Test of Pocket Cinema V10 from Aiptek

Strenghts

- internal hard disk drive
- integrated SD card reader
- integrated media player
- tripod as accessory

Weaknesses

- poor input/output and video/sound jack connections
- poor integrated speakers sound quality
- poor video conversion software

• You will find this product in our online shop picoprojecteurs.com

Contents of the package

In this nice little box, you will find the PCV1O with:

- battery and charger
- USB cable to connect the hard drive of the pico projector to your PC
- AV cable to, for example, to connect the pico projector to your hi-fi (AV out), or to read information directly from an external media such as computer, phone, multimedia player, video game console, etc… (Av in)
- an adjustable tripod
- a CD containing the software for converting videos and user manuals
- a remote control working at a distance up to 5 meters with a long battery life

The hard disk and SD card reader

The hard disk on the Aiptek V10 is a major asset for this mini pico projector. This internal memory makes it a fully multimedia product. You will need nothing but your Aiptek V10 if you are on the move. When projecting, at a conference or a photo session with your friends, you’ll only need to take it out of your pocket and turn it on. All that is needed is stored inside. The size of the hard drive is 1GB, it connects easily to a computer through its USB cable for data transfer. As it’s plug and play, just drag and drop your files.
The PCV10 works just like a USB key. With 1GB of memory you will have enough space to store all your pictures or any Powerpoint presentation (to be saved in JPG format, option available when making your presentation).
If you want to store video clips, you’ll have to be carefull that they are not too big. However, if the proposed 1GB are not enough, you still have the option of the SD card reader! The PCV10 includes an SD card reader that can support SD cards up to 8GB! The prices for such cards are around 15€ for a 4GB and 30€ for a 8GB Sandisk.

Lens

The pico projector PCV10 from Aiptek uses LCOS and LED technology lens as light sources.

LED lens provide many benefits!

They allow us a complete miniaturization of the video projection process. We may soon see them integrated into our mobile phones. Generating minimum heat, they also provide a quiet performance without any annoying fan noise. In fact, the metal plate on top of the Aiptek V10 allows to concentrate all the heat on the surface area and therefore evacuate it by the same.
The last but not least advantage of the LED technology is its life expectancy of 20000 hours. Remember that a conventional projector lens lasts between 1000 and 5000 hours. Theoretically this means that you could leave your pico projector on for over 2 years without turning it off!
You can find articles on this site explaining the functioning of these two technologies: LCOS technology and LED technology.

The battery

With its rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery with a capacity of 3.7 V / 1600 mA/h, this pico projector can project up to 1.5 hours. A full charge takes about 4 hours, which is relatively long compared to other competing products.
Fortunately, thanks to new firmware available on our website, it is now possible to use the pico projector on the sector, without the battery.

Connectivity

The connectivity of this pico projector is somewhat more complex than of other models currently on the market.

In case you want to use your Aiptek V10 as a 2nd screen, or connect it to your game console, you must first purchase a composite video cable (preferably long enough) and a female composite to S-Video male adapter.
You can count 6€ per item, which will make you just a total of 12€ to be added to the price of your pico projector, in case you want to use it as a PC screen or play on your game console.
The small complexity is the weight of the cables connected to each other. This increases the weight of the pico projector at the connections and makes it fall over… and the tripod does not help in this matter. However, there are simple solutions to remedy the situation, I simply blocked the pico projector between two books to keep it still. This affects the esthetics of product in a big way.
It is also possible to connect this pico projector on external loudspeakers, the aux on a stereo hi-fi. In this case you must have a dual RCA cable with a value of approximately 8€. The result is not ideal in terms of amplification of sound. You need to amplify the sound up to hear properly.

Projection

The characteristics of the projection of the Pocket Cinema V10 are exactly the same as for the MPro 110 from 3M. The displayed resolution is 640×480 and its capacity in terms of brightness is 10 lumens.
The pico projector must be installed at 1.5 meters from the projection surface in order to obtain an optimum image quality. At this distance, you get a picture of 95cm in diagonal. With a projection distance of 1 meter, you will get a picture with a diagonal measure of 60cm and the picture will be brighter and more readable. You can also try with a projection distance of 2 meters, and you will get a diagonal of up to 1.3 meters without seriously altering the image quality. We have of course tested much larger projection distances, and we obtained images with diagonals of up to 3 meters! But of course the brightness and intensity of the image are of poor quality. This is still crazy compared to the size of the device. We had a real good time watching our videos on an area of 3 meters by 2 meters! With the room lights down, the result is quite satisfactory for professional use, it is quite possible to project your presentation in a meeting room for example. Switching off the main light, in case you watch a movie, is part of the projection mood in a way.

Video conversion

The video formats accepted by the integrated media player of the Aiptek V10 are AVI, ASF, MP4, H.264. This is announced on the official website of Aiptek. Unfortunately, in practice it is rather different, the Arcsoft video conversion software does not always accept the videos we want to convert. This does not happen all the time, I was more fortunate than my colleague PicOrel on the number of successful conversions. I advise you however to convert to the format ASF and also try some other conversion softwares. There will soon be a section dedicated to video conversion for the Pocket Cinema V10, and we will also open a post dedicated to this topic on the forum which should be online this weekend!

Accessory: The tripod

What is cool with the tripod is that you can point the pico projector towards the ceiling and watch a movie installed in your bed! You can direct the pico projector in all angles, but I would advise you to always leave it perpendicular to the projection surface to avoid distortion of the image as there is no keystone correction option.

Technical specifications

Technology: LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon)
Light Source: White LED
Brightness: 10 lumens
Projection Resolution: 640×480 pixels (VGA)
Ratio: 4:3
Projected Image Size (diagonal): 6″-50″ (15 cm - 127 cm)
Projection Distance: 21 cm - 180 cm
Zoom: Manual
Focus: Manual
Photos: JPEG
Video: MPEG-4 (. AVI,. ASF. MP4) H.264, M-JPEG (. AVI)
Audio: MP3
AV Interface: 3 in 1 AV jack
Audio: Stereo: 0.5 KW
Internal Memory: 1GB
External Memory: SD / SDHC / MMC / MS Pro, up to 8GB
Remote Control: Included
Size: 125mm x 55mm x 23mm
Weight: 100g (without battery) + 55g (Li-ion 1600 mA NP-120)

Conclusion

This pico projector is truly a Hi-Tech jewel, ideal in replacing the conventional video projector for your conferences / meetings or sharing your photos with friends! For business use, it is at the top:

- You are in business and you move a lot?
- You often do presentations?
- You need an MP3 player, USB key?
- You want to transfer images, photos on t-shirts or walls (dedication to painters, artists and grapheurs of all kinds)

do not wait, this product is very attractive, it will literally bluff everybody around you.

• You will find this product in our online shop picoprojecteurs.com

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