What projector should i buy for home theater

Most people end up with a fixed-frame screen directly mounted to a wall or hung from the ceiling. The bezel can end up being anything from a 3-inch black felt-wrapped border that hides any stray image spilling off the screen material, to a fine, nearly invisible bezel that gives the impression of an image floating in space.

Although screen material can greatly affect the cost of a screen, fixed frame options are always the least expensive. The usual alternative to a fixed frame is a mechanical or motorized retractable screen that drops down from the ceiling only when needed. These come in flush-mount styles with a canister that attaches to the ceiling or wall, or in-ceiling versions that require more involved installation.

Motorized screens typically need low-voltage power cabling or a nearby power outlet, though battery-rechargeable screens are now available.

Motorized screens can usually be dropped or rolled with a trigger wire from the projector or other equipment, or via wireless remote control. Aspect Ratio. Aspect ratio defines the relationship of the screen's width to height.

The vast majority of installations use a screen with a aspect ratio, or 16 units of width to 9 units of height. This matches HDTV broadcast content, but results in widescreen movies appearing with black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Some movie enthusiasts opt for a 2.

There is a lot to consider before planning a 2. Screen Material. The screen material you select will vary based on your need to combat ambient light.

If you plan to view in a dark room, a traditional matte white screen material will best maintain brightness and color accuracy while providing a smooth texture. White screens are also usually the most cost-effective. Gray screen materials boost perceived black level and contrast, usually at the expense of some brightness, and can be an option for dark or moderately-lit viewing spaces. For bright-room viewing, more sophisticated, engineered ALR materials with multiple layers of optical elements will actively direct the projector light back to the viewers while rejecting ambient light.

You can opt for an acoustically transparent screen when a fixed or drop-down screen will obstruct a home theater speaker system. These allow sound to pass through, though the perforations or weave in the material can sometimes cause visible artifacts depending on the material used. It's best to avoid these screens if you can to better protect both the image and sound quality of your system, but the best acoustically transparent screens minimize the deleterious effects on both.

Screen Gain and Viewing Angle. There are two primary characteristics you'll want to pay attention to with any kind of screen material you're considering. The screen's gain describes its reflectivity, where a gain of 1. Most traditional matte white screen materials are rated from 1. The second key characteristic is the screen's half-gain viewing angle or viewing cone, which describes the how far viewers can move to the left or right of center screen before brightness noticeably drops off.

Screens with higher gain above 1. Our article " What is Screen Gain " will tell you more. Now that you have some basics under your belt, you're almost ready to select a home theater projector. But before you can choose the right model there are some practical matters to think about including placement of your projector and screen, the screen size and material, and the mechanical installation.

The simplest installation is one in which you pull a projector out of storage, set it up on a coffee table, and project onto a wall poor choice or a portable or retractable screen better. Most permanent installations, however, end up with the projector mounted upside down from the ceiling or placed on a tall shelf or in a cubby at the back of the room.

These installations may require not just physical mounting of the projector, but possibly the wiring of a power outlet near the projector, and the running of signal cables inside the ceiling and walls to reach from the source components to the projector location.

It's skilled work that a DIYer may or may not feel confident about. You can, of course, hire a custom electronics integrator to do the work and help you select your projector and screen. That's a highly recommended path that takes all the complexity out of the process and insures a good result.

The website of the Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association has a locator to find reputable member companies in your area. Since your TV source components reside in the cabinet, there are no wires to run through walls or ceilings.

If you've been thinking about buying a projector you probably already know where you want to put the projector and screen. The likelihood is that architecture or pre-existing seating in your room will restrict the screen placement to one particular wall, and it's just a question of where to put the projector.

For a ceiling mount, you'll ideally want the projector somewhat behind the viewers or closer to the front of the room rather than directly above the primary seating, which will minimize the audibility of fan noise that every projector emanates—some more than others.

Whether you ceiling- or shelf-mount your projector, tr to keep it aligned with an imaginary vertical line drawn down the center of the screen, rather than off-center to the left or right. This will avoid the need for horizontal lens shift and reduce the likelihood of issues with keystone distortion that disrupts the rectangular geometry of the image.

Once you know the expected location of the projector and screen, you can measure the approximate "throw distance" between the projector lens and the screen surface. This is a critical piece of information you'll need to choose a projector. Later on, you can use ProjectorCentral's Throw Calculator , or one provided online by the projector manufacturer, to determine if a projector's lens will accommodate your space requirements.

Along with your projector and screen locations, yourseating distance will likely be self-evident. There are industry recommendations for how large a commercial theater screen should be for a given seating distance, with the idea of optimizing the viewing angle for the patrons' peripheral vision.

THX recommends a degree angle, which would make the picture a bit more immersive. You can visit this online screen distance calculator to see the screen size for each of these with your given seating distance. To give you some idea, if you had a foot viewing distance, the SMPTE recommendation would result in a inch diagonal screen, while the THX recommendation would result in a inch diagonal screen. The reality, however, is that these are only recommendations, and your decision will ultimately be based on your personal taste and available space, as well as your desire to stay within the most cost-effective, industry-standard screen sizes.

Do you like to sit further back in the movie theater, very close-up, or somewhere in the middle? And how large a screen can you physically fit on your wall? Screens come in standard sizes, give or take a few inches.

For the average home theater, you'll likely be looking at the to inch diagonal range with a aspect ratio, with , , and inch being among the most popular. A great way to zero in on the right size for your room is to tape out a box on your wall with removable painter's tape using the width and height dimensions of your proposed screen size.

Then sit back in your viewing chair and see how it feels. You'll know instantly if you need to go up or down a size. This is the last step before scouting for projectors, and it's an important one. Let's start with some basic definitions and concepts. Projector brightness is specified in units of "lumens.

While a projector's maximum lumen output is fixed by design, the amount of brightness it delivers to your screen for reflection back to you will vary based on screen size and other criteria discussed below. This realized brightness is typically measured in "foot-Lamberts," abbreviated ft-L. Note that brighter is not necessarily better with home theater projectors.

Too much brightness in a dark theater can lead to viewer fatigue, and the brighter you go the harder it is to maintain lower black level and superior contrast. This is why many premium projectors regarded as having the best contrast and deepest blacks come in with ratings of less than 2, ANSI lumens, though projectors intended for bright-room viewing may go to 3, lumens or more.

There are some established targets developed for movie theaters to describe how many ft-L you might want coming off the screen in a dark room. SMPTE suggests 16 to 22 ft-L for a dark theater, but many home theater viewers prefer somewhat brighter images.

These days, especially if you plan to watch a lot of High Dynamic Range HDR content from a 4K home theater projector more on that below , it's safe to target up to 25 to 30 ft-L as a minimum, though you'll need less for regular Standard Dynamic Range SDR programs.

As mentioned, the amount of ft-L that arrives at your screen for reflection back to the viewers depends on two other key factors besides the projector's lumen spec. First is the image size. The larger the image, the greater its area, and the more lumens are required from your projector to achieve a given brightness across the entire screen.

The other critical factor is the amount of ambient light interfering with the projector's output. If you plan to watch in a bright family room, you might want as much as 50 ft-L or more at the screen so it'll punch nicely through the room light—though use of an ALR screen can reduce that need by improving contrast and keeping the darker areas of images from looking washed out.

One more factor that needs to be accounted for is the screen gain. A screen with gain higher than 1. Similarly, a lower gain below 1. You can calculate the effect of screen gain on lumens just by multiplying: a 1. We covered the subject of screen gain earlier in this article, and you can also read more in our Tech Talk article " What is Screen Gain?

When you start shopping, you'll find that traditional home theater projectors range from about 1, to perhaps 3, ANSI lumens maximum brightness. However, you won't be seeing all of that on the screen, because the projector's brightest preset viewing mode often displays visibly tinted color you won't want to use for watching movies or TV.

In fact, it's best to assume that the projector's most color-accurate modes will deliver about half to two-thirds, give or take a bit, of the projector's full brightness spec.

ProjectorCentral's product reviews usually list the results of our measured lumens test for each of the projector's color modes. But in the absence of confirmed measurements from a trusted source, you can always guesstimate. As an example, if you use the formula, a 1, lumen projector with a inch diagonal, 1. Cut that in half to account for selection of a less-bright, more color-accurate picture mode, and you're left with about 20 ft-L.

So, you might consider 1, lumens about the very bare minimum for dark-room theater on a inch screen. If you raise your threshold to 1,, lumens, you'll have some room to run things a little brighter in the dark or turn on some degree of ambient light. At a inch diagonal screen size, you'll need about 2, lumens instead of 1, lumens for similar 20 ft-L brightness.

Note that you'll find more home theater projectors today spec'd at 2, lumens and higher than ever before as manufacturers have ratcheted up the brightness to account for some degree of ambient light. With some exceptions, you'll usually find that the extra brightness above 2, or so lumens comes at the expense of slightly less accurate color and a sacrifice in contrast performance compared with a given brand's similar dark-room projectors, but these projectors still provide an essentially accurate and highly satisfying image.

At this point, you should know your screen size and your throw distance, have some idea of the expected screen gain, and been able to calculate about how many lumens you need. Congratulations—it's time to start culling through projector specs, features, and product reviews to find just the right model. Fortunately, we've got you covered. ProjectorCentral's unique database lists more than 11, current and past projectors..

Each projector found in your search has its own information page with key specs as well as the spec sheet and user manual, and a link to our proprietary Projector Throw Calculator. If we've reviewed that projector you'll find links to those articles as well.

Finally, for most models that are available online, you'll see a current price link that will take you to authorized projector sellers.. Another great resource to consult are our Top Ten Home Theater Projectors lists provided for different price brackets.

Though these rankings are not curated editorial recommendations, the lists are generated by constantly monitoring web traffic to our Find a Projector database , the price-quote engine connected with our affiliated projector resellers, our Projector Throw Calculator , and our editorial product coverage and reviews to gauge which projectors are generating the most buzz and sales activity. What should you look for in specs, features, and performance? We've got a list below, but be aware that aside from overall brightness, the specs don't really tell you much.

Projectors with similar specs often perform very differently. That's why it's so important to seek out and read expert and user reviews. Like the horsepower spec on an automobile, a projector's brightness spec tells you what kind of muscle it's got. We've discussed brightness above, but know that a projector from a reputable manufacturer will be marked in ANSI lumens or ISO lumens.

The color made it feel like watching film: everything has a golden, s-style vibe to it, which I think is partly because of its color space. The projector uses Rec. So from about 11 feet away, it can get an image as small as 80 inches diagonally, all the way up to inches.

It has lumens of brightness but with a screen you can watch in daylight. If you want a really big image or if your space is a lot smaller, then you should get a short-throw projector. The audio is surprisingly loud for only having one 5W speaker. If you have a small, dark room, this projector is great for it. Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to the Vava projector as a fully laser-based system — it is not.

It is a DLP projector that uses a laser light source instead of bulb. We regret the error. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.

Filed under: Reviews. Linkedin Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. What kind of projector should you get? Screen or no screen? The best projectors for your home or apartment The Epson Home Cinema is the best overall projector. The Epson Home Cinema provides the best blend of image quality, ease of use, and price. The Optoma HDX is the best budget projector. The Vava projector has the best image quality. The Epson Home Cinema combines a higher resolution with better sound quality. Google Ten top weather apps for Android phones.

Reviews The best noise-canceling headphones to buy right now. Hands-on This graphene battery pack charges incredibly fast. Share this story Twitter Facebook. Are you looking for a projector primarily for watching movies or sports, playing games, or displaying business presentations? Many of the lowest-priced projectors are best suited for business uses such as PowerPoint or whiteboard presentations and company video chats.

Ideally, it includes a Cinema or Movie mode that comes close to reference standards, plus the controls you need to fine-tune the image for the best performance.

Gamers should look for a projector that offers very low input lag, which means less time between when something happens in the game and when you see it on your screen. Many home entertainment projectors now include a game mode with lower input lag; we recommend that the lag amount be 16 ms or less. We like the Viewsonic PXK for sports and gaming. This question is particularly important for movie enthusiasts because it affects how much you should spend on a projector.

Do you have a dedicated theater room in which you can fully block out extraneous light, or do you watch movies only at night with the lights off? Do you want to have a truly cinematic big-screen experience and see all the finest details in your favorite dark, moody thriller?

If so, it may be worth paying more to get a higher-end home theater projector that can deliver an image with truly deep, dark black levels and an especially high contrast ratio that results in a richer, more engaging picture. You can find good living-room projectors and budget home theater projectors that may not deliver that nth degree of performance but can still produce a big, bright image with respectable color accuracy.

Another thing to consider is the size of your room. Traditional projectors need a lot of space to cast a large image.