1080p Projector Comparison Shopping Info

Home Theater Projector.info  Our goals in maintaining this site are for it to be the best home theater projector comparison shopping website online, and to offer you, the consumer, advice in your quest for buying and installing the best projector home theater system, complete with 1080p Full HD projector and screen, home theater receiver and surround sound speaker system, Blu-ray Disc player and HDTV receiver/HD programming, and some comfortable home theater seating furniture!  Don't forget that you will also need to leave room in your budget for a projector mount, any audio, video, HDMI, speaker cables that you'll need for proper setup, and some Blu-ray Discs.

Unless you've got at least $120,000 burning a hole in your pocket, plus 4-6 weeks to wait, and a huge venue for the Sony SRXS110 4K x 2K (4090 x 2160 pixels) ultra high resolution video projector, the best home theater projectors you can buy are 1920 x 1080p projectors.  HDTV programming and Blu-ray movies are a must for fully enjoying a 1080p HD projector, or you won't experience the full capabilities of what your 1080p projector has to offer.

Since the era of the high-end home theater CRT projector has gone the way of the dinosaurs, digital home theater projectors now reign supreme.  That's because digital video projectors are much smaller, sleeker, and lighter in weight, as well as easier to set up, use, and maintain than the CRT projectors of the past.

Perhaps the only maintenance you'll ever have to perform on a new digital projector is replace your projector's "light bulb" after every 1000 to 3000 hours of projector usage.  (We recommend you keep one or more spare projector replacement lamps on hand.)

Basically, there are three different types of 1080p Full HD high definition home theater projector technologies on the market today.  LCOS home theater projector models with 1920 x 1080p video resolution are available from both Sony and JVC.  We've also showcased five of the best 1080p DLP home theater projectors, as well as three of the top 1080p LCD home theater projectors.

You can compare 10 of the best 1080p projector models by projector manufacturer by clicking the links across the top of the page.  Not including the $15,000 top-of-the-line Sony VPL-VW200 1080p home theater projector featured at the top right of this page, the ten HD projectors we've featured are priced from under $3,000 to less than $10,000.

If you're looking for a LARGE VENUE projector, the cheapest 3 chip DLP projector with 1920 x 1080 native resolution that we recommend is the $59,000 Panasonic PT-DW10000U 3-chip 1080p DLP projector.

Another great way to compare home theater projectors is to read home theater projector reviews.  Some of the leading online electronics stores allow consumers to rate home theater projectors on a scale of 1-5 for features/specs, display quality, compatibility, and cost-benefit.  Be sure to add your personal home theater projector review online once you've got your projector home theater system all up and running to share your personal experiences with other home theater enthusiasts!

Looking for some kind of discount or deal on your home theater front projector without giving up features or quality?  Besides buying when on sale for the best prices, consider refurbished home theater projectors and home theater projector and screen package deals.

$15000 Buys The Very
Best 1080p Projector
Available From Sony

The flagship of Sony's home theater projector lineup, the Sony VPL-VW200 BRAVIA SXRD 1080p home theater front projector pictured above combines the advanced features and technology associated with the legendary QUALIA 004 and the sleek form factor made popular by the Sony VPL-VW100 projector. Three newly developed high frame rate (120fps) SXRD 1080p chips work together with Sony's Motionflow technology and black frame insertion modes for smoother, more detailed pictures in fast motion video. The Panel Alignment function allows the precise alignment of RGB images with zone specific adjustment to deliver a sharper, crisper picture. An exclusive Carl Zeiss multi-element glass lens optimizes SXRD chip performance. The Anamorphic Zoom Mode works with an optional external anamorphic lens to allow 2.35:1 aspect ratio viewing. A high output Xenon cinematic lamp maintains ideal color temperature characteristics for natural and accurate color.  Available for purchase online directly from Sony and at Amazon.com.

Even the best 1080p projectors don't have integrated HDTV tuners, so you'll need to connect a separate HDTV receiver (to your home theater receiver) to be able to view high definition television programming with your projector.  Every HD projector featured on this site lacks any kind of built-in sound, so you'll want the heart of your home theater projector system to be a 7.1 channel digital surround sound receiver with 1080p HDMI switching that also up-converts all video input sources to 1080p output via HDMI.  That way, you should be able to run a single long HDMI cable out of your A/V receiver to an HDMI input on the projector.

Home theater projector setup  For the best contrast and image detail from 1080p home theater projectors, you need to install your home theater projector system in a dark room with minimal extraneous lighting from windows, indoor lighting and reflections, and other ambient light sources.  You'll only get the top picture performance from your 1080p front projector when installed in a dark, light-controlled home theater room.

If excessive lighting may be a problem, a few key specifications to compare when shopping for your projector are ANSI lumens (which measure a projector's light output) and contrast ratio (the difference between the whitest whites and blackest blacks) -- the higher numbers are better for both specs.  For projector screens, you can look for higher gain ratings (not too high!), and higher contrast grayish / blackish screen material.  It's also important to purchase the right size screen for your particular room.