Casio Ecolite XJ-V110W LED/Laser Projector Review – Performance

These lumen measurements were taken with the lens roughly in the middle of it’s 1.5:1 zoom range, and with the projector warmed up for a while before checking. Solid state projectors hit maximum brightness right away; they tend to dim down slightly as they warm up. So the XJ-V110W should actually be a bit brighter on first startup than after 15 or 20 minutes of use.

You may be wondering why a 3500 lumen projector is only producing 2700+ lumens. The Casio has a slightly confusing approach to pre-set modes, and brightness, so many things are basically sort of hidden, including what is the true brightest mode.  To get maximum output from the projector, you need to go into the Leaf menu and switch “Light Control” to “Off.” Doing so gives you a screaming-bright 3200 lumen picture (mid-zoom), but no control over color, brightness, contrast, or preset mode. It’s what we often called a true native mode.  In other words, it’s a separate control that bypasses all the others, leaving the image be reproduced with the light engine output unaltered by various processing for color balance.

While many projectors have a native mode, (in some cases called Dynamic), most allow some control to be added.  Of course modifying a native mode for improved color can only result in less lumens.  Just know, that if you need every last lumen, and then some, the Light Control:  Off mode, is the brightest, it just certainly isn’t the prettiest.  This isn’t really any different than using a “Presentation” mode, instead of a Dynamic mode with most other projectors.

You can also reduce brightness when needed. The “Light Output” control uses a scale from 1-7 and defaults to 7, the brightest. In Standard mode, Light Output 7 measured 2772 lumens. Standard Mode with Light Output at 1 measured only 1508 lumens, with a fairly steady decrease from step to step. This takes the place of a manual iris or an “eco-mode” lamp control, since the projector has no lamp.