Replace your TV sets with modern projector systems to bring a movie theater into home

If you’re in your mid 20’s or above, you’ve been an exclusive witness to the transformation in the television. I’m talking about how televisions looked in the recent past and how they look now.  Some of you probably remember the time when our household television would be housed in wooden boxes. 

Moving on, we got color CRT TVs with their curved screens which later got changed into flat screens, and became a whole thinner.  The screens then progressed on to plasma, LCD and LED technologies.

Amidst all this, a silent adversary was on the rise. Condensed boxes hardly two bricks wide and a few inches thick with a lens on its front side, the projector emerged in seminar halls, classrooms, bars and public spaces not so long ago. With a box less than a square feet in area, and nothing but a white wall, you could now watch movies in sizes well over 60 inches. The nostalgia of TV sets aside, creating home theaters quickly came into fashion in the neighborhood, even after the World Cup matches.

Bigger is usually better. The notion is every bit true when it comes to TVs. But as TV sizes grow, the price also increases exponentially. The same is not the case with projectors. These are the reasons more and more home theaters are being designed in residences.

Price: Let’s start with the obvious. We are looking at a serious investment over here. Television that exceed the 50 inches mark go for well over 1.5 lakh. With additional features and specifications, the larger TVs can range from 5 to 6 lakh rupees in price.  The projectors, on the other hand, are available at much cheaper prices.  If you wanted to add 3D, extended audio, and other features, would cost slightly more.

Scalability: TV size saturates at around 64 or 72 inches. TV’s larger than these become difficult to find and too expensive to afford. Projectors have it easy in this regard. You can go much higher than that in size at the same incurred cost. All you need is a wall or your screen that’s large enough. Also, carrying it around is also easy.  Moving the projector from one place to another is also of less hassle.

Portability: Modern smart homes call for dynamic transformations in rooms. TV’s are statically placed, large space occupying objects. Projections on the other hand give you the freedom to roll up your screens or simply project on designated walls without making any major changes in the room. As far as the projector is concerned it takes up less space than a ceiling fan.

Reduced risk: Televisions are fragile. Large TV’s are always on the edge could tip over or get knocked down. Regardless of the safety reinforcements it isn’t difficult to break these huge panels. This could spell absolute disaster for TV owners. Projectors are much more safe with dependable clamping mechanisms and less fragile parts. Even if it is dropped, the absolute worst could be a broken bulb which doesn’t cost as much as the whole thing, which is usually the case with television sets.

Easy on the eye: The scattering of light beams from a point source on a solid surface give us pictures that are truly unique. In contrast to staring at millions of illuminated LED pixels for prolonged duration while viewing on a TV, viewing a projected picture is lot less strenuous on the eye.

Having said all that, projectors are not all saints in the business. There are reasons why there hasn’t been a worldwide adaptation of these systems.

Economies of scale: For those holding the “make it large” banner, projectors are the way to go 9 times out of 10. Getting a movie experience almost as good as the theater can never be bad. However, for less sophisticated, this whole concept of home theater could be a challenge from feasibility and finance perspective

Maintenance: Once you buy a TV, you keep it until it is very old or it is broken. Projectors come with an expiration date in terms of usable hours which might not be okay for all kinds of customers.

Aesthetics: We’re looking at a very modern concept of smart home here. Pulling off the setup itself would be a mini-architectural feat but you would also need to unwanted light sources blocked to get relatively darker rooms and project audio video as per your demand. Another point of hesitance is the aesthetic appeal that a television gives. The luxury that your 60 inch curved LED exudes is at a level your projector driven system will never reach.

Sophisticated: From setting up to operating it, its not as easy as a television. It is getting simpler but we’ve all dealt with projector problems in our lives. They have haunted most of our presentations. Now, having one of them as your get go source of entertainment doesn’t all exactly add up.

Weighing in the good and the bad, it really comes down to what you want. If you are looking for the theater experience, and movie marathons are your preferences, projector based installations might be ideal for you. Otherwise, you might just stick to the good old television.