How to Buy a Projector ...and Set-up a Home Theatre on a Budget
We’re all spending a lot of time at home.
Why not set up a great home theatre?
I have been messing with projectors for over 20 years. It is very possible to have a great home system for not too much money.
1.) THE ROOM
The first step is to figure out where you want to set up your stuff. Pick a wall for the screen and an opposite place to setup a projector. Measure the room: the distance from projector to screen & the size of the image you want on the wall. Visualize it. Figure out where you would put speakers. Decide where you want to put a receiver to source the audio. Imagine the routes of the wires and think about how you might hide them. And most importantly where are you and your audience going to sit to enjoy this home theatre.
Consider the room’s architecture. Where are the windows? Where is the light coming from and how does it move throughout the day? Are you going to hang the projector from a ceiling mount or put it on a shelf? Are there ceiling and wall studs where you need them for easy secure mounting? You’ll want a strong place to hang a heavy projector and the screen.
Consider the obstacles before starting. You’ll probably want blackout curtains or shades so you can control the ambient light. I have a ceiling fan between the projector and screen that I had to raise to avoid the image throw. My home fusebox is on the wall I picked for the screen which I will have to access occasionally. And my room is small so I have to walk through the beam coming form the projector if I get up and cross the room. Not all problems have to be solved before you start but get a feeling if it will work before buying gear.
2.) WHAT GEAR DO YOU NEED?
A good projector ($1000-$2000+), a screen ($100), a receiver ($300-$600+), speakers (prices vary $100-$1000+), mounts ($20+screws/hardware), and wires ($100+). You might need a few other things like an HDMI signal booster (I’ll explain that in a minute).
For example: If you got a BenQ projector, an Onkyo receiver, relatively cheap speakers, a mount, and wires - you could probably set up a decent home theatre for under $2000. Then slowly over the years you could upgrade one piece at a time. And if you already own a few components or can find sales or items 2nd hand on Ebay it could be even cheaper than that.
3.) Real 4K vs. Fake 4K
If you want a “4K Theatre” then every component in your circuit must be able to handle it. Your cable box or Roku or 4K BluRay player must send out a 4K signal. You have to use HDMI 2.2 cables not just any old HDMI cable. Your receiver has to receive and send a 4K signal. And your projector has to receive it and display it. If you don’t have anything that sends out a 4K image then you don’t need a 4K projector. Some components only have one 4K input or output and other 1080p ports so make sure you’re plugged into the right one.
Then there’s the whole debate on real 4K vs. fake upscaled 4K. Basically some gear says it’s 4K but it’s really just faking it by blowing up the image or “adding” pixels. Judge with your eyes. My take is if your eyes can tell the difference then do your best to stick to real 4K gear for every component, that’s what a purist would do. But for most consumers it’s like when you’re at the eye doctor and you’re shown 2 lenses: A or B, and you have to say which one looks better. And the doctor does it a few times until it gets to a point when you’re just like, “I don’t know they’re both pretty good, B I guess.” There’s a point with some projectors when real 4K vs. fake 4K is like that. But test them and decide if you’re a purist.
4.) HOW TO BUY A PROJECTOR?
My throw distance, or the distance from my projector’s lens to the screen, is over 19 feet. My screen size is roughly: 90” x 52” or 102” diagonal. Roughly equal to what would be a 102” tv. I bought a projector I liked, hung it 19 feet from the screen, and it made a huge image on my wall. I could not shrink it down to 102”. I had to return it. I found out I had fewer options than I thought to get the image size I wanted at that distance. So…
Your room will play process of elimination for you. Not all projectors will fit in your room and perform the way you want. The performance you want is probably something like: a large “4K” image, watchable during the day with some sunlight, and 5.1 surround sound.
Here’s my criteria when looking at projectors to buy:
Budget - Don’t buy one you can’t afford. duh.
Specs - Image quality. 1080p or 4K.
Size - Some projectors are huge, 30 lbs+. If you’re hanging it from the ceiling, you probably don’t want it to weigh too much. Don’t risk it falling on your head.
Mounting - How you are going to mount it and what hardware exists to make that possible?
Light - If you have large windows and a lot of light you want a lot of lumens (that’s bulb brightness). You probably want blackout curtains too.
Fan Noise - Some have fans that are so loud and annoying it ruins the experience.
Bulb Replacement - How hard and expensive is it to replace a bulb? You’ll have to change your bulb about once a year with moderate use.
Keep in mind, daytime projector watching can be weak. If you have windows then it’s always a battle to maintain good contrast in your projected image. You want to have a short throw distance, meaning the distance the image is traveling in the air and being diluted by ambient room light. But that’s not always possible plus the closer the projector is to the screen the smaller the image will be.
So the first spec you want to look at when buying a projector is lumens. How much light it produces or how bright it can be. 3000 is very good, 2000 works for a darker room or nighttime watching, somewhere in between isn’t bad. You also want a high contrast ratio. The hardest thing for a projector to make is the color black. Black is the absence of light so how do you project it on to a white screen? With a high contrast ratio the projector will cheat this and you will still have good dark crushed black shadows and good highlights. A good contrast ratio is 500,000:1 or 1,000,000:1.
Fan noise can also be a deal breaker. Read comments and reviews about projectors you’re looking at because one thing the manufacturer doesn’t always report on is how loud the projector is. Some are so loud it’s distracting. The comments section can be helpful here because this is one of the main complaints people have about projectors.
The easiest way to figure out which projector is right for you is to start googling the popular projectors and make a list of the ones that fit in your room and have the specs you want. It’s easy to google consumer reports and lists put out by magazines and tech web sites. Look at as many “Top 5 Projectors” lists as you can and find common models mentioned on several. Don’t just take one person’s word for it. I have recommendations at the end of this (but those could change or become outdated). Do some research.
To try them out, buy them and return the ones you don’t like. I don’t recommend abusing this policy but Amazon is very good about letting you return projectors under 30 days. Read the fine print before buying one with this intent because it might not be the case with every model. But if you narrow your choices down to 2 or 3 buy them all and just keep the one you like best.
If you are interested in a 3D projector I would try one out before committing to buying one because consumer home 3D is not like movie theatre RealD 3D. The technology movie theatres use is not available yet for any reasonable consumer price. You need active glasses that are powered by battery or USB and it often causes headaches. To me it feels like waves of light washing over the image. It kind of has a helicopter blade effect where something is moving so fast in a loop in front of your eyes that it appears to not be moving at all but you know it is. Personally I don’t recommend home 3D Projectors but if you can handle it go for it.
The greatest resource for someone looking to buy a projector is the Projector Calculator website. This website helps you figure out what projector will fit in your room.
LINK: https://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-UHD60-projection-calculator-pro.htm
<— THE SITE LOOKS LIKE THIS.
Pick the make and model of the projector you are looking at and use the sliders to figure out throw distance and image size.
Know your room dimensions, the distance from where you want the projector to where you want to screen. Put in the info and see how big your image can be.
Use the stuff at the bottom for wiggle room. You’ll probably need to adjust the image a little once the projector is mounted. Most projectors have a knob around that lens for a natural zoom that can growth and shrink the image some. You can also adjust the image digitally so consider digital zoom, keystone, gain, brightness, etc when shopping.
Keystoning is especially important. It’s the trapazoiding of the image. Pinching or expanding the top or bottom of the image independently. Why it is important is unless your projector is beaming from opposite the exact center of the screen then the image is skewed. Most people want their projector high and out of the way and probably mounted upside-down on the ceiling. So the image is being shot slightly downward towards the screen. The square of light on the wall will not be a square because of the angle and height of the projector. Keystoning corrects this. Some models have greater limitations than others.
5.) THE SCREEN
Yes you can just project onto a white wall if you want but the wall has more texture to it than a cloth made to be a projector screen. Walls have blemishes. And a screen is like a wall painting, people respect it and try to not touch it or lean against it unlike a wall. You can also buy a retractible screen that you can pull down or have a motorized one. But those aren’t usually very big and cost a lot of money. You can get a bigger screen if you make it yourself. And…
You can make a great screen for about $100. Here’s how.
Make a frame the size of the image you want out of 2x4s. It’s helpful if you know what projector you’re buying because you’ll already know roughly how big of an image it can make. You don’t want a screen too big or small for your projector. You want the image to go right to the 4 edges/corners.
Cover the wood frame with thick black felt you can buy at any art store. Figure out how you will mount it.
I have small blocks at the corners behind the screen that my frame is screwed in to so it’s about 4 inches off the wall. I have a particular issue with my wall because my home circuit breaker box is behind the screen and I occasionally need to access it. So I put door hinges at the top of my frame so I can lift it up.
Get a screen fabric made to be a projector screen. Here’s the amazon link to the one I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007KA07YM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. If it’s currently out of stock I’m sure you could find a similar one. It’s painted white on one side, the side you want to project onto. It’s stretchy lycra. It’s also thick and blackout so no light passes through it. And its hopefully clean and without blemishes. My fabric came folded but the creases came out when I stretched it to the frame.
Get a heavy-duty staple gun at the hardware store and stretch and staple the screen to the back of the frame.
Hang it where you want on the wall. But consider that now you have to hit this mark with the projector. The screen is your image target. You could do this process backwards if you have to have to have the projector in one specific spot but the screen location is flexible. In that case mount the projector first, turn it on, adjust the image to how you want it, then hang the screen where the image is. Use a level to make sure it’s straight.
6.) MOUNT THE PROJECTOR
This is the hardest part, knowing the exact measurements for the screen and figuring out where to hang a projector across the room from it. The projector should be at the exact center of the screen left to right. The height doesn’t matter as much but horizontally it should be dead center.
It’s very important to make sure you’re drilling into a ceiling beam or stud or metal duct that will be able to hold a ceiling mounted projector without risk of it falling on your head or falling and breaking. I try to use a ladder or stack boxes to attempt to put the projector at the right height and very close to where it will live when its mounted. Then I use the digital adjustments (zoom, keystone) to make sure I can get the image how I want it. Then I drill holes and mount it. And finally I run and hide the wires.
7.) SOUND
The receiver is the hub for all of your components. A projector is not a tv, you don’t want to plug a Roku and Playstation and Blu-ray player into it. You want to plug all that into a receiver and run one output to the projector. And the projector doesn’t handle sound.
Buying a receiver for a home theatre can be as much or more overwhelming than buying a projector. I had a few requirements. For one I have a tv as well as a projector so I wanted 2 HDMI outputs. Second I want to make sure I have enough HDMI inputs for all of my stuff I want to plug in. And I wanted a front HDMI plug to plug my laptop into occasionally.
There are a lot of receivers out there so don’t just take my word for it, but I recommend this Onkyo: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D86TLES/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It’s got great specs, works great, and is under $450. If this model is outdated then keep looking. And remember you’ll want to have enough space around it to keep it well ventilated and cool.
8.) WIRING
I try to run as few cables as possible to the projector so your home doesn’t have spaghetti all over the walls. Try to keep it just power and 1 HDMI cable. If you want to add a yellow RCA video cable, maybe to run an old N64 to it or something, make sure your projector can handle the interlacing. Test it.
You’ll probably have a small entertainment center for your receiver and gear which could include a cable box or roku, video game systems, computer, etc. You could put this under your screen but remember you’ll need to run a cable from the receiver to the projector.
You’ll have to wire your speakers from the receiver: Front Left, Center, Front Right, Rear Left, Rear Right, and Subwoofer. You could start with just a front left and right stereo setup or soundbar if you don’t want to buy all 6 speakers right away and slowly build your setup.
Try to hide wires in walls if you can get into them. You can also use white gaffers tape along floorboards or wood patterned duct tape along edges of hardwood floors.
I use a Logitech Harmony universal remote control to work everything. With one button my projector, receiver, and cable box all turn on at the same time. The volume button controls my receiver volume. You can also hook up Hue lights to it to dim the lights when you watch a movie. It’s great: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N3RFC4G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
9.) HDMI vs. HDMI 2.2 and Signal Boosting
If you’re running an HD 1080p signal you can use any HDMI cable. For a 4K signal you want HDMI 2.2 inputs and cables. And you’ll run into issues with signal strength the longer your cable is from your receiver to projector. Mine is 30 feet because it has to go along the wall and then up to the projector. I had to add a signal booster. I have a small HDMI cable running to a signal booster with a 30 foot HDMI coming out to the projector. Without it I have drop outs and black frames that make it basically unwatchable.
I was able to make this one work: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M7V5LKZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It’s only $20 and it helps.
But if you have a very long cable you might need this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N3PXZLP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
10.) BULBS
A projector bulb needs to be replaced about once a year. Replacement bulbs can run up to $120 or more. Definitely look up replacement bulbs before buying a projector to see what you’re going to pay every time you have to replace it. Also look at the projector’s estimated lamp life. The higher the lamp life the less often you’ll have to replace them. 10,000-15,000 hours is good. In the projector’s menu (see picture) you can track the number of lamp hours you’ve used. You can check it anytime and you should check it often. When you replace a bulb make sure to reset this, the projector probably won’t do it on its own.
Most bulbs start to dim or perform worse over time and you will probably want to replace your bulb as it gets close to its estimated bulb life hour number. But you’ll probably want to push it and not replace your bulb too often since its expensive and a pain to do. But…
When a projector bulb burns out sometimes it explodes. There’s loud pop, the screen goes dark, and a little smoke comes out of your projector. It’s not good. It doesn’t mean your projector is definitely broken, but if you clean it out and put a new bulb in and it doesn’t come back on, then it’s broken. Hopefully your projector has a good long warranty. You can send it away for a couple weeks and get it back good as new. Some companies are good about repairing projectors even after the warranty has expired. I had good experiences with Viewsonic repairing projectors for free that I had bulbs explode in even after my warranty expired.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I like the Optoma UHD60 4K. If you can make it work for you it’s very good.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071P6KQZH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pros: It has great specs near the top of every category. Great image. Long bulb life.
Cons: It has NO KEYSTONE. You have to be very precise where you put it. It’s a little expensive. It’s not silent but it’s not loud either.
The Epson Home Cinema 4010 4K. This projector is gorgeous. It’s also enormous.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GYP68HW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pros: Great image. Very quiet, maybe the quietest project I’ve used.
Cons: It weighs almost 30 pounds and I would NOT want it over my head. It’s gigantic and heavy. Also it’s expensive.
The BenQ TK800 4K. Good cheap versatile home projector.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B8WPR44/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Pros: Cheaper option that still looks good. Good keystone. Small. Light, it’s under 10 pounds.
Cons: Why does it have to be a color? Can’t it just be white, black, or grey? Whatever.
The Sony VPL-VW295ES gets great reviews, I’ve never used it. It might be the best. I don’t know.
The Viewsonic PX747-4K also gets great reviews. I had an old 1080p Viewsonic and loved it. I’ve never tried this one, it might be great.
Good luck! Feel free to contact me. Enjoy!