Deciding between TVs vs projectors is a critical step in furnishing a brand new home entertainment center or reenergizing a humdrum living room. Some of the main factors in this determination are the size of the room, what the TV or projector will be used for, and the budget allotted. Once all of these questions are answered, it’s pretty easy to see which one is best.
Read more to figure out which option is the best or click here to buy a projector right now.
TVs were introduced in 1925, but didn’t become popular until the 1950s. This was when black and white TVs started to show up in homes, offices, and institutions. Since then, TVs have been the main way people watched or experienced entertainment in their homes or out at pubs or restaurants.
Projectors were invented in the late-1800s and primarily seen in movie theaters for a hundred years. It has been only recently that the technology has skyrocketed and smaller, more affordable projectors are available for use in the home. So which one is better for you?
That answer probably depends on what you want to use your TV or projector for.
Do You Like to Watch Movies and Sports?
TVs are now bigger, brighter, and clearer than ever before. It’s great to have friends come by to watch a game and be awed by the size and the clarity of the TV while cheering at the top of their lungs for their favorite teams. Watching movies on a new TV is also fun when the special effects dazzle people and make them feel like they are in an actual theater.
Modern projectors have come a long way in a short time and they can produce images that are low or high in lumens. Although they still aren’t quite as good as TVs in resolution, brightness, and contrast, projectors can be played on any wall or ceiling for a long time without harm to the eyes. Projectors are easily movable, so they can be placed in different rooms or even put outside to have a fun time watching movies or gaming in nature.
Are You a Gamer?
Gaming is a big part of many people’s lives now as they spend hours per day in front of a screen playing with others around the globe. While it used to be that the only way to game on a massive screen was to use a projector, TV sizes are quickly rising and their prices are dropping. For people that love multiplayer games, projectors are splendid. When playing games like Mario Kart, which can have up to four players using four parts of the same screen at once, a projector is perfect. This is because each portion of the screen that each player uses is the size of a regular TV.
Unfortunately, projectors just aren’t quite as good as TVs or monitors that have an enhanced resolution of 4K or 8K. For projectors to be a higher resolution than 1080p, they need to have a screen and a dark room, with very little light let in.
Check this out to learn more about a small tweak that will change your gaming experience forever: The RGB Gaming Experience: How RGB Monitors Impact Your Gaming Experience
How Are Your Eyes?
The main battle in TV vs projectors goes on in your eyes. Do you ever sit in your bed and aimlessly scroll social media before going to bed? Once you stop and try to sleep, it’s hard for you to sleep? This is called digital eye strain and it is because the blue light from the screen hurts your eyes.
An average person spends 10 hours in front of a screen per day. This means they go to work on a computer and then get home and plop down on the couch for a few hours of their favorite shows every day. When watching movies or shows on a 4K or an 8K TV, digital eye strain is easy to get.
Projectors do produce blue light, but people see it indirectly. This is because the light shoots onto the screen or the wall and then goes into someone’s eyes. By not going into the eyes directly, it’s much less likely that people will come away with digital eye strain.
For more on eye health, go here: Projector vs. TV: Consideration to Eye Health
The In Sound From Way Out
TV has the advantage for some in the sound category since the speakers can be built into them. As soon as you turn the TV on, the sound is ready to go.
If someone is building a home theater system that is designed to maximize the viewing experience, speakers on a TV might not be good enough. Instead, a surround sound system can be plugged into the projector and people can be made to feel like they are on the field or taking a trip in outer space while watching the games or movies on the screen. When all these are in place, it’s the closest way to get to a real theater experience right in the home.
The Coolness Factor
A brand new big TV is pretty cool. It can make watching any movie or game a treat. To be honest, though, a projector is undoubtedly cooler. Going to someone’s house to play a game is fun, but imagine playing on a projector. The players in NBA Live are nearly the size that they are in real life! The feeling of projecting onto a screen or a giant wall will never not feel cool. After having a projector for a few years, maybe the novelty will dissipate, but for now, projectors are really cool.
Bang for the Buck
Life would be so much better if money was no object. Unfortunately for most, it is. 4K and 8k TVs can vary in price from US$1000 to US$5000. Projectors are a bit cheaper, running from US$500 for the cheapest, and up to US$3000 for the highest-end laser projector. There are many factors to choose from here, but projectors can really fill up a room at a better price point.
When debating TV vs projectors for the home entertainment system, there is no perfectly clear right way to make a decision. There are many variables that need to be discussed and looked at before a choice is made. The immersion of a projector is a feeling like no other. When one is hooked up and played on a wall or big screen and it feels like a theater, the satisfaction is really unlike anything else.
See our full lineup of home theater projectors here. Or learn more about Buying a Smart Projector for Your Home Theater.