The experience of watching a movie at the cinema is something special, a kind of ritual for all lovers of the seventh art that is difficult to reproduce at home. But nevertheless, set up a home theater is more viable today than it was a decade ago thanks to the many options within the projector market.
A projector and a screen are the essentials for setting up a home theater. In addition, it is necessary to have an appropriate room for it and a generous budget. And it is that the projectors that will allow you to obtain optimal quality will not be exactly cheap.
Features: resolution, lumens, technology...
Although high-end televisions offer higher quality and better contrast than a projector, the price of a television that allows projections of 90, 100 or 120 inch images it is hardly bearable. Hence, projectors become the most appropriate device to create a home theater. But how should this device be? What features should it have?
The resolution
For a cinema experience, the ideal is to bet on projectors with the maximum native resolution: 4k projectors. However, the starting price for these projectors that will allow you to achieve 90, 100 or 120-inch image projections rarely falls below a thousand euros.
The high price of these projectors is one of the reasons why most today opt for devices with a Full HD native resolution, whose price ranges between €500 and €1.000. Much tighter, right? They do not have the quality of 4K but they will offer you good value for money for a home cinema.
Brightness and Contrast
Another feature to consider when buying a projector is the amount of light delivered, which is measured in ANSI lumens. A good starting point for a quality appliance are the 1600 ANSI lumens with which you will be able to see the screen well if the room is dark. Although to get an idea of how better or worse you will see the images, it will also be necessary to pay attention to the native contrast, which relates the most intense black and the purest white.
Technology
Another factor that will affect the image will be the technology used in manufacturing of projectors: LCD, DLP or LED. LCD technology, the most classic, provides more natural and realistic tones. If you bet on it, make sure that the lens can be rotated, since not in all models it is possible and it is what will allow you to move the projected image horizontally and/or vertically and place it on any wall in the room.
La dlp technology, one of the most popular in this type of projector, it offers good contrast and more vibrant colors. As for LEDs, they have some advantages: they are considerably smaller equipment thanks to the space saved by replacing the light source and more affordable. Although if you want to maintain the brightness, contrast and resolution, it will be necessary to allocate a higher budget.
Connectivity
Finally, you should pay attention to connectivity: the more, the better, since it will allow you to connect more different video sources. HDMI is the current connectivity standard. Ports with this feature favor greater compatibility with external devices. Although if what you want is to dispense with cables and external devices, we advise you to look for models that also offer integrated Wi-Fi and bluetooth connection.
Some models
We are not experts in it but consulting here and there, we have collected the models of some projectors that respond to different qualities and budgets and for which you can start looking. From highest to lowest price, these would be: Epson EH-TW9400, LG HU70LS, BenQ W2700i, Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2 Pro, Epson EH-TW750, Optoma GT1080e, Optoma HD146X, Xiaomi Mi Smart Projector 2 Pro.
Do you like the idea of setting up a home theater? If so, in a few weeks we hope to be able to offer you the information regarding the screens, so that little by little you can marry all the pieces.