Home Theater Cinema Paradiso With Video Projectors
Forget about expensive LCD TV screens: A digital video projector can do a better job for a whole lot less. A blank white wall and an investment of less than $1,500 can transform your living room into a movie theater minus the $10 plus tickets and obnoxious crowds. THG illustrates how now-affordable digital video projectors work as well as what to avoid.
Connectivity And Other Choice Criteria
While usually quite limited on business-oriented projectors, connectivity is becoming more and developed on home-cinema-oriented models. You need to check this in terms of your DVD player.
You generally find:
1 composite input (RCA/Cinch or BNC)
Image Size
The other important criteria are projection distance, focal length, zoom and image size. A large image is often the first criterion when buying a projector, but you should know that entry-level and middle-range models will only show an image size of 3 meters, or at most 3.5 m, correctly without too much loss of quality.
Distance
For an optimum image in 800 x 600 resolution, figure on two to three times the image base to get the distance to your couch. Less distance is needed with 1024 x 768 or 16/9 displays. But keep in mind that a big image whose quality is poor very quickly becomes tiring for the eyes. Put quality before size. For a home-cinema setup, projection distance is most often dependent on the size of your room. You should be aware that the focal length and zoom of a projector directly influence the size of the projected image. Some projectors need only a 3-meter distance to display an image with a 2-meter base, while others can require five to six meters. So keep your particular setup in mind when choosing the projector of your dreams.
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