A hand-held data terminal employs a projection display, thus eliminating the need for a flat screen display conventionally employed in hand-held data terminals. The projection display according to the present invention comprises a light source, a spatial light modulator for varying the light emitted by the light source to produce an optical image that corresponds to visual output of the data terminal, and a lens to project the resulting image. In this manner, the computer output that would normally be visualized using a display such as an LCD display may be viewed as a projected image on a nearby surface, thus allowing the data terminal to be made smaller while providing a robust visual user interface.