Projectors for home cinema

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Why do I need a projector?

These days the content produced by movie and TV production companies is of truly incredible quality. The effort and expense put into making sure every single frame of your favourite film franchise or TV show is huge - and, handily, there are ways you can maximise your chance of seeing things absolutely as the makers intended. A large TV is the most common choice, for sure, but a projector can provide you with a home cinema environment to rival your local multiplex!

Projectors are also extremely useful for business presentations or other uses within the professional environment. In some instances it is also possible, of course, to hook up a gaming console and use the projector that way, for extremely large images.

How to choose a projector for your home cinema set-up

Like most electrical devices, projectors have different specifications and to compare them you should take a look at the resolution, the brightness and the aspect ratio. There are a wide range of models available from manufacturers such as Benq, Epson and Hitachi.

How does brightness affect a projector?

The brightness of a projector is measured in lumens. Basically, the higher the lumens the brighter the projector will be on screen. Something to consider here is that a brighter projector can display more detailed images - so would be ideal for displaying technical information, whereas viewing TV or movies doesn't require such a bright projector.

It's also advisable to consider where the projector will be sited. As a very rough rule of thumb the larger the room then the brighter the projector will need to be. And, because a projector performs best when it is used within a darkened space, a projector with a lower lumens rating can be used if you are able to control the level of ambient lighting within the room. For lighter rooms then a higher lumens rating will be required.

Resolution

The higher the resolution the better the quality, or detail, of the image projected. When it comes to projectors there is a range of resolutions from which to choose. These include SVGA (800x600), XGA (1024x768) and widescreen WXGA (1200x800). These are the most common resolutions available. While it is common, these days, amongst TV sets, a newcomer to the projectors market is 4K. Producing 4K UHD (3840x2160) resolution - which means 8 million distinct pixels for each frame - these projectors are perfect for awe-inspiring clarity and crisply defined fine details.

Is Aspect Ratio important?

It is, yes. Put simply the aspect ratio of a projector is the width of the image in relation to its height. There are two common aspect ratios. The first of these is 4:3 which is usually best for business or classroom use. For content consumption then 16:9 is best, particularly for TV or film watching in home cinema set-ups. A third option is 16:10 which is designed for use with widescreen computers.

What is a 'short throw projector'?

Short throw projection refers to a distance between 3 to 8 feet away from projector to screen, so therefore a short throw projector is one which can be positioned within that distance from the area you have designated as your screen. Ultra-short throw projection refers to a distance between 0 to 4 feet away from projector to screen and, again, projectors deemed ultra-short throw are devices which work within that measurement. There are also 'long throw' projectors, which have been specifically designed to provide very large imagesfrom a position in the centre of the ceiling in a large room.

Connecting my new projector

HDMI or HDMI-adaptable connection is the standar, so any modern media player, HDMI-enabled PC or games console is likely to be 'a good fit' for your new projector. There are, however, projectors on the market which can cope with legacy connections like VGA or SD (S-video and composite video). Most, though, will only feature HDMI or other smart connectivity, so it is worth checking this out before you buy, so that your needs and capabilities can be correctly met.

Finding the right projector

Whether you are giving a presentation at the office or enjoying movies, TV shows and video games in the comfort of your own living room, Ebuyer has the ideal projector for you. You can search for your projector by using the filter feature and categorising by brand, aspect ratio, price and more.