How to Choose a Home LCD Video Projector
Whether you’re giving a presentation to clients, watching your favorite team win the big game or gathering friends and family for blockbuster movie nights, a video projector will enhance your entertainment experience.
LCD (liquid crystal display) is one of the most popular projection technologies available in both home and business settings.
Brightness
The brightness (or ANSI lumens) of a projector measures the amount of light it produces for a given screen size. Brighter projectors produce higher contrast ratios and are generally better able to handle ambient light.
While a bright projector can deliver excellent image quality in many situations, it’s projector for daylight important to understand that a high-brightness projector isn’t the answer for all viewing environments. Ambient light interference dilutes a projector’s brightness, resulting in an overly white or “washed out” image. This is true whether the projection is taking place in a well-lit room, during a home movie night, or even in outdoor sunset settings.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to reduce ambient light interference and increase your projector’s brightness. One such option is an ambient light rejecting (ALR) screen. These screens use multiple layers of engineered materials to block ambient light and help the projector produce a more vivid, high-contrast image. You can learn more about how these screens work in this article:
Contrast
Contrast is the difference between a display’s blackest and whitest levels, with higher contrast ratios typically creating sharper and more precise images. This is especially important for HDR video, as a wider dynamic range can create more lifelike and realistic images with deeper blacks and brighter whites.
However, despite the importance of contrast ratios, a number of factors can impact actual image quality on a home projector. These factors include ambient light, the projector screen material and its surface texture, as well as the display settings. In some cases, even large increases in contrast ratio may not be noticeable to the human eye.
Many modern projectors have features to automatically adjust their lumen output based on the displayed scene. This can be done by adjusting the lamp power, operating an auto iris or switching between picture modes. While these features are desirable, they can also confuse the comparison of projector native and ANSI contrast ratings, as they artificially curtail the brightness of a solid black image and artificially boost the brightness of a bright white image.
Colors
Color performance is a key consideration for any video projector. The blue skies and oceans of nature documentaries, the subtle pinks of cherry blossoms or sunflowers in photos, and the rich reds and muddy yellows of the sand and gravel scenes in movies all demand accurate colors to convey their true essence.
At full brightness, LCD projectors tend to have better individual-color saturation than DLP. However, at lower levels, their image quality suffers from a lack of blackness and the sometimes-visible “screen door effect” caused by a grey band on the edges of the image.
Compared with DLP, the contrast ratio of LCD projectors is also less impressive. However, newer models can achieve excellent contrast by using a special type of LCD panel that is more resistant to light degradation and the so-called “dead pixels” where one or more pixels remain permanently on or off. The higher the contrast ratio, the more detail you’ll be able to see in dark or bright images and the greater the sense of depth and realism you’ll experience.
Noise
As with other electronics, projectors can produce noise, primarily due to the fan which cools them. The amount of noise can vary, and is dependent on the size of the projector and how it is used.
If the sound is very low, it could be a problem with the speaker or a wire connected to the speaker. It is also possible that the projector has an outdated app, which can cause issues with the audio. The best way to fix this is to install the latest version of the app.
Another common issue is ambient light. This can affect image quality, especially in a bright room with windows. Ambient light can make blacks look dark and whites look washed out, which can be distracting when watching movies or TV shows. Some manufacturers offer ambient light-rejecting screens, which can help reduce the effects of ambient light. However, this is not a perfect solution and may not be enough for some rooms.
Light output
Video projectors use LCD technology to display images, video and computer data on a projection screen or other flat surface. They have outdoor theater projector replaced overhead, slide and film projectors in business meetings and classrooms as well as home entertainment.
The image quality of a projector depends on its light output. The brightness is measured in lumens (lm). A lower lumen rating produces a darker image while a higher lumen rating results in a brighter one. However, the actual brightness will depend on the location where the projector is used.
Early LCD projectors suffered from major light losses and noticeable pixels, often referred to as the “screen-door effect.” Later models corrected these problems. Today’s projectors are relatively quiet, run cooler and are less prone to pixel burnout and dust accumulation. They also feature low-blue light settings that help reduce eye strain during extended viewing sessions — great for family movie nights. For even more peace of mind, look for a projector with TUV SUD low blue light certification. This certification ensures the projector emits very little blue light, reducing the risk of long-term eye damage.