Joseph Mercola

There's plenty of hubbub about BIG screen TVs these days: plasma, LCD, rear-projection, blah blah blah. That's great and all, but what about projectors?  When building your home theater, projectors rock the big screen action. I love the feel of watching shows on a projector. There's something about that beam of light piercing a dark room and hitting the projector screen… it's like having my own genuine private movie theater.

Hey, isn't that the whole point of home theater?

IMHO, there's no quicker way to get that movie theater feel in your home than with a projector (a good surround sound system helps too).

 Just like HDTV's, there are many projectors out there. They range in price from about $700 to wildly outrageous prices of tens of thousands, and like most things, you usually get what you pay for. In other words, the more expensive players usually are higher quality-but wait! Before you rush off and drop all your hard-earned on the latest and greatest projector, learn these four guidelines and use them to maximize your home theater "dollars-to-movie-magic-awesomeness" ratio.

When shopping for a projector, consider the following 4 Key Elements:

Resolution

Contrast Ratio

Lumens

Bulb Life

Let's examine each of these areas...

The Big Picture (Resolution)

Just like HDTVs, resolution is a key factor. The screen formats are usually the same, but some projector manufacturers won't always use the same language to tell you this. Most HDTVs are advertised as being either 720p, 1080i or 1080p, etc., but this isn't always easy to tell with projectors. Projectors also sometimes use terms like XGA and WXGA.

Let's sort this out. The easiest way to figure what level of HD the projector will play is to look at the native resolution, which is usually right on the box. Here's the breakdown:

 

Native Resolution	Aspect Ratio	HD Equivalent
854x480	16:9 Widescreen	480p
1024x576	16:9 Widescreen	576p*
640x480	4:3 Fullscreen	EDTV (enhanced definition, but not true HD)
800x600	4:3 Fullscreen	Equivalent to 480p
1024x768	4:3 Fullscreen	Equivalent to 480p
1280x720	16:9 Widescreen	720p
1280x768	16:9 Widescreen (just a little more square)	720p
1280x800	16:10 Widescreen (but you'll still see black bars in widescreen movies)	720p
1920x1080	16:9 Widescreen	1080p

*576p is designed to support European formats

Choosing the resolution is a great way to manage the price of your projector. Think of the tradeoff: you can get a good 480p projector for under $700, and with that you get HD content and a screen up to 100 inches! That's a lot cheaper than a much smaller HDTV, plus you get a more authentic theater experience. After that, the prices tend to be about the same, with the difference being that most projectors can get up to 100 inches in size, and most HDTVs you'd find for similar prices top out at half that size.

Contrast Ratio

What's that?  Sounds really "techy," but many people don't realize how important it is. In a nutshell, it's what makes the lights and the darks in the picture stand out. This is VERY important in a projector. Video on a projector with poor contrast ratio will look washed out, and the blacks will either look blue or gray. Contrast ratio really can make or break that authentic theater feel.

You'll see ratios ranging from 500:1 to 10000:1 contrast ratio. The simplest answer is to say "the higher the better," but the problem is that these numbers aren't always true. It all depends on how the manufacturer tested the projector. So the best thing for you to do is to see if you can test it for yourself.

What are you looking for? You want to see two things. You want to see how a movie looks with the lights on and and with the lights off. Sure, you'll probably watch movies with the lights off, but it helps to get a feel of the contrast on the projector by testing it this way.

Let There Be Light! (Lumens)

Lumens are the measurement of light from the projector. Like contrast ratio, the brighter, the better, but again it depends on how you're going to use the projector. If you watch all your shows in pitch black, you can get away with low lumens (just like you can get away with lower contrast ratio). Higher lumens will give you more versatility with your projector.

Bulb Life

This one's all about the future. Projector bulbs typically cost $250-$350. You probably don't want to replace that every 6 months!  So when you're looking at projectors, find out how long the bulbs are estimated to last, and try to factor in how much you plan on using the projector to allow for future costs.  It's commonly overlooked.

Conclusion

Just with any piece of expensive equipment, you should buy something that fits your needs and will last you a long time. I can't tell you EXACTLY what to buy because everyone has different needs. But if you factor in resolution, contrast ratio, lumens and bulb life, you'll be able to find a projector that fits your needs and your budget.