Toshiba TDP-MT200 DLP Projector review

30 August 2005 0:17 GMT / By Stuart Miles

With Projectors becoming more and more affordable, the option of owning one for footie matches and movie nights is becoming a reality. Toshiba has produced the MT200 a budget model, to suit the middle market. But can it deliver?

The MT200 is all about the entry-level. Its small, sleek, polished white covering will sit comfortably in any iPod loving home. The design isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s compact and will tuck away comfortably in a cupboard when not in use.

Under the shell, the options are basic, but adequate. The back offers connection of Component Video for your console or DVD player as well as DVI input for your laptop or HDMI compatible technology. The latter makes this HD ready and with High Definition becoming a reality in movie, television and console worlds, this can only be a good thing.

The default projection is the widescreen 16:9 format. This is great when it comes to watching the latest blockbuster projected to the size of your living room wall, but annoying if you mainly use this for showing presentations via a 4:3 ratio computer.

It’s clear from the specifications that this DLP projector has been designed for home use and city dwellers with compact bijous will be pleased to see that the minimum projection distance is just 4ft (1.2meters). At this distance you can achieve a crisp image 24in (60cm) in diagonal. Those with slightly bigger houses can also benefit from the projector’s throw.

At the other end of the scale, the furthest projection is almost 40ft (12metres) from the wall and a whopping 290in (7.36m) diagonal. At this size and range, we would expect you to opt for something a little higher up the food chain and in our tests we found the best results were around the 6-8ft diagonal or in layman’s terms about the size of a king size bed sheet.

In our tests with various movies, console games and computer presentations, the colours where sharp, clear, well defined and surprising bright. Toshiba boasts an impressive 2500:1 contrast ratio for the MT200 as well as 750 lumens of light and this meant that you can easily watch this is a light room rather than having to run out and invest in blackout curtains or a new cellar.

Verdict

Overall, this nice tidy little unit will not break the bank. The easy use and lack of technical setup required will certainly appeal to those venturing into projector land for the first time.

The on screen menu system was easy to use if you find yourself having to change the settings, although for the average user we doubt you will need to venture here as most of the setup is automatic including finding your input source.

The design isn't as funky as Toshiba's ET1, but then considering you use this when it's dark, for once looks aren't important. We like it.