How To Buy A Business Projector – Projector Buying Guide

Projectors are unique since they can create large images over 300 inches depending on the brightness of the projector.  The light output of a projector is measured in “lumens” and the more lumens a projector has, the more it typically costs.  This is important in a meeting room and classroom, since the projector needs more lumens in a well-lit room compared to projecting in darker home theater.   First, make sure that the projector uses “ANSI Lumens” or the ISO equivalent ISO21118:2020 in their specifications.  Many online sites today have lots of projectors that offer “5000 lumens” for a few hundred dollars that can only produce 200 lumens using the industry standard measurements – making the projector nearly worthless.  An easy way to check to see if your projector is bright enough is using the Projector Central calculator and checking the image brightness for different models. Here are some basic guidelines:

• Portable Projectors – These are small lightweight projectors that can range from 100 – 1000 lumens and can be used on screens ranging from 40 – 75 inches

• Mainstream Projectors – The traditional projector size and shape that has 2500 – 4000 lumens used in meeting rooms, conference rooms and smaller golf simulators.  

• Higher Brightness Projectors – These projectors are typically above 5000 lumens and used to light up screens around 200 inches or more.  They are also good if you have a lot of ambient light in your meeting room as well.  

The easiest mistake you can make is to buy a projector with insufficient resolution.  While nearly every monitor and television sold today has 1080p with 2 million pixels or 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) resolution with 8 million pixels, according to Futuresource, nearly half of projectors bought for businesses in 2023 were low resolution projectors that had less than 1 million pixels.  This may be due to some brands charge a lot of money for higher resolution projectors compared to lower resolution models.  Here’s a chart that shows the typical price by resolution paid in North America compared to BenQ’s average price for projectors ranging from 3000 - 6000 lumens.

Nearly every laptop sold today is either 4K UHD or 1080p resolution, so choosing a business projector that uses non-standard or disappearing resolutions can be risky over the long term.  Projectors work best at their native resolution, so if you must reformat a video or spreadsheet to use the native resolution of the projector – it may be harder to read.  There are two projector resolutions you may want to avoid.

This 16:10 format was the highest resolution available for projectors in 2010 – but only offers a small gain in pixels compared to a 1080p projector.  While you can still find some other types of displays that use this format – it’s use shrinking rapidly in use outside of projectors.  

4K Pro-UHD is an example of a proprietary resolution that does not match any industry standard resolution but marketed as one.  The term “Pro-UHD” is a trademark by Epson, who uses this to describe a projector that has a non-standard resolution of 1920 x 1080 x2.  So, while it looks like it’s a 4K UHD projector – many models offer only half the pixels of a real 4K UHD projector that adheres to the industry standard.  This resolution is also marketed as “4K Enhancement.”  You can check the specification sheet for “native resolution” to ensure that the 4K projector you are buying uses the industry standard specification instead of a proprietary one.

Until a few years ago, nearly all projectors sold to businesses had mercury lamps.  In 2023, these lamps are being phased out of most projector brands, and many projector brands such as Hitachi, 3M, and Dell simply exited the market instead of coming up with an alternative.  Today there are three different types of light sources used for projectors.  Let’s look at all three to help you decide what’s best for your business.

This technology was the key to making projectors a mainstream tool for business – as they were affordable and last 3000 hours or more before needing to be replaced.  However, with the European Commission and the State of California requiring them to be phased out over the next few years, they are now being relegated to the least expensive projectors.  Some brands have even created “disposable” business projectors with non-replaceable lamps at low prices, but this typically does not align with the environmental policies of most mid-size and larger companies since it can generate over 4x the amount of e-waste and toxic materials compared to the solid-state alternatives.  These lamps also require a warmup period when starting and are typically more noisy than other types of projectors.

These projectors offer tremendous color performance and in 2023 the first 4000 lumen models were introduced that were bright enough to support normal conference rooms with ambient lighting.  A LED lighting source typically lasts up to 5 times more than a lamp projector with 20,000-hour life, and can start instantly without a warm up period.   They also can operate on longer duty cycles – such as 24/7 – making them ideal for use in lobbies and digital signage.  They are slightly more expensive than lamps, but less expensive than lasers.

In 2012, BenQ introduced the first laser projector at CES, and this technology is now the primary projector light for projectors over 4000 lumens.   Like 4LED, it also has long life and instant on/off.   These projectors are the most expensive light source for projectors, and special care needs to be taken to ensure that dust is kept out of the projector.  Many of the top brands now sell sealed light engines on their laser projectors to protect the projector from “molten goo” when dust is vaporized by the laser inside the projector and potentially land on a sensitive part.

In general, projectors using mercury lamps are the least expensive, with 4LED projectors being about 10% -20% more expensive but with much longer lamp life.  Lasers are the most expensive – but can be used on very bright projectors up to 20,000 lumens.   

In 2023, about half of the business projectors sold require regular maintenance to keep them running properly - and the other half are maintenance free. If you don’t maintain the projector, then it’s easy to avoid the warranty and have an expensive repair or replacement you didn’t budget for.   Here are the two biggest maintenance criteria to look at.

A projector with a mercury lamp is less expensive than a 4LED or laser projector, but the lamp will lose brightness and eventually fail. Because these lamps have mercury – a known dangerous substance – these can’t be thrown in the trash and require special disposal.   The price of a new lamp runs between $100 - $500, and a typical installation cost if you don’t want to handle the lamp yourself is between $100-200.   While a projector lamp might be rated at 4000 hours, there’s no guarantee that they last that long – as the warranty for a lamp is typically 90 days.  Also keep in mind that projector lamps also lose brightness after they are made – so storing them without using them also shortens the life of the lamp.

In 2023, over 50% of business projectors sold in North America require regular filter cleaning. This isn’t a big deal if the projector is sitting on the table, but if a projector is ceiling mounted, especially over a table or chair, then it’s a lot more work. Just like air conditioning filters, the amount of dirt and filter cleaning cycle will vary – but many businesses have to clean their projectors every month in order to ensure that the lamp and internal components don’t overheat.

However, the latest DLP powered laser and 4LED projectors are built with new light engines that are sealed and don’t require a filter at all.  Many of these models are even certified using the stringent industry IP5X test – the same one used for sports watches – to ensure that no matter how much dust there is – the projector will still work. If the projector doesn’t talk about a dustproof engine – chances, are you are going to be cleaning filters.  Keep in mind that a maintenance-free projector without a filter doesn’t necessarily cost more than one that requires filter cleaning.