ViewSonic ships $499 budget DLP projector

ViewSonic addressed a price-conscious audience on Wednesday and shipped the PJ513DB, its latest DLP front projector. The all-black unit is a rare nod to improving the base quality for budget projectors and uses more recent Texas Instruments hardware to generate 2,200 lumens of brightness and a 2,000:1 contrast ratio. Both are vivid enough to be used clearly in ambient light, the company argues. Although capped at an 800x600 native resolution, the new projector can recognize larger resolutions through VGA and accepts 720p or 1080i widescreen video through relevant adapters, such as a bundled component adapter or third-party DVI attachments.

The display maker also supplies several preset color modes for different environments, a quiet and long-lasting mode that keeps the lamp usable for up to 3,000 hours, and a semi-portable design that weighs 5.7 pounds. ViewSonic claims the PJ513DB is already available now for $499.