If you are in the market for a new television, it can be a daunting task in sifting through all of the choices in size, technology, etc.. Check out these tips in deciding what technology is best for you.

1. Projectors do not have RF cable or antenna connections the way a TV set does. However, if you have cable or satellite and the box has either S-Video, component, and/or DVI, or HDMI connections you would be able to hook them up to a video projector.

2. Video projectors have a limited lamp life. If you use your projector every evening for a few hours (or more) you’ll have to replace the lamp every 1000-1500 hrs of use, which could cost a few hundred dollars per lamp.

3. A projector requires a large screen. TV programs do not look as good on a projector screen as they do on a television. If you have HDTV-cable or HDTV-satellite, however, you will get a much better result with the projector screen. Ideally, video projection works best with DVD, Blu-ray, or HD-DVD movies. To extend the lamp life, you could use a television for everyday viewing, and save the projector for movies, gaming, or sports events.

Soon all TV broadcasts will be digital. Whether you choose a projector and screen, or a television, be sure to choose one that is HD compatible for best viewing results. Remember that television programs look a little better on a television than they do on a large projection screen.

As a home theater enthusiast, this may be an early question you have to answer. Like anything else in technology, changes, upgraded tech in an item, the newest model/latest version/update dejour means there is always some other bit of info to consider before buying whatever it is you are looking for. Whew! That said, I will try to answer some basic thoughts about LCD or Plasma tv’s, and which is better.

Plasma televisions are an exciting innovation that uses plasma gas to produce the images in the pixels. LCD technology is simply Liquid Crystal Display in the pixels. The debate is over which one produces the best picture. This is a matter of individual preference, I have found. Both technologies deliver a high quality picture, with varying ranges of brightness. LCD brags about having a brighter clearer image, while Plasma is touted as the best for producing true colors, especially black.

If you are in the market for a flat panel, your choice will come down to what you watch the most on your tv. If you are a sports nut, LCD is a wise choice, as there is no “action blur” or fuzziness in the images of the players on the field. If you love to watch movies, the true black and rich colors given by plasma technology would be a wise choice. Both Plasma and LCD are available in HD formats, so that feature is a wash in comparing the two.

So the nuts and bolts of this new but age old question rests with the individual user. If you watch an equal amount of sports and movies, either technology would work for you, but the distinction between picture qualities will lie in your own eyes. There is a large selection of sizes shapes and options to choose from in Flat Panel televisions. Prices vary as widely as the opinions on which technology is better. Be sure to choose a tv that fits your budget, viewing preferences, and most of all, one that fits your own eye!

Depending on the type of presentation, you can use either a DLP (Digital Light Processing) projector or a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) projector. For Powerpoint presentations, LCD projectors are the best choice because LCD has a sharp, bright picture and higher lumens output. For video DLP projectors give better quality. If you are looking for portable solution then LCD projector is not suitable in that case DLP projectors are best.

Brightness is another factor to consider when choosing a projector. 5000 lumens is the brightest while 1000 lumens is the lowest level projector. 6000 lumens projectors are the best for large trade shows in convention centers where you are trying to reach thousands of visitors. The most commonly used projectors are 2000-3000 lumens. For a classroom you should consider using a projector with more than 1000 lumens. If the projector will be used for larger presentations of 100 or more people a projector with more than 3000 lumens may be needed. The higher the lumens the costlier the projector becomes, however. Projectors with high lumens are also heavier.

Remember that when buying a projector you should analyze your needs first. You may not need to spend as much money as you think or you may have to spend the extra cash to get a projector that suits your needs.

OK,.I recently upgraded my basement, which means I spent a few thousand dollars and made it into a “Man Cave”, or a full-on Home Theater. I am very pleased except that once I finished, I realized that the furnishings I had to put in my new space was an odd collection at best. I believe from a design standpoint, it would be called “Early American Garage Sale” . Luckily, the wife let me drop another pile of money to buy new furniture, so I wanted to share a few tips on my experience.

First, determine your budget. If you just spent $10k on creating the new space, your furnishings should at least be color-coordinated to match right? It’s quite ok to find bargains at retail stores, or the web, or wherever, just plan on knowing your limit. I chose this cool place.

Next, figure out who is going to use your new room, and what for. My brother has a great media room in his house, and he has awful chairs there. His wife loves them because they really go well with th drapes, but for watching the game, it is like sitting in the sanctuary of your favorite church! Point is, if his chairs or love seat was remotely comfortable, I would be at his place more, and probably never built my own.

I plan on inviting people over regularly for movies and sporting events, so I got a huge sectional sofa and some Lounge Chairs. You know, the big leather ones with the drink holders in the arm rests?! I am sleeping there for a few more days, while the afore-mentioned wife recovers from the budget overage I created, but you get the point.

In truth, there are a huge variety of directions to look in when choosing furnishings for your space, and even more places to look for them. The key is knowing what you are looking for, how you will use it, and how much to spend. Great deals are available everywhere you turn, so happy hunting!

If you aren’t pressed for time, shop around and choose a projector based on the cost of the lamp. Some of the brands with inexpensive lamps are Epson, Optoma, Sanyo and Eiki. The reason the lamps for these models are more inexpensive is because the models are more popular. A popular projector has a higher demand for projector lamps. The manufacturer can then make them in greater bulk, which is more cost-effective, and can keep the lamp in stock for many years. When researching lamp costs be sure to look at OEM lamps rather than knock-off brands.

If this is your first projector purchase you may be in for a surprise when shopping for a projector lamp. Normal light bulbs cost around ten bucks or less. A projector lamp, however, is a bit more costly. Surprisingly, this small light bulb usually costs between 200 to 400 dollars. This may sound outrageous but there are some understandable reasons for projector lamps being expensive, including scarcity, expensive materials, complex design and high quality control standards that must be met.

In these challenging economic times, you might find yourself wondering if a LCD or plasma monitor is a viable option. At $700 they aren’t cheap, thanks to the all the parts required for their production, and certainly aren’t portable like a projector.

Projectors can be purchased for well under $1000, and can be displayed on screens much larger than a plasma TV. If finances are an issue you should forecast your projector lamp usage and plan on purchasing a replacement lamp well before the existing one burns out. You should also plan on paying a slightly higher price for the projector lamps in the short term. OEM lamps are the best option for projector lamps.

Presentation projectors are becoming everyday tools for business presentations. Today’s lightweight and affordable portable projectors provide the image quality needed for a wide variety of venues including boardrooms, classrooms and trade shows. Presentation Projectors can be moved from location to location or can be semi-permanently suspended by a ceiling mount for ready-to-use viewing.

Because presentation projectors are such an everyday tool now, here are some quick tips for making sure your presentation is successful.
Before you write your presentation, determine how far away your audience will be from the screen and choose your font size accordingly. A 1″ typeface is readable from ten feet away, 2″ from 20 feet away, and so on. 72 point fonts are 1″ high.

Use a sans serif font such as Verdana. Serif fonts like Times are great on paper but don’t work nearly as well on screen. Use a narrow font if you need to squeeze a lot of text into a small space.

Consider using a wireless mouse so you can run your presentation without being near the laptop.

Keep in mind that sunlight shining on your screen will wash it out so choose the right location for your laptop.

If you are presenting to a very small group (1-4) people you could just put your laptop in the middle of the table and pass it around instead of using a screen. This will encourage more communication and make it more intimate.

Be careful with color. Red and green in particular get washed out on screen. Another problem with red and greens is that 10% of the population have difficulty seeing red and green due to color blindness.

Above all, don’t sacrifice readability for style. Your job is to communicate.

Aspect ratio is one of the most important considerations in your home theater.
The aspect ratio is the ratio of video image’s width to its height. Standard television screens are 4:3; this means that the video is four units wide for every three units of height. Another way to refer to the 4:3 format is by the numeric value 1.33 (4 divided by 3). The picture can then be thought of as having 1.33 units of width for each unit of height.

All standard television programs today are broadcast in 4:3. Most older classic movies were also filmed in 4:3. Today’s movies, however, are produced in widescreen formats. There are several widescreen formats. The back cover of most DVDs will tell you the aspect ratio. It usually won’t be 4:33 (1.33). The most common is 2.35. This means that for each unit of image height, the picture will be 2.35 units in width.

A movie with a 2.35 aspect ratio won’t fit on a 4:3 (1.33) screen without compromising. There are two ways to work around this. The first is to simply show the movie in its original aspect ratio. This shows you the movie the way it was filmed but, unfortunately, the picture will look smaller because you will only use a portion of the television’s 4:3 display area. The other option is to use the “pan and scan” feature but this will cut off some of the original film in order to fill the entire 4:33 screen.

The Projector Screen Experts at Big Screen Center put together a terrific article on choosing the right projector screen size for a room. The article goes into detail about the math involved selecting a projector screen that is proportionate to the room.

Feel free to browse the full text article on Squidoo.com: How to Pick the Right Projector Screen Size

Three Keys to the Right Screen Size

1. Projector Native Resolution lets you know which aspect ratio to select for your screen . What is the native resolution of the projector that you have?
2. Ceiling Height allows you to determine the screen height that will fit gracefully into a room. What is the ceiling height of the room that you are outfitting?
3. Screen Distance to Audience. The people sitting farthest away from the screen determine the minimum screen width. A screen should be at least as wide as 1/6 of the distance between the screen and the viewer farthest from the screen. How far away will the viewer be sitting?

With answers to these questions, you can estimate an appropriate screen size for a given room.

First, we want to look at the native resolution (aspect ratio) of the projector being used in the room. This will help you determine what screen format you should use. Most all projectors nowadays will do both 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Projectors with 16:9 aspect ratio, like these available at Big Screen Center, are designed for playing High Def movies in home theater settings.

As shown below, a projector with a native 16:9 aspect ratio can letterbox to show a smaller image in 4:3 format. You will want to go by the native aspect ratio in order to get the biggest and best picture.

Second, we will want to look at the ceiling height in the room. A screen should be at least 1 ft. down from the ceiling and 3 ft. up from the floor. For example, in an 8 ft. room, a screen should be 4 ft. high at the most. If the room has a slanted ceiling, the screen should be placed at least 1 ft below the ceiling at the point where the screen is going to be installed. This rule of thumb gives you a screen that is gracefully proportionate to the wall and the room. This is especially true for classrooms, boardrooms, and conference rooms where people will be sitting in front of one another.

If you are mounting your projector to a central location on the ceiling, you want to mount the projector so that it is even with the top of the the screen. Now this rule of thumb is for a maximum screen size. It is OK to go smaller. People tend to focus on what they can see in the center of their field of vision. A person’s gaze tends to travel from one portion of the screen to the next when the screen is too big (or the person is sitting too close) to see it all at once. You don’t want your audience to get tennis neck.

Finally, we need to look at the distance the audience will be sitting from the screen. If the screen is bigger, people can see it from further away. For auditoriums, conference, and boardrooms the width of the screen should be no less that 1/6 the distance of the farthest spectator in the audience. For example if the back row of an auditorium is 48 ft. away then the width of the screen should be at least 8 ft. wide. This rule of thumb is for minimum screen size. It is OK to go larger. The important thing is to get a screen that is large enough for the audience in the back row to view comfortably.

Enjoying the Finished Installation Makes It All Worth While

Photo Courtesy of Epson and CruchGear.com

Example: Applying the Projector Screen Size Rules of Thumb

Projector Resolution. I will pretend I have a Panasonic PT-AE2000U projector, 16:9 aspect ratio for playing Hi-Def movies in a home theater. That means I should use a 16:9 HDTV format screen to get the biggest and best picture.

Ceiling Height. My ceilings are 8 ft. high. So my screen should be 48 in. high at the most. That means the largest screen I can fit in my small home theater is 92 in. diagonal 16:9 HDTV format (45 in. H x 80 in W).

Distance from Screen to Audience. If I prefer a smaller screen, the rule of thumb that screen width is based on the distance between viewer and screen offers some guidance. For example, if I set up the couch 10 ft. or 120 in. away, then the screen should be at least 20 in. wide (1/6 of 120 in.). That means a screen that is anywhere between 20 in. and 80 in. wide with a 16:9 aspect ratio will fit in my home theater.

Remember these rules are just a guide. It is important to have a clear idea of how the screen will fit with architectural features at the installation site. Discussing the screen installation with a knowledgeable professional like the experts at Big Screen Center (1-800-314-8955) may help clarify details of the the project.

Projector Screens Can Harmonize with Architectural Features - Like Stained Glass Windows

Photo Courtesy of recycledtoys.wordpress.com/

For example, a screen is the right size by the numbers might overlap some architectural feature like a window or door frame. In this case, it really helps to plan your purchase with someone who knows all the right questions to ask up front. Knowing your screen will be the right size the first time can save money and time up front.

We had a customer call in recently who had planned to install a screen between two windows but had not included the width of the window frame in his measurement of the distance between the two windows. The measurement was 80″ from windowpane to windowpane. The window frames were 2″ wide. That means that a 60″ x 80″ screen would have the viewing area exactly flush with the glass of the windows completely hide the window frames on both sides.

That’s OK for a manual or electric screen mounted to hang in front of the window frames. However a fixed frame screen designed to mount flush to the wall would be crowded out of position by the window frames. Sometimes it helps to work with a professional.

Big Screens Come in Small - And Long - Packages

Photo Courtesy of HomeTheaterBlog.com

It would be worthwhile to ask your sales rep about the size of the shipping carton the screen arrives in. Once you know the carton measurements, before you buy, check to make sure the screen carton will fit through the door into the room where it will be installed. For example, one reason the 108″ LCD television never caught on is because it is too large to fit through the doorway of a conventional house and turn down a 3′ hallway.

Sharp 108″ LCD Television - Towering over the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

Photo courtesy of Sharp and Foxnews.com

Measure any doorways, hallways, stairwells that the projector screen carton would have to pass through from the place it leaves the delivery truck to the place it should be installed. Do your best to measure or imagine how the carton would fit through. If the package is too long to fit through the door and around all the corners, check to see if there is a window that can open to let it through. Or get creative. As a last resort, it may be appropriate to consider a smaller size.

Shipping or freight is a significant cost of a projector screen. Companies who sell projector screens will either charge the full amount of the shipping, add shipping cost to the screen price, or absorb all or part of the cost in order to reduce their margins and save the sale. It is also worth consideration that screens with a higher shipping cost also have a higher carbon footprint because of the higher quantities of fossil fuels and packaging materials required to deliver the screen.

Efficient Shipping Reduces a Projector Screen’s Carbon Footprint

Projector screen retailers are diverse and fiercely competitive in their methods of dealing with shipping costs. This diversity gives customers substantial leverage in finding the best bargain or making choices with a favorable impact on the environment. In this guide, you will learn how to reduce the cost of your screen with Free Shipping, identifying screens with naturally Low Shipping Costs, and fully informed Comparison Shopping.

Free Shipping

Companies like Big Screen Center and Projector Screen Center offer free shipping. According to Atlanta bargain guru Clark Howard, looking for a web site that offers free shipping is one of the most important ways to save money shopping online this holiday season.

Be aware that some companies may look like they offer free shipping at first because they add shipping charges toward the end of the transaction. It is common for online shopping carts to have shipping calculators where customers to fill in a state and zip code to calculate shipping. Be careful. Some sites may hide the true shipping costs until after customers have entered payment information.

Industry leaders like Big Screen Center and up and coming Projector Screen Center confirm free shipping or detail shipping costs on the first page of the shopping cart. This elegant feature allows you to comparison shop without entering confidential address or credit card information.

Projector Screen Center Offers Full Disclosure of Shipping Costs without Confidential Information

It pays to make sure you have a company’s offer of free shipping in writing before assuming it is true. Take a screen shot of the free shipping offer including the URL and date for reference in case they try to charge you later.

Be cautious with web sites that do not disclose shipping costs before a customer registers or enters confidential information like addresses and credit cards. It is perfectly acceptable to enter a fake address and credit card information with your same zip code to verify shipping costs before making the decision to share your protected information. Then you will be able to compare the free shipping claims of all your online shopping choices accurately.

Screens with Low Shipping Costs

Shipping costs do not disappear with the offer of free shipping. It is common practice for online retailers to add all or part of the shipping costs to the product before offering free shipping. Therefore customers have an advantage when they know that for their size, certain screen designs cost less to ship.

For many customers, Fixed Frame Projector Screens are an ideal combination of elegance and shipping efficiency. Fixed Frame Screens have a flat screen surface and a frame that collapses into a very small and efficient shipping carton. Electric Screens on the other hand have complicated and bulky packaging needs because of their large cases and delicate motors. The packaging requirements raise the shipping price. A Fixed Frame Screen can cost 50 to 80 percent less to ship than an Electric Projector Screen of equal size.

Fixed Frame Screens Offer Style and Value
Installation Instructions for the Da-Lite Cinema Contour Fixed Frame Screen

With Fixed Frame projector screens, simple assembly is required at installation. Assembly is like building a kite and then hanging it like a picture. Fixed Frame Screens are the style used in movie theaters.

Manual Projector Screens have some of the look and function of electric screens while costing less to ship. Manual Screens have fewer moving parts while still offering users the ability to hide the screen from view when it is not in use. It is important to remember that lower shipping costs is another way of saying the product requires less packaging and consumes a smaller quantity of fossil fuel for delivery. In this case, choosing the lower cost option is better for the environment as well.

Manual Screens Ship Efficiently and Hide Away Neatly
Installation Instructions for the Da-Lite Model B Manual Projector Screen

Certain customers at offices and schools choose a manual projector screen because they can install it over a whiteboard, blackboard, or map to increase the number of uses for the same wall space. For home use, it is tempting to install a manual screen over a window to enjoy the choice of a window view or a view of the screen. Typically, it is difficult to place a television on a wall with prominent windows.

A Manual Projector Screen Could Fix this Awkward TV Placement

A choice between window and screen can unite nature and high tech entertainment in an enjoyable way. It is worth remembering that light from the window might create a halo effect around the picture. Careful experimentation beforehand or thick blinds are important to pulling off this home decorator idea.

If an electric screen is the best choice for your installation, then check the total price of the screen size you need (perhaps 100″ diagonal 4:3 video format) with several electric screen models across competing brands. Da-Lite, Draper, and Classic are competing national brands. Better online retailers hire experts to do this research with you. The toll free number for Projector Screen Center is 1-800-314-8955.

As an example of the shipping cost savings between electric screen models, a Da-Lite Contour Electrol electric screen measuring 84″ diagonal (50″ x 67″) ships freight at a cost of $80 to $125. Even if an online retailer offers free shipping, it is likely that some portion of this high shipping cost is added to the price of the item.

The Da-Lite Designer Contour Electrol is another electric screen by the same manufacturer designed to ship in more efficient packaging. The exact same 84″ screen ships for $20 to 30. That is a savings of 75 percent.

Da-Lite Designer Contour Electrol at Projector Screen Center
Installation Instructions for the Da-Lite Designer Contour Electrol Electric Screen

Although both screens are electric screens, of the same size, by the same manufacturer, with free shipping, the Da-Lite Designer Contour sells for over $175 less.

This proves it is worth while to uncover hidden shipping costs when searching for the best deal.

Comparison Shopping Review

Paying the lowest possible shipping costs involves careful investigation to find these key factors.

• Competing vendors offering Free Shipping
• Shipping charges added at the end of transaction
• Hidden shipping costs within the price of items
• Alternate products that meet the same requirements at a lower total cost

Look for free shipping claims and read them carefully. Assume you know the true price of a product only after you see a line item for shipping in your shopping cart or order summary. With luck, that line item reads “Free Shipping!” Although, keep the competition in mind. Even if a vendor charges for shipping, the total price may be less than the price at competitors offering free shipping. Add up product price plus shipping and handling and compare that total to judge the business with the lowest price.

Low shipping costs are a close predictor of environmental responsibility as well. Reducing the cost of packaging materials and fossil fuels used in shipping a screen reduces your cost as well as reducing the impact on the environment.