Projector Reviews

Acer V7850 4K DLP Projector Review – Hardware 1

Acer V7850 4K Capable Home Theater Projector Review – Hardware 1: Overview, Inputs and Connectors, Lens

Overview

Acer says the V7850, and it sibling H7850, are the worlds smallest 4K UHD projectors and I have no reason to doubt that claim.  This projector’s cabinet measures a compact 15.7″ x 11.7″ x 5″ which is smaller than many of the popular 1080p models from manufacturers such as Epson and JVC, but larger than some of the really compact 1080p models.  In any case the V7850 is small enough and light enough, at just under 12 pounds, to easily move around or to mount.  The V7850 has two 5 watt built-in speakers and Acer provides a carrying case with the projector in keeping with its potential use as a portable projector.

The V7850 has an attractive white cabinet, and as seen in the 1st photo above, the projector’s lens is located toward the right of center and a ventilation exhaust vent toward the far left on the front panel.  The IR receiver for the remote control is located to the right of the lens and an adjustment foot extends from the bottom of the projector.

The right side of the projector, as seen in the 2nd photo above, has the air inlet grill and one of the projector’s two speakers.

The rear of the projector, as seen in the 3rd photo above, has the connector panel (more info on that is below).

The left side of the projector, as seen in the 4th photo above, has one of the projector’s two speaker and a ventilation exhaust vent that wraps around the front corner of the projector.

The top of the projector, as seen in all of the above photos, has the lens adjustments, the control pad, and a receiver for the remote control’s which are discussed below.

Inputs and Connectors

Acer V7850-Proj-Connectors

The V7850’s connector panel is shown in the above photo.  Included, from left to right, are connectors for LAN (wired network), RS232 (for control), two HDMI inputs (with only HDMI-2 supporting 4K/UHD signals and also MHL),  analog computer (i.e., vga) input and output connectors, analog audio input and output connectors, USB 5 volt output, 12 volt output (trigger) and a service connector for firmware updates.  The power connector is located toward the bottom-left of the rear panel.

The Lens

The V7850 has a 1.6X zoom lens, as seen in the 1st photo above, with manual focus and zoom adjustments.  The zoom adjustment is accessible thru the opening in the top panel, as seen in the 2nd photo above.  Focus is made via a ring on the front of the lens.  This model also has vertical lens shift which is adjusted by a pop-up knob located just behind the zoom adjustment, as seen in the 2nd photo above.  I found the lens to offer good focus uniformity over the entire image.

Since this projector lacks lens memory or even power focus and zoom, it is not well suited for use in combination with a wide aspect ratio ‘scope’ projection screen.  This model would normally be used with a standard 16 x 9 screen.