Epson EB-530 Short Throw XGA 3LCD Projector

A short throw projector that fills the wall from up close

The Epson EB-530 is a short throw XGA 3LCD projector that sits close to the screen and still throws a large, bright image.

It is built for classrooms, tuition centres and small meeting rooms where space is tight and shadows on the screen are a problem.

The Epson EB-530 is a short throw projector built on Epson's 3LCD three-chip engine.

It delivers 3200 lumens of equal colour and white brightness at a native XGA 1024 x 768 resolution in a 4:3 aspect ratio, with an up to 16,000:1 contrast ratio for crisp text, diagrams and slides even in rooms with some ambient light.

Its short throw lens has a throw ratio of 0.54 to 0.74, which means it fills a large image from very close to the wall or screen, roughly a 100-inch image from about 4 feet away.

Sitting that close is the whole point. Because the projector is right up against the screen rather than across the room, the presenter never walks into the beam.

That removes the shadow that falls across the image in a normal projector setup, and it keeps the bright light out of the presenter's eyes, so there is no squinting or glare.

Connectivity is broad for a compact unit: HDMI, VGA (D-sub 15-pin), USB and a wired LAN (RJ-45) port for network setups.

A built-in 16W speaker means a single unit can cover a small classroom or meeting room with clear sound for a video or presentation, without hauling in separate speakers.

It runs on a 215W UHE lamp and weighs 3.7 kg, light enough to move between rooms yet stable on a table, shelf or ceiling mount.