Design
At first glance the TWD1 seems like an almost impossibly bulky projector from the dim dark ages of projector history. With a chunky carrying weight of 7kg and dimensions of 340mm by 310mm by 180mm, this is a serious and solid bit of hardware. While it's technically portable, this isn't a projector that you're going to want to heft far -- but then that's not the point. The TWD1 is a home theatre projector with built-in DVD player and built in speakers -- including both is what has significantly bulked up the projector.
Naturally, keeping with current trends, it's decked out in iPod-style white. The front side of the projector houses the lens and a drop-down panel for external connectors (more on this later), while the rear houses the DVD tray, speakers and a small illuminated LED display that gives you volume control and other menu functionality. Control is managed either from the top of the projector (which also houses the focus and zoom controls) or from the TWD1's extensive remote control.
Features
From a projector standpoint, the TWD1 is a 3 LCD panel projector with a native 854 x 480 pixel resolution, although it can manage rescaling for other resolutions depending on the input source. Its brightness tops out at 1200 ANSI Lumens with a contrast ratio of 1000:1.
The DVD player in the TWD1 is a JVC model, capable of progressive scan playback (toggled from the TWD1's remote).
Like the DVD player, the speakers on the TWD1 are JVC models -- specifically the TWD1 features two Direct Drive speakers only rated for a total output of 10W.
Performance
We were pleasantly surprised with the quality of output images given the mid-range native resolution of the projector, and it's undeniably cool to be able to just drop in a disc and watch something without having to worry about trailing cables and which colour plug goes where every time you want to drag out the projector. One feature of the TWD1 that we utterly loved was the break feature. Represented by a coffee cup on the remote and projector body, this instantly pauses the movie and brings up the "house lights" -- in the form of a gentle white screen with a pulsing coffee cup in the top right corner. This makes it very easy to take a break during long films for nature's necessities, as well as a good reminder to go and have another cup of coffee. It's not a truly amazing feature, just a nice one.
