Best Home Theater Projectors 2012
Are you in the market for a new home entertainment system, but tired of constantly upgrading your television when a larger screen or improved picture resolution is required? Well, stop shopping around for expensive television packages and take a look at some of the best home theater projectors 2012. These projectors offer some of the same specifications as the most high-end HD television, but allow you to set up the projector hardware in your home, with the ability to create a viewing surface that far surpasses any TV available at your local electronics store. Of course, you don’t want to go out and purchase just any projector, because all are not created equal. In fact, there are certain hardware features that must appear on the equipment, in order for you to even consider it. You don’t want to buy video equipment which just becomes obsolete within a year or two. Projectors are designed for the long hall, and it is necessary to have the equipment have all the latest and best video specifications currently available.
For starters, while shopping around for a home theater projector, a screen resolution of 1080p is a must. This is full HD resolution, and far superior to the 720 models. This provides almost 50 percent more horizontal lines of resolution, which on a large, protection surface, makes an incredible amount of difference. After that, 3D is a necessity. More and more content is moving towards 3D, as not only some blu-ray moves now come in 3D, but also video games and even television stations. In the coming months and years, 3D content is to multiply exponentially, and the last thing you want is to go out and purchase a new projector, simply because the one you bought doesn’t have the 3D feature built in. Lastly, an essential aspect of any theater projector is the overall viewing size. There is no reason to purchase a projector which only crisply displays images at 50 or 60 inches. You might as well just save some money and go with a television. Several hundred inches is a must for this, as a larger display area allows you to place the projector further back from the projection surface and increase the overall viewing size for your home theater.
Best Home Theater Projector 2012: Optoma HD33
Of the very best projectors available in 2012, the current kingpin and top notch option is the Optoma HD33. This device not only projects content at the full 1080p resolution, but also implements 3D technology, for those 3D movies, games and stations you wish to watch and play. With a screen size of 300 inches, the Optoma projector is perfect for any size home theater, plus with a contrast ratio of 4000:1, all the blacks are black and the whites are white, without any bleed over, which is common for lesser model projectors. With 1800 Lumens (the brightness level created by the bulb inside the projector), the projector is capable of producing a clear picture, even in daylight, although for optimal picture quality, windows should be covered and local lights dimmed. If there’s any downside to the projector, it’s the fact that it only bares two HDMI inputs, which may become problematic, should you want to connect a blu-ray player, next generation video game system and a cable/satellite receiver at the same time (although a simply switch box corrects this issue, should it ever arise).
ViewSonic PDJ5133
If the Optoma is a bit out of your price range there are still several available options that, although don’t have all the top of the line features, are exceptional never the less. The ViewSonic PDJ5133 projector produces an excellent picture at a reduced price. The 1080i/p projector does feature the ability to produce 3D content for all your high-end gaming and blu-ray devices. Although the contrast level is reduced to 3000:1, it shouldn’t detract from your overall experience. The produced lumens is upped to 2700, so the bulb burns brighter with a brighter picture. There are several inputs available on the rear of the projector, including two computer inputs, for displaying video information from both PCs and Mac computers, a mini USB port for connecting external video cameras, plus a single HDMI connection. Of course, as is the case with the Optoma HD33, if you want to connect multiple HD devices, you do need a switch board, which changes the connected device displayed by the projector (you connect the multiple HD devices to the switcher, which then directly connects to the projector. A number is associated with each HD device you are using, such as “1″ for blu-ray and “2″ for cable receiver. You press the associated button for the device you wish to view and the video display is projector by the ViewSonic PDJ5133). The ViewSonic does not have the same 300 inch display perk, but the Hz level is listed at 120, giving it a rather smooth picture (although 240 is desired, 120Hz, or the number of times a picture refreshes itself every second, is more than acceptable).
ViewSonic PDJ5123
When you want to display video content, but don’t want to spend additional money on HD hardware, the ViewSonic PDJ5123 is the projector for you. The price is right, although the lack of HD supported video content is a rather large omission. There is no HDMI input on the device, and the highest connection input offered on the ViewSonic is the SVGA port, which presents a 800×600 picture resolution. This resolution is higher than standard-definition, so DVDs to appear with a slightly higher picture quality (DVDs, although designed from SD televisions are packaged roughly 720×600, verses 720×480, which is the resolution on an SD television). The interesting feature about this projector is that it still provides 3D viewing capability, so although there is no HD playback, you can still watch movies and play video games in 3D. An HD signal is possible with the television when connecting to an HD computer, via the computer inputs, but there is no direct HD input for television based hardware. The 3000:1 contrast ratio is again suitable, and although not as high powered as the Optoma, should still suffice for most users that aren’t looking for the overall best picture quality and just want something that is adequate and capable of displaying a solid image.
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350
Joining the select few home theater projectors you should take a gander at in 2012 is the Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8350. This projector brings back the 1080p resolution, upping the ante from the previous ViewSonic model. There is no 3D playback with this projector, so some next generation hardware is going to lose out on a few of the product features, but the contrast ratio of 50,000:1 more than makes up for this. With a contrast ratio this high, the picture quality is crystal clear, without any bleeding or picture grain, giving you an amazing image, regardless of day or night. Plus, the 2000 lumens delivers a bright, powerful image, so although it is always recommended to dim the lights, it isn’t necessary. Built directly into the rear of the projector, which is a feature that hasn’t been covered by most of the other projectors, is the dust filtration system. This prevents most dust elements from ever entering the projector, prolonging the device’s serve life and the quiet operation fan prevents the projector from overheating during extensive usage (just don’t stick the projector in a closed off location without any direct air circulation, as this ads to any overheating issues). The Epson 8350 projector sports two HDMI inputs, greatly improving on the previous two ViewSonic models, and although most complete entertainment lovers would love to see three HDMI ports on a model, two is always far superior to one. If this specific model featured 3D playback options, it would surely give the Optoma a run for its money, but without the 3D feature, it merely comes in at a close second. So, if 3D is not what you’re looking for and you find it more distracting the pleasurable, this Epson 8350 PowerLite projector is an excellent option.
Optoma HD20
Closing out the list of top home theater projectors for 2012 is the Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080P Home Theater Projector. This Optoma model is similar to the previous Optoma model in most aspects, minus the lack of 3D support. The high-definition 1080p resolution is exactly what you need in a projector, with a competent 1700 lumens produced by the interior bulb. Although the contrast is 4000:1 (nowhere near the 50,000 produced by the Epson projector), it should more than provide you with an exceptional picture. The projector does provided the substantial 300 inch viewing area, so no matter how large your home theater setup is, the Optoma projector is more than capable of filling the entire desired picture surface. There is also a solid number of digital inputs available on the projector, including two HDMI inputs. On top of this there is a single VGA computer parallel port plus a component and composite video connection ports. These allow you to connect anything from a standard-definition VCR to an HD computer and next generation video game system. Because of the format of digital projector, you can produce both NTSC, PAL and SECAM formats. This is the same for all the previous digital projectors, but is a nice feature to include. NTSC is the display format for all North American video produced for television and the movies, While PAL is the UK and most of Asia format and SECAM is found throughout Africa and parts of South America (there is a small difference in the overall resolution and frames per second in these three formats).
Must Have Features For The Best Projectors 2012 – 3D, 1080
When shopping around for the very best home theater projectors of 2012, you need to consider exactly what is important to you. Although 1080p is most likely a must, 3D is an up and coming technology that you may want to include, although it does push the price up. Only the very top of the line projectors have such a feature. After you know exactly the specifications you desire for a high-end projector, you can go from there and select the digital projector that is right for you.
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