Product Survey: HD Ready Projectors

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It's easy to split the market for video projectors into two very clear segments, with HD Ready models on one side and Full HD models on the other. To keep up with that trend, we've divided our Product Survey into two parts as well. Here's our selection of HD Ready models ...

Florent Alzieu
Updated: November 20, 2009

Multi-function projectors

There is newcomer to the projection world, the multi-function. These marvellous toys include a DVD player, LCD or DLP projection system, and speakers for a maximum of portability and ease of use.

So will this new type of projector surpass classic models (without speakers or integrated players) as multifunction printers did plain-old inkjets?

To get a better idea, we've included some newcomers from Epson and Optoma (using LCD and DLP respectively). For the time being, they're in the minority, but perhaps they won't stay that way if an alternative emerges with a Blu-ray player included?

You can also read our Product Survey: Full HD Projectors which has the latest models in that part of the market.

With video projectors, we are witnessing a war between two tribes that's worthy of Star Wars or the Lord of the Rings saga. On one side, we have products based on DLP technology and on the other there are the LCDs. The two systems work in different ways and produce different results. DLP fans enjoy deeper blacks and the total absence of ghosting, but LCD projectors can produce larger images at the same distance from the screen, and don't produce the 'rainbow effect', which leads some users to see flashes of red, green and blue when watching DLP projections.

Here are the technical differences:

DLP - Digital Light Processing: This system is based on three elements: a light source, a colour wheel, and a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) chip. The colour wheel is divided into segments of three different colours--red, green and blue--and as it spins, it splits up the white light from the lamp. These colour fragments are then reflected by the tiny mirrors on the DMD chip, whose position varies by up to 10° to send a particular image towards the projection lens. Your eye then reconstructs the colours of the final image by fusing all of the colours reflected by the mirrors. For example, when these mirrors rapidly reflect red and green light, you will see yellow. The number of mirrors in the chip is equal to the resolution of the projector. For example, a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels requires 921 600 mirrors.

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display: This system is comprised of a lamp, two prisms and three LCD panels. The first prism is in charge of separating the light the lamp emits into the three components of red, green and blue. Thanks to a series of mirrors, the separate light rays each hit an LCD panel which depending on the position of its cells may or may not let the light through. A last prism placed between the panels recombines the three light beams and sends the image through a projection lens.

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