Pro7827HD Home Cinema Projector

What with it being the Euros and Olympics this year, I thought I’d finally take the plunge and invest in a projector for my living room. Having done quite a bit of research, I established that an important feature for good colour reproduction is something called rec.709. With this in mind, I narrowed it down to the ViewSonic pro7827 and Benq w2000. The price difference between the 2 was quite surprising (viewsonic being a lot cheaper) for what appeared to be a very similar set of features. Both were recommended on projector-central and having already bought a ViewSonic projector for my office, I thought I would use them again as I’ve had no complaints so far. I have the projector connected to my Sky box & I have not been disappointed as the picture quality is fantastic and the colours are equal to, if not better than my Sony HDTV. A nice additional touch is a hidden HDMI at the front which I use for my wireless streaming dongle.

--Packaging-- Something that both Amazon and ViewSonic are often great about is their packaging and protection of products on route. This was no different, inside of multiple layer of protection which were both cardboard and foam is a well protected projector. The projector in no way touches the outer boxes and it sits within a foam frame, around which is place for the included cables, cable management and quick start guide as well as remote. --Design-- Following suit from previous models in ViewSonic’s Lightstream range this projector has a brushed dark grey (almost black) colour, almost all the ports are at the rear like most projectors and are well covered / protected when the cable management is on. The cable management allows for cables to be routed either left, right or down making it perfect for any setup. The on projector Controls are full buttons instead of temperamental touch style buttons. As well as the standard focusing lens you also have the ability to lens shift with a dial, this is view handy and helps when you're trying to project at an odd Angle but of course you also have to projection tilt buttons too. As far as rear inputs this projector has a large array making it perfect for your home cinema setup. Dual Audio In, Single Audio Out, S-Video, Video, 5V Standard USB (Perfect for powering a Google Chromecast or Amazon FireStick), Dual HDMI ports (One of which supports MHL), VGA In, VGA Out, Mini USB and a RS-232. Advertised as a 1080P Home Entertainment Projector and with this wonderful design, features and ports it’s perfect for any setup but with the Rec.709 Cinematic Colour it’ll make for a wonderful home cinema setup. One thing to be aware of it the lumens are 2200 meaning you can’t expect this to make amazing in daylight, in fact it’s designed for the darker the better. One of the main features of this projector is it’s DarkChip3 DMD which is designed for enhanced contrast, true blacks and brilliant whites alongside the Cinematic colour this all has the aim of creating the perfect home cinema colour. --Setup-- Super Easy to setup and adjust for the screen, using the built in projection pattern helps to get the maximum size, sharpness and line up the projection perfectly, it's such a simple thing but makes it so much quicker getting you into the action faster. --Experience-- The built in audio is far louder and cleaner than I expected from a projector meaning if the kids are watching it, it’s daytime tv or a presentation that you’ll be fine not to use an external speaker however i’d always recommend one because the audio lacks a bit of a punch and spoils some of the most action packed cinematic moments. The built in fans do give off some noise which is clear when watching quiet scenes if the projector is mounted close to where you are sat, although it’s not a lot, similar to that of a computer so you’ll be able to ignore it but be aware it's not silent. Lumens are the main way to understand just how bright the projector is and at 2200 you may think that this projector is somewhat low but in fact it helps to improve the experience. When watching movies you expect dark scenes to be black and immersive but with a projector that has very high lumens this scenes can become grey and in some cases completely change the mood of the scene. What’s great about this projector is it’s combination of lumens, rec.709 colour and true blacks help to create a very immersive true to the cinema feel at home. This is something that's been needed for a long while and previous projectors I’ve owned have not come close to the quality of image produced by this model. Thinking back to the introduction of full 1080p in TV there was one thing we all noticed that was the difference in quality and how impressive of a different it was. I’ve used a number of projectors at different resolutions and although this isn’t the first at 1080p it’s the most impressive. Being about to see all the facial wrinkles and hairs makes the whole cinema experience so much more immersive and when watching from BluRay these are very clear. Straight out the box some projectors can have bad factory calibration that puts off first time users but that’s not the case with this model and watching in those default settings makes for a great experience. I did however change up the settings throughout testing this model to find that sweet spot and perfect calibration for my setup which was somewhat easy to do. One of the most annoying things that ViewSonic still havn’t been able to improve is there built in Menus, sadly this model is no different. When doing advanced calibration you’ll find yourself going in and out of the menus a lot as they do not feel designed for doing multiple changes at once. However the custom options and settings are expansive allowing you to calibrate everything that feels necessary. Most standard users won't run into this issue but for those who want to perfect the image quality you may do. This projector features a hidden section on the side which can house a small hdmi stick. It’s behind a panel with a small screw it in so you don’t need to worry about it coming dislodged. This compartment has a hdmi input and micro usb charger. I actively went to try to use this with a Google Chromecast but it didn’t power up, even after trying by switching the MHL powered port incase it made a different. Putting the Google Chromecast into a different rear port worked fine with the standard cable. --Overall-- I think that ViewSonic have really stepped up in terms of quality with this product, it’s the closest i’ve ever felt to the cinema at home and with its array of both ports and customisation settings it makes for the perfect first leap into home cinema for anyone. I’d recommend this projector to anyone who enjoys the cinema and wants the stunning quality they expect on a large screen, make sure you are aware of the issues and annoying points I have highlighted though although these may not affect you but it’s best to know what to expect from this type of product.

Had this projector for some time now and really like it. Only downside is a slightly noisy fan, although you tune this out reasonably quickly. Picture is brilliant and 3d looks amazing. Projecting onto painted wall gives very good results. The major plus for this projector is the different positions you can use it from, e.g. you can project from the side of where you are sitting and still get an excellent picture. Thoroughly recommended.

Best projector I've owned by far. I found the rec709 setting to be stunning projecting a 120 inch image. Highly recommended at every level.

Had two of these and returned them both. The Fan was too noisy to even think about watching a film with.

This thing has been around for over 3 years, yet still sells loads. Easy to see why. I'm not an expert, just an average tech lover so please keep that in mind as i give my findings. Over the last 2 weeks I've tested a few projectors, all with the aim of bedroom use or occasional front room use. Now this ViewSonic LightStream Pro7827HD has a great sharp and fully adjustable picture out of the box. Very clear and no fuzzy text at all. Sound was loud via the fire stick on even the first volume setting of 1. Menu does seem very dated compared to other projectors, even their own M1 mobile projector. I was able to project this from about 9ft at 120 inches. I've barely made any changes, so props for that.There is adjustment in the image from all corners and angles on this model. Many do not have this level of adjustment at the price. Only downside for me is the fan noise, it's loud. In fairness I do not think there is a silent one on any brand , so my own wish for silent will have to be kept for another day. Once there is audio though It soon gets drowned out. Huge bonus is a side compartment that can hide an amazon firestick and also a usb to power it. Great for me as not hanging out the back. 4/5 stars for me. If I had it ceiling mounted and a good sound system I image the 4/5 would become a 5* review. Update 11/04/19 Despite giving this 4/5 stars I had to return it due to the loud fans on my unit.

The best value for money high end full hd projector available in the market.

Good but may not last. This is the second one I have had in the last 15 months. The first blew up after 15 months use, about 2000 hours. I suspect the power supply or circuit board failed blowing the bulb into shards of glass. The supplier of the first one, Just Projectors, were spectacularly unhelpful and instead tried to sell me an Optima projector which was horrible. I had enormous difficulty in sourcing a native bulb or a bulb and housing complete and after two months I gave up and ordered this one from Amazon. So far very good: good bright picture with great contrast out of the box in the dark or with lights on. Crisp focus. At least this time I have a spare bulb but if it is a component issue the cost of repair is huge, even supposing spares can be found. ViewSonic have a terrible reputation for customer services without any apparent UK base. Very difficult to get a replacement bulb to sit securely in the original housing. I gave up. A bit of advice. Don't bother trying to source bulb/housing from the numerous projector bulb 'specialists' you can find on the internet. Go direct to Aliexpress and one will come direct to you from China.