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If you want to transform your living room into a state of the art home cinema, there are several important factors to consider. Most projectors are capable of taking inputs from both a PC and video sources, such as a DVD player or Set top box. However, most are also optimised either for PC use or for home cinema. Very few truly excel at both. Here at Projector Point we understand that every home cinema set up is unique, so we do recommend you contact us with your specific requirements so we can learn more about your space and suggest the right home cinema projector for you and your home. Our advisors have personally seen the vast majority of current home cinema projectors. Here are the factors when picking your first home cinema projector. |
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Resolution |
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Resolution
One of the most important factors to consider when looking for high image
quality is the native resolution of your projector. The most common resolutions
for home cinema at present are 720p (1280 horizontal pixels x 720 vertical
pixels) and 1080p (1920 horizontal pixels x 1080 vertical pixels)
The higher the resolution the higher the number of pixels are displayed and therefore the sharper the image. Higher resolution also means better compatibility with high definition sources such as Blu-Ray, Xbox360, PS3, Sky HD.
The current and most popular home cinema projector resolutions are:
| Resolution | Width x Height in pixels | Total number of pixels displayed (approx) |
|---|---|---|
| 720p | 1280 x 720 | 922,000 |
| 1080p | 1920 x 1080 | 2 million |
We would mention that home cinema projectors actually start at a resolution of 480p but these are not suitable for displaying high definition content and with the price of 720p projectors extremley affordable these 480p models are now few and far between. We recommend a minimum resolution of 720p (1280x720 pixels) as the best choice for taking the first step into home cinema.
What you are watching (your source material) will make a big difference in the quality of your image. A low quality signal into your projector will most likely look like a low quality signal when projected, and on a larger screen may be even more noticeable. For best results, you should try and match the native resolution of your source material.
Contrast
Ratio
The contrast ratio is the ratio between the white and black parts in an image. The larger the contrast ratio of a projector, the greater the difference between the brightest whites and the darkest blacks a projector can show and the better its ability to create an image with depth to it. A contrast rating of 1000:1 would imply that the black level is 1000 times darker than the white.
You might wonder why black has any brightness at all – this is just because all projectors emit light 'leakage' to some degree. A higher contrast ratio implies that there is less light leakage, which means your image appears less faded. Imagine Darth Vader looking like he’s wearing a grey outfit rather than a black one and you begin to understand how important this is.
Current standards are seing home cinema projectors reaching contrast ratios of 75,000 : 1 - now thats going to produce some seriously deep blacks on screen!
Brightness
Brightness is measured in lumens and for home cinema projectors brightness typically ranges from 700 - 2000 lumens, with most of them between 900 and 1200 lumens. The important thing to remember here is that brightness is not king when it comes to home cinema - to get a real "cinema feel" you should really look at how you can reduce ambient light hitting the screen before you consider brightness as a criteria in your projector purchase.
If there is a high level
of ambient light or you do not plan to have the lighting controlled
with blinds and controlled lighting then you will need a higher
lumen projector. For low level ambient light 1000-1200
lumens should be sufficient. In a controlled environment (blackout
blinds or heavy lined curtains and controlled lighting not in the
direction of the screen) then anything from 800 lumens and upwards
will be more than adequate.
Connectivity
The types of connection that your projector is capable of accepting determines the quality of your image, how easy it is to set up and how neat your set-up will look. All home cinema projectors will have an input for standard definition sources (composite or component video inputs). If you have high definition sources such as PlayStation 3, Blu Ray DVD Player or Sky HD then look for home cinema projectors that have a HDMI input as this is the one you will need.
Lamp
Life
Most projectors typically have a lamp life between 2000-4000 hours. This specification is actually referring to the 'half-life' of the lamp at which point the lamp is half a bright as it was when it was new. Longer lamp life normally means lower costs replacing the lamp in your projector.
If you are planning to use your projector to replace your current television, lamp replacement cost should be factored into your purchase as you will have a higher level of usage; replacement lamps cost approximately £100-£250 depending on the manufacturer. Through regular cleaning of the filters you may improve the life of a lamp, as will proper operation by powering the projector down rather than just removing power.
If you purchase a spare lamp with your
projector, we’d advise that you run
it in your projector for a few hours first and then store it somewhere
cool and dark where it won’t get knocked or dropped. Lamp warranties begin
from the day of purchase, not from the day of use. If a lamp is faulty,
it will generally fail within the first 4 to 10 hours of operation.
Screen
size
To get the best out of your investment use a projector screen. This will give you a better image quality in terms of brightness and colour reproduction.
You will probably want to get a 16:9 screen if you’re using it for home cinema or own a games console such as a PlayStation 3 or XBOX 360. You also need to find the ideal screen size. This can be calculated by knowing the throw distance you have available (the distance between the front of the projector and the area you are projecting onto). Using the screen size calculator you can find the screen size that matches your projector and the area available. See our screens page for a full selection of screens and use our screen size calculator for help on screen sizes.
Bear in mind that bigger does not necessarily mean better. If you have
ever sat in the front row of a cinema and walked out with a stiff neck,
you’ll know what we mean.
LCD
or DLP?
There's been a long running battle between LCD (liquid
crystal display) and DLP (digital light
processing) technologies. Both have merits for home cinema. Here's a brief
summary.
| LCD | DLP |
|---|---|
| No rainbow effect | Rainbow effect experienced by small proportion of users. Virtually eliminated if the projector features a 4 x speed or greater colour wheel. |
| Slightly more saturated "truer" colours | Less saturated colours, but improving significantly, especially with the introduction of 8 segment colour wheels |
| Contrast ratios up to 75000:1 | Contrast ratios up to 7500:1 |
| Small gap between pixels, resulting in minute 'screen door' or 'chicken wire' effect. | Much smaller gap between pixels, resulting in smoother overall image |
| Small possibility of 'dead' pixels on projected image | Dead pixels virtually non-existent |
Both LCD and DLP have evolved rapidly over the last year, and we have now reached a point where the immense gap between the two technologies is relatively narrow. Projectors from the likes of Sanyo, Epson and Hitachi now strongly challenge their DLP rivals and in many cases at a lower price.
Still confused?
If you need help, we're here to deliver it. Just give us a call for expert advice on choosing a home cinema projector that's right for you.
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