Business & Home Theater Projector Primer: Predominant Technologies

You could be excused for thinking 3LCD is a character in a Star Wars movie.

Keeping up with evolving business and home theater projector technology can feel daunting. Here’s an overview of the predominant options on the market:

 

DLP (Digital Light Processing)

The most common technology, DLP offers excellent total cost of ownership and reliability.

It works like this: A rectangular array of millions of microscopic hinged mirrors tilts toward or away from the light source, producing a light or dark pixel on the projection surface. 

DLP brightness is gauged in ANSI lumens, which measure the brightest white produced by a projector on a 100-percent white test pattern. The ANSI lumen has been the industry standard for more than 25 years.

There are three types of DLP:

• DLP is the original technology, which features all those mirrors and a spinning color wheel produce colors. A very small percentage of people experience a rainbow effect with DLP projection, in which some areas of the screen break into small rainbows when their gaze shifts or something on screen moves quickly.
• Three-chip DLP replaces the color wheel with three DLP chips — blue, green and red —which negates the rainbow effect.
• LED-based DLP shines red, blue, and green LEDs directly on the DMD chip (those tiny mirrors), producing vibrant colors.

Check out DLP projectors.

 

3LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

This technology uses three panels (red, green and blue) to produce colors. The technology is known for its smooth rendering of color and grayscale (black & white) content, and its high level of detail.

3LCD manufacturers use the color light output (CLO) spec and the ANSI spec to measure brightness. The CLO has been in use since 2012 and measures the quality and impact of the colors projected.

Check out 3LCD projectors.

 

LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) 

LCoS is mainly found in the most expensive projectors, which are typically the largest and heaviest on the market. This technology uses liquid crystal chips with a mirrored backing, like DLP, but blocks light using liquid crystal, like LCDs. Check out LCoS projectors.

The differences in color and image quality can be subtle, so choose the technology that looks best to your eyes and your budget.

Learn more in the Staples® Business & Home Theater Projector Buyer’s Guide.