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.
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