Casio's first ultra-short-throw projector, the XJ-UT310WN ($1,999.99), combines the company's hybrid LED-laser light source with an otherwise standard ultra-short-throw design. That makes the solid-state light source the obvious point of interest, with its ecological benefits that also translate into a low running cost. If you care more about total cost of ownership than initial price, the XJ-UT310WN ($1,295.00 at Amazon)  can be an attractive choice.

Built around a WXGA (1,280-by-800) DLP chip, the XJ-UT310WN offers a 3,100-lumen rating, making it bright enough for a small to midsize conference room or classroom. It's also in roughly the same brightness class as the 3,300-lumen Epson PowerLite 585W WXGA 3LCD Projector ($944.00 at Amazon) , which is Editors' Choice as a WXGA ultra-short-throw projector.

Among the advantages for the Epson projector is that, like most LCD-based models, its color brightness matches its white brightness. In contrast, as with most DLP-based projectors, the XJ-UT310WN's color brightness is lower than its white brightness. That means full-color images won't be as bright as you would expect based on white brightness. Another key difference is that the XJ-UT310WN costs more than the Epson projector, but has a lower running cost that could save money in the long run.

The solid-state light source is meant to last the life of the projector. That eliminates the need to buy replacement lamps, which typically cost between $100 and $300 each. Casio rates the XJ-UT310WN's light source at 20,000 hours. It also backs it up with a warranty that varies a bit depending on the type of customer you are (business, government, or education), but is a minimum of three years or 6,000 hours.

One strictly ecological plus is that the long life helps lower the projector's carbon footprint, since there's no additional shipping needed for replacement lamps. Also, unlike traditional lamps, the light source is mercury-free.

Basics, Setup, and Connections

At 12 pounds, 2 ounces, and 6 by 16.5 by 13.1 inches (HWD), the XJ-UT310WN is small enough to move by cart, or even by hand, from room to room, but most likely to wind up mounted permanently just above the screen, in a wall mount.

Setup is standard, with a manual focus and no zoom. For my tests, I used a 92-inch (diagonal) image, with the front of the projector 14 inches from the screen, and the window that serves as a lens near the back of the projector roughly 23 inches from the screen.

Image inputs on the side panel include the usual HDMI, VGA, and composite video ports as well an S-Video port, a USB Type B port for direct USB display, and a LAN port for sending both images and audio over a network. There's also a USB Type A port for reading files directly from a USB key or for the supplied Wi-Fi dongle.

Brightness and Eco Modes

In my tests, the XJ-UT310WN was easily bright enough for the image to stand up to the ambient light in a typical office or classroom. In many, if not most, cases, you'll even be able to take advantage of its Eco modes to save on electricity by minimizing power use.

Instead of a choice between a Bright mode and single Eco mode, the XJ-UT310WN offers two non-Eco modes and five Eco modes, so you can pick the one that's just right for your screen size and the level of ambient light. I measured power use for the various modes at a range of about 205 watts for the brightest, and a money-saving 85 watts for the least bright.

As with other Casio models, including the Casio XJ-H2650 , having multiple Eco modes gives you the luxury to pick the best color setting first, and then choose the least bright mode with the brightness you need, instead of having to use the color presets to adjust brightness.

Image Quality, 3D, and Audio

Quality for data images is one of the XJ-UT310WN's strong points. Colors in my tests were generally eye-catching and nicely saturated, although some colors changed noticeably with different presets.The projector did a near-excellent job holding detail, with white text on black crisp and readable at 6.8 points and black text on white highly readable at 9 points.

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Video quality is barely acceptable for short clips. The most important issue I saw was rainbow artifacts (flashes of red, green, and blue), which are a potential problem for any DLP projector. With data screens, I saw almost none of these artifacts. With video, however, they show often enough that anyone who sees them easily will likely find them annoying for any clips that last more than a few minutes.

The XJ-UT310WN offers 3D capability. In this case, it's highly limited, with 3D working only over a VGA connection and only with DLP-Link glasses (not included).

One last feature that demands mention is the built-in audio system. The 16-watt mono speaker delivers better sound quality than most projectors offer and enough volume to fill a midsize to large room.

If you need an ultra-short-throw projector and are more concerned with initial cost than total cost of ownership, or you need video without rainbow artifacts, the Editors' Choice Epson 585W—with better-than-typical video for a data projector—is probably the model you want. If you don't need to show more than a few minutes of video at a time, however, and particularly if you care more about running cost than initial cost, the Casio XJ-UT310WN offers a combination of high quality for data images and an assortment of money-saving and ecologically friendly features that could mean a lower total cost of ownership.

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