Output Testing and Impressions
I tested the GP1 over the course of a few weeks in my apartment using a tripod and also placing the unit on a TV tray. The majority of testing was done in my living room where I positioned the projector onto an empty white wall at varying distances. I snapped some photos of the projector in action at 800 x 600 resolution while viewing some different websites.
As you can see, optimal image quality is obtained in a totally dark room. The image size shown above was roughly 62" when measured diagonally and the projector was about 8.5' away from the wall. I also shot a quick video showing the projector playing a video from Hulu.com. Note the flickering on the blue background behind Conan was from my video camera and not the projector.
Here I have moved the projector back another 1-2 feet from the wall and we get a much larger image, closer to 80" or above. I also bumped the resolution up to 1024 x 768. BenQ lists the native resolution for the Joybee as 858 x 600 but they also mention it will support up to 1280 x 1024.
The final set of images shows the projector in my bedroom as I was preparing to watch a streaming movie on Netflix. Here we have the resolution bumped up to 1280 x 1024.
The overall image quality of the Joybee GP1 is good, especially considering it is LED based and only rated at 100 ANSI lumens of brightness. This certainly won't rival a traditional projector, but then again, it isn't designed to and is above average for competing mini projectors. As we have seen, you will get the best image results in a completely darkened environment, but if push comes to shove, the unit is still usable in a room with lights on.
Audio quality is about what you would expect from a 2-watt system. There is an audio out socket on the projector but according to the manual, this socket only supports the USB reader function. I elected to use the speakers on my notebook during the majority of testing.
The touch-sensitive control panel on the top of the unit looks nice but didn't function as consistently as I had hoped for. It certainly isn't as responsive as other touch devices, such as Apple's iPhone. But it gets the job done and optionally, you can use the included remote to control the device.
One gripe I have with the GP1 is the focus ring on the top of the unit. The ring is literally trigger-sensitive and the slightest touch will send the picture out of focus. Furthermore, I noticed that the unit wasn't really able to keep the entire image in full, sharp focus at the same time. By this, I mean that either the top or the bottom of the image was slightly out of focus while the rest of the image was very sharp. This wasn't a huge issue when watching videos or movies, but when surfing the web it was quite distracting to try and read semi-blurry text. This issue was present regardless of image size.