Also known as handheld or pocket projectors, pico projectors are extremely compact and lightweight for convenient, everyday carrying and use. They're portable alternatives to the traditional bulky office projectors or home theater projectors, and they still offer the same kind of interactive media viewing and presentations. Pico mini projectors can work with laser pointers or webcams, as well as allow you to control computers.

Pico Pocket Projector Types

Stand-alone pocket projectors connect to other devices via A/V, USB, or HMDI cables to display content on manual wall and ceiling screens. Embedded pico models come as small hardware modules inserted inside laptops and digital cameras, as well as mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, for seamless operation. USB projectors don't have batteries, thus, you need to connect to mobile devices like smartphones or tablets for both power and content. Media player pico models are multimedia projectors with internal memory or memory card slots. You can play your files directly from the projector's storage, eliminating the need for an external system.

What to Look for in a Pico Projector

The brightness (measured in lumens) is probably the most important factor in a projector, as it affects the picture quality. Laser pico projectors have more lumens because they produce a focused light beam, hence, better image quality. The contrast ratio of portable smart projectors also affects picture quality. This is simply the ratio of light reflected from an all-white image to that of an all-black image. For example, if you choose HD pico projectors with a contrast ratio of 80,000:1, then it means that the white image is 80,000 times brighter than the black image.

Pico Projector Display Types

The main projection technologies used in pico models are digital light processing (DLP), liquid crystal display (LCD), and liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS). DLP models are affordable options that use tiny mirrors to reflect the light toward or away from masking electric screens. They work perfectly in darker conditions. LCDs use three liquid crystal panels (red, green, and blue) to create high-quality vibrant colors and images on screens. LCoS uses both DLP and LCD technology for greater contrast ratio.