Which type of display best fits your needs? As you plan your home theater , these 10 points will help you make this important decision.
1. Flat panels are self contained and therefore much easier to set up.
2. A projector requires a separate projection screen, making it more complicated to set up.
3. The screen size of mainstream flat panels maxes out at 90" diagonally; there are a few larger models available, but they're super-expensive. At sizes up to about 70" or 80", a flat panel is often less expensive than a projection system.
4. A projection screen can be much larger than a flat panel; most projector manufacturers specify image sizes up to 300" diagonally. At screen sizes above 80" or so, a projection system can be less expensive than a flat panel.
5. The larger the screen, the more light a projector must output to produce a bright-enough image. Also, the larger the screen, the more visible any flaws in the source signal will be.
6. Flat panels are generally much brighter than projected images, making them a better choice for rooms with lots of ambient light.
7. A projector normally requires a completely dark room to look good; so-called ambient light-rejecting screens can make projectors suitable for rooms with some ambient light.
8. Flat panels have a lifespan of many tens of thousands of hours.
9. Most projectors require you to replace the lamp every few thousand hours of use, which can cost a couple hundred bucks each time and might be inconvenient to do if the projector is ceiling-mounted. Laser- and LED-illuminated projectors do not incur this ongoing cost, but they are rare and expensive for home use at this point.
10. If you have enough budget, you can enjoy the best of both worlds by putting a flat panel behind a retractable projection screen; use the flat panel for daytime casual viewing and the projector for nighttime movie watching. This also extends the lifespan of the projector's lamp because you're not using it as your only display.