How to choose a projector?

If you hear any of these situations, continue reading this guide to buying a projector and we will tell you what to look for when buying it depending on the use you are going to give it. If you see that some concept you do not understand, you can go to our dictionary with the characteristics of a projector. But before beginning it is good to emphasize that:

Where some are better for a certain use (like the home theater ), the others will be better for a different purpose (such as to make presentations for example). So let's see what factors influence the decision. And especially where we should go depending on the use we are going to give it.

Let's go for Cheapest 4k projector of this site just in range

How to buy a good projector? Benefits to be taken into account

These are, in summary, form, the characteristics to take into account when buying a projector :

Type of use: Domestic, professional or pocket.

Technology: Each one with its advantages and disadvantages, although it should not be the most important thing to make a decision.

Format: The type of screen or diagonal that the projected image will have natively.

Brightness:The luminous power of the device.

Contrast: The relationship between the lightest and the darkest points. What will allow us to enjoy a greater or lesser depth of colors?

Refresh rate:Eespecially for gamers, is the number of times the image is updated per second.

Resolution: The number of pixels the image has. The more, the better the quality of the projection.

Maximum screen size and distance of the projection.

Connections

Projector size and weight

Extras that count (wifi or Bluetooth connection, built-in TDT ...)

And now we are going to see them all in detail so that you are as clear as possible.

A little history

For the nostalgic, the first projection systems date from the late 19th century, and it was the Lumiére brothers who managed to popularize it. For that reason, they are considered the parents of the cinema. These first projectors were based on the concept of " retinal persistence ", where they projected images at high speed giving the sensation of movement. The famous 24 frames per second.

Who did not have fun as a child drawing in the corners of the notebooks to see the drawings in motion? Well, that's how the projection story began. And for those who want to see a bit of history, we leave you a video about the first cinematograph and the first films in motion:

What projector do you recommend?

The million dollar question. Well knowing what projector to buy for home theater, the office for presentations or to give away, it is very easy if we know what we want it for. What use are we going to give? Depending on this, there will be some characteristics to which we will give more or less importance. Broadly speaking, the main uses of a projector are:

Domestic use: for home theater or video games.

Professional use: Presentations in classrooms, auditoriums or meeting rooms.

Portable (pocket):  That allows us to move in a comfortable way.

As we will see later, depending on its use and the conditions of the room (ambient light, distance from the screen ...), we will prioritize more features and renounce others when choosing our ideal projector.

Types of technology

Although technology should not be a determining factor in the choice, it is good to familiarize ourselves with them. They are classified into two groups:

Image projection: DLP vs LCD vs LCOS.

A light source used:  traditional lamp vs led vs laser.

If you go to inform you about these technologies, you will discover that there is a fierce battle between 3LCD technology, championed by manufacturers such as Sony or Epson, and DLP technology patented by Texas Instruments that use manufacturers such as Optoma or BenQ. Other brands, however, have decided to include both technologies in their products. This is the case of LG or Acer. This means that both technologies are mature enough and offer great results, especially in the mid-range.

If you want to delve into these technologies, we recommend reading this article about them:

After this roll ... What technology to choose?

If you have read the previous article (and if we do not tell you now), you may have noticed that the choice of technology has an influence on the source of lighting used.

The traditional lamp offers a better brightness, ideal for professional environments where a plus of luminosity is required. But we must be aware that we must replace it.

In a led projector, to get more brightness we should go at a higher price. And remember that the lumens come in ANSI for a better comparison.

And if we opt for a laser projector, or a hybrid laser / LED, prepare the pocket. Of course, prepare also to have the best experiences currently offered by the market.

In terms of how they project the image, whether LCD, DLP or LCoS should not influence our decision. Rather we should be guided by the other features that we will see below.

Format

There are many aspect ratios, but the two most common are 4: 3 and 16: 9 (panoramic). Here the choice of format is very simple:

16: 9 for domestic use, since the content that we go to the projector will be in that format (movies, video games). Television is usually in 4: 3 format. That's why in the movies we see the black stripes above and below the image.

4: 3 for professional use, since it is the usual format of computer screens and slides of PowerPoint presentations or similar.

A projector with a native format can project in the other format, but what it will do is adapt the image. That is why it is recommended to choose the format of the content that we are going to project in a majority way.

And here we leave you a very funny video that shows us how the panoramic and Cinemascope formats were born. Developed by the film industry to distinguish itself from television:

Brightness

Perhaps the most important point on which we should look, the light power. This is measured in ANSI lumens, a standardized measure to compare brightness. And as is evident, the higher the power, the higher the price.

Keep in mind that there are different ways to measure the lumens. Led lumens or pico lumens adopt different values. Many brands in their models do not indicate brightness in this standardized measure. One of the tricks used to get better in the photo. And cheat the consumer, why not say it. So try to always come in ANSI lumens for a correct comparison.

What we must think about to choose the right brightness is the environment where the projector will be used, whether or not there will be ambient light. Also, something in the distance that there will be with the screen or the wall since at a greater distance the luminosity is lost. As in the size of the projected image, the higher the brightness loss. But mainly stay with the idea of ​​the level of external light that will enter or not in the room to choose the right brightness. As a general rule we can say that:

For a domestic use with the lights off, starting at 1,000 lumens already begins to be exaggerated.

However, for professional use in rooms with ambient light, we will need to go at least 2,500 lumens. And from there up. That's why, for professional use, LEDs tend to be short.

On the other hand, here we would like to emphasize that traditional lamps, although much more powerful than LEDs, suffer from wear and lose their luminosity over time. If someone has ever changed a lamp of a projector sure that it will have noticed the difference with the new one.

Contrast

What the contrast measures are a relationship: the maximum difference between the lightest and the darkest points. A ratio of 1,000: 1 means that the lightest point is 1,000 times more than the darkest point. It is important that this parameter goes hand in hand with brightness. If we have many lumens but the contrast is low, the quality of the image suffers. Resulting in a projection or discolored image because the impact of light on the screen affects the intensity of black.

More topic:

Home Cinema - Buying Guide for Home Cinema Projectors