What to look for when purchasing a projector.
Video projectors have been used as a presentation tool in business and commercial entertainment as well as in home theatres. Recently they have become an affordable and available for people. That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind when purchasing a projector.
Type: There are two major types of projectors available in the market today DLP (Digital Light Processing) and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).
DLP projectors utilise a light source in combination with a colour wheel and chip that contains microscopic tilting mirrors. The light passes through the color wheel, reflects off the mirrors, and is then projected onto a screen.
LCD projectors pass a light source through three LCD chips (Red, Green And Blue) to create and project images.
Light source: With the aforementioned technology, the type of light source in the projector should be taken into consideration as well.
There are three light sources, lamp, LED and Laser.
Lamps give about 3,000 to 4,000 hours of viewing. However, some projectors give 5,000 hours.LED and Laser projectors have a much longer life - around 20,000 hours or more.
ANSI Lumens: Ansi Lumens are used to describe the brightness ( light output) of a projector.
Projectors with 1000 ANSI Lumens or greater have sufficient brightness for home theatre use.
Although video projector’s light output capabilities have improved, they still work best in a darkened room.
Contrast Ratio: Contrast ratio complements brightness. Contrast is the difference between the black and white portions of the image. In a darkened room, a contrast ratio of at least 1500:1 is good, but 2000:1 or higher is considered excellent.
Pixel Density: Pixel Density (aka display revolution) is important. LCD and DLP projectors both have a fixed number of pixels.
To get the most out of 4K projectors, you need to provide 4K Content from an Ultra HD Blu-ray player or $K streaming service (such as Netflix or Vudu).
Color Reproduction: When checking out color reproduction, check for natural flesh tones and color depth, how colours look in the brightest and darkest areas of the image, the degree of color stability from input to input, and that you get familiar with the types of picture settings that video projectors offer.
Everyone has a slight difference in colour perception and what looks pleasing to them, so look carefully.
Inputs: All video projectors these days provide HDMI inputs, and most projectors also have VGA or DVI inputs for computers.
In conclusion when purchasing a projector, prices vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and you have to keep the cost of the screen in mind as well.
