There’s no doubt that 4K home projectors are becoming more popular. As a result, they are not only coming down in price but also in size. Our Acer V6810 review takes a look at one of Acer’s recent additions which offers up a smaller footprint and a very affordable price point.

Specifications

The Acer V6810 has the following features and specifications:

Display panel: 0.47″ UHD DMD
Resolution: 4K UHD (3840×2160) resolution with TI XPR, 8.3 megapixel on screen
Brightness: 2,200 ANSI Lumens (Standard), 1,760 ANSI Lumens (ECO)
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (native), 4:3 (supported)
Throw ratio: 1.47~1.76 (100″ @ 3.25m)
Zoom ratio: 1.2x
Contrast ratio: 10,000:1
Lamp life: 4,000 hours (Standard), 10,000 hours (ECO), 15,000 hours (ExtremeEco)
Projection lens: F – 1.94~2.06, f = 5.57mm~18.67mm, manual zoom & focus
Noise level: 30 dBa (Standard), 24 dBa (ECO), 21 dBa (Silent Mode, XPR off)
Inputs: Analog RGB/Component Video, HDMI (HDCP), HDMI 2.0 (HDCP 2.2), PC audio
Output: PC audio, DC Out (5V/1.5A, USB Type A)
Control interface: USB (Mini-B), RS232 (D-Sub), 12V DC (Screen Control)
Dimensions: 343 x 258 x 124.6mm (13.5 x 10.2 x 4.9″)
Weight: 4.0 kg (8.82 lbs)

What’s in the box

Acer V6810 4K DLP projector
HDMI cable
Power cable
Carrying case
Quick Start Guide
Warranty information
CD

Acer-V6810-review-03 — What’s in the box…

Design

As far as projectors go, the Acer V6810 has the familiar rectangular shape. White in colour, it is a bit smaller than the other 4K UHD projectors we’ve reviewed so far here at Techaeris. The V6810 comes in at about 13 1/2″ wide, just under 10 1/4″ in depth, and just under 5″ in height.

The entire projector has a fin look to it as opposed to being smooth with fins over the fan vents. When looking at it from the front, the lens sits on the right side. The Acer logo is centered vertically but offset to the left a bit. When ceiling mounted, the logo will be upside down. The left side is where one of the two fan vents starts and wraps further around the left side.

Acer-V6810-review-06 — The Acer V6810 4K UHD projector.

The right side is pretty nondescript as well with a screw in the upper left to remove the panel to access the lamp. A corresponding screw on the left side must also be undone to remove the top half of the front panel to access the lamp. Just behind this panel is the second fan vent.

The back of the projector is where all the ports are. From left to right (when looking at the back), the power socket is located on the bottom left. Across the top edge you’ll find your Audio In and Audio Out ports, VGA In, HDMI 1 (UHD 4K), HDMI 2, USB-B Service, RS323, DC 5V Out USB-A, and DC 12V Out ports. Finally, a lock slot is located in the lower right corner.

The top of the Acer V810 has a cutout above the lens. Inside this cutout is a pair of adjustable rings for focus and zoom. The back right area is where you’ll find the control panel. The control panel is slightly recessed and consists of three LED lamps for power, lamp, and temperature, as well as nine buttons. These buttons are in a three by three grid and consist of power, keystone up, source, left, enter, right, back, keystone down, and menu functions.

Acer-V6810-review-08 — The control panel offers access to all necessary functions and features.

The bottom has three feet, one in the middle at the front and one in either back corner. The front and back right one (when looking from the front) are adjustable and move up and down by rotating them. While this allows you to level out the projector when on a table, it’d be nice if all three were adjustable. As well, there are three holes in the base for ceiling mounting.

The included remote is fairly standard as well. Roughly 5 1/2″ x 2″ x 3/4″ in dimensions, the remote is small and hand with quick buttons for changing source, toggling HDR, selecting the main menu, and more. Best of all, the remote has a backlight feature which is very useful in dimly lit or dark viewing environments.

Display

We’ve reviewed other projectors with the TI 4K UHD 0.47″ DMD DLP chipset and, as far as resolution goes, the Acer V6810 is pretty crisp and clear when it comes to 4K projection. As with the other projectors with this chipset, however, there is a light “shadow border.” In other words, there is some light bleed outside of the picture and, depending on the thickness of your projector screen’s black frame, you could notice at least an inch or two of light. As explained to us previously by Optoma:

“The shadow border around the projected image […] is inherent to the architecture of the new Texas Instruments 0.47 DMD chip used. It is not noticeable when used with a projection screen with black borders and does not affect picture quality. These projectors display high-quality 4K UHD with HDR and will perform as expected.”

As noted, the picture clarity on the Acer V6810 is definitely clear and crisp and offers up HDR depending on if the content you’re viewing supports it. While the picture was crisp and clear, the projector only offers up 2,200 ANSI lumens of brightness. While this was fine in our basement with the lights dimmed (our usual method of watching TV, movies, and playing games on the projector), it did look a bit washed out with the lights fully on. If your area has some windows or brighter lighting conditions, the 2,200 lumens may fall a bit short.

Default colour reproduction seemed fine for the most part as well with Acer’s ColorPurity technology. In addition, the projector supports Rec.2020 and Rec.709 high-definition standards. A 10,000:1 contrast ratio doesn’t seem that high given some of the higher contrast ratios of other projectors. However, with Acer’s DynamicBlack technology enabled, the contrast does get a bump and produces pretty black blacks and white whites.

Some of the display customization options include:

Picture mode: Standard, Movie, User1, User 2, Bright
Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Tint
Advanced: Gamma, Color Temperatire, Color Management, MoviePro (Color Enhancement, Skin Tone, Super Resolution)
Image: Aspect Ratio, Overscan adjustment, Silent
Projection: Front, Front Ceiling, Rear, Rear Ceiling
High Altitude Mode
Input renaming
HDR: Auto, SDR
EOTF: Low, Mid, High
HDMI Range: Full Range, Limited Range, Auto

As you can see, and as is the case with most projectors, there are a few different options you can adjust to tweak the picture and colours to suit your personal preferences.

This is a DLP projector as well so if you suffer from being able to see the Rainbow Effect, you might want to test this out first. On that note, I am one of those that do see it but after extended use it wasn’t as apparent and mostly rears its ugly head during white text on black/dark backgrounds.

Performance

The Acer V6810 takes roughly 30 seconds to power up. Even at regular operation, it’s pretty quiet. For testing we had it sitting on a small table directly in front of where we sit and the added noise was negligible and not noticeable over the volume of our surround system. When turning it off, the projector takes 10 seconds to cool off and shut down before it can be unplugged (if you were to be moving it).

As with other projectors we tested with the same chipset, when switching to HDR content from standard, the screen would go black for a few seconds while switching over to HDR mode. In addition, when playing around with the settings, the screen would also go black briefly while adjusting between picture modes and the like. A minor gripe for sure but it made it a bit harder to tell the difference between some of the settings.

Overall, however, the V6810 performed as one would expect.

Sound Quality

The Acer V810 boasts a 10W speaker. While it’s decently loud and crisp, there’s not much in the way of bass levels at all so you’ll be missing out a lot while watching TV, movies, or playing games. Explosions, for example, sound dull and the overall sound is a bit hollow but it is loud enough in a pinch. You’ll also be missing out on surround sound but chances are, if you’re getting a projector, you’ll have a sound system you’re hooking it up to.

Accessories

The Acer V6810 comes with a handy carrying case as well. The case itself is more of a nylon bag, complete with a front pouch to carry cables in and a main compartment for the projector. While there is a bit of padding around the sides and bottom, there’s not a lot of it so it’s not going to offer a lot of protection if you’re taking it on public transportation or just tossing the bag around.

Acer-V6810-review-01 — The included carrying case is a nice touch but doesn’t offer much protection.

The bag also has a shoulder strap to make it easier to carry. It’s not much, to be honest, but is definitely a nice addition and will do the trick if you need to take the projector somewhere.

Price/Value

With an MSRP of US$1,399.99, not only is the Acer V6810 smaller in size, it’s also one of the most affordable 4K projectors on the market today. Even better, it’s listed from some sellers on Amazon for as low as $1,130 which makes it a steal if you’re looking for a 4K UHD projector.