5 Things to Consider when Buying a Home Theater Projector 

1. Know what your projector is used for 

Knowing what your projector is going to be used for is always important in determining what you need. If you are going to bring it out a lot, it should be portable. If it's going to be your tv, then it's advisable to look for projectors with longer lamp life or at least longer warranty coverage. Most lamps last between 2000 to 5000 hours. Lamp life is measured by half life. A lamp life of 2000 hours means that the lamp brightness is reduced by half at the end of 2000 hours of usage. The projector is still functional, but the lamp will continue to lose its brightness with time. 

2. Consider your screen (but do not buy it first!) 

While the home theater projector may be the key component in your grand plan, you might want to first consider the screen you are going to get, even before you contemplate about the projector itself. It may seem unorthodox, but the reason for doing so is simple. Projectors are often versatile and adjustable. It's definitely easier to adjust your projector to fit your screen then the other way round.

One of the key features of your setup is screen size. If you are looking to project a 120 inch image, then you have to consider the size of your projector room and determine the projector throw distance. Throw distance is the distance between the projector and the screen. Projectors come with long-throw or short-throw capabilities but not both. Short throw projectors are able to magnify images to a large size over a short distance, making them ideal if you are constraint by space.

Screen colour may also determine the type of projection technology you should get. If you are using a grey screen, you will want to use brighter projectors since they don't reflect as well as white screens. Grey screens on the other hand produce better contrast and are suitable for use with LCD projectors to make up for their lack of true black pixels. 

3. Think about the brightness in your projector room 

If you plan to use your projector in a room without any windows, such as an attic, or if you normally use your projector at night, most projectors today will provide a sufficiently bright image.

As a general guide, two factors determine the brightness required of your projector. The size of your projected image and the ambience brightness of your room. The larger the image you project, the brighter your projector needs to be. The brighter your room, then brighter your projector will also need to be to be visible against the ambient light.

Brightness of a projector is measured in lumens. As a general guide, 1000 lumens is the minimum brightness acceptable for any projector. With little or no light entering the room, projector brightness of 1000 to 1200 lumens is required. For some level of light pollution (small lamp, or light filtering from behind binds), a brightness of 1200 to 2000 lumens is advised. For highly lit areas, like your living room, projector brightness of at least 2000 and above is needed for proper viewing.

4. Where to set up your projector 

Having decided on your projector use, it is a must to know where you will place it. Not only will that determine specifications like throw distance and brightness, it will determine the kind of accessories you will need. For example, if you mount your projector on the ceiling, you will need to install a mount. If you are going to place your projector on a desk, you will need to consider things like fan noise or appearance of the projector since it will be in close proximity to the audience.  

5. Connections & Cable 

Know the kind of cables that fits your home theater projector! There are many types of cables and your projector will usually be about to accommodate two or more types of input. Different types of cables carrying different quality of the signal and again, "rubbish in rubbish out" is at work here. The length of your cables and the insulation quality also affects the signal quality. In the case where you want to be using your projector for tv, you have to ensure that a tuner or at least a adaptor is available for tv signal to be transferred.  

And most of all, check the warranty!