Projectors are multifunctional pieces of equipment that can really upscale your life. Whether you are a sports fan, business owner, gamer or movie lover, there's a projector for you.
For Play
Projectors add a certain je ne sais quoi to a viewing experience, not only is the image cast huge in comparison to even larger domestic TVs, the image is crisp and clear. Whether you game, watch sports or movies, hooking up a projector to your Xbox, Blu-ray player or Amazon Fire Stick can revolutionise the way you appreciate your entertainment. We’ve collected four options for you to choose from – two for those looking for a fixed home cinema situation, two for those who want the projector experience without the need to renovate and disrupt their living space.
For Work
As a business professional, your presenting skills need to be sharp, accurate and reliable. Well, with one of the projectors we’ve selected, you can guarantee that at least your PowerPoint will have these qualities. The needs of the business projector are simple, but they need to get it right. Our item selections have great connectivity options, high-lumen long lamp lives and high contrast-ratios – all working to deliver a sharp and bright display which can be read with ease.
For technical explanation and jargon busting, check out our FAQs at the bottom of this page.
What's The Best Projector
Best for Living Room
The short throw casts a 100-inch image from a distance of 1.5 meters, making it an ideal living room set-up for gaming or movie nights. The native 1080p Full HD image with extremely low lag – good news for gamers. BenQ has loaded CinematicColor™ and Rec.709 in to ensure deep and true HD colour representation. There are two inbuilt speakers which aim backwards from the unit and as it's short throw, they'll be in front of you – but if you want to boost the sound you can line out to an external sound system.
The Optoma's short throw will have you a 100-inch 1080p Full HD image from just over a meter away. DLP technology will work in tandem with HD capabilities to project a supreme, crisp cinema-quality image. There is also full 3D support for fans of the eye-popping medium, and a rear-facing speaker brings the noise. This is an ideal product for gamers, sports fans and movie aficionados alike – it even comes with a handy carry case for storage and transporting to a friend's place.
Best for Home Cinema
This is one of the premier 4K projectors, sending out 8.3 million pixels just for you. It's packed with features to support HDR10 brightness and uses CinematicColor™ to maintain colour accuracy, with the new 4K DMD chip also giving you an extra 20% of screen size. You can dial in the screen size accurately thanks to the hassle-free automatic focus, with a maximum image size of 120 inches. Be sure to check out the projection distances to make sure you can fit it into your room.
A budget projector with a top-level performance. The UHD300X offers a bright and colour-accurate projection in 4K UHD. It is capable of handling HDR data and will upscale your Blu-rays to replicate 4KHD. The 2,220-lumen image will be bright, and the immense 250,000:1 contrast ratio will deliver an accurate and crisp image. For the price, it really is a very tempting product that's perfect for that first home cinema.
Best for Work
If you're looking for reliability and to consistently impress, the Epson EH-TW650 is the projector for you. With full HD projection, 3,100-lumens, 15,000:1 contrast ratio and 300-inch maximum screen size, your audience are never going to struggle to see your presentation. The 3LCD will ensure that this image is bright and correctly coloured. The two HDMI ports, VGA, USB and RCA connections will allow you to hook up multiple devices, and the WiFi connection is available for a wireless connection from laptops or smartphones.
For those who are looking for a projector on a budget or for infrequent use, the MS506 is a fantastic product. The 13,000:1 contrast ratio is high enough to ensure text clarity with crisp, defined edges. The MS506 is also equipped with DLP BrilliantColour technology and other visual colour enhancement features to project a correct, bright and colourful image with a razor-sharp edge. The 3,300-lumen count will also allow you to present with the lights on, which will allow your audience to work, note take and remain engaged with your presentation, and the 120-inch maximum screen size won't be a problem either. These features all work to make up for the lack of HDMI connection and output.
FAQs
What is resolution?
Resolution is a term referring to the measurements used when defining an image's clarity. Higher resolution means a clearer picture. Here are some comparative examples:
333x480 – VHS
720x480 – Standard DVD resolution
1280x720 – Blu-ray
3840x2160 – 4K Ultra HD
What’s 4K and what is Ultra HD?
These terms refer to the same thing – resolution. 4K screens offer four times more pixels than HD screens, with 8.3 million pixels working across the screen. This means clearer, more accurate images.
What’s HDR?
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. It works to get as much light, crispness and depth into your picture. Whites are brighter and blacks are darker. It offers a huge range of over one billion colours.
What does 4K and HDR do together?
The 4K gives you the pixels, the HDR takes care of making them look good.
What's contrast ratio?
Contrast ratio is the difference between the brightest display can be compared to the darkest. Low contrast ratios, for example, 100:1, look washed out and weak. The higher the ratio, the better the image.
What are lumens?
Lumens are a measurement of light. 400 lumens are equivalent to a standard 40-watt bulb, and 700 lumens are around the same as a 60-watt bulb. The more lumens, the brighter the light. In regards to projectors, higher lumens make the image brighter. This can have its advantages if you are using a projector around other light sources, though typically when using a projector, you want to limit the presence of other excess light.
What is a short throw projector?
Traditional projectors cast their images from a distance - if you wanted a big picture, you would typically need to move the projector away from the viewing surface. This fact is still true today to varying degrees with standard projectors, but there are certain new models which offer short and ultra-shirt throws. This basically means that they can cast large images from within meters of the viewing surface, making them ideal for smaller spaces like living rooms. An added bonus is the negation of audience shadowing, too.