Home Theater Projector Review

Before beginning our home theater projector review, we review some background information that will be useful. We provide some information on the popular technologies used in today’s home theater projectors and some options that you may want to consider for your projector. Then of course, on with the home theater projector review.

Aspect Ratio - Refers to the ratio of width to the height of your screen. Although there are several other sizes available by far the most popular are 4:3 and 16:9. Movie and television content is moving to HDTV, which is in the 16:9 format, so we suggest purchasing 16:9 based items. When you watch an item that is not in the same format as your screen you will see black lines either on the sides or on the top and bottom. Some projectors provide the ability to compensate this by stretching the image to fit the screen, but this results in thing being wider (fatter) or taller then they really are.

Brightness - Measured in ANSI lumens this is exactly what you would expect, how bright your projector is. We recommend the following:

700 lumens or better for a room where lighting can be completely controlled.
At least 1000 lumens for rooms with moderate light.
Rooms with windows or uncontrolled light need 2500 lumens or more.

Contrast Ratio - Contrast is the ratio between the brightest and darkest areas of the image. We recommend looking for something over 4500:1.

Zoom lens – This is important as it allows you to change the size of the image without having to move your projector. Ideally allowing you to mount your projector where you like and still get the image size you hoped for.

Lens Shift – Allows the lens to be physically moved vertical and horizontal. This is important if your projector is not centered on the screen as it can help correct keystone distorted images.

Keystone Correction – Allows for the image to be rectangular even if the projector is not level with and perpendicular to the screen.

Home Theater Projector Review - Top Selling Projectors

Brand	Model	Resolution	Brightness	Aspect Ratio	Contrast Ratio	Price
Panasonic	PT-AX100U	1280x720	2000	16:9	6000:1	Under $2000
Optoma	HD70	1280x720	1000	16:9	4000:1	Under $1000
Panasonic	PT-AE900U	1280x720	1100	16:9	5500:1	Under $1,700
Sanyo	PLV-Z4	1280x720	1000	16:9	7000:1	Under $1,500
Optoma	HD72	1280x720	1300	16:9	5000:1	Under $1,900
Optoma	H31	854x480	850	16:9	3000:1	Under $750
Optoma	HD81	1920x1080	1400	16:9	6000:1	Under $7000

Home Theater Projector Review – We Recommend:
Panasonic PT-AX100U
Although we expect the other projector companies to release new models shortly, at this time we feel this is simply the best value for the money and will suit most home theater projector requirements.

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