Optoma H57

Quiet is the new loud for this little thing.

Projectors can probably be indirectly linked to the rise in ever more powerful home cinema speakers. After all, most of the little light boxes have been so bloody noisy that they've drowned out any subtleties in movie soundtracks.

Thankfully, a new era seems to have arrived and the fashion for near-silent projectors is being headed by models such as this, which have been designed with the home user in mind.

The H57 makes just 23dB of noise, has front feet that are simple to adjust for height and an on-screen menu system that's easy to navigate while still having advanced options. The keystone correction - enabling the screen proportions to be adjusted when the projector is above or below the viewing screen - couldn't be simpler, as you don't even need to enter a menu to tweak it. There's no speaker, so you'll have to provide your own sounds, but you'd expect that in this price range.

The selection of inputs is superb, with component, S-Video and composite sockets accompanied by an Hi-Def-capable DVI input that'll take an HDMI link, plus a VGA socket that'll hook up to an RGB Scart cable (both via supplied adaptors).

But features are nothing without performance, and this product didn't disappoint. Despite the Hi-Def input, the maximum resolution is only 1,024 x 576, but that's good enough for most. Contrast is superb, although it hasn't been matched by the brightness - you need a seriously dark room to make the most of this projector - and there were some rainbow effects.

The H57 is great for the home and will only disappoint if you have problems creating a pitch-black room.