The Optoma X303 provides a good set of connection choices and solid data image quality for a lower-priced business or classroom projector. Portability and 3D capability are among its other strengths.
The X303 is a DLP-based data projector with XGA (1,024 by 768) native resolution, a 4:3 aspect ratio. It is rated at 3,000 lumens. This all-black projector is quite portable, measuring 4.6 by 12.4 by 8.8 inches, weighing 4.9 pounds, and coming with a soft carrying case. It has the same weight and dimensions as the Optoma S303, its SVGA counterpart.
It has a good selection of ports for a low-priced projector, including two VGA-in (which double as component video); monitor-out; serial; an RCA composite video jack; S-video; HDMI, 2 audio-in; 1 audio-out; and a USB type B port. It lacks a port that lets you run a presentation computer-free off of a USB thumb drive.
Data Image Quality
I tested the X303 from about eight feet away from our test screen, where it projected an image about 60 inches diagonal. The image stood up well to a fair amount of ambient light.
In our DisplayMate testing, the X303 showed data image quality suitable for typical business or classroom presentations. In text testing, type was a bit blurred at the two smallest sizes of white-on-black type, but still readable. There was slight yellow tinting in some white areas.
In testing over a VGA connection, some gray areas with hatched textures appeared greenish and showed pixel jitter. Its ability to display very light shades of gray was unusually poor. However, when I switched to an HDMI connection, the gray tint and pixel jitter disappeared, and it did a much better job with light grays.
The rainbow effect, in which little red-green-blue flashes appear in areas of high contrast—a common phenomenon in single-chip DLP projectors—was apparent in images that tend to bring it out. Still, in data images it's not likely to be an issue, even to people sensitive to it.
p>Video and AudioThe X303's video quality is suitable for relatively short clips as part of a presentation. Here, the rainbow effect in our test clips was apparent enough that it would be distracting to anyone sensitive to the effect. Some scenes appeared overly red.
The audio from the projector's single 2-watt speaker is of decent quality, though on the soft side, loud enough to fill a smallish room.
Other Issues
The X303 provides 3D support for DLP-Link. It doesn't come with any of the active-shutter 3D glasses that you need, though. Though the glasses have come down in price, with pairs selling in the $30-40 range, outfitting a classroom with them is still an expensive proposition.
The X303 has a better selection of ports than the Editors' Choice Epson PowerLite 93+, a portable 2,600-lumen resolution data projector, and is slightly brighter, at least in white light. However, it lags the Epson 93+ in both data and video image quality, and its sound is much softer. One edge that it does have over the Epson 93+ is its 3D capability.
The X303 costs a bit more than the Optoma S303 while providing higher resolution. This could be an advantage in projecting smaller detail, though the S303 held its own in text testing. Otherwise their features are pretty much the same.
The X303 matches up pretty well with the BenQ MX518 as a lower-priced XGA business projector. They both have a good (and very similar) port selection, 3D capabilities, and are very portable (though the BenQ MX518 lacks a carrying case). Their data and video quality, though unspectacular, is suitable for typical business or classroom use, and their audio systems are on the soft side.
Though it lacks the bells and whistles of some higher-end models we've tested, the Optoma X303 has much to recommend it. It's quite portable, has ample connectivity choices, 3D capability, and image quality suitable for typical presentations. This budget-priced alternative should be a good fit for many schools and businesses.
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