Creating your own private cinema can be much easier than you think and without breaking the bank. The key is a good projector with the right features for your needs. Our buying guide will guide you through the process of buying a value-for-money projector.
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Our selection
"The CineBeam PH30N is great. It has a two-hour battery life, so you can watch a short movie anywhere, and you can even stream things…"
"For less than £100, you can get this highly portable video projector. The TopVision 6500 weighs only 2.5 pounds and projects a screen size of…"
"The BenQ TH685 is a solid 1080p choice for gaming or watching movies and videos. Superb 1080p HDR graphics and 3500 lumens of ultra-brightness deliver…"
"With extended playback time, Android 7.1 and one-second auto focus, Mars II Pro creates a private cinema just for you. Advanced DLP technology provides more…"
The CineBeam PH30N is great. It has a two-hour battery life, so you can watch a short movie anywhere, and you can even stream things directly from your cell phone, no cables required. All this with a good price/performance ratio.
232 £ on AmazonThe LG CineBeam PH30N offers somewhat mixed performance for image quality, but the balance between image quality, small size and brightness is easily enough for the price to let it serve well in a small conference room or for anyone who needs a projector they can take anywhere with them.
The LG CineBeam PH30N is one of the few projectors to share its special blend of resolution, portability, brightness and price. At just over a pound, it's small and light enough that you can take it with you easily, and you can run it using AC power or its built-in battery. It's also bright enough, with its 250 lumen rating, to give you a bigger picture in ambient light than you can get from a phone, tablet or laptop.
For less than £100, you can get this highly portable video projector. The TopVision 6500 weighs only 2.5 pounds and projects a screen size of 50 inches to 200 inches. It's bright at 7000:1 lux with 1080p Full HD resolution.
63,99 £ on AmazonA great use of a projector is to use it to display media on a screen larger than your phone. That's what the TopVision 6500 is designed to do. It is compatible with TV Box, Chromebook, PC, laptop, tablet, Blue-ray DVD player, SD card, USB stick, video games, media players (music, images, video, TXT), smartphones. When connecting to an iPhone, an additional Lightning to HDMI adapter is required. And when connecting with an Android phone, an additional Micro USB/Type C to HDMI adapter is required.
For gaming, for example, this is a pretty neat setup. The light bulb can handle video even in rooms with ambient light. Projecting your favorite game onto a large screen gives you a new perspective and makes the game even more immersive. Taking what is normally confined to a 6-inch screen on a smartphone, for example, and blowing it up to 200 inches is pretty powerful.
The BenQ TH685 is a solid 1080p choice for gaming or watching movies and videos. Superb 1080p HDR graphics and 3500 lumens of ultra-brightness deliver intense action, even in daylight with this projector.
552 £ on AmazonBe amazed by the hyper-realistic HDR details on massive projected 1080p Full HD images that put widescreen TVs to shame. The combination of good color accuracy and contrast, fast input lag, high brightness, and support for HLG and 4K inputs is especially appealing in the BenQ TH685, which weighs just 2.8 Kilograms.
The BenQ TH685 is one of a growing number of 1080p projectors that can accept 4K HDR input, convert the image to display at 1080p resolution, retain HDR and deliver a bright, highly watchable image. It supports HDR10, which is found on UHD Blu-ray discs and other recorded media. Unlike many, it also supports HLG, the emerging standard for broadcast TV. For HDR and SDR (standard dynamic range) content, it offers good color accuracy and contrast. It is bright enough to provide a large enough image in ambient light.
With extended playback time, Android 7.1 and one-second auto focus, Mars II Pro creates a private cinema just for you. Advanced DLP technology provides more detailed and dynamic video than traditional LCD.
480 £ on AmazonAny specific needs?
The best video projector value in 2021
The best video projector value in 2021
The best video projector value in 2021
The best video projector value in 2021
Your guide :
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| Editor's Choice | Inexpensive | Top of the line | Excellent selection | |
In accordance with our commitment, this buying guide does not contain any sponsored products. |
8/10 |
8/10 |
9/10 |
9/10 |
| OUR SELECTION |
LG CineBeam PH30N
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TOPVISION 6500
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BenQ TH685
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Nebula Mars II Pro
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The CineBeam PH30N is great. It has a two-hour battery life, so you can watch a short movie anywhere, and you can even stream things directly from your cell phone, no cables required. All this with a good price/performance ratio.
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For less than £100, you can get this highly portable video projector. The TopVision 6500 weighs only 2.5 pounds and projects a screen size of 50 inches to 200 inches. It's bright at 7000:1 lux with 1080p Full HD resolution.
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The BenQ TH685 is a solid 1080p choice for gaming or watching movies and videos. Superb 1080p HDR graphics and 3500 lumens of ultra-brightness deliver intense action, even in daylight with this projector.
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With extended playback time, Android 7.1 and one-second auto focus, Mars II Pro creates a private cinema just for you. Advanced DLP technology provides more detailed and dynamic video than traditional LCD.
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Weight
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Small and light enough
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Lightweight
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2.8 Kilograms
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Lightweight
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Display
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250 lumens
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Very bright
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Hyper-realistic HDR detail
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4 hours of display life
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Specificity
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Powered by mains or built-in battery
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Fairly neat configuration
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4K HDR input
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Heavily modified Android operating system
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Compatibility
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Purposeful
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Versatile
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Purposeful
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Polished
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Portability
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Portable
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Portable
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Portable
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Portable
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When choosing a projector, there are a few basic considerations to keep in mind. The most important is the brightness capability of the projector. Simply put, the higher the lumen count, the brighter the image. The more ambient light you have in the room when you're watching, the more you'll want to fight it.
In fact, today's video projectors can provide wonderful home theater experiences in a variety of lighting conditions to meet your family's needs.
You'll also need to consider the projector's throw ratio, which explains the width of a projector's image given the distance between the lens and the screen.
Also make sure the projector you choose offers keystone correction to simplify ideal image alignment for maximum big-screen entertainment without needing to change your set and enough zoom capability to match your setup.
You need to think about sound, too. You can count on almost any built-in speaker. They're an afterthought in most cases, designed to help you if you're doing a desktop presentation, but not much more. Any projector benefits from even a modest external speaker system.
All projectors these days provide HDMI inputs, and most projectors also have VGA or DVI inputs for computers.
However, if you have older source components with composite, S-video, or component video outputs, be aware that many newer projectors no longer offer these options or may only offer composite video inputs.
When shopping for a projector, it's absolutely important to make sure it has the connections you need.
Portability is important, not only in terms of moving or traveling with your projector, but also to simplify installation and setup. It also makes it easier to try out different screen sizes, distances, and rooms to see which layout works best.
Set up the projector in a completely dark room and adjust its image settings, screen size, and overall appearance using tools and methods that are readily available to people, just as you might do at home.
From there, use a range of test patterns and familiar content, from streaming services to Ultra HD Blu-ray to over-the-air (OTA) television, to evaluate the projector's performance characteristics, including color output, motion resolution, brightness, HDR quality (if applicable) and detail resolution.
Once the image quality analysis is complete, move on to elements that affect the user experience, including user settings or smart platform interface, remote control, external device recognition and control, and other critical touch points.
DLP projectors use a light source in combination with a color wheel and a chip containing microscopic tilting mirrors.
Light passes through the color wheel, reflects off the mirrors, is projected onto a screen, and your eye merges the colors to create the final image. This mirror-based technology will allow you to obtain an excellent quality image.
The colors are more accurate and long-lasting because DLP technology can reproduce all existing colors thanks to its color wheel and the efficiency of your retina and its high brightness. In addition, HD and 3D models are becoming more affordable.
If you want to get a quality image while putting the price, DLP video projectors will allow you to watch your movie or play your video games in a perfect way by having a sharp image with vivid colors for stunning sensations.
An LCD video projector is a type of projector based on liquid crystal displays that can display images, data or videos. An LCD video projector works on transmissive technology.
LCD projectors are more popular than many alternatives due to the fact that they are cheaper to produce and have excellent color reproduction. They are commonly used in business meetings, presentations and seminars.
The light source of an LCD projector is a standard lamp. An LCD projector allows the light source to pass through three colored liquid crystal display light panels. The panels in turn allow certain colors to pass through and block certain colors to form the images on the screen.
LCD projectors do not suffer from rainbow effects and dithering. Another important feature of LCD projectors is their image sharpness and greater zoom magnification.
SXRD, which stands for x-tal silicon reflective display, is Sony's take on liquid crystal display on silicon, more commonly known as LCoS. As a reminder, LCoS, which has been on the market for several years now, is a hybrid of DLP and LCD display technologies.
It is essentially a layer of liquid crystals resting on a reflective surface. The light created by the lamp is reflected on this surface, unless the liquid crystals are twisted to block it.
SXRD panels are just as advanced as LCoS. SXRD projectors use a vertically aligned nematic liquid crystal (VAN) that changes state at lightning speed. This allows the microdisplay to operate as fast as 200 frames per second, with very little image drag.
Most projectors can easily project an HD image that is 4 times larger than a 65-inch flat screen TV. With a home theater projector (and a good sound system), you can recreate the movie theater experience without ever leaving your house.
Want a bigger picture than that? If you have the right space and lighting conditions, you can project an image up to 300 inches diagonally. That's over 21 feet in diameter. On the other hand, video projectors have the added cost of having to periodically replace their lamps, probably once a year.
Installing a flat screen is not difficult. You can place your device wherever you want. Then connect it to all the devices and follow the installation steps using the remote control. Televisions have connections for Blu-ray players or game consoles.
In addition to a built-in tuner that lets you watch TV shows, many TVs have Smart TV features for online applications such as YouTube. However, watching late at night or in a dark room, for example, can cause eye strain. It's hard to turn down the brightness without blurring the picture. And the flat-screen TV isn't portable, so it's a nightmare to move around.
When you compare a video projector and a flat screen TV, the video projector easily provides a picture that is as clear and sharp as the TV. However, the video projector's image size will be double, triple or quadruple, making those realistic colors and sharp details even more visible. Just make sure your projector is bright enough for your environment.
Dedicated home theaters without windows can handle a 1,500 lumen projector. Rooms with some windows should have a 2,500 lumen or higher projector.
Display size
The most appealing feature of a video projector is the incredible screen sizes it is capable of displaying. Placed ten feet away from a screen or wall, many models can create an image about seven feet wide by four feet high. Think about it, seven feet wide. That puts life-size characters inside your living room.
Watching content in a larger format enhances the entertainment experience. Sports programming becomes more breathtaking as the players seem tangible and real. Multiplayer gaming is elevated to a new level as there is more space for split-screen viewing. If you're using streaming services like Netflix or Amazon, navigating menus and reading descriptions is a little easier with an oversized image.
Comfortable for the eyes
Video projectors are a great alternative to TVs, as they actually reduce the amount of time you spend looking at an electronic screen.The thing about looking at a computer screen or watching TV for long periods of time is that the panels cause eye discomfort and pain.
Some attribute this strain to the fact that electronic screens emit a lot of light from a rather small surface area. An interesting feature of a video projector is that it does not shine this light directly on you, the image is reflected off a larger surface. When viewed at the proper distance with the proper brightness settings, watching a projected image is more comfortable for your eyes.
Theater in a Box
It can be much easier to take the theater with you wherever you go. If you move often because of school or work, it's easier to throw a video projector in a bag than to ship or pack a TV. It's also fun to give a helping hand for parties and events.
Let's say your friend wants to add another screen to his house for soccer game day. With a video projector, you can turn an entire wall into a giant red zone screen. Or think about those times of year when it's nice outside. You can take the show outside for a backyard movie night or watch a basketball game while relaxing in the pool.
The smaller form factor of a projector combined with its ability to create a variety of screen sizes allows for many applications.
Lightweight and small
Not only are home entertainment projectors small, but they are also lightweight. Typically weighing between 2 and 20 pounds, the average projector owner should have no problem moving around with it if needed. This is where the advantage of projectors really shines.
Reasonably priced
Given the technological and practical benefits of video projectors for home entertainment, they are quite reasonably priced. That's not to say, however, that you can't find a very expensive projector, but for what you get at the basic level, the value for money is pretty good.
In our opinion, the best brands of projectors quality/price ratio in 2022 are :
LG Electronics is a core company of the South Korean conglomerate group LG, alongside LG Chem, founded in 1958. LG Electronics is a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in nearly every country and an international workforce of more than 75,000. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from televisions, appliances, air solutions, mobile devices, monitors, service robots, automotive components and its premium brands LG SIGNATURE and smart LG ThinQ are household names around the world.
A Taiwanese company, BenQ is a brand that specializes in the design of digital products from mice to video projectors, PC monitors and digital cameras. BenQ's creations are recognized worldwide for their quality and innovation, with their trademark being their video projectors. BenQ is currently realizing its ambition to become a global leading brand in the new century.
Top Vision Group was established in 2009 as a distribution and supply chain manager in Afghanistan. Top Vision Group has its headquarters in Kabul. Top Vision has grown well and is considered one of the leading distribution channels for MNOs.
Nebula is a leader in creating innovative technology solutions that accelerate digital transformation to unlock human potential. Nebula was founded in March 2011 as Fourth Paradigm Development. Nebula is a leading people-focused company in Cape Town's technology hub.
Sony Corporation is one of the most recognizable names in consumer electronics. Since its inception shortly after World War II, Sony has released a series of groundbreaking products, including the transistor radio, the Trinitron television, the Betamax VCR, the CD player, the Walkman portable cassette player, and the PlayStation game console. Sony is ranked among the best in sound improvement in all their designs.
The diagram below will help you to get an idea of the typical prices for each price range (entry-level, mid-range and high-end).
However, more expensive does not necessarily mean better.
We therefore advise you to always consult our ranking before deciding, rather than blindly relying on price ranges.
Select the right picture mode
Now that everything is working, it's time to make sure the projector is the best it can be. Like televisions, video projectors have preset picture modes, so you'll want to choose the right one. The best one for overall image quality in a dark room is usually "Movie" or "Cinema". If you're dealing with ambient light, you may want to choose a brighter mode.
Focal length and throw distance
The focal length of a video projector depends on the projection distance and the size of the projection monitor. A long focal length projector needs a longer projection distance and the projected image is larger. A short-throw projector is ideal for a narrow space and can project a larger image over a shorter distance. A long zoom lens design allows a projector to project images of a specified size despite the projection distance. Users can select the installation location without distance limitation.
HDMI and MHL other ports
HDMI can transmit an extremely large uncompressed digital video and audio information data stream at high speed. Since the video and audio signals are processed through one signal cable, it reduces the amount of cable required when setting up a home theater system. MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) is the product of the smart mobile communication era. With MHL, users can transmit full HD video and audio. HD content on a smart mobile device can be easily transmitted to a large screen, such as a projector, TV or desktop monitor. Users can also charge mobile devices at the same time to ensure an uninterrupted good time. In response to recently launched smart devices, some projectors even offer a 1.5A USB power supply that can be used to charge devices as well as reduce bulky cables.
Glass lens
The optical glass lens can ensure clear, solid and sharp images when projecting onto the screen through the lens and display natural, vivid colors without compromise. Most projectors on the market use high-pressure mercury lamps that generate extremely high heat during use. A glassless lens with lower heat resistance will result in distorted, defocused, and unclear images when used under the same temperature for a long period of time.
Lens shift
To avoid a significant decrease in image quality caused by keystone correction, some projectors have a lens shift function. This function adjusts the image placement by moving the lens vertically or horizontally; it also realizes greater flexibility when installing the projector.
The three most important factors affecting image quality are the native resolution, your source material, and the projector's contrast ratio.
The brightness of the projector is measured in lumens. Video projectors typically start at about 1000 lumens and go up to 2500 lumens and higher. Your viewing environment is the determining factor in how many lumens your projector needs. For example, spaces with high ambient light need about 3000 lumens.
Since video projectors are a fixed-resolution display device, they have what is called a native aspect ratio. The most common aspect ratios for projectors are 4:3, 16:10 and 16:9. This means that the chip inside the projector is shaped in the specified 4:3, 16:10 or 16:9 video proportions. Think of the chip as a miniature version of the image you will see on your screen.
LCD and DLP projectors typically have A lamp life of between 2000 and 4000 hours. This specification actually refers to the "half-life" of the lamp, the point where the lamp is half as bright as it was when new. The lamp will still operate at its half-life, but it will continue to gradually lose brightness. Longer lamp life means less maintenance expense for your projector.
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