Thursday 21 February 2013

The foolproof guide to projector selection

By Adrian Bradey


Digital projectors can be used in both home entertainment and business contexts, so there are many different factors to consider when looking for the best one. Three main items you may want to look at are how bright the display is, the resolution, and the size of the unit. A digital projector with a low brightness is often suitable for home entertainment needs, while a business projector that will be used in well lit rooms may need to be substantially brighter. Resolution can be very important if you intend to watch high definition (HD) content in your home theater, and compact size could be a motivating factor if you will need to take your digital projector on business trips for remote presentations.

Technology maturation has made projectors far more portable than they used to be. Portable projectors, weighing from 3 to 8 lbs., have smaller footprints than the typical laptop, and tiny pocket or "pico" projectors can weigh in at under a pound, though they are not as bright as larger projectors. It is important to bear in mind that the quality of the PowerPoint or other document makes a big difference in the quality of the image projected. A great projector can't save low-resolution graphics from looking low-res, even when they're enlarged for a big screen.

For best results, you should try to match the projector with the native resolution of your source material. Your Blu-ray player, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 typically put out a 1080p signal. HDTV signals are still not totally standardized, although 720p and 1080i seem to be the most common.

Resolution is another item to consider when looking for the best digital projector. If you will use the projector to watch standard definition (SD) content, such as movies on digital versatile disc (DVD), then a wide video graphics array (WVGA) or super video graphics array (SVGA) digital projector will typically be sufficient. This type of resolution may also suit some business needs, though higher resolutions may be required for some presentations. If you expect to watch high definition content, then you may want to look at a projector capable of displaying extended graphics array (XGA) or even higher resolutions.

A projector with a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 isn't necessarily five times better than one with a 2,000:1 ratio. The contrast ratio does not account for how the projector displays all the shades of grey in between the blackest black and whitest white. If the projector can't display those shades of gray, portions of the image will "blow-out" and appear pixilated when displayed on the big screen. Look for projectors with more control settings. Multi-color processing technology like BrilliantColor and sRGB modes will allow you to really tweak the projector's display to your liking.




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