Physical Tour of the Mitsubishi ES100 and EX100 DLP Projectors

Starting from the front, the lens is recessed, for protection when moving it around. The lens cap is tethered to the projector, to prevent you from losing it.

Moving to the top just behind the lens, are the recessed projector lens controls – manual zoom and focus. They have a good feel to them, and moving one, does not end up causing the other to move, as happens in some less well built projectors. (It is extremely annoying if you go to zoom in, and the projector goes out of focus…)

On the top, towards the back center, is the control panel. It’s got all your basic stuff: Power On/Off, Menu, 4 arrow keys and an Enter key inside the arrow keys. Three of the arrow keys have different functions when you are not using the menus: Two are for source selection. The Computer button can toggle you between the two computer inputs, and the Video button, switches you between multiple video inputs. There is also an Auto Position button that locks on to the signal to make sure it’s all showing and stable. Lastly there are the power and indicator status lights.

And that takes us to the back of the Mitsubishi projector, and its many inputs.

There are two computer inputs, and one can alternately handle a component video signal. You’ll also find the usual S-video and composite video inputs. Now for sound, there are three sets of audio inputs (two more than most projectors) – one each for the composite video, the S-video, and the computer.

For outputs, there is the monitor out, that educators and others using desktop PCs require, even though most lower cost projectors lack a monitor out. There is also an audio output so you can control the volume of external amplified speakers. (That’s another hot item for schools, not found on most projectors.)

Lastly there are the Mitsubishi ES-100 and EX-100 command and control functions. First, there’s an Infra-red sensor (IR) for the remote control, then there’s an RS-232 for controlling the projector’s features from a computer, and a USB port so the projector’s remote control, with its remote mousing functions, can be hooked up to your computer. That will allow you to turn pages in Powerpoint and other programs.

For sound, the Mitsubishi EX-100 and ES-100 portable projectors both have a 2 watt amplifier and speaker. The projector inputs are all stereo, and the projector mixes the audio down to mono. The sound is better than most small projectors, although if this is important to you, there are a few, affordable larger projectors that have more serious sound (Epson has a couple of more expensive projectors with two 5 watt speakers).

Overall, lots of functionality for small business and education projectors. As the picture indicates, it has an attactive, sculpted look, not the traditional box we are so used to. For a six pound projector the footprint is fairly typical, just a bit larger than a sheet of paper: 12.2 x 9.6 inches. The projector is 3.9 inches tall.