What to Consider When Buying a Home Theater Projector

Find the Perfect Home Theater Projector for Your Space

Creating the perfect home theater can be a thrilling yet daunting task. Like any new construction or renovation project, it requires a lot of planning. You only want the best experience for you and your family, so that means buying only the best equipment that will meet your needs.

In this blog, we guide you through three common questions you should consider before deciding on a projector for your home theater in the Fort Smith, Arkansas area. Just keep reading to learn more!

SEE ALSO: 5 Oscar-Winning Films You Have to Watch in Your Home Theater

What is Your Room Environment Like?

A dedicated home theater is typically designed to recreate a cinema-like experience. The lights are fully controlled, there are no windows, and the room is closed off from the rest of the house. In this case, you’d want to have a projector that can produce a truly deep black level. Projectors don’t actually project the color black; instead, they use dark colors in their environment to reflect black color onto the projection screen or wall. The darker the room, the darker the black levels will be, which means an overall better contrast.

In past years, a projector that produced high-quality black levels had to sacrifice its light output to accommodate the dark colors, but now you can easily find projectors for your theater room that produce ample light and still have a good black level.

If your home theater environment is more open to the rest of your house and not susceptible to full light control, then you’ll want to find a projector that can produce a significant amount of light in order to prevent your picture from getting washed out by any artificial or natural light in the room. Keep in mind that this may sacrifice black-level quality, making dark colors look more gray than black. But choosing the proper projection screen can help if this problem arises.

What Type of Projection Screen Do You Have?

Projection screens are typically categorized by color and gain. Screen gain refers to the amount of light reflected at you from your projection screen. The higher the number, the more light that is reflected at you. Although a gain of 1.0 is usually standard, some screens have a higher gain or lower gain to accommodate your projector and environment.

If the projector you buy has a low black level, then consider a screen with lower gain to help reflect darker colors. Similarly, if your home theater is designed specifically to recreate a cinema experience, then consider a standard or higher gain screen and a high-quality black level projector. This combination will give you the best of both worlds when it comes to bright and dark color projection in your home theater.

How Important to You is Resolution Quality?

These days, you can find 4K compatible projectors that don’t cost an arm and a leg, which benefits your home theater experience because of the larger display capability. Although there is currently a limited number of native 4K projectors in the market, you can buy projectors that are 4K friendly. This means that although they may not have a 4,000+ pixel display, they have support features that simulate a higher pixel display similar to 4K.

If you decide to go with a 4K projector versus a 1080p, remember that you’ll need to use 4K video sources to take full advantage of the resolution.

SEE ALSO: Planning Tips for Your Home Theater Project

Although these questions are important to consider when purchasing a home theater projector, there are still many other questions to ask before selecting the perfect projector for your needs.

 

Our professional home theater installers at AV Design Consultants can help you every step of the way and answer any other questions you may have about home theater installations, from your projector and screen to acoustics and surround sound speakers. Just contact us here or send a chat below to get started!