Home Theater Projector Buyers Guide
Are you a little cloudy about what to look for in a DLP™ projector for home entertainment? You will find clear answers to these questions here.

How bright is bright enough for my home?
What is the clearest image available?
What connections will give me the clearest images?
What do I need to know about lamp life?
Which features make my DLP™ projector easy to use?
Should I install my DLP™ projector or set it on a tabletop?
What is aspect ratio?
Is there more to look for?

Brightness and Projectors for Home Theater
Brightness is measured in ANSI lumens. Today's single-chip DLP™ projectors range from 800-2000 ANSI lumens. Your viewing environment will be a big part of determining how bright your DLP™ projector needs to be. Dedicated home theaters (rooms with controlled lighting and no ambient light) will not require as much brightness as a space with ambient light from windows or other household lighting. Digital Home Entertainment recommends the following:

• Dedicated home theaters need 800 lumens or better in video mode.
  
• Spaces with some ambient light need at least 1000 lumens in video mode.
  
• Spaces with high ambient light need about 2000 lumens in video mode.
  

Tip:
Many manufacturers rate projector lumen values based on data output, not video. For help determining which DLP™ projector is right for your viewing environment, contact one of our professionals. Digital Home Entertainment experts have personally seen most units perform in video mode.

Image Quality for Your Home Theater Projector
Buying DLP™ is your first step to getting the clearest, most cinematic image your money can buy. The major factors to consider when choosing the right DLP™ projector are resolution and brightness uniformity.

Resolution is the number of pixels from side to side and top to bottom of your image. The clearest answer for choosing the right resolution is to buy the best you can afford. Currently SVGA and XGA are the most common resolutions. An XGA projector has about twice the number of pixels of an SVGA projector (see graph below), but it also costs a bit more. DIgital Home Entetainment  recommends XGA as the best choice for HDTV, DVDs and other home theater applications.

There is more to image quality than just resolution. Brightness uniformity is also important. Uniformity is the percentage of brightness carried throughout the image. Some projectors have difficulty carrying the peak lumens all the way to the corners of the screen. A higher uniformity percentage indicates that the projector carries out an equal amount of brightness from the center to the corners of the image. That means fewer hot spots (bright areas) and an even distribution of light throughout the image. Try to aim for >85% uniformity for a more consistent image.

Connectivity and Compatibility of Home Theater Projectors
Connectivity and compatibility also factor into getting the clearest images. Some projectors are specifically designed for home theater use, so they have multiple inputs for video, special video chips and other features. Other projectors may not have been created solely for home theater use, but they still produce great video.

Digital Home Entertainment recommends that the DLP™ projector you buy for home theater have at least one component video input. A component video inputs look like a composite input, however it splits the video signal into three separate parts rather than one. It is the most common type of high quality signal available today.

Nearly all DLP™ projectors will have at least one composite and one S-Video connection. S-video cables differ from composite cables in that they split video signal into two different components: luminance and chrominance. The S-video cable will offer marked improvement over a composite cable.
 
DVI (Digital Visual Interface) is fairly new. But many expect DVI to become the industry standard for HDTV set-top boxes in the future. Watch for more DVI compatible projectors coming soon.

Installation vs. Tabletop
If you plan to ceiling mount your projector, you will need to know the fixed distance between the projector and your screen. This is because different DLP™ projectors have different 'throw ratios.' The throw ratio is the relationship between your DLP™ projectors distance from your screen to the width of the image. For example, if your projector will be ceiling mounted ten feet away from your screen, your image will be larger than if your projector is only five feet away.

If you will be setting your projector on a table, you will want to consider a DLP™ projector with less fan noise. Aim for around 40dB or less for 'whisper quiet' fans. You may also want to consider the overall product case design since the projector will be visible.

For ceiling mounted projectors:

• Purchase a ceiling mountable projector.
  
• Determine the distance your projector will be from the screen.
  
• Also keep in mind the distance your projector will be from a wall to ensure proper ventilation.
  

For tabletop use:

• Aim for less than a 40dB noise rating.
  
• Look for a projector design that suits your taste.
  
• Consider the distance projector will be placed from your screen.
  

Tip:
Digital Home Entertainment recommends that you purchase your projector before purchasing a screen or mount. Even if you have the best-laid plans, things happen and often times a custom made screen or mount cannot be returned. Get your DLP™ projector installed first, start it up, and then decide which screen and mount will work best for your needs. This also gives you a chance to make sure the projector meets your requirements.

Intangibles and Home Theater Projectors
There are of course, those little things. The things that make you love the technology. The stuff you show all your friends while their jaws drop and say, "cool." For a DLP™ projector, some of those features include picture in picture, multiple video inputs, and widescreen mode. Of course, you already have the greatest intangible of all when you buy DLP™. DLP™ projectors elicit the clearest, most cinematic images because they come from today's most advanced display technology.

• Widescreen mode for anamorphic DVDs.
  
• Picture-in-Picture, multiple video inputs.
  
• Better scaling for the most cinematic images.
  

Click here to find the best DLP™ projector for your home theater.