Articles and whitepapers

Projectors and Screens for the Home Cinema Market (1/3/2004)

By Paul O'Reilly

The projector market for home cinema is doing well. At the budget end, home cinema-related products are now on the market at the £1000 price mark, making the home projector option more affordable for mainstream use. And the best projectors now produce pictures that push our perceptions of where home cinema stops and real cinema starts.

The sign of a broad-based home cinema market is the sheer spread of projectors at different prices, that are currently available. Whichever end of the market you look at, sales are rising, reflecting the need for bigger, better pictures in the home. Although projectors may seem like a harder sale than a flat-screen plasma or LCD screen, the plasma screen has not caused the demise of the projector as such. Instead, it has a different niche to fill. The flat 42-inch screen has only demonstrated the hunger in some people for a bigger and flatter screen. Furthermore, when it comes to the desire for 60-inch or larger images, only a projector will do.

for 60-inch or larger images, only a projector will do

Projector types

There are three types of projector, namely CRT, DLP and LCD. While CRT may be what we would experience in our local cinema, for the home cinema market, the two real options are DLP and LCD.

The DLP chip (also known as the Digital Micromirror Device or DMD) was the catalyst for smaller, more portable projectors, because of its smaller component size. LCD technology is longer established, and a vast majority of existing projectors are modelled around this technology.

Because the projector market is so competitive, as soon as one technology offers a greater benefit, the other finds a way of doing it too. These differences are narrowing all the time, and over time, it is likely that there will be little significant difference between the two technologies in terms of price and performance. Both LCD and DLP projectors currently start from around £1000.

Screen types

Screen types fall into three categories, namely fixed, manual and motorised. The fixed screens are obviously the most limiting if the room is to be used for other functions, and the motorised is the perhaps the most impressive. However, a manual screen can meet most requirements well. The important thing to take into account is that every room is different, and a suitable screen should be chosen to fit the situation. If for example, the screen is going to be positioned in front of a window, you should ensure that it does not let any light in. While there are no generic answers, there is always a solution.

Why, when and how to use a projector for home cinema

On a fundamental level, due to the potential size of the images, a projector and screen are probably most suitable when there is a designated room for home cinema. Most people will want good TV or gaming in their living room, in which case a projector is more difficult to accommodate. On the other hand, if you have a designated room, the use of a projector and screen, which can provide an image between 4ft and 10ft, gives a true home cinema experience.

A degree of geometry is involved in the set up of the projector. Although we no longer have to worry about the issues associated with older projectors, such as the line of sight and the keystone effect, we do need to think about where the projector can be best positioned. Again in designated rooms, you can have the projector wherever you would like it.

Customers must also take into account any restrictions relating to changes they can make to older properties in particular. Whereas in a new house you may be able to do what you want, in an 18th century barn for example, running electric cabling through the walls may not be not viable, or permission may be required.

In terms of installation, while ceiling-mounting is the most popular, desktop-mounting is also possible, and there are great products which can be installed as either, such as the Epson TW10. Good projectors for the home have traditionally been considered too expensive, costing in the region of £4000. Distributed by Steljes, the TW10 costs just £1000 including a 4ft screen, and provides a bigger image and good light output, and is very quiet. Indeed this product could tempt more people to cross over to a projector-based home cinema solution.

the Epson EMP TW10 projector

As far as the screen is concerned, one of the key things to take into account is light saturation in the room. If you have a double- or triple-aspect room with a lot of light flooding in, the positioning of the screen and shading requirement must be carefully considered.

Other equipment to consider

It should be remembered that projectors, like plasmas, are dumb unless you have an amplifier to give you audio. The perception is often that an amplifier only provides the movie soundtrack, but it can also be used to deliver all of your sources including Playstation, video, DVD etc. A home cinema amplifier can range from £300 to £50,000, depending on your requirements.

According to Ian Sutton, of specialist hi-fi and home cinema equipment retailer, Audio T, "Audio solutions are seemingly limitless. I would suggest that good audio suppliers include companies like Denon, Yamaha, and Onkyo, or at the higher end, British manufacturers like Chord and Meridian. Implementing a good audio system can make the difference between good and great home cinema installations."

Lighting can also be effectively integrated into the home cinema experience. Lighting automation can range from products such as those provided by Lutron which allow the lighting to be included as part of the remote control function, to higher levels of bespoke automation with products from companies such as Crestron and AMX.

Maintenance issues

Projector bulbs have a consumable play life of 2000-4000 hours. Although projector bulbs cost between £200 - £600, it may be advisable for the customer to have a spare available in case it goes in the middle of that vital moment.

In terms of set up, always allow for more cables than you need, and do not limit your clients to what they have chosen now. Future requirements can be easily met at a later date with a little forward planning at the installation stage. After all, can you ever have too many hidden wires?

Paul O'Reilly is the Director of Sales for Steljes Trade - distributor of a range of display technologies and sole UK distributor for SMART Technologies Interactive solutions.

www.steljes.co.uk