Hello Everyone,

I have started this thread after getting 0 search results for the Sony MP-CL1.

THE QUESTION?

So far I have found very little information as far as the Laser projectors go. In short I need help in finding a DIY Screen or a Commercially available screen that would give best possible gain to the image being projected.

BACKGROUND & REVIEW:

I am new to the world of projectors & after probing the reviews & information available on the internet, I have bought the MP-CL1 as a starter for the following reasons,

1- Value for money. Needed large screen display on the go with almost no budget at all.

2- Wanted to experiment out of intrigue.

3- The idea was to use it in a dark room for watching movies only.

Conditions in which the MP-CL1 is being used so far,

1- A dark room with...

2- Walls painted in light tone paint & a white ceiling, while the image is being projected on an...

3- MDF sheet with lightly textured white Melamine lamination.

How I have found it to be so far after using it for a month?

Let me start from the beginning,

1- The moment I started it, the results were very underwhelming & the reason was mainly due to an un-calibrated projection.

2- The calibration process in optical alignment & Biphase Alignment was a painstaking job that needed a good deal of patience & perseverance. I guess that's the part & parcel of buying an extremely affordable HD projector.

3- As I have learned more & have grown in experience with this device, I am pleased with what this little thing has to offer.

Things I liked.

1- Colour reproduction is great. I have found it to be far better than even 3lcd projectors costing 3-5 times its price & this is combined with the fact that...

2- It has an exceptionally superior contrast ratio to even the aforementioned projectors.

3- It offers a very good dynamic range & so does not blow out the details in highlights.

4- Is very very very power efficient.

5- Has HD projection. I have so far not been able to spot the pixels even at 120" projection. I think its due to the fact that its a laser projector.

6- Extremely handy.

7- Value for money for all the reasons mentioned above.

Things I wish were better,

1- The joy stick is crazy & the Calibration process is eeeehhh...

2- Image Sharpness could be better (Not bad at all though)

3- Wish it had a remote control

4- Low Lumens is the only real thing that sometimes leaves you wanting for more (though its not as low and its understandable as its a Portable Pico Projector) which brings me to the point why I am here...

OK a quick update regarding my experience with this gadget. After learning the trick of making software tweaks to the video being played back via the following options in the video player, I now find myself fully satisfied with the performance of this projector specially considering the amount I paid for it. We are now enjoying this projector as a full time home or shall I say room theater for watching movies at 120" Diag and everyone in the Family loves it.

Certain video players have the "image adjust" tab under the video settings. Here are the options you can explore to greatly improve the projection quality,

1- Brightness: I'd not recommend increasing brightness by too much as this causes small yet important details in the brighter areas of a frame/scene to wash out. So you may just increase it enough so that most of it is still retained. This also effects the black levels.

2- Contrast: Here too increase only to the extant that the blacks are closer to what they were before the brightness was increased.

3- Saturation: You may or may not want to fiddle with it depending on the video being played.

4- Gamma: This is where you can get the best results by increasing or decreasing the gamma values after making all the adjustments mentioned above.

5- Sharpness: This will also depend on the video being played. What I have found so far though is that old movies from the 60s to 90s and 3D animated ones would usually require higher sharpness values.

The obvious downside to all that is the effort one needs to make in order to find the best settings before the movie can be enjoyed.

Thanks so much for your detailed post. I read reviews but was wondering about image quality on larger projections sizes.

I am considering it for ocassional watching on bedroom ceiling and summer outdoor cinema, buteven though I live in Japan, I would have to import it and it would cost me around 500$ including importing fees.

Have you tried watching Netflix or Hulu with it? Don't you wish it had 3D?

Thanks again!