How to Choose a Projector? Complete Buying Guide

It is simple to become perplexed given the wide variety of projectors available.
From the more than 600 models that are currently available, which projector should you pick? Our goal today is to assist you.

A front projector is still the best value for someone who wants to watch their favorite movies and TV shows on a really large screen, even though the cost of big-screen TVs has significantly decreased recently. However, how to choose a projector?

The uses for various projectors vary. A projector’s performance is influenced by the room’s surroundings as well as the size and kind of screen you use with it, perhaps even more so than with a TV. To help you find the best projector for you, here are some important questions to ask yourself before you shop.

What is a Projector?

The best analogy for a projector is that of an inverted camera because it emits light rather than receiving it from a lens. For the sake of this buying guide, we will be considering digital projectors—that is, projectors with video inputs that serve a similar function to a TV or computer monitor while offering several benefits, which may include:

• Larger image sizes
• Increased portability
• Flexible installation possibilities

The guidelines I’ll lay out below are applicable to all kinds of projectors. However, it will help to start by dividing digital projectors into four categories:

• Pocket, also called “pico”
• Home theater
• Multimedia
• Large venue and fixed installation (a subset of multimedia)

Naturally, there will be overlap, and not all models will neatly fit into one category. Projectors for multimedia and home theater, for instance, are very similar. Most of the time, the type you require will be evident from your application. Presentations in boardrooms will be multimedia. Home theater in a living room. A big space for a 500-person lecture hall. Pocket or pico projectors are extremely portable and suitable for use where a small screen size is acceptable.

Also Read: How Many Watts Does a Projector Use?

How Do I Know What Projector to Get?

For Home Theater

If you want the most immersive film watching experience you need to get a home theater projector and not a “business” or “commercial” projector. The primary goal of a projector designed for a home theater is to deliver stunning image quality with high contrast, deep blacks, and rich color saturation.

The majority of in-home projectors perform best in a designated media room where you have control over the lighting levels inside the space as well as any outside light that enters through windows or doors. Cinema room projectors typically have fewer lumens than other types because they operate in a controlled, dark environment and don’t need to block out the surrounding light.

You should order a 4K projector with HDR compatibility when purchasing a home theater projector. While those with less refined tastes might be content with a 1080p projector, purchasing a 4K home theater beamer gives you a much better image that will delight your senses.

When you think about the size of your screen, getting a 4K home theater projector is especially crucial. On a large movie screen, the pixels are dispersed over a larger area, making it possible to see more pixilation on a 1080p projector, even though you might not be able to tell the difference as easily on a small flat-screen TV. To get a much sharper, more detailed image, use a 4K projector.

Home theater projectors typically have a 16:9 HD aspect ratio native to them, which is the format used for HDTV broadcasts. Higher end projectors will support a cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.35:1 or 2.4:1 either natively, through the use of lens memory, or through an optional anamorphic lens.

For Living Room

For those who enjoy projecting, living rooms pose a special challenge. You desire a large screen with vivid, bright visuals, but you are likely in a well-lit area without the necessary throw distance.

Most regular throw projectors typically find this to be a challenge, but Ultra Short Throw projectors are a new breed of entertainment projection technology. These optical devices cast a very bright, colorful image at a very close throw distance because they are positioned directly beneath the movie screen.

Since they frequently share a stand or credenza, their installation is easier than that of traditional throw projection because less cabling will likely need to be run from your video source to the cinema projector.

In order to lessen the impact of ambient light, you can also use an ambient light rejecting screen.

You want a projector for your living room that is 4K and compatible with HDR, similar to the one you would use for your home theater.

For the Office

Business projectors are primarily designed to show static images, like graphs and PowerPoint slides, but they also work well for multimedia and entertainment applications.

Lumen output is everything when it comes to office projectors. Because office spaces are typically well lit, using less powerful multimedia projectors can be difficult. However, you can make excellent presentations in front of a huge screen with the help of a business projector that is especially bright.

A regular or short throw projector are both options. Normally, we’d advise using a short-throw projector so you can deliver your presentation without obstructing the light from the screen. However, short-throw projectors typically have a much smaller zoom range (if any at all), so they need to be placed specifically in relation to the screen to get the desired image size.

If you’re looking for a media beamer, make sure it has at least 4000 lumens of output. This will guarantee that the projected data is sufficiently bright.

Either a 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio is an option. The high-definition (above 1080p) resolution projector for the 16:10 aspect ratio that we typically advise purchasing is a 16:10 WUXGA projector for the office. Although it has the same shape as WUXGA, the low resolution 16:10 would be WXGA; the resolution is significantly lower.

Most modern computers can display a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is frequently used as the video source in business applications because it enables you to display more data on the screen at once.

A 1080p or WUXGA projector should be adequate for projecting data such as spreadsheets, financials, and other presentations where being able to see detail is important, depending on the content you plan to show. A 4K projector is recommended for the most important applications because it can resolve 4 times as much data as a 1080p projector and produce images with the highest level of detail.

In order to get the best and most clear images regardless of the lighting in the room, pair it with an ambient light-rejecting screen, just like you would with a living room projector.

For Classrooms

Projectors are an excellent tool for educators of all levels because they can make learning more enjoyable and engaging. Similar capabilities to those of a business projector are typically required for classroom projectors, though they frequently use a lower resolution in K–12 settings than in higher education.

A short throw is the way to go if the projector is not permanently installed in the classroom and is instead moved there on a cart so that you don’t block the projector while you’re teaching.

A school projector with built-in speakers can make presentations much simpler because it makes setup easier, but the built-in speakers on any multimedia projector are frequently very subpar and might not provide the right audio levels and clarity for your application.

For the same reason, you should also check that your connectivity inputs are sufficient.

For Churches and Houses of Worship

It depends on the purpose of the projector when picking one for a church. Will there be church services? The projector will it be for Sunday school? Will it be for evenings of outdoor movies? You must decide how you will use it.

To accommodate a large audience, congregation screens are frequently very large. Our comprehensive guide can help you decide what projector you need by providing more information about church projectors and screens.

For Gaming

There are a few different specifications that you should look for when purchasing a gaming projector.

The projector’s resolution, lag time, and refresh rate are its three most crucial characteristics.

To get the most out of your gaming console’s or computer’s graphics capabilities, if you use one that supports 4K resolution, we strongly advise that you purchase a 4K projector.

When you press a button on your controller or other input device, how long does it take for the action to appear on the screen? This is known as the lag time. You should aim for input lag times of under 16 milliseconds for competitive gaming, such as first-person shooters, which should be 30 milliseconds or less. Although projectors haven’t historically been the best at producing such low lag times, today there are a number of video projectors that surpass the 30ms threshold.

The number of times the monitor updates with fresh images each second is known as the refresh rate.

Refresh rates (or framerates) of 120Hz, 144Hz, and even 240Hz are becoming more and more common in gaming monitors. A gaming projector should ideally have a refresh rate of at least 120Hz.

It’s crucial to purchase a video game projector that emits enough lumens to provide you with an amazing and immersive gaming experience because it’s more enjoyable to game in a well-lit environment. even in well-lit rooms.

Related Reading: How To Choose The Best Projector For Bedroom Ceiling?

Do I Need a Projector Screen?

Use a projector screen if you want to make the most of your projector.

Optical coatings are applied to dedicated screens to increase their reflective qualities. You get the most stunning visuals possible thanks to this. Screens have a number of important benefits, such as higher image resolution, more accurate color, more brightness, and a smooth, distortion-free image.

A plain wall simply cannot reflect light as well as a movie screen. This could even blur or distort the movie and have a negative impact on how clearly the image is projected.

Even the best-painted wall will have imperfections like paint drips, bubbles, and texture. When the light from a projector strikes them, each of these flaws will be brought to light.

Related Reading:

• Do You Need A Projector Screen?
• How To Hide Projector Screen?
• How To Hang Projector Screen From Ceiling?

Where Do I Put My Projector?

You should aim to have your projector as close to directly perpendicular to the screen as you can.

The ideal alignment for a projector mounted to the ceiling is typically with the top of the viewing surface.

You will almost certainly need a projector with adjustable vertical lens shift if you intend to mount your projector on a dedicated shelf in the back of the room in order to properly align it with the screen.

In a perfect world, you would position your beamer so that no one else in the room would have their view obstructed by someone walking through the light beam. Projectors mounted to the ceiling are so common because of this.

How Much Do Projectors Cost?

A high-quality projector can cost anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars; some even go for more than one hundred thousand.

The wide variety of technologies, powers, and features that go into each projector contribute to its wide price range. A projector’s price can go up depending on the number of lumens, resolution, light source, and chipset it has.

How Much Does a 4K Projector Cost?

A 4K projector will undoubtedly cost more than a 1080p projector because of the cutting-edge technology used to make it. Around $1,300 will get you a 4K projector at the entry level. You should search for a mid-range home theater 4K projector between $2,500 and $5,000. Spending between $6,000 and $25,000 on a projector is likely if you want the best possible picture quality.

Is It Worth Getting a Projector?

Investing in a video projector is definitely worthwhile if you want to enjoy the big-screen movie experience at home. The largest flatscreen TVs currently on the market are about 80 inches. TVs lose any price advantage over comparable projection systems beyond that size. You should definitely purchase a projector if you want to achieve a display that is 100 inches or larger.

Are Cheap Projectors Worth It?

Cheap projectors are almost never worthwhile, despite what you might find on Amazon. They lack the ability to project a good image in any kind of practical way. Many of these inexpensive projector manufacturers promote inaccurate or outright false specifications. Save your money and buy a better projector if the appearance of your movies and videos matters to you at all.

FAQs