If you want to watch movies at home on a really big screen, a projector is a much better value than a TV. After all, TVs with a diagonal of more than 100 inches have a price comparable to a foreign car. At the same time, even not the most expensive projectors can create a fairly bright picture diagonal of 120 inches. However, it’s more difficult to choose a projector in general, because you have to take into account more parameters.

Many buyers of multimedia projectors have a good idea of what they need a projector for but are poorly versed in the characteristics of the units and the terminology used. However, there are dozens of models on the market, and some of them are quite expensive, so it’s not so easy to make the right choice. Let’s find out in detail how to choose the right projector.

What is a projector?

A multimedia projector is a standalone device that transmits (projects) information to a screen of any size and shape from an external source – a PC (or laptop), media player, camcorder, document camera, TV tuner, etc. Simply put, it’s a device designed to produce an enlarged picture of a medium on the screen.

It’s worth mentioning that projectors have different projection technologies, the most popular of which are: LCD, DLP, Laser, LCoS, and others. You won’t find the LED Clear Motion technology in them. Projector manufacturers struggle from year to year with competing devices and technologies, improving performance in terms of contrast and color gamut.

The constant improvement of technical specifications, the addition of new features, and the availability of projectors more and more expand the scope of their application. Therefore, projectors can be divided into three main groups according to their functionality:

• Projectors for commercial installations. This is the widest application market for projectors. It can include:
  • installations in the education and medical segments
  • conference rooms of private companies, in the public sector
  • creating large-scale advertising or information installations for large public events, concerts
  • and others.
• Home cinema projectors, game projectors.
• Projectors for the entertainment industry.
• Projectors for 3D virtual reality systems and simulators.

The first group is focused primarily on playing dynamic content (“live” video), and the second and third groups are usually designed for both dynamic and static content.

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What are the key features of the projector?

No matter what kind of projector you need – a budget one for home viewing or a more expensive one for work – you always need to consider certain technical parameters when choosing a projector. The main features of a multimedia projector are:

• Brightness
• Image shaping technology
• Image resolution
• Availability of network interfaces

You should also be aware that projectors have today’s popular connection interfaces such as HDMI, DisplayPort, or even the outdated VGA. Several installation projectors certainly have highly specialized connectors for connecting to a switching environment, but this does not negate the presence of the popular connectors described above.

Some models can connect a USB flash card, from which you can display a photo or video content. Some projectors are equipped with a card reader, which allows you to display photos and presentations from memory cards. These features are the hallmark of any particular model and are listed in the main features of the projector.

What should be the brightness of the projector?

The larger the screen size, the brighter the projector is needed, especially if you intend to use it not only at night. If you have good blackout curtains, the brightness requirements can be reduced.

Many manufacturers specify the brightness of projectors in lumens, without specifying the method of measurement. Others measure brightness following ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and indicate the brightness in ANSI-lumens.

To compare the brightness of projectors from different manufacturers more or less objectively, you can use the measurements made by ProjectorCentral resource experts. Usually, according to their measurements, the brightness is several times lower than the official figures.

Sellers on AliExpress in the descriptions and on the pictures indicate impressive values in mythical “Chinese lumens” even for quite inexpensive models, and this figure usually doesn’t say anything at all. However, if you go to the “Specifications” section, for many models you can find a much closer to the real value in ANSI-lumens.

In addition, you should know that two conditions must be met when choosing a screen size:

• The distance from the furthest spectator to the screen should not be more than 5-6 times the screen width,
• The distance from the closest viewer to the screen should not be less than one and a half times the screen width.

Keep in mind that even the most powerful multimedia projector will not produce a good image when exposed to direct sunlight. Use curtains or blinds to protect yourself from the sun. It’s also useful to be able to turn off the electric light in the area where the screen is located.

What should be the image resolution in the projector?

Among home theater projectors, like televisions, three picture resolutions now dominate 720p, 1080p, and 4K. The 1440p resolution, so popular among PC monitors, has unfortunately not caught on with projectors and TVs. When choosing a resolution, it’s important to consider the distance between the viewer and the screen, as well as the purpose of the projector.

720p resolution is enough to show cartoons to children. 1080p is suitable for regular watching of full-length movies if the distance between the audience and the screen is at least 160% of the screen diagonal. If the distance is shorter, it makes sense to look at models with 4K support.

These recommendations aren’t a strict rule, so lucky owners of eagle eyesight, who can distinguish pixels even on 4K smartphones from a distance of one nautical mile, should make their adjustments.

How to choose the projector image shaping technology

Three competing technologies make up the matrix units of today’s multimedia projectors. They are liquid crystal transmission (3LCD technology), micro-mirrors (DLP technology), and liquid crystal reflection (LCOS, D-ILA, SXRD technology). In principle all technologies are equal, and in most cases, it’s not the technology that determines the choice of projector.

However, if you have higher image quality requirements (absence of distortion and stray shadows, natural color rendering, degree of image discreteness (pixelation), contrast depth, absence of so-called “rainbow effect”, softness or sharpness of color presentation, etc.) you should consider the features of this or that technology. In addition, single-chip DLP projectors can create flickers when recording video, so it’s recommended to use LCD or LCOS projectors at events with television filming.

In the field of projection technology, technological innovations appear quite regularly (for example, matrices on inorganic liquid crystals begin to spread widely, LEDs, lasers, etc. begin to be increasingly used as light sources).

What about the network interfaces on the projector?

Some projectors can receive content for display over a network (local – Ethernet or wireless – Wi-Fi). Usually, the wireless mode supports the video display of static pictures (slide show mode).

However, some models provide wireless video streaming capabilities. There are also wireless adapters on the market that can be connected to any projector to receive live video. As the Wi-Fi standard improves, wireless video streaming will become a way of life.

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What should the contrast be in the projector?

Contrast is the ratio of the maximum illumination of the reference screen to the minimum illumination when projecting the white and black fields respectively. There’s ambiguity with this indicator because projector data sheets sometimes don’t refer to the measurement standard, and it’s not clear whether the contrast data refers only to the center of the image or is derived from the ANSI methodology.

The latter involves averaging measurement data over very distributed areas (without a central area) separately for the white and black fields and calculating the average ratio, which rarely exceeds 400:1 in the end. However, the so-called “dynamic contrast ratio” values are now reaching 50,000:1 and higher. JVC projectors have the highest natural contrast today.