How to choose a projector for the house - let's figure it out by viewing its properties, functions, differences in projection technologies and other features. But since all these things are expressed in money, we start with the financial categories.
Price cut
There is no sense in comparing the foreign prices of projectors (and the market from them) with ours (we will buy something here). And we will select a home projector for your wallet (and not for the EU representative's wallet).
How does the quotation change when the purse is thickened?
Initial level
Despite the figure in this family (about a thousand US dollars) of projectors with Full HD resolution (more details below), the weaknesses of such equipment (in terms of brightness and contrast) result from the use of one-matrix technologies in image formation.
Benq with Full HD
Average range
Being the original (three thousand in. E.) Level for the extra-cost segment ($ 10, 000 and above), this class of projectors is naturally devoid of obvious flaws, endowed with sufficient contrast, brightness and the addition of functionality.
Leading flank
In such devices, in addition to combining impressive contrast and brightness, the latest (and therefore expensive) projection technologies (UltraHD, Blu-ray, HDMI, HDCP, advanced standards and standards, HDR support, BT.2020 color space) are introduced.
Other
In a wide range there is a strong opinion that the best projector for the house (medium-sized) with quite suitable Full HD format value and produced using modern technologies is at the level of about two thousand dollars.
It is possible that the choice of the projector at a price cheaper than eight hundred US dollars with a pixel resolution of WXGA will be perfect for you.
Custom area
Standard pricing logic stalled if the search for a projector is associated with a special direction of its application. This refers to projectors for games, subminiature or with a short focus.
What caused the price
The key principle is that as the cost of the projector increases, its performance, the brightness of the light flux, the ease of setting up the screen, the available set of options, color rendering and the projection technology used increase.
Correctly choose the projector, taking into account all the nuances, especially if this is accompanied by an irrepressible desire to save, will help answers to questions of this kind:
- With the increase in brightness, the price of the product will increase - is there any sense to overpay for excessive.
- Should I pay for unnecessary or not so important functions.
- Will the color quality match the lighting of the room - again, why pay for what remains unclaimed.
- Which of the technologies to stop the choice (1-DLP, LCoS, 3-DLP, etc.) is the most difficult.
Let's go over these and other properties and technologies in more detail, because they will determine the value of your choice.
Brightness
Describing the brightness of the projector, they say that it is expressed in "the power of the emitted beam of light."
This is considered because the brightness of a particular light source will be different on screens of different sizes. The unit of measurement of the brightness of the light flux is lumen (Lm), and the brightness value varies for different models within 2700–20000 Lm.
Special attention is given to the fact that when adjusting the correctness of color transmission (without losing a part of the spectrum), the brightness is clearly lost, and with it the contrast.
Brightness in different loads
From the proportional relationship between the transmission quality of the color palette and the brightness, it should be well understood the difference in the modes of image delivery by the projector.
In the case of, for example, a three-mode mode of operation — bright (3000 Lm), presentational (2500 Lm) and true (accurate) (1500 Lm), the display quality in the true mode that suits the viewer stops your choice on the projector with a brightness of 1, 500 Lm, but not three thousand.
The brightness in passing lighting
In order to ensure the visibility of the picture in case of extraneous illumination, the luminous flux of the projector must interrupt ("shout down") such background light with its brightness.
In a setting of great illumination and an impressive screen, the quality of the transmission of the color gamut is lost and the coarse brightness power is appreciated. And the more powerful this power is, the higher the cost will be, and, probably, in addition to high brightness, such a fee will include a certain amount of auxiliary functions that characterize expensive devices.
With decreasing light, the power of the light flux (brightness) becomes redundant. But the foreground is color quality and contrast.
With no external light at all, the projector’s own flow is so large that the ricochet on the surfaces of light walls and white ceiling creates glare on the screen - even repainting or darkened drapery will have a decisive effect on a positive result (even the black case of the device itself, unlike white). ).
Under ideal conditions, in a viewing room for high contrast, an average flow of light (brightness) of about 700–800 lumens is sufficient. For a living room or residential, with less acceptable characteristics, a maximum brightness of about 2000 Lm is sufficient.
Screen brightness
Choosing a projector by the brightness value, expect that a two-fold increase in one of the linear dimensions of the screen will require a four-fold increase in the power of the light flux. Such a device will be in another cost category.
For the projector it is impossible to indicate the actual brightness value in the passport. After all, he does not have a screen area.
But if the value of the power of the light emitted by it is known, then the table from StewartFilmscreen can be used to find out the optimal screen diagonal for it.
The values in the table are relative to matte coatings. When using screens with a gain of brightness, you need to multiply these figures by amplifying factors.
Brightness by color
Recently, manufacturers have proposed a new benchmark of brightness (actively dragged by Epson) for customers to compare the properties of projectors. The proposed name is color brightness.
The explanation of the essence begins with the fact that the maximum power of the projector's flow is determined by the brightness for white. In turn, the brightness of white consists of the brightness of the green, red and blue colors that make it up.
As a result, max. light flow (brightness) = white brightness = full brightness of the green. + full brightness red. + full brightness syn.
(by the way, black = min. green. + min. red. + min. blue.).
However, realizing that such an indicator is important for the buyer, manufacturers have become dishonest to overestimate the full brightness, further enhancing the brightness of white.
In the picture below you can see how two devices with the same brightness value reflect colors differently in white.
At this point we approach the differences in the principles of projection technologies.
Projection technology
At once, we say that among the types of projection created for today there is no absolutely leading technology. Each technology has its advantages and manufacturers are constantly working to smooth their inherent flaws.
Cathode ray tubes (CRT)
This includes the first projectors, which appeared in the seventies of the last century. The reproduction technology in them is based on the use of CRT. For some, it will be amazing, but they are still made (and someone needs it!).
CRTs provide high resolution, but do not have high brightness. Their weight is measured in tens of kilograms, and the cost in tens of thousands of dollars.
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
Another approach to the implementation of technology ideas associated with displays on liquid crystals.
At first they were multi-layered on TFT technology. Speaking in a simple way, these are ordinary displays that only work on translucency.
At present, Epson manufactures projectors using three displays (instead of one) on a poly-silicone basis. Thanks to silicones, the saturation of the color palette is maintained and long-term operation with constant thermal effects is ensured.
Micromirrors (DLP)
Since the end of the last century, the era of digital processing technology has opened up in projection. At the heart of one of them (DLP-technology) is the use of chips (or chips), consisting of hundreds of thousands of micromirrors, each of which is a pixel.
The light from the projector lamp enters the mirror through a color wheel divided into multi-colored (base colors) segments. Accordingly, the incident light will be colored in a certain way. Shades of colors are formed by the time of inclusion of pixels.
The image on the screen (picture) using the DLP technology is obtained significantly better (richer) than the gastrointestinal tract due to:
- smaller distance between mirrors;
- the work of mirrors on the reflection, and not on the light;
- practical lack of loss of light.
As is clear from the principle of this technology, the colors are displayed on the screen sequentially. This is unnoticeable to our eyesight due to the high speed of rotation of the color wheel (about ten thousand revolutions per minute). But sometimes this affects the appearance of rainbow flashes on the border of contrasting moving objects (video example).
Manufacturers have found a way out of this situation by using a larger number of segments in the wheel and dyeing them in additional colors (besides the base ones).
In LED DLP projectors, the red, blue, and green LEDs are used as the light source. Working in a certain sequence, they form colors in the usual way.
Due to the low energy consumption, there are DLP-projectors operating from a battery, and due to the absence of a wheel, there is no limit on the speed of color changes and there are no reasons for a rainbow to appear.
There is no wheel in three-matrix DLP-projectors, where instead of it settled three microcircuits-chips for each basic color and very complex optics. However, their price starts from ten thousand dollars, and a copy for a home theater will result in fifteen or twenty.
Regarding the price with DLP-projectors manufacturers of other technologies is difficult to fight. Moreover, since they use Texas Instruments (USA) microcircuits, advertising of these devices takes up fifty percent of the market.
Advertising claims that such technology is leading - not true.
Three-Matrix (3LCD)
In these projectors, the light from the source is filtered (on the base) as it passes through the mirrors. From each of them, one of the already filtered base colors goes to a separate matrix.
By themselves, matrices are a lattice. In it, the rods are the channels for control, and the gaps (voids) are pixels. As a result of opening / closing (full or partial), a luminous flux is formed, which passes to a prism, where the image is finally formed from all colors and falls on the screen. Thus, the picture on it is formed already cobbled together (full color).
The disadvantages of this technology may be an inaccurate object contour (with insufficient adjustment of the matrices - “lens shift”), lack of “black” (although in recent years this indicator has reached comparison with DLP), matrix burnout (burnout of the polarizer of the blue matrix) and the grid effect.
LcoS reflective matrices
In contrast to the 3LCD, the matrix in the LcoS technology does not transmit, but reflects the flow of light by opening or closing the reflecting semiconductor section (substrate) of the crystal.
It is on this substrate that the control is located, and the semiconductor efficiency, reaching 93 percent, eliminates the appearance of a grid structure on the screen.
In the lion’s share of LcoS (or D-ILA) projectors, matrices with SXGA resolution (1365x1024) are used. The luminous flux in them has a capacity of from one to seven thousand ANSI-lm. Their high price is due to the high cost of the lamp.
Technology Fee
In short, the DLP technology, being ahead in contrast (“black”), is constantly working on raising the brightness, 3LCD - exactly the opposite.
If the buyer is ready to leave the budget category, then he has the opportunity to choose a projector for a house with semiconductor light sources (lasers, LEDs, etc.).
When entering the average price level, Epson’s 3LCD C2 Fine technology or Sony’s 3LCD BrightEra technology will be available to customers. Plus, the contrast in the purchased projector will increase.
The next price increase will introduce the customer to the LCoS world (SXRD, D-ILA, 3LCD Reflective), as well as to the three-matrix DLP.
Contrast
Considering the contrast, under it understand the ratio of black with white. And this, in turn, is a common consequence of the transfer of the image to the projector and its perception in a certain room.
On the other hand, it can be judged by the quality of the display of fixed objects (chessboard) or objects in motion.
In addition, it is important to know that an automatically adjusted aperture is built into the projectors, designed to saturate the black in the dark-colored fragments, partially blocking the light flux from the source.
The work of the autodiaphragm is strongly manifested by a sharp change in brightness. Sometimes at the same time shades are noticeably transformed.
From all this, a reasonable question arises - what is the meaning of the contrast indicator indicated in the passport (especially for inexperienced users)?
The trap is in the settings of the so-called gamma.
This is the criterion for the device to issue the appropriate brightness. Indeed, in the absence of a justified darkish items will be merged with black. Therefore, there is a need to adjust the gamma for different viewing requirements.
Ideally, the projector should, using these settings, perfectly reflect the necessary shades, so to speak, provided by the artist (the artist is you).
The figure shows the standard and low gamut
In general, to assess the contrast of projectors, there are already conclusions prepared by experts, which boil down to this:
- On the contrast affects the illumination of the hall.
- This indicator does not significantly affect the intelligibility of text display with additional lighting.
- Feature color does not depend on the contrast.
- The power of the light flux increases the contrast (that is, the advantage of brightness in certain conditions can replace the lack of contrast).
- The contrast figure declared by the manufacturer is practically applicable only to the illuminated hall (especially for the budget segment).
Color rendition
In describing this property, projectors use a diagram that captures all the shades of colors available to human vision. A triangle encompasses a fragment that meets the sRGB standard for modern projectors. The colors generated by the projectors are located inside it.
Different methods of testing the balance of white balance and many other complex things are unlikely to be studied by the buyer before choosing a projector for an apartment.
Although such perseverance is worthy of respect.
A simplified understanding of the projector's ability to convey colors is how smoothly the gradients move from black to any of the base colors.
The same topic concerns the technology of adjusting the color of the projector. Moreover, not in the presence or absence of it, but in quality.
Steep models, for example, provide the ability to control white for each of the base colors. And provide for this two components - incrementally and offset. The first is for the overall brightness level, the second is for alignment.
The structure of color management in expensive models allows you to change the characteristics of their boundary values (this should be done with extreme caution!).
Lens and installation
For a preliminary assessment of the permissibility of the projector in the room, it is important to know its projection ratio (software). Indeed, when multiplying this value by the width of the screen, we obtain the distance from the image to the lens.
If the software, for example, is 2, then from a distance of two meters the screen will be one meter wide, and from a three-meter distance it will be one and a half.
When equipped with a lens with a zoom lens, the projector will be characterized by two software - the minimum and maximum. This, in turn, leads to greater freedom of choice of screen area and viewing room.
The position of the projector, providing maximum image is called wide-angle. If it leads to minimization, it is narrow-angle.
General considerations in this aspect are:
- When spectators are near the projector, ventilation sound may be heard.
- There are projectors installed between the image and the audience.
- Extreme lens locations are fraught with white balance disorders.
Shift (offset)
Basically, projectors, especially low-budget ones, display a picture at right angles to the lens or with a slight vertical shift (about 10%). This is practical when the projector is placed on a horizontal plane and at a small height.
Such a movement of the image in relation to the source is referred to as offset, and it is not always reflected in the description.
In the mid-level prices, projectors have an additional horizontal offset, achieved by the possibility of its adjustment.
В дорогих моделях проекторов такие подстройки могут выполняться моторизованно (с пульта) и сохраняться в памяти (полезно при периодическом изменении формата).
Наличие такой полезной опции даст возможность приспособить к залу проектор, а не выискивать подходящий проектор под имеющуюся комнату.
Режим 3D
Проблемой просмотра видеоматериала в 3D с помощью технологии проектора является потеря мощности светового потока. Отсюда следует, что если ваш проектор обладает запасом яркости, то для 3D это будет плюсом.
Дополнительными проблемами могут быть двоение и мерцание.
В проекторах для подкрепления 3D-режима применяются активные и пассивные методы.
Пассивная предполагает употребление двух проекторов (парой) (или поляризатор с переключателем) плюс спецэкран.
В домашнем кинотеатре используется активная технология с очками.
В DLP-проекторах нашло употребление недорогой методики DLP Link, но синхронизация иногда сбивается.
Геймерам
Любителям игр следует рассчитывать на то, что проекторы подобно мониторам имеют задержку, которая при достижении ста миллисекунд сделает невозможной ведение игры (разве что на авиасимуляторах).
TIP. Уменьшение задержки достигается отключением всех дополнительных функций по обработке картинки в проектореПроекторы типа DLP имеют более резкий отклик сравнительно с проекторами других технологий.
Правда, геймеры — парни ушлые и вполне разберутся с этим по обзорным статьям.
Надеемся, что приведённый нами обзор свойств, функций, технологий проецирования поможет сделать правильный выбор домашнего проектора и он принесёт вам немало удовольствия в повседневном обиходе.
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