close to the screen. On the other hand, the ViewSonic model's lens doesn't zoom. Even the 1.2x zoom for the EX6220's lens gives you some flexibility for how far you can put the projector from the screen for a given size image. This can be particularly helpful if you move the projector regularly and need to set it up repeatedly.

The choice between LCD and DLP engines can be even more important. Virtually all DLP projectors today, including the ViewSonic PJD6683ws, offer some level of 3D support. Most LCD projectors, including the Epson and NEC models, don't. So if you need 3D, you're pretty much limited to DLP projectors.

That said, three-chip LCD projectors like the EX6220 also offer two advantages over DLP models. First, they don't project the rainbow artifacts that almost all DLP models show. And, second, their color brightness and white brightness match, which isn't always true for DLP projectors. That's important, because a difference between the two can affect both color quality and the brightness of color images. (For more on color brightness, see Color Brightness: What It Is, Why It Matters.) With an LCD projector, you don't have to worry about that.

Portability, Brightness, and Setup

At 5 pounds 5 ounces and measuring 3.1 by 11.6 by 9 inches (HWD), the EX6220 is easy to carry, and Epson ships it with a soft carrying case to make it even easier. However, it's also a size and weight that often winds up permanently installed or on a cart.

The 3,000-lumen rating is absolutely typical for projectors in the EX6220's weight class today. As a point of reference, using the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) recommendations, that rating would make it bright enough for roughly a 210- to 280-inch (diagonal) image size in theater-dark lighting, assuming a 1.0-gain screen. In moderate ambient light, it's bright enough for a 140-inch (diagonal) image. For smaller screen sizes, you can also switch to a lower-brightness preset mode, Eco mode, or both.

Setup is standard, with manual controls for the focus and 1.2x zoom. Image inputs on the back panel include all the most common choices, with an HDMI port for a computer or video source, a VGA port for a computer or component video, and a composite video port. In addition, there's an S-video port, a USB Type B port for direct USB display and for controlling the computer mouse from the projector's remote, and a USB Type A port for reading files directly from a USB memory key or for connecting an optional ($99.99) Wi-Fi dongle.

Note that if you plan to get the Wi-Fi dongle, you can save some money by buying the Epson EX7220 Wireless WXGA 3LCD Projector ($649.99) instead. According to Epson, it's the identical projector, but in black instead of white, with the dongle included, and with a lower price than the cost of buying the EX6220 and the dongle separately.

Image Quality, Lamp Life, and Audio

The EX6220's quality for data images was excellent, with our standard suite of DisplayMate tests turning up only minor issues. I saw some minor jitter with an analog connection in images that tend to bring the problem out, but nothing that you're likely to notice, much less find bothersome, in real-world use. Colors in every predefined mode were vibrant and well saturated, and the projector did an excellent job with detail, with both white text on black and black text on white appearing crisp and readable at 6.8-point size.

Video quality is limited by the native 1,280-by-800 resolution, but that's still sufficient to let the projector show 720p HD video without having to scale the image (to avoid echo). More important, the video quality is far better than what you'd typically see with a data projector. If you're not too much of a perfectionist, you might even consider it good enough to use as a home entertainment projector.

Also worth special mention is the combination of a longer-than-usual lamp life—at 5,000 hours in Normal mode or 6,000 hours in Eco mode—and a lower-than-usual cost for a replacement lamp, at just $99. The two features together help keep running costs down.

The audio also counts as a plus, with the two-watt mono speaker offering reasonably good quality and enough volume to fill a small- to medium-size room. Unfortunately, however, there's no audio output. If you need better quality, stereo, or more volume, you'll need to go around the EX6220, with an external sound system that you won't be able to control through the projector's menus.

If you need 3D functionality, the ViewSonic PJD6683ws is a strong contender, particularly if you can make good use of its short-throw lens. If you don't need 3D functionality and prefer an LCD projector with its guarantee of being rainbow-free and delivering matching color and white brightness, you should certainly consider the Editors' Choice NEC NP-311W, with its 1.7x zoom lens. If you can do without that level of zoom, however, the Epson EX6220 WXGA 3LCD Projector delivers essentially the same brightness as the NEC model and a touch better image quality at a lower price. That's more than enough to make it a potentially attractive choice.

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