Projectors - reviews and price comparison

Picture format

As a buyer of a projector you are facing several choices. The first, and maybe the most important, is which picture format you want. It is probably not a tough choice though, since widescreen (16:9) projectors normally are to be preferred for watching movies/home cinema. A projector with the format 4:3 (the traditional television screen format) can be bought if you are using it for computer presentations or if you have tight budget.

Type

The second choice to be made is LCD or DLP. These are the two dominating projector technologies of today. Generally the following can be said (There are exceptions):

LCD-projectors, which is the oldest type, have been struggling with insufficient contrast and black level for a long time. But improvements have been made in recent years and many of today’s projectors have a very good picture.

DLP-projectors usually create a picture with great contrast and depth which is the reason why many prefer this type. A disadvantage with DLP-projectors is that some people see so called RGB-rainbows appear in the picture which can be disturbing. This is mostly common for less expensive and older models. Even if far from all projectors has this problem it can be a good idea to test DLP-projectors before purchasing it.
The DLP-projectors have also developed considerably in recent years and at the same time the prices have dropped.

Which technology people prefer can vary. If you feel that you don’t really know what you want it is better to not focus on the technology and instead try to find a model that has received good reviews and suits your needs in general.

Brightness

For home cinema purposes in a fully dark room 700-1000 ANSI Lumen is a suitable brightness. If you don’t have the possibility to put the room to full darkness you might need to increase the brightness capability of the projector. In these cases the picture, and above all the black level, is affected negatively.
For a presentation in light rooms the highest possible brightness is recommended to make the picture sharp enough.

Kontrast

The contrast indicates the difference between the darkest and brightest shade in the picture, for example 1200:1. The higher the first number the better, theoretically. The indicated value should be seen as a pointer to compare between different projector models.
The black level, i.e. how dark the “black” is, is another important aspect. Since the screen is light the picture will never be totally black, just more or less dark grey depending on how well the projector can turn off the light in the dark area. One way to find out whether the projector has a good black level is to read the test reviews on this site.
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Resolution

A high resolution is not all that is required for a good picture, but it helps since you can either sit closer or make the screen bigger without seeing annoying, separate pixels on the screen.

When using video sources with high resolution, such as a computer, DVD-player or a HDTV-digibox you will get the best picture if the projector can handle the same resolution as the source. The improvement in picture quality is in this case quite big.
As a comparison a regular TV has 768 pixels in width, while a HDTV has at least 1280 pixels.

Noise

A projector lamp has a high effect and requires a fan to cool it, this can create disturbing noise. On DLP-projectors the colour wheel can also cause some noise.

Many projectors have a “whisper mode” where the brightness is reduced and the fan is more quiet. If you can make the room fully dark this can be an alternative to reduce the noise level. Read more. Noise/Sound levels are measured in decibel (dB) and a projector usually produces 20 to 40 dB, which is a large scope since the scale is logarithmic.

The following audio file illustrates how big the difference 10 dB makes. The files contain noise in three different sound volumes with 10 dB difference between each step. The first sound is 30 dB louder than the last sound. How many decibels the sounds are played with of course depends on how loud your computer can play them, the difference between the sounds are however still 10 dB.
Play noise

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Position

A projected picture requires some planning when it comes to placing it. To make the placing easier there are some possible features on the projector.

Keystone

It is always best if you can place the projector right in front of the screen. If this is not possible something called keystone can help. (show more on keystone)

If you place the projector higher/lower/on the side and turn it towards the screen the picture will not be rectangular. Newer projectors can to some extent compensate for this and adjust the picture with something called keystone-correction.
Manual keystone means that the lens is turned and projects a little oblique to compensate for the screen’s angle towards the projector. Digital keystone compensates by adjusting the picture, which leads to reduced picture quality.

Some projectors have a fixed keystone, which means that they always project the picture with a certain angle and has to be placed accordingly, for example lower than the screen.
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Zoom

It is an advantage if the projector has a zoom since it makes it easier to get the desired picture size or decide the distance to the screen. Some projectors have this feature.

Inputs

It can be a good idea to think through how the projector is going to be used and how you are going to connect it before buying a projector. Even if the video source is the most important, the connection can also matter. The information below is applicable when connecting the projector to a high quality video source such as a DVD-player or computer. When connecting to a source with lower picture quality, for example a VHS, the input used is not of such a high importance.
 

Composite
This is the simplest type of connections. Unfortunately this input results in a huge decrease of picture quality, therefore it is not recommended for projectors.

S-video
This input gives a slightly better picture than composite, but the picture still won’t be perfect. Avoid this input if you want to make the most of your projector.

SCART/RGB
With this connection the picture is divided in the three primary colours red, green and blue. Some projectors are equipped with a scart connection which can receive RGB-signals, but the most common is to use an adapter or separate inputs. Thanks to the separation the loss in quality is smaller and this type of connection is normally good enough for a projector.

Component
Consists of three inputs marked YCbCr or YPbPr. The quality is slighty better than with scart.

VGA
The classical computer screen input which more correctly is called HD-15. Is mostly used between computer and projector and gives a very good picture.

DVI/HDMI
Digital video transfer. DVI is considered to replace VGA but can also be found on newer DVD-players, just as HDMI. These give the best picture quality. The difference between DVI and HDMI is, except the socket size, that HDMI can transfer audio as well, while DVI only handles video. There are adapters to convert HDMI to DVI and the other way around.

Rating/awards

On testwinner.co.uk all the different ratings given by expert testers have been translated into a percentage from 0 to 100 with 100 being the maximum rating.
The average rating for a product can indicate different things. A low average rating is a warning that the product maybe won't live up the expectations created by the ads for the product. A high rating often means that the product has great features and works well. The more tests of the product the better accuracy in the average rating.

The amount of test wins/awards shows how many times the product has been named winner or been selected "Editor's Choice", "Best Buy" or received similar positive awards in tests. An award means that the product stands out from the competition in one way or another. It can be by giving value for money or by being innovative, or simply by just filling its purpose in a really good way.