Projectors

Projectors give you the experience of big screen television in a compact size and are able to be stored easily when not in use.

All Digital have an extensive range of projectors to suit your needs, whether it’s a big screen home theatre set up or for corporate presentations.

Our brands include Sanyo, Mitsubishi, NEC and Optoma.

All Digital’s FAQ’s when purchasing a projector

1. What do 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios mean?

4:3 and 16:9 refer to the rectangular shape of the video image, or its aspect ratio. A standard TV has an aspect ratio of 4:3. That means the picture is four units wide for every three units of height. The HDTV standard is 16:9, 16 units of width for every 9 units of height. So HDTV’s 16:9 is horizontally wider than regular TV, which by comparison looks almost square. All home theatre installations will have a 16:9 aspect ratio and most office installations will have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

2. What resolution is best?

A projector’s resolution (or more precisely, its “native resolution”) is simply the number of pixels that it has available to create an image. Pixels are the tiny coloured dots that make up a digital image on a screen. The higher the resolution of a projector, the more pixels it has.

Most computer resolutions are XGA (1024×768 pixels) and WXGA (1280×768 pixels), in native form without scaling. If your viewing material includes both video and computer data or internet surfing, this format will allow you to see the computer data signals in their clearest, unscaled form.

If you want the absolute sharpest and most detailed picture possible from high definition sources, such as BluRay then 1920×1080 projectors (commonly referred to as “1080p projectors”) are the best choice. While the 1280×720 projectors can deliver very impressive HD images, the picture quality in terms of image detail is even better when the projector has the ability to show all 1080 lines of the signal in their native, uncompressed format.

3. What is brightness & contrast?

Projector brightness is measured in ANSI Lumens. Home theatre projectors are generally not as bright as data projectors due to the fact that they are designed for darker environments. You must take into account room dynamics such as incoming light sources when choosing how bright your projector needs to be.

Contrast is the difference in brightness between maximum white and deepest black in an image. The greater the difference, the higher the contrast.

Today you want a projector rated at 10000:1 contrast or higher. These projectors offer deep, inky black levels and excellent shadow detail that should be sufficient for even the most demanding content.

4. Installation & budget?

Projectors perform best when designed for its surrounding environment. Certain aspects need to be taken into account, such as whether the room dark enough and big enough, is the projector going to used daily and are you willing to replace the lamp yearly at a cost of up to $1000 dollars?

There are other associated costs involved such as room setup, Receivers, Amplifiers and Screen.

5. How do I get the best image from my projector?

The easiest way to get the best results from your projector is use it in a dark room as projectors are more effective where there is no light, for instance cinemas which have dark walls and ceilings. Light reduces the sharpness of the image, making black appear dark grey, as well as reducing the contrast of the image projected, making it look flat or washed out. This will happen no matter what the contrast capability of your projector is.

It is also important to invest in a quality screen. Many of today’s projector screens help to enhance the contrast of the image projected, making black levels appear more solid when there is ambient or reflected light in the room.

Though the ideal viewing room is dark, most people don’t want to darken the walls and ceiling of a living room or multipurpose room just to get ideal theater conditions. Today’s high contrast gray screens help to hold black levels solid when there is some ambient or reflected light bouncing from light colored surfaces in the room back onto the screen. But for the best possible image quality for any home theater, take whatever steps you can to eliminate ambient light and reduce the reflectivity of the room’s walls and ceiling.