home projector buyers guide

What brightness level do I require?

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The best brightness level for your home projector will depend on the use. Some home projectors are used for everyday use in a living area and will require more brightness of around 4000 lumens. In a dimmed down home theatre room you would only need 1000 to 2000 lumens brightness and still produce a beautiful picture but maximise colour accuracy.

home projector brightness

What is the best resolution?

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The two main resolution types at 1080p and 4K. 1080P projectors are still the mainstream projector with a good amount of detail and image quality. But we are now seeing 4K taking a lead role for general entertainment, gaming, and theatre uses. It provides a whopping four times more pixels for a more detailed clear and sharp image. BUT you will only really see the big image quality boost if you are feeding it 4K content. Whether it is a 4K UltraHD disc, Foxtel 4K channels, or a 4K Netflix streaming subscription; feeding the 4K projector the right resolution will give you the full benefit.

Resolution
UHD 4K 1080p

Do I have to ceiling mount my projector?

Not necessarily; there are many types of home projector setups nowadays:

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Ceiling Mount Home Projector

The traditional ceiling installation is still the ideal way to setup the projector with the projector out of the way hard wired in. This would typically be connected in to an amplifier with a big speaker system which would in turn be connected to other AV components like games consoles bluray players etc.

Ceiling Mount Home Projector

UST Home Projector

But there are now UST projectors that allow for a no installation setup. They just get placed on a TV unit at the front of the room and project a massive image from near point blank range. This saves you wiring and ceiling mounting the projector and can run audio with its own speakers or be connected to larger scale sound for the big theatre experience.

UST Home Projector

Coffee Table Home Projector

Finally there I a new trend of a more informal projector on the coffee table able to be packed away when not in use or used more as a portable setup most popular in apartments to get a massive picture in an easier more compact format.

Coffee Table Home Projector

What inputs or inbuilt smarts do i need?

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Inputs connections on home projectors has become much simpler. HDMI has literally taken over as higher resolution pictures have become more popular. So essentially whether you are connecting a PlayStation, an Apple TV, or Blu-ray player the projector should have HDMI inputs.

Inbuilt smarts are a relatively new feature to hit projectors. Essentially a small computer inbuilt typically running an Android TV operating system. These connect to your house Wifi and allow you to stream free to air TV programs from 10play, 7plus, 9Now, ABC iview, and SBS on demand. Also they can play paid streaming services like Disney +, AppleTV, Paramount+, and depending on the inbuilt system some can play Netflix or Kayo. On some systems Netflix and Kayo is not available but you can always hook in an inexpensive Amazon Fire stick into the HDMI to add these in or even to upgrade a regular non smart projector to have all these features.



How do I set up my Audio?

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There are many ways to setup the audio side of your home projector.

Big Theatre Speakers

The big audio 5.1 or 7.1 channel setup is the ultimate audio quality usually more popular in a dedicated home theatre room. These can be inbuilt into the walls and ceiling for a cleaner look or feature the big column speakers for the powerful top quality cinema sound.

5.1 7.1 Big Home Theatre Speakers

Sound Bar

A simplified sound bar setup is quite popular in living rooms and areas where the larger theatre speaker setup would be inconvenient. These can still be quite powerful and in some of the higher end models can have rear speakers added on for a more immersive surround sound without all the cabling of a big surround sound installation.

Something to look out for when choosing a sound bar is to make sure there are multiple HDMI inputs into the sound bar and one HDMI output. Some sound bars will only have one HDMI input going into it which will make connection tricky. It would restrict you to inbuilt smart functions in the projector if it has ARC (audio return channel) capability.

Sound bar projector audio

Inbuilt Audio

While not able to shake the walls inbuilt audio has come a long way. With many projectors now featuring third party speakers for clearer audio quality like Harman Kardon or Yamaha the inbuilt speaker setup is the most portable and easy. This sort of setup can always be upgraded down the track.

Something to look out for if you might be upgrading the audio down the track is a decent audio output. Preferably ARC or eARC HDMI where the projector could send out audio to a sound bar if you wanted a more powerful setup.

inbuilt projector audio

LED, Laser, or Lamp Home Projector?

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Projectors have traditionally been illuminated with a high brightness lamp. This technology is in general the cheaper option with a decent lamp life ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 hours depending on running mode, and fairly cheap replacement being available. So even with pretty heavy use quite a good option.

The newer technologies to the projector market are LED and Laser. These both offer a massive boost in lifespan typically 20,000 hours and above but generally have a higher initial buy price. In general LED based projectors are not as bright as their Laser counterparts but will offer a better colour accuracy.

home projector laser led lamp

What projectors do you recommend for home theatre?

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We have some of our favourite home projector recommendations below. We know it can be difficult to pick the best one for you so if you need assistance please send us an email with your requirements, we are happy to help.

Home Projector Recommendations

Wanbo DaVinci 1 Pro
Full HD LED
Entertainment Projector
Wanbo DaVinci 1 Pro
  • 1080P Full HD Resolution
  • 600 ANSI Lumens
  • 2.8kg Weight
  • Android 11.0 Inbuilt
  • Wireless Streaming
  • Bluetooth Audio 5.0
  • 2x 8W Speakers
Wanbo Mozart 1 Pro
Full HD LED
Entertainment Projector
Wanbo Mozart 1 Pro
  • 1080P Full HD Resolution
  • 900 ANSI Lumens
  • 3.3kg Weight
  • Android 11.0 Inbuilt
  • Wireless Streaming
  • Bluetooth Audio 5.0
  • 2x 8W Speakers + Woofer
Optoma W400LVe DLP HD Multipurpose Projector
optoma W400LVE
  • WXGA HD
  • 4000 ANSI Lumens
  • 25,000:1 Contrast
  • 10W Inbuilt Speaker
Epson CO-FH02 Full HD Smart Home Entertainment Projector
epson CO-FH02
  • 1080p FULL HD
  • 3000 ANSI Lumens
  • 16,000:1 Contrast
  • AndroidTV Inbuilt
  • Chromecast Inbuilt
  • Bluetooth Audio Out
Optoma HD30HDR DLP Full HD Bright Home Theatre Projector
Optoma HD30hdr
  • 1080p FULL HD
  • 3800 ANSI Lumens
  • 50,000:1 Contrast
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • Best Under $1k!
Viewsonic PX748-4K DLP High Brightness 4K UHD Projector
viewsonic px748-4k
  • UHD 4K
  • 4000 ANSI Lumens
  • 12,000:1 Contrast
  • Fast Gaming Mode
Optoma UHD35+ DLP 4K Home Theatre Projector
optoma uhd35+
  • UHD 4K
  • 4000 ANSI Lumens
  • 1,200,000:1 Contrast
  • Fast Gaming Mode
BenQ W1800 DLP 4K Home Theatre Projector
benq w1800
  • UHD 4K
  • 2000 ANSI Lumens
  • Premium Glass Optics
  • 100% REC709 Colour
  • Fast Gaming Mode
Epson EH-TW6250 4Ke UHD Home Theatre Smart Projector
epson eh-tw6250
  • UHD 4Ke
  • 2800 ANSI Lumens
  • Smart Apps Inbuilt
  • Bluetooth (in app only)
  • Lens Shift + Big Zoom
Epson EH-TW7100 4Ke UHD Home Theatre Projector
epson eh-tw7100
  • UHD 4Ke
  • 3000 ANSI Lumens
  • 100,000:1 Contrast
  • Low Fan Noise
  • Lens Shift + Big Zoom
Optoma UHD55 4K UHD Smart Home Theatre Projector
optoma uhd55
  • UHD 4K
  • 3600 ANSI Lumens
  • 1,200,000:1 Contrast
  • DCI-P3 Colour
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • Bonus FireStick 4K
Viewsonic LX700-4K 4K Ultra HD Laser Theatre & Gaming Projector
Viewsonic LX700-4K
  • UHD 4K
  • 3500 ANSI Lumens
  • 3,000,000:1 Contrast
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • LASER Light Source
BenQ X500i 4K UHD LED Home Theatre & Gaming Projector
benq x500i
  • UHD 4K
  • 2200 ANSI Lumens
  • 600,000:1 Contrast
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • LED Light Source
  • Android 11 Inbuilt
BenQ TK860i 4K UHD Smart Home Theatre & Projector
benq TK860i
  • UHD 4K
  • 3300 ANSI Lumens
  • 50,000:1 Contrast
  • REC.709 Colour
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • LED Light Source
  • Android 11 Inbuilt
Optoma UHZ45 DLP 4K Ultra HD Laser Home Theatre Projector
optoma uhz45
  • UHD 4K
  • 3800 ANSI Lumens
  • 2,000,000:1 Contrast
  • 97% DCI-P3 Colour
  • Fast Gaming Mode
  • LASER Light Source
  • Bonus FireStick 4K

ULTRA SHORT-THROW LASER PROJECTOR RECOMMENDATIONS

Samsung LSP7TFAXXY 4K Ultra Short Throw Smart Laser Projector
Samsung LSP7TFAXXY
  • UHD 4K
  • LASER Light Source
  • 2,000,000:1 Contrast
  • Ultra Short Throw
  • DCI-P3 Colour
  • Inbuilt TV Tuner
  • Inbuilt 30W Soundbar
Epson EH-LS650B 4K Ultra Short throw Home Theatre Laser Projector
Epson EH-LS650B
  • UHD 4K
  • 3600 ANSI Lumens
  • LASER Light Source
  • 2,500,000:1 Contrast
  • Ultra Short Throw
  • Android TV Inbuilt
Epson EH-LS800B 4K Ultra Short throw Home Theatre Laser Projector
Epson EH-LS800B
  • UHD 4K
  • 4000 ANSI Lumens
  • LASER Light Source
  • 2,500,000:1 Contrast
  • Ultra Short Throw
  • Android TV Inbuilt
Samsung LSP9TFAXXY 4K Ultra Short Throw Smart Triple Laser Projector
Samsung LSP9TFAXXY
  • UHD 4K
  • Triple LASER
  • 2,000,000:1 Contrast
  • Ultra Short Throw
  • Premium BT.2020 Colour
  • Inbuilt TV Tuner
  • Inbuilt 40W Soundbar