Different implementation standards, confusion of performance labels, and exaggerated product efficacy

The home projector market is in urgent need of regulation (people's attention)

　　Our reporter Qi Zhiming

　　"People's Daily" (Edition 07 on January 11, 2021)

　　"The child wants to take online lessons, and worried that he stares at the computer all day long and hurts his eyes. So he bought a home projector for more than 1,000 yuan on the Internet." Reader Ms. Ye, who lives in Xihu District, Nanchang, Jiangxi, wanted to choose a suitable one for her son in third grade. The projector was really broken. After careful comparison of brand, price, performance, user evaluation and other factors, she finally bought a "net celebrity" projector.

Unexpectedly, soon after using it, Ms. Ye was a little dissatisfied: “Compared with the functions claimed by the merchants, there is still a gap. For example, the definition does not reach the ultra-high definition that the merchants say, and the wireless projection function sometimes does not work. There are more cost-effective products that our consumers can purchase conveniently and with confidence."

　　In recent years, projectors are quickly entering the home.

Especially during the epidemic prevention and control period, the demand for home study and fitness drove the rapid heating up of the home projector market.

How to buy a home projector with excellent audio-visual effects, easy to use and easy to carry, has become a concern of more and more consumers.

Not long ago, the China Consumers Association, in conjunction with the Consumer Rights Protection Committee of Hebei Province and Jiangsu Province, released the "Comparative Test Report of 25 Home Projectors", which provides some references for consumers to purchase home projector products.

The test involved 18 brands, and the purchase price ranged from 256.72 yuan to 3198.9 yuan each. Two light sources were ultra-high pressure mercury lamps, and the other 23 sample light sources were LED lamps. All samples were purchased from independent streaming platforms.

　　The report shows: 18 samples are suitable for the sound performance test conditions. Domestic projectors with domestic LED light sources are more intelligent in operation. 11 samples have voice recognition function, and 21 samples have video APP, music APP and photo album. The wireless projection function of different contents such as pictures, documents, terminal interface, etc. There are 6 projector samples with auto-focus function, rich use scenes, convenient and easy to operate.

　　However, some problems were also found in the comparative test.

For example, the image display performance of the samples is significantly different. Among the 23 LED light source samples, the difference between the highest and the lowest light output is more than 20 times. Among them, 10 models have low light output, the picture is easy to blur, and all image display performance indicators are excellent. There are only 4 models.

In addition, the publicity of key indicators of LED light source products is rather chaotic. Some products claim on the webpage that the light output reaches thousands of lumens, but according to standard methods, the light output of all LED light source samples is less than 500 lumens; some products can reach the clarity of promotion. 4K HD, but the actual test is far from reach.

　　"Through comparative experiments, it is found that the current household projector industry has problems such as inconsistent implementation standards, confusion in performance labeling, and exaggeration of product efficacy." said Wu Weihua, a senior engineer at the National Radio and Television Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. Some products do not even have instructions for use. Some products are not marked with product standard numbers in accordance with national mandatory standards, and some products are only marked with national standard numbers for electrical safety, without product standard numbers.

Some companies use inconsistent and non-standard concepts in the main performance expressions, and the test standards for performance indicators are inconsistent. They cannot match the current industry and international test standards. This is not conducive to consumers' purchase and easy to evade quality supervision.

　　"The display performance of the projector is mainly presented by six indicators including light output, clarity, contrast, color gamut coverage, uniformity of illumination, and keystone correction capability." Zhao Yu, a spokesperson for the Consumer Guidance Department of the China Consumers Association, reminded consumers , When buying a home projector, you must recognize 3 key concepts:

　　One is to claim "high brightness 5000 lumens."

Projector products should use "light output" to describe the brightness of the product, not brightness. It is wrong to use "brightness 5000 lumens" in the product introduction or manual. The correct statement should be "light output 5000 lumens".

In addition, the projector light output of the LED light source cannot reach the level of 5000 lumens. A good product is a level of several hundred lumens. Only the projector light output of a laser light source or an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp light source can reach several thousand lumens.

Consumers should understand that the light output performance of the product varies greatly depending on the light source of the projector.

　　The second is to declare "4K HD".

The term "4K HD" is also wrong. According to the current accurate definition, "4K" means Ultra HD, and "HD" means 2K.

There is a significant difference in image clarity between UHD and HD.

　　Third, whether it claims to be HD or UHD, companies should state that "HD" or "UHD" refers to the inherent resolution of the projector's display system or the supported image format.

Consumers should make a clear understanding with the merchant when buying, to avoid misunderstandings that affect the use and viewing effect.