When attempting to recreate the theater experience at your house, home projectors are a necessary component. This will allow you to achieve that big screen theatrical feel, in any room of your home. Home theater projectors come in three major types, CRT, LCD and DLP, each with their advantages and disadvantages. Which type of home video projector is right for your home theater depends upon your budget and picture preferences. Each one has very different ways of displaying picture, with varying levels of quality as well as varying levels of price. But be prepared to make a fairly large investment, as high quality home projectors can be expensive, but you’ll be greatly rewarded through years of use and a crisp clear picture.
CRT, or cathode ray tube, is the oldest projector format and also the most economical. CRT technology works by using colored tubes to display a complete picture onto a projector screen. These usually aren’t of the highest quality, as CRT technology is the oldest projector format. But if you’re building a home theater on a budget, this type of home projector may be right for you. As far as home cinema projectors are concerned, CRT is definitely on the low scale in terms of picture quality, and you won’t be able to achieve true high definition. But CRT can be a cheap way to set up a home theater for a fraction of the price.
DLP home projectors work about the same way as the rear projection television sets. Through a series of thousands of micro mirrors, light is passed through a color wheel, and then run through a projector bulb to display a crisp and clear picture. DLP projectors can achieve high definition picture quality, and the higher end models will leave you with a beautiful picture, avoiding the washed out look CRT can leave. But also, DLP home theater projectors tend to be more expensive home projectors. So you’ll have to be willing to spend upwards of twice as much as a CRT projector would cost you. But picture quality will make up for that.
LCD, or liquid crystal display, is by far the highest quality form of home projector, and the utmost you can achieve in projector picture quality. LCD works by using liquid crystals set between digital pixel panels. Then light passes through creating a high definition picture, which is then run through a projector bulb so that a picture is displayed on your screen. LCD projectors can achieve more crisp and true HD pictures, unlike DLP. But LCD is the most costly type of all home projectors, and is really more of an investment than a realistic alternative for most home theaters.
To purchase home theater projection devices, a major electronics store like Best Buy has everything that you could want locally, although most often at marked up prices. To get the most out of your money, you should instead use the internet. Large outlets like Amazon.com have many more projectors available for much cheaper prices. CRT will usually run $300 and up, DLP can be found as low as $800 but are usually in excess of $1,000. But for LCD you’re usually looking at spending a few thousands for the really good home projectors.