Projectors have come a long way from the days when they were all essentially interchangeable for anything from business presentations to setting up a home theater, and the most useful way to categorize them was by their weight class. Today, you can break them down by any number of meaningful categories, including their imaging technology (LCD, DLP, LCOS, and even laser raster), light source (lamp, LED, laser, or hybrid), and most important, their intended use.
As projectors have become more widely used, they’ve also become more specialized. A model intended for showing business presentations in rooms with bright lighting, for example, needs higher brightness than one designed for watching movies in a dark room, but it doesn’t need the same level of contrast or color accuracy.
In this guide, we’ll first cover our favorite picks for a variety of needs, chosen from models we’ve tested. We’ll also explain why we picked each one for that specific use. Then, we’ll take you through the factors you should consider when shopping for a projector to help ensure you find the best match for whatever you plan to use it for.
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Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 4K Pro-UHD Laser Projector
Best Home Theater Projector Overall
Why We Picked It
The Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 is pricey, but it’s actually a near-bargain for the image quality it delivers. Epson is known for pixel-shifting LCD projectors whose images are virtually indistinguishable from a true 4K UHD picture while using only half as many pixels on screen, thanks to lens quality and video processing. The LS12000 keeps the same emphasis on top-quality lenses and processing while boosting the pixel count to a full 3,840 by 2,160 pixels. The result is more detail than we’ve seen from any pixel-shifting 4K DLP projector.
And because the image is produced by three LCD chips, you won’t see any rainbow artifacts—the flashes of red, green, and blue that single-chip projectors can show. The LS12000 also offers top-tier color accuracy, contrast, and shadow detail, plus sophisticated features that include the ability to adjust the lens easily to give you the same image height when switching between movies with different aspect ratios.
Who It’s For
The LS12000 will tantalize serious videophiles who plan to put it in a home theater with dark walls, ceiling, and seating to minimize reflections back to the screen. However, the image quality is good enough that even less-demanding viewers will notice, making it a good home theater projector for anyone. It’s also bright enough to serve in a family room, particularly if you’ll be watching movies with all the lights off at least occasionally. It doesn’t support 3D, however, so if 3D movies are your thing, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
PROS
- Delivers a full 3,840 by 2,160 pixels on screen
- 2,700-lumen laser light source rated to last the life of the projector
- Supports HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG HDR
- Good color accuracy, contrast, and shadow detail, plus dark blacks for a laser model
- Easy to maintain image height for different aspect ratios
- Three-chip LCD design guarantees no rainbow artifacts
Optoma UHD55
Best 4K Home Entertainment Projector
Why We Picked It
The Optoma UHD55 stands out among 4K models for handling both home entertainment and gaming well enough to be a top choice for either. Along with 4K (3,840 by 2,160 pixels) resolution on screen (using a DLP chip equipped with TI’s fast-switch pixel shifting) it offers a bright image that can stand up to ambient light; HDR10 and HLG HDR support; good color accuracy, contrast, and shadow detail straight out of the box; full HD 3D; and built-in streaming features. For gaming, its state-of-the-art short input lag is rated at 4.2ms for 1080p/240Hz. We measured it at 16.9ms for 4K/60Hz and 1080p/60Hz, and at roughly half that (just 8.6ms) at 1080p/120Hz, all consistent with the rating.
Who It’s For
The UHD55 is of equal interest to gamers who need fast reaction time for first-person shooter or sports games, and for anyone looking for a family room projector to serve as a TV replacement or for watching movies. If you’re looking for a way to enjoy both gaming and home entertainment on a big screen, it can be a compelling choice, thanks in large part to its 4K HDR output being especially good for both movies and games.
PROS
- 4K UHD resolution
- Full HD 3D
- HDR10 and HLG HDR support
- Bright enough for a room with ambient light
- Good out-of-box color accuracy
- Short input lag
CONS
- Only one of the two HDMI ports offers the short input lag
- Limited number of streaming apps
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BenQ TH685P
Best 1080p Home Entertainment Projector
Why We Picked It
Sheer specs don’t tell the whole story of the TH685P. This 1080p projector has almost identical specs to those of its BenQ predecessor, but the TH685P delivers an obviously better image with HDR input. That is a big thumbs-up in a gaming and home entertainment projector at this price. It also surprised us with its onboard audio quality. The sound from the internal 5-watt chamber speaker is quite usable and pumps out high enough volume to fill a large family room.
Who It’s For
This unit is a top choice for users who aren’t prone to seeing rainbow artifacts, and who will benefit both from its low input lag and its good handling and downconverting of 4K HDR content. (Ideally, you’ll limit HDR viewing to a darkened room.) Also, if attaching an external sound system or headphones isn’t an option where you play or watch, this model’s speaker output is a plus.
PROS
- Bright 3,500 ANSI lumen rating
- Short input lag
- Accepts and downconverts 4K input to native 1080p resolution
- Good color accuracy, contrast, and shadow detail
- Supports HDR
CONS
- Can’t read files from USB memory
- Shows rainbow artifacts (red-green-blue flashes)
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Vankyo Performance V700W
Best Budget Home Entertainment Projector
Why We Picked It
The Vankyo Performance V700W is a little bigger than most budget-priced mini projectors, but it’s a direct competitor with high-end models, at $299 list and frequently available for less. Compared with its competition, it delivers a similar set of features, including a 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) native resolution and a highly watchable picture that’s guaranteed to be free of rainbow artifacts. It’s also the brightest kid on the block—for its class at least—with a 420 ANSI lumen rating. In our tests using settings for best image quality, it lit up a 90-inch screen without problems with lights off, and delivered a suitably bright image using an 80-inch screen in a family room at night with lights on.
Along with high brightness, the V700W offers more-than-acceptable image quality, including better shadow detail than most projectors in this price range. Even the onboard audio, built around dual 5-watt speakers and Dolby Digital Plus, is impressive for an inexpensive projector. And the input lag—measured at 26 milliseconds for 1080p, 60Hz input—is easily fast enough for casual gaming.
Who It’s For
Anyone looking for an inexpensive first projector for casual home entertainment use should have the V700W on their must-see list. Although it’s priced at the high end of the range for inexpensive models, it’s not much more than competitors that are best limited to significantly smaller image sizes in any given light level. It’s also priced low enough to consider as a second projector for occasional use, so you can watch a movie in your backyard, for example, and leave your more expensive projector in its permanent setup, undisturbed.
PROS
- Resolution of 1,920 by 1,080
- Guaranteed free of rainbow artifacts
- Surprisingly robust audio
- Input lag is easily short enough for casual gaming
- Two HDMI ports
CONS
- Big settings menu obscures image (and seeing the effect of your changes)
- Minor tweaking needed to bring out shadow detail
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BenQ X3000i
Best Gaming Projector
Why We Picked it
The BenQ X3000i is BenQ’s flagship in its Immersive Gaming Series, and our top pick for a 4K gaming projector, which makes it our top pick for gaming, period. In addition to being a light cannon, thanks to its 3,000-ANSI-lumen LED light source, it houses a pair of 5-watt stereo speakers that can fill a large family room with high-quality sound. Key features include both HDR10 and HLG HDR support, as well as three predefined variations on Game mode, each of which tweaks both image and audio for the type of game it’s named for: first-person shooter, role-playing, and sports games. Also key is state-of-the-art short input lag. We measured it at 16.7 milliseconds (ms) for 4K/60Hz, essentially the same for 1080p/60Hz, and at 8.7ms for 1080p/120Hz—all of which are consistent with the rated 4.2ms at 240Hz.
Who It’s For
The X3000i is clearly designed for serious gamers. You can use it for movies and video as well, and it even comes with an Android TV 10.0 streaming stick to make that easy. But according to BenQ, the video is tuned to optimize the look of HDR when using game consoles as opposed to, say, Blu-ray players. And note that its convenience features include a dedicated button on the remote to rotate through the three game modes easily. Getting the X3000i without serious gaming in mind would be like getting your own private plane without planning to fly.
PROS
- 4K (3,840 by 2,160) resolution
- Bright LED light source (rated 3,000 ANSI lumens)
- Very short input lag
- Three paired video and audio modes for three categories of gaming
- Includes Android TV 10 dongle, controlled by projector remote
CONS
- Wi-Fi is sole network connection option
- Prone to rainbow artifacts
- Some tricky assembly may be required
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Epson Pro EX7280 3LCD WXGA Projector
Best Business/Education Projector
Why We Picked It
If you need to give presentations regularly in medium or large rooms where you can’t lower or otherwise control the lighting, the Epson Pro EX7280 3LCD WXGA brings on the brightness. Plus, this 1,280-by-800-pixel unit delivers vibrant, saturated color and a high-quality image guaranteed to be free of rainbow artifacts. That’s thanks to its 3LCD design (meaning it’s built around three LCD chips that let it project all three primary colors at once). Even if you’re in a room with lots of ambient light, it should do the job: It lit up a 90-inch screen with a suitably bright image in our tests in a brightly lit room, even in Eco power mode and using the lower-brightness Cinema picture mode. It’s also portable—or easily transportable at least—at less than 6 pounds, and comes with a carrying case.
Who It’s For
Business users and educators who need a bright image above all else and have no need to show images with small fonts or fine detail should consider the EX7280 a strong candidate, particularly if they need to move the unit from place to place. If you never show anything more demanding than presentations filled with graphics and typical business documents, with or without photos and video clips, or even an occasional movie in a classroom at 720p (1,280 by 720 pixels), a bright 1,280-by-800-pixel projector like this one can be exactly the right choice.
PROS
- Bright enough for a large room with ambient light
- Vibrant, saturated color
- WXGA (1,280-by-800-pixel) resolution
- 1.2x zoom
- Three-chip LCD design guarantees no rainbow artifacts
CONS
- Only one HDMI port
- No 3D support
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Epson EX3280 3LCD XGA Projector
Best Budget Business/Education Projector
Why We Picked It
The Epson EX3280 pairs a low price with high-enough brightness to throw a suitably large picture for a medium conference room or classroom with ambient light. And because it’s built around three LCD chips, it can’t be plagued by the rainbow artifacts that some people see with single-chip projectors and find annoying. The three-chip design also guarantees that color images will be fully as bright as you would expect from the 3,600-lumen white brightness rating.
Other important pluses include a crisp image to help make text more readable and show more detail in photorealistic images, vibrant color for graphics, and even good color accuracy and color saturation for photorealistic images. The last isn’t true of many business projectors.
Who It’s For
The EX3280 is aimed at offices and schools on tight budgets. Its XGA resolution (1,024 by 768 pixels) is a little low by today’s standards and will necessarily limit its appeal if you need to show complex line drawings with fine detail, for example. And its 4:3 aspect ratio makes it a poor choice for showing widescreen movies very often. But if you simply need readable text in documents and presentations, vibrant color in graphics, and highly watchable film and video on a strictly occasional basis, the EX3280 can handle the job.
PROS
- 3,600 lumens; suitable for a midsize to large room with lights on
- Vibrant, eye-catching color
- No rainbow artifacts, thanks to three-chip LCD design
- Light, compact, and easy to set up
CONS
- Relatively low 1,024-by-768 native resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio
- No optical zoom
- Only one HDMI port
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Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800 3-Chip 3LCD Smart Streaming Laser Projector
Best Ultra Short Throw Projector
Why We Picked it
Ultra short throw (UST) projectors can throw large images from close to the screen, avoiding the need to run cables through walls and ceilings. The Epson LS800 takes that advantage a step further—or closer, really—by offering an even shorter throw than most. It can actually fill a 120-inch wall-mounted screen without having to pull the furniture it’s resting on away from the wall. Along with that, it offers a laser light source with 4,000-ANSI-lumen brightness, a high-quality image with good color accuracy and contrast, a three-LCD design that guarantees it can’t show rainbow artifacts, and an unusually short input lag for a 4K UST projector. By our measurements, the lag is just a few milliseconds longer than we expect from today’s best gaming projectors, at 20.4 milliseconds (ms) for 4K/60Hz input, 21.4ms for 1080p/60Hz, and 11.7ms for 1080p/120Hz. It even offers a stereo audio system that amounts to a built-in soundbar, with two 5-watt speakers and a 10-watt subwoofer.
Who It’s For
The LS800 doesn’t offer options that allow a full calibration, which will disappoint serious videophiles, and it doesn’t support 3D, which may be a deal killer if you have an extensive library of 3D discs. If neither feature is essential to you, however, it’s a sterling choice as a TV replacement, thanks to its excellent image quality straight out of the box, its notably short input lag for gaming, and even more notable short throw (even for a UST projector). Beyond that, for those who can’t abide rainbow artifacts, the fact that it can’t show them will be enough by itself to make it a strong contender.
PROS
- Bright laser-phosphor light source
- Three-chip LCD design means no rainbow artifacts
- Fully integrated Android TV
- Short input lag for gaming
- Good sound quality
CONS
- No Ethernet port; streaming requires Wi-Fi
- No 3D support
Epson EpiqVision Mini EF12 Smart Streaming Laser Projector
Best Room-to-Room Projector
Why We Picked it
The EpiqVision Mini EF12 offers a native 1080p resolution and pairs a 1,000-lumen laser-phosphor light source with a three-LCD chip design. In our tests, the 1,000 ANSI lumens lit up an 80-inch screen with nicely saturated color in a family room at night even with lights on, and also delivered a watchable image in daytime. The three chips, which project all three primary colors at once, guarantee that it can’t produce rainbow artifacts. Two other important pluses are integrated Android TV and a 4.7-pound weight, which makes the EF12 surprisingly light for a laser projector.
Who It’s For
For anyone who sees rainbow artifacts easily and considers them annoying, the EF12 is a prime candidate for a 1080p room-to-room portable. Many will also consider it preferable to any current portable 4K model for the same reason. We found the EF12 delivered good image quality in our tests, and when compared with many competitors that offer higher maximum brightness, it had a brighter image for the picture modes that you’ll actually want to use.
PROS
- Long-lived laser-phosphor light source
- Native 1080p resolution; supports 4K UHD (3,840-by-2,160) input and HDR
- Three-chip LCD engine (3LCD) for equal color and white brightness and no rainbow artifacts
- Integrated Android TV
- Wi-Fi and two HDMI ports
- Impressive audio options
CONS
- No 3D support
- Only moderate brightness
BenQ GV30
Best Budget Room-to-Room Projector
Why We Picked It
The BenQ GV30 offers both lower resolution (720p, or 1,280 by 720 pixels) and lower brightness (300 ANSI lumens) than most room-to-room portables (streaming projectors with good enough audio so you don’t need to lug an external sound system with you). It’s also less expensive than most, and at just 3.5 pounds, it’s the most portable as well, with a finger-size loop that makes it easy to carry. It’s shaped pretty much like a 7-inch wheel of cheese, and it offers an innovative magnetic stand that stays in place when you pick up the projector but also lets you rotate the GV30 freely on the stand to adjust image height. The streaming is handled by a bundled Android TV dongle that fits in a hidden compartment.
The GV30 also offers a built-in battery, which is unusual for a room-to-room portable, and a drop-proof rating of up to 27.6 inches—the distance from tabletop to floor, or hand to floor when you’re carrying it—which is unusual for any projector.
Who It’s For
If you want maximum portability in a value-priced room-to-room portable, the GV30 is the obvious choice. There are plenty of smaller, lighter projectors, but they can’t match the full-bodied sound coming from the GV30’s two 4-watt tweeters and 8-watt woofer, and few include built-in streaming. Although the 720p resolution is low for the category, the low brightness level means you probably won’t notice any sense of soft focus or loss of detail at the image sizes you’re most likely to use.
PROS
- Clever design and outstanding portability
- In most modes, delivers neutral color and acceptable or better color accuracy
- Impressive audio quality and volume
- Includes Android TV dongle for streaming and Chromecast
- Rugged enough to withstand drops from table height
CONS
- Does not support HDR or the copy protection on 4K UHD discs
- No 3D support
- Brightest mode shows a noticeable green tint
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Anker Nebula Capsule 3 Laser
Best Mini Projector for Image Quality
Why We Picked It
Shaped to look like a soda can, the Anker Nebula Capsule Laser 3 is a much more impressive projector than you’d expect from its size. Shoehorned inside the can is a remarkably small laser-phosphor light source, a 1080p DLP chip, and Android TV 11 for streaming via Wi-Fi. There’s also an 8-watt speaker that delivers robust audio for the weight class—just over 2 pounds—with high-enough volume to fill a medium or large family room. Best of all, it can accept up to 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) HDR input, and unlike much of the competition, it makes HDR movies look at least as good as their SDR versions. It even has a battery rated at 2.5 hours in the default battery mode or 8 hours in Bluetooth speaker mode—long enough to watch a full-length movie or listen to music at length in the backyard.
Who It’s For
The Capsule 3 Laser’s brightness, rated at 300 ANSI lumens, is low enough to make it the wrong choice if you’re looking for a projector that can give you a big picture that can stand up to ambient light, but it delivers the best combination of color accuracy, contrast, and shadow detail we’ve yet seen in a mini projector, combined with minimum weight for easy portability. That’s enough to make it the right choice, and our top pick, for anyone who plans to use it primarily in dim or dark lighting, or simply wants a highly portable projector and cares more about image quality than image size.
PROS
- Impressive image quality
- 1080p native resolution; supports 4K input
- Handles HDR far better than most native 1080p models
- Built-in Android TV 11
- Bright 300 ANSI lumens rating using AC power
- Lightweight
CONS
- Needs some minor tweaking to get good image quality
- No Netflix support in Android TV 11
- No 3D support
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Xgimi Halo+
Best Mini Projector for Brightness
Why We Picked It
The Xgimi Halo+ starts with a combination of high brightness, robust audio, and image quality that makes it one of our top picks for a mini projector, and then adds Android TV for streaming as an extra. It’s one of the brightest in its class, rated at 900 ANSI lumens. Even when set for best picture quality rather than highest brightness, it lit up a 90-inch screen in low levels of ambient light in our tests. Its audio was also among the best, delivering good-enough quality at high-enough volume for a large family room.
Color accuracy and shadow detail were better for SDR than for HDR in our tests, but it handled HDR well enough to deliver a watchable picture, which is more than many 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution models with HDR can manage, and it can accept and downconvert 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) input, so you can watch 4K HDR video and movies. One other key plus is the onboard rechargeable battery. Using it lowers brightness and usable image size, but the 2.5-hour life is enough to let you watch a full-length movie.
Who It’s For
The Xgimi Halo+ is a strong candidate for anyone who wants a smart (streaming-capable) portable projector that’s easy to carry and set up as needed, inside or outside. It’s an even stronger candidate for those who also want robust audio without needing an external sound system or want the option to run on a rechargeable battery when there isn’t an AC outlet available. What the Halo+ stands out for, however, is its combination of all those features plus high brightness for its size and class, which translates to larger usable images in any given light level than its competition can deliver.
PROS
- Small and light
- Image quality easily good enough for casual viewing
- Built-in Android TV 10 for streaming via Wi-Fi
- Rated at 900 ANSI lumens using AC power
- Supports 4K input (native resolution is 1080p)
CONS
- Android TV doesn’t include a Netflix app
- Although HDR input is watchable, SDR input looks better
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Kodak Luma 75 Portable Pocket Projector
Best Pocket Projector
Why We Picked it
The Kodak Luma 75 is literally small enough to lose track of if you accidentally cover it with a piece of paper. Basically the size of a 3-by-3-inch pad of sticky notes, it weighs just 5 ounces. But it’s big enough to have an HDMI port, which means it can connect to most video sources, including mobile devices to mirror the screen. It’s also bright enough to give you a 32-inch 16:9 diagonal image for short sessions in a dark room or an image size in typical office lighting closer to that of a letter-size page. Whether you’re showing a business presentation or watching a movie, that’s a lot bigger than you would get on your phone, and it comes from a projector that fits easily in a pocket.
Who It’s For
Anyone who has a more-than-occasional need to (or has simply wished they could) mirror their phone’s screen at a larger image size will find the Luma 75 worth considering. It takes no more effort to carry than a second phone, and it lets you show anything from photos to business presentations to movies without having to pass your phone around or crowd around it. And because you can also show files stored on a USB memory key, you can even use it without a phone.
PROS
- Compact
- Built-in battery rated at 90 minutes per charge
- Unusually sure focus control
- Supports up to 1080p input resolution
CONS
- No image adjustment settings
- Low native resolution (640 by 360 pixels)
- Low 30-lumen rated brightness
BenQ GS50
Best Rugged Outdoor Projector
Why We Picked It
Billed as an outdoor projector but perfectly usable indoors as well, the BenQ GS50 is designed to survive. Its IPX2 rating for water resistance translates to not having to worry about an unexpected light rain shower or minor splashes, while the drop-proof rating for up to a 2.3-foot fall means it’s more likely than most projectors to survive a tumble. It doesn’t hurt that it also delivers 1080p native resolution, was bright enough in our tests to fill a 90-inch screen in low levels of ambient light, and even comes with an Android TV dongle.
Who It’s For
The more often you plan to watch outside, whether on special occasions like backyard movie nights or regular TV watching by the pool on warm nights, the more appealing the GS50’s water and drop resistance will be. Double that appeal if you have big dogs or young children who may be running around where they can jar a table and send a splash of liquid the GS50’s way or send the projector itself to the ground. The same considerations about rambunctious toddlers and pets also apply, perhaps even more so, for ad hoc setups for casual watching indoors.
PROS
- 1080p resolution
- 500 ANSI lumen rating
- Acceptable color accuracy
- Impressive audio quality and volume
- Included Android TV dongle for streaming and Chromecast
- Durable and water-resistant
CONS
- No 3D support
- Brightest mode has an obvious green tint
- Awkward setup for Android TV dongle
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Buying Guide: The Best Projectors for 2023
If you’ve read through our reasons above for why we picked each model, you’ve probably noticed that they change depending on all sorts of factors, ranging from what you’re planning to use the projector for, to your budget, to purely subjective questions like whether you find rainbow artifacts annoying. You need to take all of these issues into account in any buying decision, but a good place to start is with what kinds of images you plan to view.
There are two basic kinds of images to consider: data (meaning text and graphics) and photorealistic (photos, video, and film). Games generally have some aspects of both. Any projector can show any kind of image, of course, but a projector may handle one kind of image well without necessarily doing a good job with the other. You’ll want a projector that’s optimized at least for the kind of images you plan to view most often, and ideally for every kind you expect to view.
Data projectors, also called business or education projectors depending on their target market, are designed to show business graphics, line drawings, presentations, spreadsheets, and PDF files. They’re optimized for conference rooms and classrooms, throwing a bright-enough image to stand up to ambient light on a large screen. Many can handle photorealistic images well enough to project short video clips in a presentation or even an acceptable image for, say, watching a movie in a classroom. But they are rarely good choices for full-length movies if you want anything approaching the quality you expect in a movie theater or when watching on a TV. They tend to favor brightness, which is important for standing up to ambient light, over contrast and color accuracy, which matters more for photorealistic images. They also tend to offer few or no options for adjusting color.
Home theater, home entertainment, and gaming projectors are all so similar to each other that one model is often marketed in two or three categories. These home-use projectors focus on color accuracy and contrast, usually adding controls to fine-tune color, reduce noise, sharpen images, and otherwise digitally enhance video and film.
(Credit: Epson)
Models listed as home theater projectors are typically optimized for traditional home theater viewing in a dark room. They tend to offer more accurate color, better contrast, and lower brightness than home entertainment projectors. Most don’t include speakers. The assumption is that you’ll set up a better external audio system in your home theater than any projector can fit into its case.
Home entertainment models are usually optimized for viewing in a family room or other space with ambient light. Many are also compact enough so you can easily move them outdoors to create the perfect backyard movie night. Compared with home theater models, they tend to sacrifice some color accuracy and contrast in favor of higher brightness. They also typically include built-in speakers.
Until recently, it was a given for almost all projectors that even if they included speakers, you should plan on using an external sound system to get decent audio quality. However, that’s not always true today, largely thanks to two subcategories of home entertainment models. One is what we’ve dubbed “room-to-room portables.” There are defined in part by offering robust audio, so you can move them around for ad hoc setup without having to lug a sound system with you also. Most are nearly cubical in shape, about twice as high as traditional projectors. They use the extra height for good-quality speakers, which are often chamber speakers. Most offer high enough volume to fill a large family room with more-than-acceptable sound quality.
The second category with good audio is sometimes billed as “laser TVs.” These are built around a laser light source; a smart TV streaming feature, which can either be integrated or supplied as a dongle; and an ultra short throw (UST), which means they can throw a 100-inch or larger image with the projector just inches from a screen. Mount a screen on a wall, and the projector can sit on a table or entertainment center just below it. These laser-based UST models are wider than most other projectors. Virtually all offer audio that’s at least comparable to what you would expect from a large-screen TV. Some take advantage of the width to add what amounts to a sound bar on the side facing away from the screen.
Gaming projectors are basically home entertainment models with greatly reduced input lag for speedier reaction time in gaming. Most are small enough to carry easily, and they usually include better-than-typical onboard audio for a projector. A few include separate gaming modes for first-person shooter, role playing, and sports games, with each mode automatically adjusting both audio and video settings to optimize both for each type of game.
Do You Need a Portable Projector?
Consider how portable the projector needs to be. You can find projectors with sizes and weights ranging from small and light enough to fit in a shirt pocket to large and massive enough to be suitable only for a permanent (usually mounted) installation.
If you want a data projector to carry to business meetings for presentations, or a home entertainment or gaming projector to take to a friend’s house or set up in your backyard for a movie night, be sure to pick an appropriate size and weight—which is to say, a portable projector. If you’ll be away from power outlets, check that the projector’s battery life is long enough for your needs.
What Resolution Is Enough in a Projector?
Projectors can scale images up or down, but that’s usually best avoided, since it can distort the image. For any projector resolution up to and including WUXGA (1,920 by 1,200 pixels), you will generally get the best image quality by matching the projector’s native resolution (the number of physical pixels in the projector’s display) to the source you plan to attach it to most often, whether that’s a computer, video equipment, or a game console.
For projectors with 4K ultra-high definition (3,840 by 2,160 pixels), the rule is a little different. Current projectors built around 3,840-by-2,160-pixel imaging chips are still too expensive for most applications. The affordable alternative takes advantage of a technique called pixel shifting. It uses a native 1,920-by-1,080-pixel chip, generates more than one set of pixels for each frame in the video stream, and shifts the position for each set. The result is more pixels per frame on screen than are on the chip. Two sets double the number of pixels; four sets quadruple the number to a full 3,840 by 2,160. When done well, just doubling the number of pixels can deliver images that are indistinguishable from quadrupling them, at least at normal viewing distances from the screen.
(Credit: Xgimi)
Even 1080p projectors that can accept 4K UHD input handle it reasonably well. Because the higher resolution has exactly four times as many pixels as 1080p, the only loss in quality from scaling the image down will be the equivalent of a slightly soft focus. If the projector also supports HDR10 (the version of high dynamic range, or HDR, that’s on discs and some streaming services, including Netflix) or HLG HDR (also supported by some streaming services), it can give you the advantage of HDR for improving image quality, even with 1080p resolution.
If you plan to show data images, you should consider the level of detail in the images. For a typical PowerPoint presentation, SVGA (800 by 600 pixels) may be good enough, and an SVGA projector will be much less expensive than one with a higher native resolution. For very detailed images, however, you’ll want to go up to 4K UHD.
For video, 4K UHD is generally the best choice, assuming you have a 4K UHD Blu-ray player, a 4K-capable streaming device, or another 4K UHD media source. But odds are you’ll be watching a lot of 1080p material for the foreseeable future—particularly if you own a library of 1080p discs—and may occasionally be watching at even lower resolutions. So check how well the projector handles scaling up 1080p input.
Which Widescreen Format Is Most Important in Your Projector?
Most projectors today offer native resolutions that qualify as widescreen formats. You’ll generally want to match the aspect ratio (ratio of image width to image height) of the projector’s resolution to the images you’ll be watching most often, although you can also view material in narrower or wider formats. As long as the input resolution is one that the projector can accept—a detail you can check in the projector specs—it will either scale the image to the projector’s native aspect ratio, which means stretching or shrinking it as needed, or keep the image’s aspect ratio to avoid distortion and add letterbox bars (black bars above and below for wider formats or to each side for narrower formats). Almost all projectors today include aspect-ratio settings to let you choose which approach to use. (Fun fact: adding black bars to the sides on an image is often called reverse letterboxing or pillarboxing.)
(Credit: Anker)
Note that the ability to show images with different aspect ratios than the projector’s native resolution gives you some flexibility in matching the projector to the images you plan to watch. For example, you can use a native WUXGA projector, with its 16:10 aspect ratio, to watch movies or TV with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Keep in mind that if you set up a 16:10 projector to fill your 16:9 screen with the picture, you’ll need a sufficiently wide black border at the edges to keep the letterbox bars from showing as brighter areas surrounding the screen.
How Bright Should the Projector Be?
There is no single best level for projector brightness, and brighter isn’t always better. For a home theater projector you plan to use in a dark room, for example, 1,000 lumens or even less can easily give you a large, bright image, while 2,000 lumens may be so bright that it’s hard on the eyes. On the other hand, for a portable data projector you expect to use in brightly lit locations or a home entertainment projector for your family room, 2,000 to 3,000 lumens is the right range in most cases. For large rooms, you’ll want something even brighter.
For any situation, the ideal projector brightness depends on the ambient light level, the size of the image, and the material in the screen you’re using. If you’re setting up a projector for permanent installation, whether at home or in your office, your best bet is to buy from a knowledgeable seller who can help you pick a projector and screen material that will give you the right image brightness for the lighting conditions in the room at the screen size you want.
If you’re trying to choose between two models, keep in mind that a small percentage difference in lumens—2,000 versus 2,200, for example—isn’t significant. The perception of brightness is nonlinear, which means a 10% difference is hardly noticeable, and you need far more than twice as many lumens for a projector’s image to appear twice as bright. Also, keep in mind that a projector’s true brightness is often a little less than its rated brightness, and image quality is generally best in modes that are often as little as 40% of the projector’s highest brightness.
Does Contrast Ratio Matter for Projectors?
Contrast ratio—the ratio between the brightness of the brightest white a projector can produce and the brightness of the darkest black—always matters, but the rating for the projector usually won’t matter. All other things being equal, a higher contrast ratio produces more vibrant, eye-catching color, more shadow detail in dark areas on the screen (most important for video and film), and a more dramatic sense of three-dimensionality in two-dimensional photorealistic images.
However, contrast ratings are based on measurements in a dark room, so they don’t tell you much about viewing in ambient light, where the darkest black you can get depends on how much light there is in the room. A projector that delivers a high contrast ratio in a dark room because of unusually dark blacks will deliver much lower contrast in ambient light, and a brighter projector that also has a higher black level in the dark will do poorly in a home theater but do well in a living room or office. There, the high black level won’t be noticeable, while the higher brightness will let it stand up better to the ambient light.
(Credit: Epson)
Comparing contrast-ratio specs is somewhere between challenging and pointless. Different manufacturers use different approaches to measuring contrast, and some even measure it differently for different models. There are also other factors—including video processing and auto-irises that change image brightness based on the content of the image—that increase your subjective sense of how good the contrast is but don’t affect objective measurements. The best way to find out how good the contrast is for any given projector—short of seeing it yourself—is to look for reviews that discuss contrast in different settings.
How Do You Plan to Connect Your Projector?
To connect a projector to a video source, you obviously need to match the projector’s inputs with the source’s outputs. But given a choice, a digital connection is preferable to an analog connection.
Almost all current projectors include at least one HDMI port, which is the preferred choice for video sources and many computers, unless you plan to connect over a wired or wireless network. Many projectors still offer a VGA (analog) connector for computers and component video, but few new computers have VGA output ports, and few new video sources offer component video.
Keep in mind that the HDMI version matters. Later versions support higher resolutions and more features than earlier versions. Make sure the HDMI version on the projector will let you take full advantage of the image sources you want to use, either by confirming it has the same HDMI version number as the image sources or that the manufacturer says it supports those specific features. You should also check the High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) level. Virtually all 4K UHD HDR movies, for example, require HDCP 2.2 on both the player and the projector.
(Credit: Optoma)
Note that some projectors’ HDMI ports support Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL), which lets you project from older Android devices. This is becoming less common, however, since most newer Android devices can connect directly to the HDMI port via a USB-C-to-HDMI cable. A more useful extra today is that many current projectors support eARC on one of their HDMI ports, for connecting to an external audio system.
Many models also have Wi-Fi connectivity built-in or can provide it through an included or separately purchased wireless dongle that plugs into a USB or HDMI port. Many support projecting directly from USB memory or memory cards.
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A growing number of projectors include internet streaming features, either built-in or through an included streaming HDMI dongle. You can also buy third-party dongles to add streaming to virtually any projector with an HDMI port. Some models, most often portables, offer USB-C ports, which can (but don’t always) support DisplayPort and HDMI protocols. Here also, check before buying to make sure you know what video support—if any—the USB-C connector offers.
Which Imaging Technology Is Best in a Projector?
Today’s projectors are based on one of four imaging technologies: digital light processing (DLP), liquid-crystal display (LCD), liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS), and laser raster. (Don’t confuse laser raster projectors, which actually draw the images using lasers, with the much more common models that simply use lasers as a light source for another imaging technology, like DLP or LCD chips.)
Most DLP projectors and some LCOS-based pico (aka pocket-size) projectors—including both data and video models—use only one display chip, and project their primary colors sequentially rather than all at once. This can lead to rainbow artifacts, in which bright areas on the screen break up into little red-green-blue flashes for some people when they shift their gaze or when something moves onscreen. Those who are sensitive to this effect can find it annoying, particularly for long viewing sessions.
Three-chip LCD projectors are free from rainbow artifacts, because the three chips allow projection of all three primary colors at once. However, they tend to be bigger and heavier than comparable DLP models. Standard-size LCOS projectors, also rainbow-free, offer the best-quality images, but they tend to be bigger and heavier than either DLP or LCD projectors, as well as far more expensive. There aren’t many laser raster projectors, so it’s hard to make general statements about them. But the one clear advantage of using a laser is that the image doesn’t require focusing.
What Kind of Light Source Is Best in a Projector?
There’s a growing trend in projectors of moving from using lamps as light sources to using LEDs or lasers. For the moment, at least, there are advantages to each choice.
LEDs and lasers maintain a higher percentage of their initial brightness for longer. All light sources lose brightness over time, but lamps generally lose a large percentage in the first 500 hours of use, and decline slowly after that. LEDs and lasers tend to lose brightness more evenly over their entire lifetimes.
The initial price for a lamp-based projector will be lower, but the total cost can be higher if you keep it long enough to need a replacement for the lamp. If you plan to replace your projector with every new jump in resolution or other image technology, buying a series of lamp-based projectors will be more cost-effective. But if you plan to keep your projector as long as it works, the better buy will be an LED, laser, or hybrid model that won’t need an expensive lamp replacement.
What Is a Short-Throw Projector? Do You Need One?
If you want to cast a large image at a short distance from the screen, either because the room itself is a little small or to minimize the bother of people getting in front of the projector and casting shadows, you’ll need a short-throw or ultra-short throw projector. There are no universally accepted definitions for what counts as “short” or “ultra-short,” but most short-throw projectors can cast an image about 6.5 feet wide from 3 to 6 feet away, while ultra-short-throw projectors generally need less than a foot. By comparison, most projectors with standard throws need to be roughly 9 to 13 feet away from the screen for the same image size, and long-throw projectors have to be even farther away.
(Credit: Epson)
The downsides of short-throw (and especially ultra-short-throw) projectors are that they are more expensive than traditional models with standard-throw lenses, and they are more likely to have noticeable variations in brightness or focus across the image. Ultra-short-throw models also require a particularly flat and stable screen. Even slight variations in the surface can distort the image and affect focus.
Does Your Projector Need Built-In Audio or 3D Support?
Not all projectors have onboard audio, and for those that do, the audio is sometimes all but useless—particularly with highly portable models. If you need sound for your presentations or for watching video, make sure that the projector has built-in audio that’s clear enough and loud enough to meet your needs. If not, consider using a separate sound system—often a good idea for home theater or home entertainment in any case—or powered external speakers. If you already have Bluetooth speakers, check whether the projector supports Bluetooth.
Then there’s 3D. Showing images in 3D for educational, business, and home applications seems well past the boomlet it enjoyed a few years ago. But if you’re a fan of 3D movies or have an application that requires 3D, it’s still easy to find projectors that support it.
Several 3D technologies are available, so make sure any 3D projector you consider will work with the 3D source you want to use. A “3D-ready” designation usually means it will work only with 3D generated by a computer. If you have a collection of 3D Blu-ray discs, the designation to look for is usually “full HD 3D.” And before you go shopping for 3D glasses, be sure to check which kind the projector supports. There are several types, including some proprietary versions.
So, What Is the Best Projector to Buy?
The summary up top, and the spec breakout below, outline our choices for some of the best projectors on the market for the most common situations and use cases. For full projector reviews and our latest coverage of the category, also check out our top models for home use, our picks for 4K projectors, and our favorite portable projectors.
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