Home Theater Cinema Paradiso With Video Projectors

Connectivity And Other Choice Criteria

While usually quite limited on business-oriented projectors, connectivity is becoming more and developed on home-cinema-oriented models. You need to check this in terms of your DVD player.

You generally find:

1 composite input (RCA/Cinch or BNC)
1 S-Video input (Ushiden)
YUV (Sub DB15 or 3 x RCA/ Cinch or 3 x BNC)
1 RGB input which can be RGBs or RGBHV (Sub DB15 or BNC)
1 DVI or HDMI connector for plugging in a digital IT source or DVD player with DVI or HDMI output.

Image Size

The other important criteria are projection distance, focal length, zoom and image size. A large image is often the first criterion when buying a projector, but you should know that entry-level and middle-range models will only show an image size of 3 meters, or at most 3.5 m, correctly without too much loss of quality.

Distance

For an optimum image in 800 x 600 resolution, figure on two to three times the image base to get the distance to your couch. Less distance is needed with 1024 x 768 or 16/9 displays. But keep in mind that a big image whose quality is poor very quickly becomes tiring for the eyes. Put quality before size. For a home-cinema setup, projection distance is most often dependent on the size of your room. You should be aware that the focal length and zoom of a projector directly influence the size of the projected image. Some projectors need only a 3-meter distance to display an image with a 2-meter base, while others can require five to six meters. So keep your particular setup in mind when choosing the projector of your dreams.