ViewSonic4000 Lumens WXGA High Brightness Projector for Home and Office with HDMI Vertical Keystone (PA503W)

I use the projector for exclusively outdoor movie nights. My previous set up (an ageing NEC projector) has been the source of many happy family memories. With COVID limiting social gatherings, I wanted to create a better experience ... and hopefully one that was easier to set up. Achieving this turned out to be an interesting journey so thought I would share in case it helps anyone. The short version – the View Sonic PA 503S was the winner, but whether this makes sense for you does depend on what you need from a projector. Read on for the details...Initially I went back and forth on whether it was worth upgrading at all. My existing set up was a 10 yr old NEC projector, a bed sheet, and UE Boom speaker. It had the huge advantage of being available & free! However, there were some things I was looking for in an upgrade. Highest on my list was the ability to use a cell phone as an input source (the NEC projector could only use an input from a portable DVD player), plus it needed to be almost fully dark before I started the movie. In addition, it was fiddly to set up and the sound was not great.The screen was the first issue to solve. After significant research, I went with a Yard Master 135” screen. It was expensive, but it works great and I am very happy with it. I can relocate movie watching from where I used to hang the bedsheet to the more convenient location of my back patio – much more comfortable. I addressed the audio by using a Vizio sound bar I had lying around, which gave a huge leap in performance.Now for the projector... and here is where it gets interesting. I attempted to research projectors, but there were only a few sites I could find that did a decent comparison test. In fact, many sites comparing projectors seemed to simply re-cycle the marketing blurb from each product. One can spend $100 or $1000 on a projector, and its not easy to figure out whether spending more gets you a better experience. So I bought 3 projectors and ran a back to back test.The units I tested were the ViewSonic PA503S ($300), the Vankyo Leisure 3 ($127) and the QKK Mini Projector (2020 version, claiming 4200 Lux, cost $100). I also found a cable which promised to turn HDMI signal into an S-Video input, which I could then plug into the NEC projector. Findings below.4th place. NEC projector plus cable. Failed to get out of the starting blocks. The cable did not do as promised, and ended up mangling the Netflix formatting.3rd place. Vankyo Leisure 3. Did a great job with video display. It was a little brighter (but not by much) vs the NEC. The focus ring and keystone adjustment feel like the weak spot for this unit.. and likely all similarly priced mini projectors. On this particular unit, the keystone adjustment was so loose it shifted when you adjusted the focus. And the focus had to be cranked right to end extreme in order to get a sharp image ... to be honest it wasn’t really in focus even then. My guess is that this was just the unit I had... but it did not inspire confidence As with many reviewers, I could not get Netflix to produce sound thru the projector, but that was not a show stopper as I am using a sound bar with ARC-HDMI input as my audio.2nd place. QKK. Like the Vankyo, it did a great job of video, and had the same audio issues. Video was sharp, and a little brighter vs the NEC. It was relatively short throw... I filled the 135” screen at a projection distance of around 12 feet, which worked well for my set up. A word on quality control. Like the Vankyo, focus / keystone adjustment is a weak spot. It’s a very plasticky and crude mechanism. Incredibly I had to buy 3 of these units before I got one that worked. The first one was a lemon – it never focused properly. You could get focus in the center of the screen but not the edges, which really killed us when we had a movie with sub titles. The 2nd unit was lost in delivery. Amazon refunded it. The 3rd one I reviewed here. Its focus ring / keystone adjustment mechanism worked well, and it was easy to get good focus.1st place. View Sonic PA503S. The View Sonic is at a completely different level of quality, plus it offers one huge advantage – it is literally twice as bright as the QKK & Vankyo. Firstly the image – its clear, and the focus is easy to adjust to perfection. No softness at the edge of the screen, it was ‘movie theater’ quality. One slight difference vs the QKK... the throw is a little longer. I needed 19 feet projection distance to fill the screen, thankfully not a problem for my set up. Secondly audio – Netflix works on this unit. Again, I had a work around so this wasn’t essential, but in case that matters for your set up. Most importantly of all, the brightness. The View Sonic claims 3600 lumens. It was (by eyeball estimation) twice as bright as the others. This means I can start watching a movie just as the sun goes down, fully 1 hour before the QKK / Vankyo were viable options. This turns out to be a huge deal. The QKK and Vankyo both needed it to be fully dark to watch the movie. Around here that means starting to watch a movie at 9:20pm in the summer... and therefore finishing well after 11pm. With the View Sonic I can start watching at 8:15pm. For comparison the QKK claims 4200 lux, and after some digging I found a claim of 2200 lumens. So for me, a combination of brightness plus a generally much improved build quality convinced me to keep the $300 View Sonic and return the others.

I will be projecting in a couple of weeks in a dining hall where the entire west end is a glass wall (with no shades or curtains), so there is a lot of ambient light - especially after our noon lunch!I received the projector, unboxed it (it was well packed, including two batteries for the remote), powered it up and was rewarded with a nice bright display. (After powering up, wait about 20 seconds for the full brightness. Also - you can make it even more bright and increase contrast and sharpness through the on-screen menus.)Very basic adjustable feet allow fairly limited vertical/tilt movement of the projector. You may need to use books or other objects if you need it aimed more upwards or downwards.Keystone corrections worked well. At different vertical angles of the projector, I was able to use the digital keystoning to get the image squared up with no problems. (I use a portable projector stand which allows me to pan and tilt the stand and projector easily.)Optical zoom and focus worked well - I tested and got about a nice 9-foot-wide display on a screen with the projector located about 15 feet back from the screen. Based on my very quick and rough testing, for about every 3 feet of horizontal displayed data on the screen, you need the projector to be about 5 feet from the screen.I used an HDMI connection to my laptop as the source, and got very good, clean and sharp displays.Back to the brightness - I tested this in our dining room at 1 PM where the entire wall behind the projector was glass with no drapes or other shading, and the weather was clear and very sunny. The picture was quite clear and definitely bright enough for my audience in a couple of weeks.I am keeping the box, as it is a good size for carrying the projector - otherwise I would need to get a padded bag to carry it.The projector itself is quite light and easy to pull out of the box one-handed and set on the projector stand or table.

If you’ve ever bought one of those cheap temp-brand projectors here, you’ll know that they do not last and they’re not very bright.This projector, on the other hand, is high quality. It’s a known brand, and it shows with this projector. The brightness is top-tier. The image quality is great.I spent too much time researching, and if you’re reading this and wondering why you might spend more money, it’s for the quality, quiet fan (especially on Eco mode), and a nice remote that works well. Get this one if you want a projector that is bright and will last.

Generally satisfactory for use as a very large monitor for the vision-challenged. Pleased with bulb life. The cooling fan failed after 2.5 years. I found that a little soon for my taste.