Monday, July 7, 2014

Enhancing Your Home Theater: Projector Basics

Seeing movies on the big screen is one of the main reasons why going to the theater is so great, but trying to bring that big screen experience home can get very expensive. Just to get a 60-inch 3D television, can cost easily $2500 and up. So what can you do to recreate that big screen experience at home? A home movie projector and screen is the perfect answer.
The first thing that you want to look at when trying to get that big screen experience is the projector. There are many projectors out there, but the first thing to consider is the lumens of the device. The lumens have to deal with how brightly the projector can display the image on the screen. The higher the number, the brighter the picture you can expect.
The reason why this is significant is that if you get a cheap projector with low lumens, you will have to have the room extremely dark in order to see a decent picture, which can make daytime movie viewing difficult, if not impossible unless you can blackout the room. A projector with 2500 lumens and up will produce a good solid bright image.
The second thing you need to consider is the contrast ratio. This is the difference between the blackest blacks and the whitest whites, which is important in order to get a crisp picture. Therefore, as with most things the bigger the number, the better the picture results you will be able to expect. Anything around 3000:1 (pronounced 3000 to 1) and up is a good contrast ratio for a projector.
The next thing you want to check for are the connections that the projector has, like HDMI, component cable, composite cable, computer monitor cable, etc. This is important because if you want to connect multiple content producing devices to your projector, you will have enough connections to do the job.
The next thing is the sound of the projector. Most projectors do not have good quality sound so make sure you get a projector that has at least two different video and audio connections. For example, if you get a projector that has an HDMI connection and a composite connection, you can use the HDMI connection for the video, press mute on the projector and use the component to connect to your surround sound system, or other external speakers.
The last thing that you need to complete this home theater system is a projector screen. There are two types of screens, ones that use a tripod, and ones that you pull down. Some of the pull down projectors have a motor so that you can use a remote to raise and lower the screen. Projector screens can cost about $300 for a 150 inch on Amazon.com but there are cheaper ones.
Therefore, with a decent projector costing $500 to $600, and the screen costing about $300, you can create a nice home theater viewing experience for about $900 to $1000, which is much cheaper than the $2500 to $3000 and beyond it would cost to buy a 60 to 65 inch LED television.
A projector based home theater is definitely not for people who have many space constraints, but is a good choice for someone looking to enhance their home theater and has the space to do it.
This is Hartley Reginald Smith II and I would like you to visit "Got Tech?" if this article was of interest to you. We make technology understandable to all not just tech minded people. If you want to see more information like this go to thank you for reading and enjoy the day.