Growing up, TV’s and projectors seemed so different. They were built for different purposes, one for home entertainment and the other for commercial use (you know, open air cinemas and PowerPoint presentations.) But then things started changing, TV kept getting bigger and bigger, and more expensive and suddenly, projectors in homes weren’t so unheard of anymore.
Today, if you’re looking for a completely overkill home entertainment system, you basically have to options, either go for a huge television or get a projector. But how do they compare? Let us stack these two solutions and see which one best serves your needs. It is important to note that each has its advantages and strengths. The correct answer to which one you should get is- it depends on several factors.
Space
Projectors require little space on the wall or on the floor. All you need is a plain wall or a projector screen mounted flush with the wall and a place to mount your projector a few feet away from the said wall and you’re in business. TV’s on the other hand require space. Depending on the size of TV and how you plan to mount it, this could permanently occupy space on your wall or on the floor against the wall should you decide to use a TV stand to mount it.
Price
TVs aren’t cheap. The issue is compounded further if you’re looking for a large TV say 60” and above. On average a big enough 4K TV will cost anywhere between $800 and $2000. On the other hand, you can get a HD projector for about $200. The higher the resolution the higher the pricetag but even the maxed out projector won’t be as pricy as the TV equivalent.
Portable
Projectors are portable and were built to be exactly that. I mean even the installation and setup process is simple. For large TVs, once they’re installed, that is it. Moving them is cumbersome and the installation almost always requires technicians with positioning and leveling tools. Also, a projector can be used to cast content in any given screen-size. You can have a 70” projector screen or a 45” screen and the same projector can be used to cast content. TVs however, what you see is what you get.
Contrast
This is an area where TV undoubtedly get the upper hand. Projectors do have a good contrast in dark rooms and low light environments but TVs do well irrespective of the lighting condition.
Brightness
Even the most expensive and maxed out projector will only give between 1500 and 3000 lumens at peak power. While this is impressive and more than enough for most situatons, TVs can easily exceed this. The vividness of a frame serves as a primary pillar behind the visual output of both projector and TV. It is a generic problem of all projectors that the vividness will come down with an increase in the amount of ambient light.
Which one should you get?
This decision is entirely dependent on your specific needs. Both TVs and projectors have their advantages and short-comings. If budget and portability is what you’re after, then you might want to look for a projector. If money is no issue, you might want to invest in OLED TVs from cutting edge players like LG, Sony and Samsung.
