With home theater projectors, setting up your private little cinema has become truly simple and affordable. There are many models to choose from, and they vary in both price and functions. Most of them can take inputs from both your PC and other video sources, such as a DVD player or a game console. However, most of them are either optimized for PC use or for home theater; very few models are good at both. To make sure you decide on the right projector for your needs, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

The first one is resolution. Most popular home theater projects have a resolution of 720p or 1080p. The higher the resolution, the more pixels are displayed, which makes the image sharper. High resolutions also work on HD sources, such as Blu-rays, Sky HD and PS3. There are still some projectors with a resolution of 480p. However, at least 720p are needed for a home theater projectors. These are still very affordable, and 480p projectors have become very rare. Picture quality also varies upon what you are watching. A low signal in your projector will create lower quality, especially if you have a large screen.

The contrast ratio is also very important. This ratio describes the difference between white and black parts within the picture. For instance, a ratio of 1000:1 signifies that the darkest black is 1000 times deeper than the brightest white. Projectors with a high difference between the brightest white and the deepest black provide clearer images. One may wonder why should there be any brightness at all in black. That's because all projectors have what is named brightness leakage. More complex projectors have a lower leakage and therefore the contrast ratio is better. The newest models have a contrast ratio of up to 200,000:1, which means they can display really deep black.

Another thing you should consider is brightness. Home theater projectors' brightness varies between 1000 and 2500 lumens. Choosing the appropriate brightness also depends on how much you can decrease ambient light that hits the screen. If you know you will not use blinds or something else to reduce the degree of light coming from outside, you should look at higher lumen projectors. For low ambient light environments, projector brightness should be somwhere between 1200 and 1600. If you have controlled lighting, anything higher than 1000 lumens is good enough.

The two types of home theater projectors available on the market include DLP (digital light processing) and LCD (liquid crystal display). While there have been long discussions about which of them is better, they have both advanced a lot along the years and the gap between them is now relatively low. LCD projectors produced by world-known manufacturers such as Hitachi, Epson and Sanyo have the benefit of being lower-priced.

Apart from the projector itself, you also need a projector screen. When purchasing one, be aware that the screen's aspect ratio must fit the one of the projector. An aspect ratio of 16:9 for both the projector and the screen is a common selection among home theater users. You also need to arrange for sound sources in case the projector does not have built-in speakers. Sound systems can range from basic stereo amplifiers to multi-channel audio-video receivers.