The Best Home Theater Projectors

Home Theater Projectors

2008-08-24T15:54:00.009-04:00

There are plenty of home theater projectors out there, we have to find the projectors worth buying. Best Home Theater Projectors is here to help the consumer make an informed decision about purchasing a home theater projector.

Projector Bulbs
Projector Bulbs
Cheap Projector Lamp

Projector Screens
Projector Screens
Rear Projection Screens
Automatic Projector Screen

Projector Rental
Projector Rental

Projector Tips and Advice
Portable Projectors
Rear Projection TVs

Rear Projection Screens

2008-08-16T15:51:00.002-04:00

For some situations, a projector could be used much like a standard TV; where the projector is behind the screen and the audience is still in front of the screen. In these situations, rear projection screens are necessary. The first thing to consider as with any screen is the location of the screen. Rear projection is going to work best in a low light situation and therefore it will most likely be used outside for an on the law type movie experience, or in weird indoor situations where there is actually a lot of room behind the screen for use. There are advantages and disadvantages to this type of screen:

Advantages:

- It is much easier to have an audience because the projector and audience never conflict with each other.
- It provides the opportunity to set up the projector directly at the screen which will result in the best picture possible
- All wires and equipment can be out of the way of the audience

Disadvantages:

- It typically requires a lot of space
- Some picture quality can be lost unless you have a good screen
- It is more important to be in a low light environment

Although there are pros and cons to this set up, it all depends on the situation you are in.

Cheap Projector Lamp

2008-08-10T21:42:00.002-04:00

Where is the best place to find a cheap projector lamp? Yes, you do have to buy a projector lamp if you are planning on using your projector a lot. In fact I would argue that you need to buy an extra one in case you end up needing it when you least expect it. The lamps in projectors typically last about 2000-3000 hours, which seems like a lot, but really when you think about it it is just 8 hours a day for a year or 4 hours a day for two years. So how much are you looking at when we are talking about projector lamps? Well, I got mine on ebay for under $250 which was a great deal. The average bulb from the manufacturer will likely be around $350, but I would not recommend you pay that unless you are unwilling to sacrifice a little bit of security for $100.

The truth is though, that you are going to need the projector bulb well before the 3000 hours if you want o have a good bright picture the whole time. For example, my projector lamp was rated at 3000 on efficient mode and 2000 on regular. I o course use it on regular because it really doesn't have as good of performance as I would like even at the regular. In economy mode the brightness goes down. If you have a really god projector and good light conditions then the economy mode may be a no brainer and I would really recommend using it, but for me it is simply not an option. Around 1300 hours I began noticing a slight darkness to everything I watched. I ended up turning up the brightness as high as I could without washing the picture out, but it really started to get annoying. Eventually I had to break down and get a bulb at 1800 hours. And so in a year and a half I had to buy a new bulb. The new one is still going strong, but next time it burns out I am done with this projector and it is time for the 1080p.

In conclusion, you need to be prepared to buy a new lamp if you have a projector and you need to factor around $300 if you are going to get a cheap one. The best place is on eBay where you can get some assurance that the product is as described or you can get you money back. I went with eBay and was not disappointed at all; especially after saving over $100.

Automatic Projector Screen

2008-08-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

How important is the automatic projector screen to you? Recently talked to my dad about his home theater and how he wanted everything to work. The first thing to consider of course was the projector itself and how he was going to set it up (he went with a Panasonic 720p projector to save the 1000 dollars difference for 1080p). Next thing on the agenda was the screen. At first I talked about a powered screen or a manual screen, but when we thought about the fact that the only point of the theater in his house was for watching things it seemed worthless for the screen to even move at all. He decided to go with painting a screen on the wall as a fixed screen. This was the right choice for him to save money and not have to worry about purchasing a costly screen while at the same time he leaves himself room for an easy upgrade later.

The motorized screen is important for those of us lazy folks who actually have a projector in an area that is used for different things than just the theater. My hoise for example has the projector in the living room. When we want it to be more formal we want the screen to hide away and then we watch the movies on the screen that is there and ready to go at any time. It would have been a real great thing to get a motorized screen, but when I priced them out it was very difficult to get one for less than $250. I ended up with a manual screen for $100 and that is good enough for me I guess. Some day I still hope to get the automatic one and put everything on one universal remote. Everything being automatic would be great, but it will just have to wait for a time including much more cash.

Rear Projection TVs

2008-08-07T22:43:00.002-04:00

Although projectors are the main focus of this site, there are other TVs out there such as rear projection TVs which actually use the same technology. The DLP rear projection TVs in particular work very similar to the DLP projectors for your home theater. Just a couple of years ago rear projection screens were the big seller, but now they have been replaced with LCD and Plasma TVs which are much lower profile. One thing about the new TVs that could be of concern is burn-in. Burn-in occurs when you watch something that always has a certain part of the screen fixed for long periods of time. This could happen with sports or video games where there are either scores or menus and such actually staying in one place. After too much time like that, the screen could begin to always look like it has a shadow or red bar where that bar was even if you aren’t watching that. This can be very annoying and although they have started to put more technology into preventing this in plasma screens, it is still a problem. For the LCD screens there is a difficulty for them to actually look smooth with sports and fast movements on the screen. This causes streaking and pixelating to occur which can be quite distracting as well.

DLP rear projection TVs have a big disadvantage in one respect though; they are big. If you are looking for a TV that does not take up too much space then rear projection may not be an option. Of course my recommendation is the stand alone projector hidden out of the way with the very thin screen which rolls up when you are not using it, but if space is not an issue, DLP rear projection TVs are still a great buy and they are cheaper because everyone wants the flat and thin screens.

Portable Projectors

2008-07-18T13:32:00.001-04:00

For the business traveler or just someone who loves to take the big screen to parties and whatnot, the portable projectors have really improved. Most business focused projectors are very portable, but even some of the theater focused projectors have started to come down in size and companies are looking for ways to make them even smaller.

For now though, there is still not much reason to make an effort to get a smaller or more compact version of a projector unless you are planning on moving it around a lot because it can make the projector a lot more expensive if it is compact. In fact, there are some projectors that are simply huge. Usually the 1080p projectors with the powered focus and keystone correction are the bigger ones. The projector that my dad has is the latest Panasonic 720p projector and the first thing we noticed when we took it out of the box was how big it really was as compared to how big we thought it was going to be.

Projectors are just like every other electronic device though; each newer version is likely to be smaller and have more stuff built into it. There is actually research going on to put projectors in other applications than just an actual projector. They are trying to get them small enough so that they could actually put them on a cell phone or PDA. This way you would have a big screen in your pocket and in a crunch you would be ready to go. This is obviously a ways off in the future, but it is still exciting to think about.

Projector Bulbs

2008-07-14T18:20:00.003-04:00

Projector bulbs are something that people tend to overlook when thinking about purchasing a projector. Every projector has a bulb that will burn out sort of like a bulb in your lamps, but this one is a lot more expensive. The typical bulb can cost anywhere from $200 on the low end to $500 or more (the bulb for my Dell 4100mp was about $350 retail, but I got it for $250 on eBay). Although that does not sound that bad, it is if you burn it out often. How often will you burn out your projector bulb? This is determined by a few factors.

Projectors are typically for large groups or for home theaters and such applications as business meetings. This means typically they are intended to be used about 2 hours a day on average for the regular home or office consumer level projectors. The average life span for a bulb is in the neighborhood of 2000 hours. This means about three years of 2 hours a day average. This doesn’t sound that bad if you are talking about probably replacing the projector itself in three years anyway when it is time for a better model. What about those that se it a lot more than that though? This is the real kicker. I use my projector an average of 4 hours a day and so it only will last about a year and a half before it is very noticeable that I will need a new bulb. It gets dimmer and dimmer as the days go by until you will think that your projector has lost all of its light.

Bulbs are one of the biggest expenses for a projector after you have made the initial purchase and setup with the screen and therefore should definitely be something to consider when deciding to buy a projector versus another type of TV.

Projector Screens

2008-06-30T15:25:00.001-04:00

Projector Screens are no doubt one of the most overlooked and under appreciated components to a great home theater. This piece is absolutely vital to the overall performance of the projector and has to match the type of projector well. There are a couple of things you need to consider first and then it gets a little more difficult after that:

Ambient Light

Ambient light in the room that you will be operating the projector in is the first thing that you should consider not only when purchasing a projector, but also the screen. The ambient light levels in the room determine whether you should have a glossy screen (high gain), a low gain (dull), or gray based screen. If you are looking for added contrast and at the same time think that you may have a fair amount of ambient light in the room, then you might want a gray colored screen. This color will help to make the blacks blacker and also stifle some of the ambient light. If there is not going to be any ambient light or very little, then a low gain screen would be a good choice as the higher gain screens can also cause warm and cool zones in the picture.

Power and Position of Projector and Speakers

The power of the projector as far as its Lumen output is a key factor in determining what the right screen will be. If the lumen output is very high (over 3000 is quite good), then it will not be as important to have a high gain screen. In fact if the screen is too high gain and the projector can output really good lumens, then there is the possibility of there being a light glow in the middle of the screen which is actually the reflection of the light from the projector. This is difficult to explain, but basically if you have a projector that has high lumens output and you are in a room with low ambient light then you want low gain. The exact opposite is a also a good rule of thumb for high ambient light and low lumens, then you want a higher gain screen.

The position of the projector can also change the possibility that the center of the screen will be warm. By making sure that the projector is pointing down to hit the screen it will not be as likely to make the center warm even on a high gain screen. There is also the factor of projection quality when adjusting the angle (just something to keep in mind). A perfect setup would have a projector facing a screen head on and not have any glow in the middle or coolness to the sides while still having good contrast and a bright picture (I know; it is all obvious). The other thought for more expensive screens and systems is the front center speaker placement. Ideally the speaker would be in the middle of the screen, but for most screens this is not possible. There are however, some screens available now that allow sound to pass through will little loss in quality or volume. This is a great option if you are willing to spend the extra cash.

Conclusion

There are tons of screens and tons of places to find more information on them, so be on the look out for the right prices and the right screens. To add insult to injury, all of the different manufacturers and dealers seem to have different lingo for high gain, low gain, and other things so it is even more difficult to understand what you really want. The first and most important thing to do before purchasing a screen is RESEARCH. Research and patience can be a real lifesaver (not to mention money saver) when you are looking to purchase a new screen.

Projector Rental

2008-03-29T14:40:00.003-04:00

Projector rental is now a quickly growing segment in the projector and av equipment industry. Projector rentals will allow you to try a projector before you actually purchase it. Projector rentals will also give you the opportunity to have the best projector possible if you are going to have a large group of people over to watch a movie or the Super Bowl. Projector rentals are also great for corporate meetings and taking the projector with you for that important presentation. Whatever your need may be, projector rentals can really help you in a bind. So now go make the best of that projector rental and enjoy the biggest brightest screen to impress your guests.

2008-02-21T20:34:00.000-05:00

Home Theater Projectors are not hard to find and you can actually get great deals on DLP projectors, LCD projectors, and projector screens if you look for them. This site puts all of those projector buying needs right at your finger tips.