Use this guide to help you select the right TV or movie projector for your home cinema

Choosing a display screen for your Passaic, NJ, home cinema is one of the most exciting parts of the home theater design process. After all, the screen is where all the magic happens as you watch your favorite movies, TV shows, sporting events, and video games come to life before your eyes.

What factors do you need to keep in mind during the selection process to ensure you’re investing in the best display? We’ve compiled a helpful guide to steer you through four primary considerations. Keep reading below!

 

SEE ALSO: Effortlessly Bring Your Media and Interior Design Together

 

1. Size

Let’s start with the most obvious factor: screen size. After all, the large-screen view is part of what makes the theater experience so captivating and immersive. Movie projectors are the way to go if you want to re-create the authentic cinema experience with a ginormous screen. The average projectors range in size from 100-120 inches. However, large-screen TVs aren’t far behind — new models are stretching up to 85 inches and higher these days.

Keep in mind that your screen size should be compatible with the size of your theater room. A display that’s too large will leave viewers craning their necks to watch a film, which is an uncomfortable experience. A display that’s too small will leave viewers squinting to make out the finer details onscreen.

 

2. Brightness

Brightness is a vital factor to consider, especially if you’re leaning toward a movie projector. Ambient light washes out images on a projector screen and lowers the perceived contrast, leading to a less than stellar viewing experience. Higher brightness and ambient light-rejecting screens are available but will quickly drive up the cost of a display. A more cost-effective solution is to control the ambient light in your room with smart lighting control and motorized blackout shades to ensure flawless image quality and contrast.

Most TVs can produce much higher brightness than projectors and hold up well in all lighting situations. But we still recommend lighting control and shading solutions to achieve a wholly dark and immersive movie-watching experience.

 

3. Resolution, Color and Contrast

The resolution, color range, and contrast are vital factors that impact the image quality of your content. A high-resolution display is critical to ensure crisp, detailed images. High-end TVs are available with native 4K or 8K resolution, while high-end projectors support native 4K resolution.

While a high-end projector has good color and contrast ranges, TVs have the advantage here with high-dynamic range (HDR) technology. HDR supports a wide color gamut and more contrast, resulting in content that presents with vivid, rich colors, deep blacks, and stark whites. Most movie projectors don’t handle HDR formatting well, and the ones that do are astronomically expensive and still can’t touch the image quality of a TV with HDR.

 

4. Budget

There’s no getting around the fact that a high-end display with the size and quality features you want will take a chunk out of your theater budget. A quality TV starts at $1,000 in the low range and can climb up to a five or six-digit figure the larger the screen size. Movie projectors also start at $1,000 in the low range and quickly shoot up to $20,000 or more for high-end and laser models.

 

Are you ready to start your home theater design project? The Electronic Concepts team can help you find the right display, sound system, lighting, seating and more to build the perfect home cinema in your Passaic, NJ, home. Call us or fill out a contact form to schedule a no-obligation consultation!