Home Theater Projector

Topics covered in the Home Theater Projector

• How bright should my projector be?
• How much do I need to know about image quality?
• What is native aspect ratio?
• What about 3D home theater projectors?
• What do I need to know about lamp life?
• Should I install my projector or set it on a tabletop?
• Is there more to look for? DEEP Color, Frame Interpolation and the little things

How bright should my projector be? 

Projector brightness is measured in ANSI lumens*. Home theater projectors generally start out at about 1000 lumens and range upwards to 2500 lumens and more. Your viewing environment is the deciding factor on how many lumens your projector needs. Dedicated home theaters (rooms with controlled lighting and no ambient light) will not require as much brightness as a space with ambient light from windows or other household lighting.
Projector People recommends the following lumen outputs:

• Dedicated home theaters need 1000 lumens or brighter.
• Rooms with some ambient light should have at least 1500 lumens.
• Spaces with high ambient light need about 3000 lumens.

Check out the video below to see a 1600, 2000 and 2500-lumen projector in a side-by-side comparison.

Tip: In many cases, manufacturers rate projector lumen values based on data output, not video. Lumen output for video is typically not as high as data. For help determining which projector is right for your viewing environment, contact one of our Projector Experts. They have personally seen most units perform in video mode.
*Get geeky! A lumen is equivalent to the amount of light a birthday cake candle puts out in a square foot-sized area. Now you know!

How much do I need to know about image quality? 

The three most important factors affecting image quality are native resolution, your source material, and the projector's contrast ratio.
Currently, Wide XGA (1280 x 800) and HD (1920 x 1080) are the most common home theater projector resolutions. An HD (1920 x 1080) projector has about twice the number of pixels of a Wide XGA projector. More pixels mean a sharper looking image and better compatibility with high-definition sources.

Most popular home theater projector resolutions

Wide XGA	1280 x 800	1,024,000 total pixels
HD	1920 x 1080	2,073,600 total pixels

What you are watching will make a big difference in the quality of your image. A low-quality signal fed to your projector will most likely look like a low-quality image when projected. This is even more noticeable on a larger 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.
So what does that mean for your projector purchase? HD (1920 x 1080) projectors are designed to deliver all the rich details carried in a 1080p signal. Wide XGA projectors will deliver great results when fed a 1080p signal, just not as great as their HD counterparts. That said, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two unless you were projecting a very large image, say eight feet diagonal or more.
The final factor to consider is a projector's contrast ratio. Contrast ratio literally refers to the difference between the blackest black and the whitest white in an image.
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.

Recommended Wide XGA and HD projectors

PT-AE8000UHome Cinema 5030UB 

What about 3D home theater projectors?

3D projectors have come a long way in recent years. Now, nearly all home theater manufacturers have 3D models. Prices are dropping and content is becoming more readily available. Many cable providers even offer 3D channels and programs.

Here are our most popular 3D projector models

   : PT-AE8000U 
VPL-HW40ES 

What do I need to know about lamp life? 

LCD and DLP projectors typically have a lamp life between 2000-4000 hours. This specification is actually referring to the 'half-life' of the lamp, the point where the lamp is half as bright as it was new. The lamp will still work at its half-life, but it will continue to gradually lose brightness. Longer lamp life means less expense in maintaining your projector.
If you are planning to use your projector to replace your current television, lamp replacement cost should be factored into your purchase. Replacement lamps run approximately $200-$400.
If your projector will be used primarily for watching movies and special events, lamp life won't be as important.

• Lamps typically last between 2000-4000 hours.
• Replacement lamps cost $200-$400.
• Regular filter cleaning and proper operation will improve lamp life. 
• The average projector used for movies and special events runs 8 hours a week. At this rate, the lamp will last approximately 4.8 years.