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….