There is nothing quite like a projector that can beam a large, bright movie or major sporting event on your wall to truly put the “theater” in home theater, thus transforming your living room or backyard into your own personal AMC. If you choose the correct projector, it can provide an outstanding movie experience. Choosing the proper projector, however, can be challenging when you take into account all the technology and words used in modern projectors, such as short-throw projectors, lasers, DLP, and LcOS. Additionally, be sure the projector you select will fit comfortably in your cinema room and won’t be too difficult to set up and adjust.
Remember to take your viewing requirements into account as well as learning all the technical terms. While occasional users may want to remain with simple capabilities and save some money, customers who use their projector regularly for entertainment will need more functions and have more money to spare. Some projector specifications and requirements may seem intimidating if you’re switching from a TV to one for the first time. Our advice will assist you in concentrating on the important things, such as selecting the popcorn for your movie night.
Table of Contents
Budget
How much do I want to spend? may be the most crucial question you need to ask yourself. Starting with a set budget is always a good idea, especially because a home projector is a substantial investment and frequently costs as much as (or even more than) a TV.
A projector screen, soundbars or sound systems, and a projector mount if necessary are additional costs that should not be overlooked. But be aware of these additional expenses. Even if you purchase an inexpensive projector, the cost of connected accessories can soon pile up and surpass the projector’s actual price! Here, you must choose how to allocate your budget between the projector and any additional items you may desire. If money is truly limited for you, think about avoiding the accessories or purchasing inexpensive ones.
Lamp vs Laser
A bulb or a laser are two alternative potential sources of light for projectors. The “half-life” of a lightbulb-based lamp is normally several thousand hours, after which time the image quality starts to deteriorate and you should switch to a new bulb. You won’t need to replace anything over time because laser projectors (and their close relative, the LED projector) cost more, operate cooler than lamps, and last up to 30,000 hours.
In general, this is a simple decision. A lamp model should work and save you money if you plan to use your projector in a dedicated theater room where you’ll view movies or shows occasionally. Save up for a laser model if your projector will be the main source of entertainment in your home because they last longer and offer superior color and contrast.
Brightness
Brightness is not a major consideration unless you want to use the projector in a room that receives a lot of natural light or with the lights on (like in a living room). After that, you’ll want to confirm that you have 2,500 lumens or more. This might not be a problem because many expensive projectors have lumen outputs above 3,000. The space and placement become crucial in this situation because certain projectors are specifically designed with dark theater rooms in mind and may not have enough lumens to handle a bright room properly. As a point of comparison and as a fun fact, a candle produces only 14 lumens, compared to a 100-watt lightbulb’s about 1,600.
Resolution
Since 4K support is now so widespread in projectors, you shouldn’t have any trouble locating models with this resolution. A wonderful specification to look for is 4K resolution because it’s one of the finest methods to utilize the bigger screens that projectors allow. Budget projectors, on the other hand, are considerably more likely to cap at 720p or Full HD 1080p, which can significantly reduce the cost of the projector. Our recommendation is to choose the greatest resolution that your budget will allow; you don’t want to later upgrade to a 4K.
Imaging Chips
The information concerning image chips, which are how the projector regulates its light, may be found in the projector specifications. DLP (Digital Light Processing), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and LCoS are the current three main semiconductor possibilities (Liquid Crystal on Silicon).
Without getting mired down in imaging technologies, we’ll make this process simple for you. Look for LCoS if you want a projector image with a superb contrast ratio that can handle a cinematic experience. Look for LCD if you want to save as much money as you can. Look for DLP if the sharpest image is what you are after. But ultimately, while choosing the best home projector for you, don’t let the chip be the deciding factor.
Connection
How do you want to use your projector to see content? Since many projectors, like many TVs, are equipped with smart platforms, all you really need is a strong Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection, as we previously said. However, it’s possible that your plans go far beyond streaming. For instance, you’ll need a nearby Blu-Ray player and an open HDMI port on your projector if you have Blu-Ray discs (remember that above note about eARC and Dolby Atmos sound, too). You can see how you can quickly run out of ports for all your connections if you wish to attach other devices, such as an Apple TV and a PlayStation 5, all of which require HDMI connectors. Verify that the number of connection choices on your projector is sufficient to accommodate the intended layout.
Sound
Although some home projectors have built-in speakers, you’ll need something additional if you want a genuinely cinematic experience. For your projector, you might want to think about a soundbar or surround sound system; just make sure it has the right ports. You might also be able to use an A/V receiver to link your projector to your current home audio system. Once more, you must confirm that your projector has sufficient HDMI connections to add an audio connection. Since you would only need a single HDMI connection from your source to the speakers and subsequently to your projector, doing so can help you save a port if you are routing material from one of the consoles or set-top boxes indicated above.
Extra features
A home projector may enhance the experience by enabling you to watch movies and TV episodes as closely to how the creators intended as possible and should support the most recent viewing technologies for the best image and audio available. A brighter image with more dynamic contrasts will result from picture characteristics like HDR (High Dynamic Range). The picture quality of all HDR formats is optimized to be as good as it can be, and they work particularly well with projectors that have high brightness capabilities.
Dolby Atmos offers the most immersive audio experience available when it comes to sound. Although some projectors come equipped with Atmos speakers, if you want to send high-quality audio, including Atmos, to your surround sound system, you should look for projectors with HDMI eARC connectors.
But keep in mind that in order to profit from these technologies and others, your hardware, such as your TV and sound system, as well as the media you’re watching, will also need to support them. On physical media like discs or streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, you can typically find icons for these features to let you know they are supported. Most popular television series and films will have format support if you are using something like Google Chromecast or built-in smart platforms in a projector. You might not be able to identify if additional standards are present while viewing files from a USB stick.