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As you may already know, for a small room you will need a short-throw projector. But when it comes to choosing ST projectors, then the buying guide points will look similar to that of Long-throw projectors.
But there is a slight difference between them to choose which one.
That’s why read it carefully to choose the best projector for yourself.
Buying Guide At A Glance:
- Go for less than 6ft throw distance
- It should provide Keystone Correction & Zoom or Focus
- Go for LED Projection Technology or at least DLP with Laser
- It should have at least 300 lumens
- The Contrast Ratio should be higher
- A higher resolution is the new norm. Go for it
- The minimum Lamp life should be 15k hours
- Look for smart features in the projector
- Go for the recommended dB level of the fan noise
Points for choosing the perfect Short throw projector
Go for less than 6ft throw distance
Throw distance is very important for this type of projector. Because this feature differentiates it from all other types.
That’s why you should try to get the projector whose throw distance is 1-6ft. The shorter, the better, but not shorter than 1ft. Because after that it will become an ultra ST projector.
You may already know what throw distance is. But if you don’t know already, then I will explain briefly.
The distance that the projector will need to project a 100-inch image is called throw distance.
Read this guide to know are short throw projectors any good? I have included many more points in this guide.
It should provide Keystone Correction & Zoom or Focus
You need flexibility in these features to set up the projector easier. When I first bought a projector and placed it on my cabinet.
It was so hard to adjust the image on the screen to have the best experience.
But later I learned about the keystone correction. I corrected the image with keystone correction and focus.
The zoom helps to make the image bigger or smaller without changing the position of the projector.
You need a projector that provides vertical and horizontal keystone correction and zoom of at least 1.4x.
If the projector has a fixed focus, then you must need a zoom feature separately or at least a digital zoom feature.
Go for LED Projection Technology or at least DLP with Laser
The best picture quality of them all will come with LCoS projection technology, but that is very expensive. But if you have a flexible budget for the display, then go for it.
But if you want to stay within the budget, then choose LED. You will have the best possible picture quality on a budget.
The third will be an LCD. The LCD can give you good picture quality too. But if it is 3LCD, then it is much better.
At Last, is the DLP. The DLP when it is within the budget will give a rainbow effect touch to the picture. But if you like the features of the projector, but it is DLP, then make sure it is Laser DLP.
But Laser DLP projectors are always above $1000, but they give better picture quality.
It should have at least 300 lumens
To have the suitable brightness of the image in your home theater. You need the ST projector to have at least 3000 lumens. But here is a catch.
There are two types of lumens. You need to investigate whether the projector you are buying should have the same number of colors and white lumens.
They don’t write these color lumens on product pages, but you should investigate. Call them and ask or check their product’s online documents before buying.
You can read more about these lumens in detail from my this guide; Do Short Throw Projectors Need Less Lumens?
The Contrast Ratio should be higher
The contrast ratio literally decides the death or thriving life of the projector. It keeps the balance between the deep blacks and whites on the screen.
By just reading this, it seems not a big deal. But when I look at the sky at night in the city, I don’t see pure black in the color of the sky and due to this, the stars don’t look awesome.
But when I was on my camping trip to the countryside, the sky was deep black and the stars looked so awesome that I started singing “Twinkle twinkle little stars”. My wife laughed so hard.
The reason stars look awesome there is that there is less light pollution that contributes to the deep black levels of the sky color.
That’s why the contrast ratio is so important. Try to pick a projector that has a 30000:1 to 50000:1 contrast ratio.
The more, the better. But more will be a little expensive.
A higher resolution is the new norm. Go for it
The higher resolution is a new norm, but still projector brands are struggling to bring 8K to the game.
But still, 4K looks the best. That time has not come when our eyes will not like 4K but will love 8K.
That’s why the 4K is the best.
Try to have a projector that provides native 4K if your budget is flexible. But if you want to stay on a budget, then choose native 1080p.
You have noticed that I am using the “native” word a lot. This is because all labeled 4K projectors are not true 4K or true 1080p. They just pixel shift from lower resolution to higher.
That’s why it is your responsibility to investigate whether it is native or just pixel shifting to 4K or 1080p.
In TVs, this issue is non-existence. Read my this guide; TV vs Projector: Which is better for home theater? I have compared them in detail.
And you can read my review guide. Best short throw projectors. Where I have written with each projector whether it is native or not.
The minimum Lamp life should be 15k hours
You need your projector to stay for longer to make each penny worth it.
You spend your hard-earned money on it. That’s why it should pay you back.
The minimum lamp life should be 15000 hours, but the recommended number is 20000-30000 hours.
Laser based lamps provide the longest lamp life.
You can read this guide; how long a projector can last? I have included a simple table that will educate you more about the projector’s life.
Or read this guide to prolong the projector’s life. I have included easy maintenance tips in this guide to keep the projector from damage.
Look for smart features in the projector
Check if the chosen projector is providing a smart interface. Due to this smart OS, you don’t need to buy a separate dongle for streaming services such as Netflix, Disney plus, or more.
Very few projectors provide this interface. But brands know that customers need this feature. That’s why you will see this feature in many more projectors in the future, or almost every projector.
But if there is no smart interface, then make sure it has a separate place for the dongle to be connected or at least provide mirroring.
With mirroring, you can stream your subscriber streaming service content from mobile to projector.
Go for the recommended dB level of the fan noise
Every projector has a fan. This fan keeps it cool. This fan’s sound is variable. It goes louder or lower depending on the workload of the projector.
You don’t want to hear fan noise while watching the movie. This will irritate you and will ruin the movie experience.
That’s why go for those projectors whose fan noise is lower than 23 dB. However, a few projector’s fan noise goes lower when it is in economy mode.
This is the end of the buyer’s guide.
If you are more concerned about noise. Then read this guide to soundproof home theater. I have provided a step-by-step guide on how to do it DIY.
Did you get something out of this ST projector buyer guide? Hold On We Have Something Exciting To Share.
[the_ad id=”4771″]FAQs
Are short-throw projectors worth it?
Short-throw projectors are absolutely worth it if you have a small room and want a bigger image size.
ST projectors are invented for those that have small spaces for home theater.
What distance is the short throw projector?
The 6ft distance from the screen is the short throw projector, and longer than that is a long throw projector, and shorter than 1ft is an ultra-short throw projector.
The projector to be called a short-throw should have a throw distance of 1-6ft.
What is a good projector resolution?
The good resolution is 1080p and the best is 4K.
Now, the days are long gone when the 720p was good and the 1080p was the best. Now, the world is quickly transitioning to 8K.
Helpful Resources For The FAQs To Read More
- This was my opinion, read more about it from Epson Blog. (Resource for the second answer)
- This was my opinion, read more about it from the Viewsonic blog. (Resource for the third answer)
