Are you considering buying a projector? Maybe you are excited by the idea of watching movies with your friends, want quality time with your family, or perhaps you need it for work. Whatever the reason, it’s essential to find the best one for your budget.
Home theater projectors may all seem similar, especially when you don’t know what to look for. Specifications and performance make every projector different. 4K UHD or maybe 1080p FHD? You may get lost in the ‘specs.’ So, how to choose a projector wisely?
Maybe there are many products these days, but selecting a projector can be a walk in the park if you are armed with the correct information. Let’s get you equipt for that. We’ll dive into all the details and give you a complete overview. Firstly, there are 5 things you should be on the hunt for when buying your home theater projector!
How to Choose a Projector
Resolution
The clarity of an image is referred to as resolution, as a general screen image is made out of tiny dots called pixels. If your projector is intended for watching movies or playing games, you will need resolution with many pixels. A suitable resolution for a home theater projector is 1920X1080, or for best results, we recommend 3840X2160, referred to as true 4K, as the more pixels, the more vivid the picture contents are.
Projector brightness
Your projector can’t display bright images without enough light output. Even if you turn off the lights in the room, images will appear muddy and blurred if the light output is low. How to choose a projector when it comes to brightness?
The projector brightness is measured in lumens, and for your home theater projector, where ambient light is kept to a minimum, you need a minimum of 1500 lumens. For classrooms and conference rooms, a projector with a minimum of 2500 lumens is best.
Another thing that you should pay attention to is to look for two-lumen specifications: One for color brightness and one for white brightness. Both are important.
If the information provided only gives you a one-lumen rating, it refers only to the white brightness of the projector. The actual brightness of color may be as little as ⅓ of the lumens stated.
Read More: How Many Lumens Is Good for Projector
Contrast ratio
Another factor is the projector’s contrast ratio. The contrast ratio is the difference between an image’s blackest black and the whitest white. A contrast of 3000:1 means that your whitest or lightest areas are 3000 times brighter than your darkest darks.
The contrast ratio determines how sharp and vivid movies and video content appear. The typical projector contrast ratio is 3000:1. However, 2000:1 or higher is considered an excellent contrast ratio. Even 1500:1 is enough to get you a clear picture if you’re dealing with a darkened room.
Native aspect ratio
Because projectors are fixed-resolution display devices, they have a native aspect ratio. The most common aspect ratios are 4:3, 16:10, and 16:9, meaning that the chip inside the projector is shaped in those proportions.
A 16:9 native aspect ratio is specially made for home theater use because they are closer to the original 35mm film format. On the other hand, 4:3 projectors can also display widescreen images, but the image may have little black bars on the top and bottom of your image.
Related: How Much Does A Projector Cost
Don’t forget the cables!
These days, the most common is the projector with a USB connection that plugs into an HDMI input. Or you can go for a long HDMI cable. However, pay attention as if you’re sending 4K, you’ll need a better cable than with 1080p. Another option to consider is fiber optic HDMI cables, typically thinner.
And last but not least, you can choose wireless projectors; they are expensive and might not offer the resolution/frame rates you’re looking for. They can drop the signal if you walk, for example, between the transmitter and receiver.
Also, there are some projectors that can project files and photos from a USB memory drive, called PC-less presentation.
Related: What Is a Pico Projector?
Additional features
Sound
Most projectors don’t have quality built-in speakers; the best way is to source quality speakers separately from the projector.
Automatic iris
You can find it in both expensive and inexpensive projectors; the iris closes down during dark scenes, making the entire picture darker. In bright scenes, it opens back up for maximum brightness.
Short throw
A much shorter throw distance means you can place the projector closer to a screen for the same size image. The opposite of this type of projector would be a long throw projector, which you can put much farther from the screen than a typical projector.
Motorized lens
Motorized focus, motorized zoom, or both can be handy. Motorized zoom means you can fill a wider-than-normal screen for movie nights, then zoom down to the 16:9 portion of the same screen to watch TV shows.
Game mode
For this mode, you need to lower the input lag. DLP projectors often have low input lag, while LCD and LCoS projectors are more varied.
HDR
More and more projectors offer HDR compatibility, which, if done right, can look a little better than the non-HDR version.
Weight and size
If the projector is used in various locations, weight and size will be factors.
Read more: Black Projector Screen vs. White
Types of projectors
Three leading technologies are used for projection; the most common are DLP, LCD, and LED.
DLP
- No motion blur (aka sharpest picture)
- Contrast ratio average
- Color is often mediocre
LCD
- Motion blur
- The contrast ratio is poor
- Color is better than most DLP projectors
LCoS (SXRD and DILA)
- Motion blur
- Best contrast ratio
- Color is often perfect, but that’s more to do with being found in higher-end projectors
Related: What to Look For in a Projector?
4K or 1080p projector?
So, how to choose a projector? 4K projectors are a lot more expensive, but you won’t spot the difference between an excellent 1080p projector and a 4K projector unless you’re investing in a proper home theater.
The main feature that separates a $700 projector from a $1000+ projector is its resolution. 4K is almost four times the resolution of the old standard for high definition, but is a 4K projector worth the added price? Well, it depends.
Suppose you’re planning on using a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player in your home theater to watch all the latest releases. You’ll have to spend a little more for a 4K projector, but if you’re more into older movies or streaming video, then the resolution doesn’t matter as much.
Every home theater is unique, and with that, you need a different projector. For best results, try to match the projector with the native resolution of your source material.