GUIDE TO DIGITAL PROJECTORS

Guide to Digital Projectors

Digital Projector : What is it?

A digital projector takes a digital video signal and projects the corresponding image to a projection screen through a lens system. It uses a very bright light to project the image to a white, clean surface in a dark room. The distance of the projector to the screen is proportional to the size of the image it projects; the farther the projector, the bigger the picture becomes. A digital projector is commonly used in digital theaters, home theater systems, classrooms, and conference rooms.

Types of Digital Projectors

Kinds of Digital Projectors include the following:

LCD digital projector

An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) projector is made up of a lamp with a thin LCD panel over it.Light shines through the LCD to project the image to the projection screen.
The image it projects is made up of an array of pixels.
Each pixel has red, blue, and green elements that change to form various shades and hues to complete a picture.
Because it produces pixelized images, it requires long distance viewing to allow the eyes to blend the pixels together.

DLP digital projector

A DLP (Digital Light Processing) projector uses a digital micromirror device (DMD), which is a semiconductor containing as many as 1.3 million microscopic mirrors.
Each mirror corresponds to a single pixel of the projected image.
It can reflect one of the 1,024 shades of gray to create a highly detailed grayscale image.
It adds color to the image using a color wheel with three filters of red, green, and blue.

LCOS digital projector

A LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) digital projector is a fairly new technology.
It uses a mirror like a DLP digital projector but it does not tilt.
It shines light through an LCD panel positioned over the mirror.
The crystals it contains control the light passing through the LCD molecules, affecting the brightness and colors of the pixels.

Choosing Digital Projectors (Buying tips)

Brightness: Choose an LCD digital projector with a high lumens rating measured in the ANSI standards. Look for one with a 2,000 to 3,000 lumens that allows you to project images with better image brightness in total darkness.

Contrast: Choose a digital projector with a ratio of at least 400:1 for displaying the brightest value and the dimmest value, and getting a truer image.

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