8 Technical Tips When Selecting A Projector

1. Lumen and Contrast

You must have heard people saying this bulb is “xW;” the larger this value is, the brighter this bulb will be. The term watt refers to the power of a bulb; the larger the watt value is, the more power this bulb will consume. Lumen is the unit of luminous flux, a measure of the power of light. From the same distance, a higher lumen brings more brightness. On the contrary, with the same lumen, the shorter projection distance is, the brighter the screen will be; a larger screen requires a larger lumen.

When choosing a TV, desktop monitor or projector, we usually compare the “contrast ratio.” Contrast ratio is the value measured by the equipment when dividing the brightness between the darkest and the brightest still images. The higher the contrast ratio is, a more saturated color and sharper image will be displayed. Meanwhile, “dynamic contrast” claimed by some products refers to the feature that decreases the black level instantly to maximize the black and white contrast when playing dark images. The gained dynamic contrast ratio is usually 3 to 5 times higher than the static contrast ratio. So consumers must consider their purposes carefully before selecting a project.

2. DLP and Color wheel, Rec.709

Digital Light Processing™ (DLP™), a digital projecting and display technology, is a projector technology that can transform information carried by electrical signals into optical characters. Compared to LCD technology, the biggest benefit of a DLP projector is that the colors never fade. Colors are as vivid as when using a new projector after you replace the lamp.

Color Wheel refers to the combination of color separation filters including red, green, blue and white. The color wheel separates the white light passing through and rotates it by a high speed motor to separate the different monochromatic lights to specified lights paths in an orderly manner and to reflect a full-color image by DMD microchip in the projector. Rec.709, established by ITU-R (ITU Radio communication Sector), is the high-definition digital color gamut standard for high-definition era. Today it has become the color gamut standard of HD/Full HD TV and Blu-ray videos in all countries. The purpose of this standard is to help film and TV making groups to produce videos with standardized image quality parameters and enable video players to play with standardized image quality parameters. It aims to make the audience enjoy the true colors that directors wish to show without distortion under the same parameter standards.

3. Focal length and Projection distance

The focal length of a projector depends on projection distance and the size of projection monitor. A long throw projector needs a longer projection distance and the projected image is larger. A short throw projector is ideal for a narrow space and can project a larger image within a shorter distance. A long zoom lens design enables a high-end projector to throw images with a specified size despite the projection distance. Users can select where to install the projector without distance limitations.

The projection distance is 2.5 meters and 3.3 meters, and the screen size is 100 inch.

4. Side projection and Keystone correction

When installing the projector, images may sometimes look like trapezoids because of the vertical angle. Now most projectors have the keystone correction feature which corrects trapezoidal images to square ones digitally. Some high-end projectors even have the automatic keystone correction feature; projectors will correct to square images by itself within a certain period of time. Side projection refers to the deflected images when the projector is located at the left or right side, such as the table beside the sofa or the cabinet at the corner. The image angle is corrected by the built-in horizontal keystone correct feature to accommodate to various space layouts.

The monitor comes with side projection and keystone correction function.

5. Lens shift

To avoid a significant decrease of image quality caused by keystone correction, some projectors have a lens shift feature. This feature adjusts image placement by shifting the lens vertically or horizontally; it also realizes a greater flexibility when installing the projector.

The projector that comes with lens shift feature adjusts image placement by shifting the lens vertically or horizontally.

6. HDMI and MHL other ports

The purpose of HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is to connect the output device to a video monitor or digital TV. HDMI can transmit extremely large uncompressed video and audio digital information data flow with high speed. Since the video and audio signals are processed by a signal cable, this helps to decrease the required cable quantity when setting up a home theater system. MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) is the product of the smart mobile communication era. Through MHL, users are able to transmit Full HD videos and sounds. HD content on smart mobile device can be easily transmitted to a large display, such as a projector, TV or desktop monitor. Users can also charge mobile devices at the same time to ensure an uninterrupted great time. In response to smart devices launched recently, such as setup box and TV stick, some projectors even offer 1.5A USB power supply which can be used to charge devices as well as decrease messy cables.

BenQ projector is equipped with HDMI and MHL other ports.

7. Resolution and Aspect ratio

Resolution refers to the vertical and horizontal pixel count. Images with a higher resolution represent better quality and reveal more details; on the other hand, they also have larger sizes. Respect ratio describes the proportional relationship between its height and width. Common aspect ratio now includes 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10. The aspect ratio of traditional TV, desktop monitor and presentation slider was usually 4:3. For HDTV and Blu-ray disc, the most common aspect ratio today is 16:9. BenQ projectors offer resolutions including SVGA (800x600), XGA (1024x768), WXGA (1280x800) and FHD (1920x1080). The former three resolutions can perfectly address your business needs while Full HD can meet your home theater demands.

There are four monitors with different resolutions which are 4K, Full HD, HD and SD.

8. Glass lens

When checking the projector technical specification, we often overlook the lens. Optical glass lens can ensure clear, solid and sharp images when projecting to the screen through the lens and show natural and vivid colors without compromise. Most projectors in the market use high pressure mercury lamps which will generate extremely high heat during use. A non-glass lens with lower heat resistance will result in distorted, defocused and unclear images when using under the same temperature for a long time.