Difference Between Presentation & Home Theater Projectors

Data and home theater projectors are very different products.

The projectors used in offices and boardrooms are for data, not video, and most give an almost square 4:3 picture. A dedicated home theater projector can cope with fast-moving video and the subtle colors of a movie, and can display a 16:9 widescreen image.

Types of Data Projectors

If you want to show still images or presentations, a data projector is for you.

Office projectors are usually LCD models, which produce a very sharp, bright image. If video plays on a LCD data projector, the picture can often blur because the LCD panel usually has a slow response time. Most data projectors can display a full HD image.

Types of Home Theater Projectors

Home theater projectors can display high-definition video such as Blu-ray discs.

The demands of movies and games are very different. Various home theater projector technologies claim to deliver a cinematic full HD resolution image that isn't as bright, and doesn't blur when showing fast-moving pictures. DLP (digital light processing) and 3LCD models are the two main home theater technologies. Other high-end options include LED (light-emitting diode), D-ILA (Direct-drive Image Light Amplifier) and SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display). Home theater projectors are much larger than data projectors since they hold a lot more technology, and because they work harder they need a large baffle to help cool the projector.

Features

A DLP or 3LCD home theater projector can display an image about 100 inches across, usually much larger than a data projector. Home theater projectors often have features such as frame interpolation, which is when the projector inserts frames into a movie to make fast-moving sequences look as smooth as possible. Data projectors, more suited to an office, often include features such as networking--sometimes wirelessly--to show information from a PC.

Resources

• Projector Central The Technology War: LCD vs. DLP, Projector Central