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Video Focus: Selecting the “Perfect” Projector
Learn about new features, technologies, opportunities and efficiencies.
It is becoming an increasingly difficult task to select the "perfect" projector for your house-of-worship application. In the old days the process was pretty simple. We had good, better, and best products from which to choose and the selection was usually quite clear. After all, there were only a few manufacturers with a limited number of models and more often than not the choice boiled down to issues such as light output and the proper lens availability. Not to suggest that these issues have gone away by any means, but the criteria for selection has gotten much more complex and product availability as well as features and benefits have grown by orders of magnitude.
When we speak about the criteria for the selection of a projector, we have a great number of things to consider including:
- - Reliability/dependability/track record of the manufacturer
- - Customer service availability
- - Warranty
- - Light output and lamp life
- - Contrast
- - Resolution
- - Connectivity and network capability
- - Lens availability
- - Power consumption
- - Maintenance requirements
- - Installation options
- - Pricing options
- - Total cost of ownership or TCO
Now factor in that there are 29 projector manufacturers selling their wares in the U.S. as we speak with nearly 700 models available to the market. Before diving into comments on the selection criteria, you will note that price is number twelve on the “hit parade.” In short, there is a huge difference between price and cost. We have all seen products with an inexpensive (see I did not say cheap!) price that ended up costing us more in the long run in total cost of ownership (or TCO for acronym lovers out there.)
We are going to lump items one, two, and three together because they are inexorably linked. In the audio- video industry there is an axiom that states "it is not a question of if, but when, a problem occurs and how a company handles that problem determines your satisfaction.” A projector from a respected manufacturer may appear to have all the performance plus the bells and whistles that you want, but if the warranty is too short, or there is little or no customer service support, or finally, if you have a problem where you have to take your projector down, send it in and then wait weeks for a repair, the comforting appearance of the name brand on the case quickly turns to dissatisfaction. Not to be pessimistic, but the reason to examine the "what happens if…" scenarioup front is to help insure satisfaction after the purchase.
The next issue is light output of the display. Taken as a standalone item, published light output is not sufficient. It is the combination of light output of the projector along with the ambient light in the room plus the screen you will be using that determines your actual needs. But we are not done evaluating brightness yet. Many manufacturers state their brightness in ANSI lumens. The truth is that these specifications are sometimes overstated by as much as 20%. For example, if a projector is specified at 4,000 lumens it may or may not produce that amount of light output. If it is overrated by 20% then the actual performance is 3,200 lumens. The reasons for the discrepancies are many, but the major issues involve variations in manufacturing tolerances, and the fact that there is no industry-standardized and binding way to measure light output and publish actual performance on projectors or displays of any type.
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