Home Theater Projector Guidelines

If you want to invite the whole neighborhood over to catch a big game, hold a video festival, or just get the most out of your TV viewing experience, a home theater digital video projector is your friend. Therefore, we have put together this fast and easy guide that will get you started with the basics.

How bright is bright enough for my home? [ top ]

Brightness will play a major role in how usable the projector is. Ambient light in the room in which you will be using the projector also dictates partially the brightness you require. In a perfectly dark room, a rather dim projector will be visible without problem, while a room with a great deal of ambient light requires a very bright projector to remain usable. Even the screen upon which you will be projecting can play a role in determining your brightness needs. Walls are poor reflectors of light, while projection screens reflect a great deal of light, decreasing the need for a bright projector. Most home theater projectors are between 700 - 2000 ANSI Lumens. Less than this will be rather dim, and more than this is considered pretty bright.

King Projectors would recommend the following projector brightness:

  • 1000 lumens or greater should be used for a dedicated home theater.
  • 1200 lumens or greater should be used if some ambient light will enter the room.
  • 2000 lumens or greater should be used if there will be high ambient light within the room.

Tip: All projectors have plenty of brightness for watching movies in a dimly-lit or darkened room. A higher brightness rating will come in handy for viewing when there’s more ambient room light. It’s also helpful if you’re projecting onto a wall (it’s less reflective than a screen), or if you’re displaying an extra-large image (110″ across or larger).

What should I know about image quality?[ top ]

The Clarity and the sharpness of the picture on the screen are determined by a projector’s resolution. So this is an important thing you have to look in its specifications, because it refers to the sharpness of the image projected, as expressed in pixels (the higher, the better). Most of them today support resolutions that are higher than their native resolution by compressing the number of pixels. However, much of the quality and detail of the projected image is lost when this happens.

Why should you care? Projectors with a native resolution of 1280 x 720 (WSGA-H) can display high-definition television (720p) without compressing the image, making them one of the best choices for HDTV fanatics. If you don’t see HDTV in your future anytime soon and only care about wathcing movies with the use of a standard DVD player, a 854 x 480 (WVGA) projector will work fine and cost you less. This is becuase standard DVD store video at a 720 x 480 resolution, meaning that a 1280 x 720 projector won’t make your flicks look any more detailed than a 854 x 480 projector. The only benefit you might notice is visible pixalation will be less with a 1280 projector versus the 854.

Tip: Do not be distracted by the maximum resolution capability that is stated by each of the projector manufacturers instead, just focus on what the native (true) resolution is.

What type of connections will give me the best possible image?[ top ]

Put simply. What do I wish to connect to my home cinema projector. There are many different connections available but typically on a projector designed for home cinema use you will normally have Composite, S-Video and SVGA;but component video (YPrPb/YCrCb), DVI (with or without High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection, or HDCP) and HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) inputs are becoming increasingly available, at ever decreasing price points.

What should I know about lamp life and replacements?[ top ]

Projector lamps are one of the hidden costs of a projector. Essentially it’s like toner cartridges for printers and much like ink cartridges over the life of the printer, you’ll probably pay more for the ink cartridges than you originally paid for the printer. The same is true for projectors. The lamp is the most expensive part of the projector. The lamp type is related to the image brightness. The most common types of projector lamp are the:

  • UHP - Ultra High Performance
  • UHE - Ultra High Efficiency
  • Some projectors also use metal halide lamps.

Lamp life is rated in hours. The typical lamp life for a projector is between 1,000 and 4,000 hours and depending on how much the projector is used and cared for this can add to the total cost of operating a projector over a given period of time. Replacement bulbs run anywhere from $300 to $600. A lower watt lamp will stay cooler and last longer than a higher watt bulb. Since it uses less power, it will also cost less to operate.

TRADE SECRET: Many projectors have a “life” counter in their Setup menu that will tell you how many operating hours are on the bulb currently in use. While you’re checking that, make sure there’s a spare lamp available in case something unforeseen happens to the current occupant of the bulb socket during your presentation

Where should I place my projector?[ top ]

First you should decide if you wish to have the projector located in front of or behind the screen.If you wish to set up your projector to show video from behind a screen, it will need to have the ability to reverse the image (basically mirror the image from left to right) so that it looks right on the screen. Most projectors today have such a feature.If you want to mount your projector on the ceiling, it will need the capability to project the image upside down. The large majority of projectors will also do this today, but remember to check for this feature if you will need it. Also make sure that you can get the right mount as well.If you wish to only sit your projector on a tabletop, say a coffee table, you will not reguire either of these features.

What is ‘native aspect ratio’?[ top ]

Because a projector is a “fixed resolution” display device, they have what is called a “native aspect ratio.” The most common aspect ratios for projectors are 4:3, 5:4 and 16:9. That means that the chip (or panel) inside the projector is shaped in the specified 4:3, 5:4 or 16:9 proportions. Think of the inner workings of your projector as a miniature version of the image you will see on your screen.A 16:9 native aspect ratio is designed primarily for home theater use. This is because widescreen DVD and HDTV signals are broadcast or encoded in the 16:9 format. Home theater enthusiasts tend to prefer 16:9 aspect ratios because they are closer to the original widescreen aspect ratio that is shown in theaters.

What features will make using my projector easier?[ top ]

If you get a projector with the right resolution, good brightness, decent weight, and a solid warranty, you’re ahead of most projector buyers. However, there are a few additional key features to keep in mind that will make using your projector easier and more successful.

Digital Zoom - Most projectors have a zoom lens, allowing the adjustment of the image size without moving the DLP or LCD projector. A projector with a zoom factor of 1.2x will allow you to adjust the picture by only 20%. Look for a DLP or LCD projector with a higher zoom, as it will allow you to present an image that will match most any screen size.A digital zoom lens on a projector allows you to further move into the frame by having the DLP or LCD projector continually resize the image. It is a nice feature to have in conjunction with manual/power zoom because as you move into the frame, the screen size remains the same.

Keystone Correction- A projector lens is made to shoot above the projector. Because of this, the projected image becomes skewed when the projector is titled up or down. This skewing of the image is called keystoning. Keystoning has been an issue with projectors since the first projector rolled off the assembly line. Thankfully, every projector today has a feature that will correct this physics snafu. Appropriately enough, it’s called Keystone Correction. There are three types of keystone correction in projectors:

  • Fixed Keystone Correction is when a projector lens shoots the image higher than the lens so the projector itself doesn’t block the viewer’s line of sight.
  • Digital Keystone Correction enables the user to digitally correct keystone problems if the projector must be tiled further upward or downward than the fixed keystone position.
  • Auto Keystone Correction is just like the digital keystone correction, but better because the projector automatically corrects for keystoning every time you tilt or shift the projector. This feature is becoming more popular on several projectors today.

Lens Shift- Imagine installing a projector with your eyes closed. You could probably get away with that if you have a projector with a lens shift. With lens shift, you aren’t relegated to moving the projector box to square the image on the screen. All that you have to do is shift the lens horizontally or vertically to get the best image possible. This gives you greater flexibility installing or setting up the projector. Rather than spending a couple of hours installing the projector, you could spend three minutes and the rest of the time watching a good movie.

Tips and Warnings[ top ]

  • Remember to allocate some money in your budget for a good screen.
  • Investing in a good screen can enhance your viewing experience.* Setting up a screen that can roll up, really keeps things compact and your room is not being taken over a HUGE TV that you need and army to move.
  • Install your projector first before deciding on a screen.
  • Research the cost of a replacement lamp and find out what its life is in hours. Sometimes it can be totally frustrating to spend a few hundred dollars on a replacement lamp. Get a warranty if you can.
  • Having a projector means having a VERY mild humming sound because of the fan in the projector to cool the lamp. However low it is, figure out if you like it or not.

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