At ProyectoresOK we are passionate about projectors because they are a versatile and useful tool for presentations , football and sports projections, home theater , videomapping, auditoriums and theaters , interactive projections , video games, etc.

To choose the best most suitable projector for each case, there are several aspects to take into account, and we will explain them to you below based on our experience of more than 15 years in the audiovisual sector.

1st tip for buying a projector:
Light is the key

This is without a doubt the most important aspect of purchasing a projector, in order to get the spectacular images we all want. It is measured in lumens and refers to the amount of light that the projector is capable of producing.

The brightness is very important if you are going to use the projector in a bright environment (which is the most common). A projector with low lumens will project dim images, without color intensity, difficult to see well. On the other hand, the larger we want the projection, the more lumens we will need. If you are always projecting in the dark for home theater , a low light will suit you better.

Currently cheap projectors have 3,000-3,800 lumens. Those from 4,000 to 5,500 lumens will allow you more flexibility of use with a lot of ambient light or make already considerable screens (from 2.5 to 4m wide, with light), with a very reasonable price. From 6,000 lumens they are all laser projectors and they are more expensive. There are also them with a brightness of 10,000 , 15,000 , 20,000 and 25,000 lumens .

Good High Brightness projectors:

2nd advice to buy a projector:
Resolution (4K obsession?)

Resolution tells us how many pixels a projector can display in an image. The higher your resolution, the smaller your pixels will be, and the sharper and more detailed the image will be.

The most common and recommended are HD , Full HD and 4K , but if we have a reduced budget (as in schools with many classrooms ) we will end up with XGA projectors , with sufficient resolution only for presentations with few and very large print, or to project images.

In company presentations with excels, plans, diagrams or any other detailed information, a Full HD or at least HD projector is convenient.

We believe that going to a 4K projector only makes sense for cinema, and we will only appreciate the difference between Full HD and 4K for home cinema , if we make a screen that is more than 2-2.5 meters wide and we are very close to the projection .

If you doubt what to allocate your budget to, whether to a very high resolution or to more lumens, it will generally be preferable to allocate it to have more lumens and thus obtain a better projection with ambient light.

Good High Definition projectors :

3rd tip for buying a projector:
Optics and Throw Ratio

A projector's lens determines its throw ratio, which is the result of dividing the throw distance by the width of the projected image. Short throw projectors (ratio less than 1:1) can project a large image from very close, while other projectors need more space to achieve the same image.

On the other hand, projectors with a long throw ratio are ideal for large spaces where a really big image is needed ( auditoriums, cinemas, theaters ). The most common projectors come with a certain lens (ratio approx. 1.5-2:1) and it cannot be changed, while high-end professional projectors have interchangeable lenses , with various ratios that allow you to adjust the distance of projection as needed, even reaching very wide ratios of 10:1.

Look where you can put the projector, divide the distance from the projector to the screen (or wall) by the width that you would like the projection to have and you will know what ratio you need the projector to have. For example, if you are going to put the projector at a distance of 3m and you want to make a screen 2m wide, we divide 3 / 2 = 1.5, the necessary ratio will be 1.5:1.

Use the 'Filter by Ratio' option in our search engine to quickly find out which projectors will work for you.

Projectors with special optics:

4th advice to buy a projector:
Laser or lamp projector?

Laser projectors use laser diodes to produce light, which means they don't need a lamp to work. This has some advantages, such as a longer lifespan and higher energy efficiency, making them more sustainable than lamp-based projectors.

Since laser projectors are more expensive than lamp projectors, they are not an option if you are on a tight budget. In addition, although the life of lasers is longer, the repair or replacement of the laser will be expensive.

Lamp projectors are quite a bit cheaper compared to lasers . However, lamps require replacement over time. They are also less energy efficient than laser projectors.

Good options in Laser:

5th advice to buy a projector:
Contrast: Only matters in the dark

Contrast is the difference in brightness between a white pixel and a black pixel.

This feature is important if we are always going to use the projector in complete darkness. When we are going to project with ambient light, the lumens will determine the viewing quality much more.

All laser projectors have very high contrast, both LCD and DLP.

6th advice to buy a projector:
Understand what LCD and DLP mean

The 2 main projector technologies are LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and DLP (Digital Light Processing).

Advantages of LCD projectors:

• More true colors : LCDs tend to offer more accurate and vibrant colors, making them ideal for presentations, office and business , professional film and photography, etc.
• Brighter : LCDs are brighter than comparable DLPs, making them ideal for conference rooms and ambient light environments.
• Durability and Reliability : LCDs have a longer lifespan than DLP models, and generally break down less.

Advantages of DLP projectors:

• Better contrast, in the dark : DLPs tend to offer higher contrast and deeper blacks when projecting in the dark, making them ideal for home theater and gaming .
• Cheaper : In general, DLPs are cheaper than similar LCDs, so they are a good option for buyers on a budget.

Main brands by technology:

7th advice to buy a projector:
Are Chinese brands recommended?
(Spoilers: No)

On the market there are many brands of 'Made in China' projectors that are cheaper , but the difference is so huge with the real ones, that you should not waste money buying a Chinese projector. Its specifications are a lie: there are no Full HD or 4K projectors with 5,000 or 6,000 lumens for €100-200 (but they are worth 10 to 30 times more).

It is important to buy well-known and reliable brands, to ensure that you get a quality projector, with a manufacturer's guarantee, and for which spare parts are available. There are many customers who ask us to repair a Chinese projector that they bought 6 months or 1 year ago, and we have to tell them that they can now throw it away, because since there are no spare parts it is impossible to repair them.