Home Theatre Projectors Buyers Guide

Choosing a Home Theatre Projector.

What brightness level do I require?

The standard unit of measurement for projector brightness is the ANSI Lumen, created by the American National Standards Institute. This measures the average brightest white a projector can achieve and is a great way of comparing how bright each projector will be. Unfortunately, some smaller brands choose to measure in “lumens” instead of “ANSI Lumens”. Be careful and check the advertised measurement is ANSI Lumens as some brands will exaggerate a ‘Lumen’ measurement quite significantly. (We have seen some advertised 8000 Lumen projectors measure less than 500 ANSI Lumens).

For darker ‘home theatre’ areas the Home Theatre projectors advertising brightness levels between 1500 and 3000 ANSI Lumens are normally ideal. These won’t handle a large amount of ambient light but can give excellent contrast and colour. For brighter rooms, open plan areas, and large lounge rooms, it can be wise to consider at a brighter model. There are plenty of home theatre models now featuring between 3000 and 4500, ANSI Lumens brightness… perfect for those rooms that cannot be fully darkened.

What Resolution & Contrast should I choose?

The most common resolutions for home theatre are

• 1080p - 1920x1080 (Full High Definition 1080p)
• UHD - 3840x2160 (Ultra High Definition 4K 2160p)

The recommended resolution for home theatre applications is FULLHD or UHD/4K (1080p or 2160P). The 1080P resolution will result in a widescreen high detailed image perfect for Full HD games and Bluray Movies. With a 4K projector you can take advantage of high resolution 4K streaming, 4K blueray movies, and Foxtel's 4K channels, as well as experience 4K gaming with the latest Xbox and Playstions consoles.

Should I ceiling mount my projector?

What Inputs/Connections should I use?

Some older projectors have connections like VGA, Component, Composite, and S-video on the back. These connections are all analogue and lower quality. Almost all modern projectors will solely utilise a HDMI connection, this is a digital connection that can provide a significant improvement in detail. Home theatre projectors should always be connected via a high quality HDMI cable. If you purchase a 4K resolution projector we recommend using a Active High Speed HDMI cable to ensure the signal remains strong enough, and reduce the risk of drop out.

How do I set up my Audio?

Many home projectors will have a small speaker inbuilt; this can be handy for movies on the go and for small rooms. These speakers are normally 5-10 watts power, like that of a small TV. For larger rooms, or if you simply want some good quality audio, we recommend the use of separate speakers.

A 5.1 or 7.1 home audio solution is best way to experience amazing surround sound at home. Just Projectors offers a range of bundles of speakers and receivers, or you can build your own. A good quality Receiver (also called an Amplifier) will let you connect multiple sources/players at once, decode your surround sound audio signals, send audio to the individual speakers, and connect the video up to the projector through a HDMI cable. This type of system does take more work to install but the audio quality is amazing. Please visit our speakers page to see our bundles.

Another option, that is far easier and cheaper to install, is a Sound Bar. You can view our range of projector compatible Sound Bars on our Sound Bars page. A Sound Bar can sit on a shelf or TV unit under your screen, or even mount to the wall. Basic sound bars can cost around $250-300 with higher quality options over the $1K mark. Projectors work a little differently to a TV, so when choosing a Sound Bar be sure to select one that features both a HDMI and a separate HDMI OUT port. Often the Sound Bar’s that feature a single HDMI eARC port will not work with a projector.

What is an LED or Laser Projector?

The majority of home theatre projectors will feature an inbuilt lamp that, at some point in the projectors life, will need to be replaced. Most modern projectors feature a very long lamp life so you may only need to replace the lamp once every 2-3 years depending on the use. Lamp-Free projectors, such as LED and Laser, have existed for quite a long time but more recently have become better value, higher quality, and more suitable for home theatre applications.

A projector using a laser or LED does not have a replaceable lamp so has much lower ongoing costs. Projectors with a laser light tend to be brighter than the LED versions although this will change as the technology evolves so always check the advertised ANSI Lumens rating on the projector. Whilst a projector with one of these lamp-free technologies is cheaper to run it does not always mean the projector is better in every way; Features, Colour Reproduction, Brightness, Contrast, and Image Processing will vary between each home theatre projector. Lamp based projectors are still the most common type for home theatre use and, for many clients, could still be the best option. There are also UST projectors also known as Laser TV's which are a new comer to the projector market. 

What is an Ultra Short Throw Projector?

Ultra Short Throw (UST) projectors create large images from incredibly short distances. Using specialised lenses and mirrors, these projectors can produce images over 2.5 meters wide from less than 40 centimeters away. Ideally placed on a TV uni , UST projectors require a steep projection angle. For optimal image quality, we recommend using a fixed frame screen and avoiding roll-up or motorised options.

What projectors do you recommend for home theatre?

It can sometimes be difficult to select the perfect home theatre projector sight unseen, which is why we throughly test new releases so we can offer the best possible advice and recommendations to our customers. The below list is updated regularly with projectors our experts believe are the best home theatre projectors available today. Our team are always happy to offer their advice and recommendation to suit your requirements, please contact us.