The bulb will also manage the number of lumens, i.e. the brightness of your images. Planning a big World Cup watch party? Grab a projector with a higher lumen count, anything over 2000 will give you the best results for viewing in bright sunlight, which will be ideal with mid-morning fixtures. There are a few portable options available that are happy enough to be set up in the garden if you can cope with the extra ambient light, but we’re mainly focusing on the indoor models below.
Just like when buying televisions, there are many different projection methods like DLP (digital light processing) or LCD (liquid crystal display), DLP projectors and laser models offering resolutions higher at higher cost. However, if you buy 4K models at the prices below, it doesn’t matter which light source you choose.
What image size should you get?
Arguably the best thing about a projector is that you are not limited to screen size areas. All of our top picks below can stretch anywhere between 30 and 100 inches as standard, and you can easily adjust that depending on how epic you need for your movie night; some can reach a monstrously tall 300 inches if you have the space for it. Most will find all of this for you automatically, using keystone correction to make sure all four corners of the screen are aligned and in sync so you don’t get a wobbly picture, even if you place the device at a angle to your wall.
Many of our favorites are also what are called short or ultra-short throw projectors, meaning they can be pushed very close to the wall or projector screen (within inches) and still get a mega-size display, which is wonderful if you’re short on space or working in an oddly shaped room. Throw distance is important in determining where you should place your projector in the context of the room and sofa, but we will always pay more attention to image quality and size over placement, as the most have features to achieve higher quality. images from wide angles.
What is the best projector for gaming?
Moviegoers aren’t the only ones who can enjoy entertainment on a giant screen; gamers are treated well when it comes to gaming on massive high-definition screens. Most of the below are reasonably good for gaming, with great picture quality if you want to invest in playing the 4K Ultra HD remake of The last of us part 1. However, competitive gamers will have to investigate a little more, as projectors struggle to make the image respond as quickly to your button movements.
Keep an eye out for something called input latency or button lag, which is how long it takes for something to happen onscreen when you move the joystick. In most cases it will be split seconds and you will hardly notice it, but when playing fast-paced shooters such as Call of Duty, it can mean the difference between killing and being killed. The sweet spot is around 10-25ms (about a hundredth of a second, but really anything below 50 is great.
Keep in mind that if you’re playing competitive games, projectors don’t yet have the ability to run variable refresh rates, which makes next-gen game consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X so special. Unknown? It essentially doubles the number of frames displayed in a single second for smoother gameplay and more information at any given time. If you’re serious about your gaming, we’ll get one of the best gaming monitors or 4K TVs, but for those who casually dive into a quick game of Overcooked 2 on weekends they can be a dream.
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