How can I decide on a projector for a home?

How can I decide on a projector for a home?
Although TVs are getting bigger, home theatre projectors are gaining high popularity these days. Unlike the projectors used in movie theatres, the home theatre projectors are simpler. Thus, they can create lower brightness and feature low-voltage control (LVC).

If you are looking to buy a high-quality projector for your home, then here are the most important factors that you need to consider.

  1. Resolution- All high-definition home theater projectors use are Full HD— 1920 x 1080 pixels. And, an ultra HD projector provides 4096 x 2160-pixel resolution. The increase in resolution is indirectly proportional to the size of each pixel. For seamless, high-quality projectors, you need to choose a projector that comprises a higher pixel.
  2. Brightness- The brightness of home theater projectors varies from 700-2,500 lumens. These projectors offer plenty of brightness for watching movies. Higher light brightness will keep the picture quality crisp with more ambient light.
  3. Contrast- It is the most important factor in a high-quality picture. The contrast ratio spec shows the difference between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks. A higher contrast ratio means the projector can create more subtle color detail.

Apart from checking all these factors, you should buy a home theatre projector from a reputed company.


Sony VPL-DX221 Desktop Projector (White)


Your distance to the screen

Standard projectors for home theater require 3-4 meters to the screen so that the image is clear and focused. But what if the room where you want to install the best home cinema does not allow you to choose the right distance? The solution to this problem would be to choose short-focus devices. They can be placed at a distance of 1.5 meters from the screen.

As for the maximum distance to the screen, you shouldn’t worry: further the device will be, the larger will be each pixel and the whole image, but a good brightness will easily cope with this problem.

Brightness

The brightness of the best home projector you are going to choose depends on the lighting conditions in the room where it is planned to be installed. In reality, the more darkness you can achieve, the less brightness will be needed to produce a high-quality image. if you want to watch films only in the evening, or with densely curtained windows, it will be enough 800-1200 lumens.

Otherwise, the situation is with watching movies in the daytime, or with incomplete darkening of the room. To form a saturated, clear and pleasant image for perception in such conditions, 2000-3000 lumens will be needed. In addition, such a powerful projector for sale will be able to provide sufficient brightness for the projection of a 3D image, which, through special glasses, will not be flat and blurry.

Optoma CS322 DLP 3600lumens SVGA Projector 3600 Lumens

Contrast of the Image

The next most important indicator of the quality of the best projector is the contrast of the projected image. Unlike TVs, where it is possible to create a saturated black color, the projector can’t generate it, since there is simply no black glow. Thus, the light areas of the picture on the screen are the result of the action of directed rays of light, and the dark ones – their total absence. And it’s not difficult to guess that the higher the intensity of the light flux, and the more concentrated it will be, the higher will be the contrast of the image.

Resolution and Aspect Ratio

When purchasing the best home theater projector, try to determine in advance the resolution of the video you are going to watch in advance. If the main repertoire of the home cinema will consist of high-quality movies like Full HD, HDTV with resolutions of 1920×1080 and 1280×720 respectively, you will need a projector that can match it. Models with a lower resolution will not be able to reveal the full potential of the video stream.

The next parameter, which should be paid attention, trying to organize a home theater is which aspect ratio has a matrix of the projector. There are two main popular video formats: 4: 3 and 16: 9. It is recommended to choose the best home projector with a wide 16: 9 format since the latest films are shot just for it.

Physical Lens Shift

Well, if you organize a cinema at home, you can install the best home projector directly in front of the screen. But what if there is a chandelier or other element of the interior on the path of the light stream? And if you want to hide the projector from the eyes, setting it in a special niche in the corner of the room?

Manufacturers have taken into account the possibility of getting out of this situation by physically displacing the lens. It will allow you to shift the image on the screen without turning the best home projector. If you are familiar with the basics of geometry and have spatial thinking, you will quickly realize that such moving of the picture will lead to its distortion.

Such distortion significantly reduces the quality of the image. To prevent image defects, the device should be able to correct distortions by changing the position of individual lenses. The user does not have to understand how a complex optical system is arranged: to eliminate this drawback, it will suffice to use the remote control.

Connection Inputs

Modern projectors used to create a home theater should be able to process and transform all the currently used video signal formats into a picture. You can achieve this result only if the device has a whole set of inputs:

  • Digital (HDMI, DVI, USB);
  • Analog (RCA, VGA, SCART, S-Video).

Well, if each connector is duplicated, it will be possible to connect several sources of the signal at once, and then to choose which one is the main source. This can be useful if you plan to install the best home projector in a closed niche, and access to it will be associated with certain difficulties.

Suitability for gamers

Gamblers should take into account that projectors have a delay, which after reaching one hundred milliseconds will make it impossible to play the game. A reducing of the delay is achieved by disabling all additional functions for processing pictures in the projector


Optoma HD28HDR 1080p Home Theater Projector for Gaming and Movies | Support for 4K Input | HDR Compatible | 120Hz refresh rate | Enhanced Gaming Mode, 8.4ms Response Time | High-Bright 4000 lumens

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