Should you get a projector or a large TV? It depends on if you have enough space, how close you want to be to what you are watching, and if you can route cords to the projector in an organized way.
These are the realizations I have come to since I have both a TV and a projector. The following are some good tips that I would have given myself had I looked into the pros and cons of each one before making the purchase. Answer the following questions to determine if a projector is a good fit for you.
Do you have at least 10 feet distance from your screen wall to the mount?
There is an important term used to describe a projector and that is its throw distance. This is basically how far away it can be from the screen to display a quality image. Some projectors can fill a 120-inch screen from only 10ft away. Other ones require a significantly larger distance to have their image stretched further than 10ft to fill the screen from corner to corner. The one I use is 120 inches that work well from only 10ft away. The most common throw ratio is 2.0. If you do decide to get a projector, make sure to ask about this quality if nothing else.
Is there a plan to mount the projector in the room?
A lot of people don’t think about the fact that you have to find a way to rig up your speaker and DVD player cords to the projector. Since projectors have to be positioned in the back of the room, it can be more difficult to manage cords. One thing I need to work on with my home theater is routing the speaker cords from the projector and under my bed to the front speakers in an organized manner. I find that I routinely have to shove the cords going along the ground around the side of my room aside all the time.
Taping them up and zip tying them will work temporarily, but this can be made even more challenging if you decide to mount the projector through the ceiling. I also think it would be more expensive to secure the projector to the top since you will likely have to route the speaker cords through the ceiling as well. Just some things to keep in mind.
Projectors
- Pros:
- Furniture is far away from what you are viewing
- Easier for multiple people to view even in a single bedroom area
- More immersion into what you are viewing
- Easier on the eyes- you won’t feel as strained watching on a projector as much as you will on a TV
- I PERSONALLY DO NOT FEEL THAT QUALITY IS REDUCED ON A GOOD PROJECTOR VS A TV
- Cons
- Must have a way to mount it or place it in the back of the room
- Will need to find a way to route speaker chords to the projector in an organized manner since the Speakers will most likely be positioned in the front of the room
- High-quality projectors tend to be more expensive than TVs
More good things to know about projectors.
Take into account that the lifetime of a projector is slightly shorter than a TV. Projectors run off of lumen measurements, which is the amount of light emitted per second. To give you a better idea of this, my $600 projector has up to 7500 hours of lifetime, clocked at 2200 lumens for white and color brightness. These are good numbers and most projectors will be somewhere in this ballpark. I’ve hade my projector for about two years and it’s still running strong and I genuinely don’t anticipate its quality going down anytime in the future.
Projectors perform at their best when they are in a room with minimal light pollution. Therefore, keep in mind that you should find a way to isolate a projector room from outside light. For my home theater, I got some simple blackout curtains online and that did the job perfectly. They work so well that you can watch movies on the projector any time of day and they work so well that I won’t wake up until 12 pm if I fall asleep with them closed at night.
TVs
- Pros
- Easy to set up- You won’t have to worry too much about cable management compared to a projector
- Less expensive for the same quality images as a projector. I would say TVs, in general, are cheaper than projectors for the same quality if you’re talking under $100
- Can accompany spaces of all dimensions and you don’t need an entire wall for the screen. It’s easier to plan and move around a TV if you decide to move furniture around. It’s harder if you have a projector that takes up an entire wall screen
- Cons
- Smaller image size- not as ideal for gaming but that’s my personal preference
- More strain on eyes over a period of time- this might be because projectors aren’t as bright and pixelated as a TV
- Less immersion– I put this on the list because projectors make me feel like I’ve really jumped into whatever I am watching. I don’t feel like having movies and games always thrown at my face and that’s why it’s nice and simple to game on a TV from time to time.
- Not as easy to host movie night parties but still possible! Speaking from experience, it was always more fun to pile into what felt like a movie theater. with a TV, sometimes people don’t always get the best spot compared to watching on a big projector screen
So after all this what do I decide?!
- It depends on 2 components:
1. How much space you have (and if you want to dedicate an entire wall of your house/apartment to a screen)
2. How close you want to be to what you’re watching and how big you want the image to be.
Verdict
I would say these are the two most important questions that would have helped me decide one over the other if I couldn’t have both. My family already had a TV and most people do anyway. If you’re still trying to decide if a projector is better for you then check out my youtube channel where I talk about the projector that has worked especially well for me. If you haven’t already been able to tell, I really like my projector! I haven’t had the chance to experiment with large screen TVs but I also know that those can completely break the bank as opposed to a projector. If you have any further questions or if I missed anything, feel free to reach out to me at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I do my best to respond to any and all comments!
Also check out this other article that I found to be helpful: https://www.cnet.com/news/projectors-vs-tvs-giant-screen-pros-and-cons/