LCD Projector | The Photography Shack

The LCD projector is one of the smallest and most portable video projection systems on the market. The benefit of LCD projectors is that consumers can get high-quality images projected onto larger screens for less money, compared to high-definition television sets.

Of course, one could easily spend $9,000 on a home theater setup but with some careful shopping, amazing deals in size and color can be found for less than the cost of an LCD flat panel TV or wide screen plasma TV.

The largest manufacturers of the LCD projector are Epson, Sony and Panasonic. The Epson Home Cinema 6500UB 1080p home theater projector is a good choice, retailing around $2,999 full price. This projector uses a new feature called "creative frame interpolation" to smooth out fast-moving motion and eliminate ghosting or rainbow effects.

Best Black Level Performance

Reviewers say that this Epson has some of the best black level performance of any other 1080 model, although it’s shadow detail is not quite perfect. The brightness is above average, the image is sharp and the two year warranty is solid. While it’s quieter than a DLP projector, this model is a bit noisier than other 3LCD projectors. The Epson Home Cinema 6100 is a similar model for under $2,100.

Another good choice is the Panasonic PT-AE3000 1080p projector. With a price tag of just $2,499, this little LCD projector quickly asserts itself as one of the best models in its class, competing with the Mitsubishi HC7000, Sanyo PLV-Z3000 and the Epson Home Cinema 6500.

Fast Frame Response

The Panasonic PT is packed with features like frame interpolation that reduces blurriness, anamorphic lens emulation capabilities for zooming in and image resizing, waveform monitor/split adjust for changing the color, and fast frame response for minimizing lag while gaming.

It also has great black level performance and shadow detail, as well as one of the best out-of-box color performances. The sharpness and brightness are just a hair about average, but this unit is still a great value for the price.

LCD Projector Unit Degrades Over Time

One problem with the LCD projector is that your unit may degrade over time. A study sponsored by Texas Instruments (a DLP projector manufacturer) revealed that LCD panels, particularly the blue channel, will lose its color balance and contrast over time.

In the test, five LCD projectors were run 24/7 for a few months and it was discovered that the blue channel polarizer and LCD panel needed replacement. In the past, projector lamp bulbs were one of the biggest continued expenses, with consumers needing to buy a $300 to $600 bulb after every 2,000 hours of use.

However, new technology used in the most recent models has allowed LED light sources to last the entire life of the projector.

More Projector Facts....

What types of movie projectors are there?
Well if you discount the magic lantern as actual movie projectors, there are quite a few. Movie projectors are based on the film that they use, as in the size of the film. Here is a list of types of movie projectors: 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, 16 mm, 35 mm and 70 mm. It was fairly typical for home use projectors to utilize the 8 mm size film.

The 35 mm projectors were what were most commonly used to view movies in theaters during the 20th century before digital projectors became the standard. You can still find 35 mm projectors used in some small town theaters that have not upgraded to digital systems yet. The 70 mm projectors are what you would find in IMAX theaters where the image is so much larger than a typical movie screen.

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Best Black Level Performance

Fast Frame Response

LCD Projector Unit Degrades Over Time

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