How to Choose a Projector for Home Entertainment
Home theater projectors offer better performance at lower costs than ever before. For the cost of a good quality medium-sized television set, you could have a 100-inch or larger image giving you a true movie theater experience at home. Given the large range of projectors available, it is easy to find the perfect machine for any application. Whether you need a projector for a darkened home theater, a busy family room or even a backyard, projectors are available to serve your needs.
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Instructions
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Pick the location where you will use the projector. If you plan on moving the projector around a great deal, buy either a small and light projector, or an all-in-one device which includes a DVD player and speakers. Conversely, if you will use the projector in a permanently-mounted installation, such as a full-time home theater, buy any projector that suits your needs, regardless of its size or weight.
If you do not have a great deal of flexibility in how you plan to place the projector in the chosen room, look for a projector with both zoom and lens shift. These features allow you to vary the size of the projected image, but also where the image is projected relative to the projector.
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Measure how much light is present in the room in which you will watch the projector. If the room is relatively bright, buy a projector with a high lumen output rating and worry less about its contrast ratio. In a dark room, you need less light, but are able to fully appreciate a projector with high contrast.
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Audition a few projectors which use DLP technology. If possible, watch images which have light objects moving against a dark background. If you or any of your family feel disoriented or experience motion sickness while watching these images, purchase a projector which uses LCD or LCOS-SXRD technology. If everyone has no problem with the DLP image, consider projectors which use any of the three technologies.
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Elect the resolution for the projector. For most home theaters, the best choices are either 1080p or, if cost is a consideration, 720p. Projectors with other resolutions, such as SVGA or XGA are best for watching old secure digital content or for use with a computer.
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Buy the projector from a source which allows returns after an in-home audition. Ultimately, the performance of your new home theater projector depends a great deal upon the unique characteristics of your setup.
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References
- Photo Credit videoprojecteur image by mattmatt73 from Fotolia.com
