TV vs Projector

 

Earlier, we spoke about the comparison between Projector and a TV in an emotional point of view. Now, let us compare both of them objectively.

TV is a well-known piece of electronics, which we all are fairly used to. This generally creates an affinity towards TV and accordingly an averse feeling about the little known Projector. Actually, this is a strong factor. Most of the time, purchase of TV is an up-gradation from existing box which comes with some known features and a lot of unknown and unused features. While in case of projector, some of us may have experienced it in different ways but never would have thought of it with the perspective of buying one for yourself for personal usage. This natural affinity-aversion is a major blockade.

Let us take the TV first. The TV has the advantage of so called user-friendliness (which may not be the case fully in a SMART TV). Easy to install, connect, start and use. It has the speaker to fill your TV room/hall/living room. The clarity of the picture and the intensity in which the clarity is delivered is, I must say, is a feast.

The BIG TVs have an immense signature in the room and when combined with good speakers and a room set-up, it may give a “glimpse’ of theatre experience. The TV may allow you to watch the movie with your room light ON… Oh is that the theatre experience we are speaking of…??

I have listed top three glaring disadvantages of TV below:-

1.       The cost of TV. Cost of the TV for a display size above 40 inch ranges upwards of Rs. 38,000/-. That too old models, lesser known brands, conspicuously discreet HD Ready models lure around in this range. Any decent brand with desired results is upwards of Rs 50,000/- (I searched for SMART TV in Amazon.in with filters of four stars and Up, 40-47, 48-54 and above 55 inch)

2.       The impact of screen light on your eyes. It is a direct hit from the so-many LEDs packed and drinking so much of power to bring out the brightness to mightily impress you. While it does impress you, it does hurt you as well. You may be thinking that watching news broadcast, one match or a movie in the weekend will hurt. You right, but are you the only one affected…??

3.        Occupies considerable space. A 55 inch TV occupies 4 ft x 2.3 ft always. There is nothing you can do about it. Putting it on a stand…needs a TV console. Planning to mount in a wall…?? Mark the dimensions first to realise the size we are speaking about.

So what is my recommendation..??? Buy a Short-throw, non-3D, HD LED Projector.

Advantages of the Projector against a TV….

1.    Obviously, the image size. The size of the wall or the screen is the limit. 120 inch can be easily captured on the wall. Now, that’s a theatre experience. While the screen size of a projector is nowhere comparable to the theatre, considering the fact that you are not sitting farther than 2 meters from the screen at home against the minimum 25 meters in a theatre, yes it is a near theatre experience.

2.   The image is reflected image and hence the impact on your eyes is minimal. Consider you kid watching Peppa Pig for half an hour in TV and in Projector…?? No great science, obviously, the TV has bigger impact on the eyes.

3.     My second favorite reason after the screen size is the fact, that when not used, it is easily packed or tucked away above your head, with the roof or in one wall.

4.     You can easily shift to your garden or balcony area and have a night movie watching.

5.     The cost is very reasonable. With LED and Android OS, the cost of projectors from even reputable brands are very less. I searched for HDSMART Projector in Amazon.in, I could see a number of reliable products with 4 stars and above ratings in the price range of upwards of Rs 15,000.

So called draw backs in the projectors should also be known. I have listed them below.

1.    Decision to buy a projector should be based upon your house-layout, space available etc.

2.    You may initially find it cumbersome to connect HDMI cables. But an easy solution is to buy two set of HDMI cable, one longer enough to be connected always to the projector with it’s other end available near your DTH or Laptop. The second HDMI cable can be used when you are shifting the projector to a garden or something like that…

3.    Starting up a projector may not be appealing to all. Also, there exists a myth that a projector takes loooong time to be up and running….Latest TVs are taking comparable time to start.

How to or what to buy….??

While I may come up with guide for buying a projector in the future, I feel there are adequate guides already available in the net. Few terminologies have to be understood and your potential projector should have the numbers against these terminologies on the favorable side…That’s it.

Don’t worry much about the things like life of LED is 10,000 hrs only, the lumens is 3200 only, its only 720P, its not 3D enabled and all. Remember, BEST is the enemy of good. If you are looking for the BEST, you may end up looking for ever.

My personal view is buy a projector upwards of Rs 25,000 and enjoy the huge image. If you already have a TV which you were planning to replace, don’t sell it. Place it somewhere else and enjoy the feel. The projector do have in-built speakers, and is decent enough. However, you may like to connect an external speaker, through Bluetooth or 3.5 mm jack and enjoy a totally packed moment.

Few things that i recommend that the SMART projector should have are minimum Two USB ports (you can connect wireless mouse and keyboard), Three HDMI ports (you can connect Chrome cast or Fire Stick), Bluetooth, 3.5 mm jack, adjustable supports etc..,

Your kid may stare into the lens of the projector. You will have to encourage them to avoid the light and showing the ‘big’ picture. I was able to show the ‘bigger’ picture within a couple of times of my son staring into the lens.

So, enjoy….