Find out what to look for when shopping for a digital projetor.
With some basic information about the light processing technologies used in digital projectors and what features warrant comparison, you can find the projector that best suits your needs and make an informed purchase.
Features
Key features to compare include: resolution, brightness, contrast and aspect ratio. The resolution details the amount of pixels that a projector can use to generate an image. Brightness is especially important for presentation projectors, where the lighting may not be ideal. The contrast describes the difference between the darkest and light colors. And the aspect ratio is used to define the relative height and width of the projected image--most projectors will support multiple ratios.
Benefits: LCD vs. DLP
DLP mirrors aren't prone to degradation, meaning DLP owners won't experience a degeneration in the quality of projected images. DLP projectors suffer less pixelation than comparable LCD projectors. However, home theater LCD projectors are generally more affordable and perform better than comparable home theater DLP models. And in business models, LCD projectors generally offer a sharper image for pictures, charts and other graphics.
Disadvantages: LCD vs. DLP
The color wheels, used by DLP projectors to refract light, can produce random rainbow flashes while the DLP mirrors may generate video noise-like artifacts when they use dithering, flashing mirrors on and off to produce gray colors. LCD lights have a vulnerability to dust particles, which can dampen the sharpness of small areas of the projected image, and are also prone to degeneration over time.
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