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Selecting your Home Cinema projector
On this page you will find all the crucial things you will need to consider when selecting a projector for home use. To make things even easier for you I have written a Projector Selector guide that will help you cover all these things when looking for a projector. Get a FREE copy by clicking here. The first thing to look at when selecting a projector is which technology? This is very important. There are currently two major projector technologies these are LCD and DLP. Have a look at the glossary if you want to know what they mean and the differences between them. LCD has been around for longer than DLP and has grown up in the business world. This means that it is great for connecting to laptops and doing snazzy corporate presentations. DLP on the other hand is a newer technology that takes on board the more modern approach to multi-media. (sounds exciting.). This means that it is better suited to playing video etc. To understand more of the techie stuff please see the home cinema projector glossary. I would recommend that you consider DLP projectors as I have found that they give the best results in the home cinema set up. So we have sorted the technology bit what do you look for when selecting your projector. Well there are a number of key elements when selecting the projector for your own cinema these are Dimensions and environment Basic features Bells & Whistles So starting at the beginning Dimension Do you have room for a projector. There is no use getting a projector for your home cinema if the available projection space gives you a size smaller than a TV. Can you watch the screen easily and comfortably without blocking the picture? Do you have enough power points to support the requirements of your home cinema? Is there a stable flat surface available that will support your projector with a enough space to allow good circulation of air. Projectors do get hot. Get these right and life becomes a lot easier. Get a FREE copy of my Projector Selector guide to find out more on this.
Basic Features Every projector has these. These are the features you must look for as a minimum Screen size, Resolution and Aspect Ratio Any projector that you buy has what is known as native screen size (what was it designed for) typically for a good home cinema projector this should be 16:9 (Widescreen) A 4:3(TV) ratio will also work. This native mode does not mean that the projector can not support other aspect ratios it’s an indication of what use they are aimed at. For home cinema a native 16:9 is usually best if you are only going to watch films. If you are going to use it for watching TV and maybe plugging into your PC then a native 4:3 would be best. Another important aspect for screen size is the projected image size. Select a projector that can easily project the size of image that you require for the room that you have available. Brightness Two aspects are important for projector brightness. These are how dark is dark and how bright is bright. A projector projects an image onto a surface. The darkest the image can be is limited to the ambient light on the surface (light occurring in the room – not from the projector). Projectors typically have a brightness of between 600 and 2000 lumens. The less ambient light around when viewing a movie then the less brightness is required. If you like to have some ambient light whilst watching a movie then a brighter projector will be required. Contrast Contrast goes hand in hand with brightness. Contrast is measured in lumens as a ratio. Such as 400:1. Why is this important. Well to put it simply how black is black in your home cinema experience. With a projector a pixel (dot on the screen) is either on or off. . The higher the ratio the better for you. DLP projectors tend to have a higher contrast ratio. Connections Put simply. What can I connect to my Home cinema projector. There are many different connections available but typically on a projector designed for home cinema use you will normally have Composite, S-Video and SVGA. Higher end projectors may also offer component signal connections. See the glossary for an explanation Lamp life Lamp life relates to how many hours the bulb within the projector will last under normal use. The more hours the better. A lamp life of say 3,000 hours would mean that you could watch movies with your projector for 2.5 hours a day for 1,200 days or nearly four years. Remember replacement lamps are not cheap.
Bells & Whistles Once you have decided on location and basic requirements these are the additional features that should be considered. I think the main ones are Zoom lens If you are likely to use your projector in more than one room, a zoom lens can be very handy. It gives you the ability to set up the projector in a suitable location and adjust the projected image size to suit. Without a zoom lens, the only way to adjust the picture size is move the projector forward or back. This may not be easy in a living room or other such location. You will tend to find that lower budget projectors usually have a limited zoom facility. Keystone Correction Like a zoom lens if you are going to be moving your projector around then you will want keystone correction. A keystone effect happens when you project an image from any angle except straight onto the projection surface and results in an image that is not completely square. Projectors with keystone correction will normally offer horizontal correction and some vertical correction as well. Until recently this has usually been achieved manually through the projector controls. Some new models will also now do this automatically which makes life even easier. Rear Projection Capability If you want to set up your projector to show video from behind a screen, it needs to have the ability to reverse the image so that it looks right on the screen. Most projectors have this feature today. Ceiling Mountable If you want to mount your projector on the ceiling, it will need the capability to project the image upside down. The large majority of projectors will do this today, but remember to check for this feature if you will need it. Also make sure that you can get the right mount as well. I hope this makes things a little clearer.
Click here to get a FREE copy of my projector selection tool. This tool will allow you to compare the features of a number of projectors and make the right choice quickly and easily.
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