Canon LV-8225

Setting up the LV-8225 is standard, with a manual focus, a manual 1.2x zoom, and a keystone correction feature if you choose to use it. However, the projector offers an unusual array of connectors that is very much worth mention. Although there are only three connectors for image input on the back panel, one does double duty and another does triple duty, so you can plug in most sources you might like to use. The catch is that if you want to use multiple sources, you may not be able to plug everything in at the same time.

One VGA connector can connect to a computer, to a component video source (which is a common option), or to an S-video source (which is highly unusual). To use component video or S-video, you'll need to get an adaptor, however. The second VGA connector can also connect to a computer, or it can work as a pass-through monitor port by changing a setting in the projector menus. Finally, there's also a composite video port.

Missing from the list is an HDMI port. Until recently, an HDMI port on a data projector was unusual enough so this wouldn’t be worth mention. However the port is becoming more and more common on both computers and projectors. Its absence here is particularly annoying, because the LV-8225 offers unusually good video quality for a data projector. Without a component video adaptor, a component cable, and a video source with component video output, however, you're stuck with standard-definition 480i or 480p. An HDMI port would have made it a lot easier to take advantage of video at higher resolutions.

Brightness and Image Quality
As I've already mentioned, the LV-8225's brightness is a little on the low side by today's standards, but until recently would have qualified as typical. It was certainly bright enough in my tests for a reasonable size image for a small conference room to stand up to the likely level of ambient light.

The projector also did well on our standard suite of DisplayMate tests for data image quality. Colors were vibrant, bright, and well saturated, and text was readable down to the smallest sizes we test with. Black on white text was a little more readable than white on black, but that shouldn't be a problem, since black on white is the more common choice. I saw a slight color balance issue, but only on an image designed to bring it out.

Video images were surprisingly high quality. I saw just a touch of aliasing on diagonal edges in some scenes, but skin tones looked natural, and I didn't see any posterization (colors changing suddenly where they should change gradually) even on scenes we use because they tend to show the problem. The projector also handled shadow detail (detail based on shading in dark areas) much better than most data projectors, although it wasn't quite in the same class as home theater projectors. Unfortunately, without an HDMI connector, all of my tests were limited to 480i.

The LV-8225's built-in audio system is hardly worth having at all. The volume is easily high enough to fill a small conference room, but a severe bottom-of-the-barrel echo effect makes spoken words hard to understand. If you need good sound quality, plan on using an external sound system.

The LV-8225's built-in audio system is hardly worth having at all. The volume is easily high enough to fill a small conference room, but a severe bottom-of-the-barrel echo effect makes spoken words hard to understand. If you need good sound quality, plan on using an external sound system.

Very much on the plus side, the lamp is rated at 4,000 hours in standard mode and 6,000 hours in Eco mode (which Canon calls Quiet mode). Both lifetimes are significantly longer than the typical 2,000 to 3,000 hour ratings for most projector lamps. Given the $179 cost for a replacement, the long lamp life promises significant savings in running costs over the life of the projector.