Portable Home Theater Projector
View your favorite movies and TV shows on a large screen for an immersive experience. Portable projectors come in a variety of screen sizes and brightnesses for different room conditions.
The best portable projectors have excellent brightness and contrast ratios, good color accuracy, and convenient setup tools. However, these devices lack the brightness and deep black levels of a home theater projector for classic dark-room movie watching.
Brightness
As the name implies, a portable projector is a mini home theater projector that you can easily take with you wherever you go. These hand-held devices are typically battery-powered and can be used to create an image larger than a television screen. However, they often lack the brightness that you would find in a traditional home theater projector.
To determine a portable projector’s brightness, look at its ANSI lumen rating. The higher this number is, the brighter the display will be. It is also important to consider ambient light when choosing a projector. Ambient light can dilute a projector’s brightness, making it hard to see the image. This can be a problem during home movie night with the lights on, outdoor sunset settings, or classroom sessions.
When evaluating a projector’s brightness, it is important to consider the difference between ANSI lumen and light source lumen. ANSI lumen is a measurement of the brightness of the projected image, while light source lumen is a measure of the brightness of the projector’s light sources. It is important to know the difference between these two ratings because they can be radically different.
Contrast Ratio
In a projector, contrast ratio measures the brightness of white and black images. Ideally, high contrast produces solid blacks and brilliant whites with rich natural color saturation, sharp detail, deep three-dimensionality and well-defined shadow detail. It also ensures that text, charts and other presentation data appear crisp and clear. In a home theater setting, good contrast helps deliver a more lifelike viewing experience during movie watching and gaming. In business presentations, it makes important data more visible for effective audience comprehension and retention.
Many manufacturers inflate their contrast ratings by using a simple test pattern with alternating white and black squares on a single screen. This technique, called Full On/Off contrast, is a big misrepresentation of how the projector will perform in actual visual content. In reality, most scenes contain a mixture of bright and dark areas. To compensate, projectors often adjust their light output on the fly by opening or closing an auto iris and altering the amount of lumens emitted. This isn’t a bad thing, but it should be stated and understood that such adjustments are not included in the Full On/Off contrast rating spec.
Color Accuracy
If you’re going to invest in a home theater projector, you’ll want it to display accurate colors and a wide color gamut. Our expert testers measure a projector’s ability to accurately reproduce different shades of gray and other colors by comparing the Portable WiFi Projector sampled color with a reference. The result is a color accuracy rating, which is reported as a Delta E (E).
You’ll also want to look for a portable projector with an easy setup process. Most can be up and running within a few minutes, and they usually offer smart features such as built-in streaming apps and voice control.
The XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro offers a great value for its price, with sophisticated auto-setup functions and surprisingly accurate out-of-the-box or calibrated color. The BenQ HT4550i is another top pick, offering high-quality image quality at a budget-friendly portable wifi projector price. It’s designed to shine in well-lit areas, and it provides a wide color gamut and excellent out-of-the-box or calibrated accuracy. This model also features a slew of other helpful features such as automatic keystoning and digital zoom.
Image Size
Many people use portable projectors to play movies on the big screen, but they’re also great for watching sports and TV shows. The best portable projectors offer a wide range of features, including a high-resolution image and a bright screen for an immersive viewing experience.
Some of these models come with built-in streaming and apps for your favorite content, but most need to be connected to a separate device for this functionality. Look for a model that has HDMI ports to connect your Blu-ray player or gaming consoles.
Depending on the projector’s throw ratio (the distance between the lens and the screen), it can create different image sizes. This varies from one projector to the next and is important for determining your placement options. A variable zoom lens lets you choose from a range of image sizes, allowing the projector to adjust for various setups. For the best results, you should pair your portable projector with a 1.78:1 (16:9) projection screen for HD video or 2.35:1 Cinemascope screen for most modern movies. However, if you plan on watching older 4:3 format content, then consider a wider 2.35 or 16:9 aspect ratio screen to avoid black bars at the top and bottom of the image.
Sound
Unless they’re designed for the home, most portable projectors lack their own sound systems. That’s why they come with a range of connectivity options to allow you to connect external Bluetooth speakers or AV components like a receiver or Blu-ray player.
Many of them also feature HDMI ports to allow you to connect devices like gaming consoles, handheld devices, Blu-ray players or streaming media devices like Roku or Apple TV. Some even support HDR content for strikingly vivid colors.
Some are the size of a portable speaker and offer audio quality that can rival a typical Bluetooth speaker. These small, versatile projectors are ideal for transforming any space into your own cinema. They offer the benefits of modern features, compatibility and versatility, as well as a streamlined setup process. They’re the perfect choice for movie night with family, watching your favorite sports competitions with friends or turning your backyard into an outdoor cinema after sunset. They’re also great for giving presentations to a single audience using files stored on your cell phone, laptop or memory card.