If you are reading this, then you are likely looking at a new TV, or are going to be moving to a new home or apartment soon. You are also probably thinking about making a significant upgrade to your home entertainment system. Picture quality and the way you experience your entertainment matter to you. This leads to several important questions:
In truth, there is no clear answer to these questions because every household, budget, and set of personal preferences are different. Instead of giving you an ineffective yet straightforward solution, we intend to help you by leading you down the path with further questions.
Keep reading the below sections, preferably taking notes as you go along, to figure out whether a projector or TV (and perhaps which variation thereof) is best for your home. Doing this will only take a few minutes and help save you a lot of time and money by preventing a potential mistake.
The first question revolves around the most obvious thing: what you have space for in your home.
To get the most out of a projector, you need to have space, virtually a whole wall, dedicated to it. This can result in an amazing picture if you have the right screen (which we strongly recommend unless you have just a perfect wall for projection) and lighting conditions. You will have a larger-than-life experience that feels just like a movie theater. Even the worst of reality TV can feel better with such a view, although you might go on a wide-screen movie binge first.
Conversely, a TV can exist more easily in a standard living room and can be placed with more peripherals in mind. If you already have a lot of expensive furniture and other equipment revolving around a television (perhaps a heavy TV cabinet) and you are not willing to part with it, then a television is probably still the best choice.
However, while a TV and related entertainment center do not require as much setup, they also don't easily fold up and keep out of the way the rest of the time either. A projector can be tucked away (or installed in the ceiling in many cases) and the space used for other purposes in the meanwhile, making the home feel more open.
However, with a projector, you do need to take care that the projection will not be blocked in any way. An elevated or ceiling installation can help with this, but ideally, the space between the couch and the wall should not be highly trafficked, which can be difficult in many living rooms. Fortunately, this is easy to check. You will also need relatively close space for peripherals unless you're willing to get creative with the wiring or have mostly wireless devices (which does not always result in the best experience unless you are confident in your WiFi).
Whatever things look like at the outset, we strongly recommend taking some measurements of the wall and area you intend to use for your projector or television, so you can go shopping for one without any self-doubt.
A television, as far as the picture is concerned, is mostly a self-contained apparatus. The image created is the image created, no matter what the rest of the room looks like or how it is lit. There are, of course, outlying circumstances, but generally speaking, the average television made today is more than capable of looking great in any range of environments, especially if you know how to adjust the settings. Just make sure that the line of sight from your seats to the television is comfortable and unobstructed.
Projectors, on the other hand, need the right lighting conditions to get the best picture quality. Using a projector in an already brightly lit room will not lead to the best results, and it may feel as though the whole setup is a waste.
You can, of course, adjust the settings on the projector, but in most cases, that can only do so much. Some projectors are designed with slightly brighter rooms in mind, but you will need to keep on the lookout for those. You could also look for a projector bulb with a higher lumen output, which reduces the challenges of using a projector in a brighter space.
Ideally, the room or room section you have in mind for a projector can be dimmed or darkened easily. If you have good curtains and well-defined spaces, then a projector might be the right choice. Essentially, look for ways to control the lighting situation in your home.
If you are willing to spend good money on a high-quality projector and any needed peripherals and accessories, you will likely be happy with what you get. Conversely, if you only have a little money to spare, you may want to stick to a TV, at least for now. Projectors are fundamentally expensive, as great of an experience as they can offer. While there are projectors you can pick up for only a few hundred dollars, they will pale compared to the better models and what you could get from a television at the same price point.
As a side note, you will likely need to buy a screen with a projector. However, the screen itself will not be the significant cost factor in your decision compared to the projector itself. This could change if you want a giant screen, or installing one could be especially difficult in your household.
That is not to say televisions cannot get expensive either, with the absolute best models reaching four figures. This level of experience is reserved perhaps for the most extreme of enthusiasts or people who want to entertain a large crowd.
If you are investing in a full entertainment setup, you also need to consider how much money you are willing to spend on things such as connections, a sound system, gaming consoles, streaming devices (if they are necessary with what else you have), and more. By itself, a TV or projector is not all that useful, and other services and devices must be factored into the total price point.
All of this, however, does not take into account potential sales and the used market. If you were to look now in any moderately populated area, you could undoubtedly find both televisions and projectors available for sale, with many, if not most of them in perfect working order. Perhaps a family is moving to a new home where a projector simply would not make sense, and theirs is up for sale for that reason. If you are willing to be patient, you could wait and check every once in a while, scooping up what you want when the time is right.
Of course, as with all used electronics (and most used items), you should be wary and do your research beforehand. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is, and all devices have a lifespan. As much as you think you can tell such things, you do not know how something was treated (or neglected) before it came into your possession. Televisions can wear out, and projectors have bulb lifespans to consider. Be sure to ask questions and do not take uncertain answers.
For this question specifically, we suggest that you try not to go into this decision blindly and instead try to see both a modern projector and a TV in action. You can see a new TV working in a store display probably a few minutes away, but seeing a projector might take a little more organization. In either case, you likely have some memories of seeing both. Keep in mind what you buy might not be anything like what you have seen before in terms of quality.
In addition to some of the issues with required lighting noted above, projectors also have to reflect their image off a screen before you can view it. While this is just part of the program, it also means that if the screen isn't exactly perfect, then you could be dealing with a faded image (go back to the low-quality projector in one of your science classes). Modern projectors are certainly better at canceling out this effect, and it might even make some films and shows look more immersive, but it isn't the intended way to view a lot of content.
Projectors also do a lot better with a higher-resolution picture, and you can truly see all of the details that would take a massive TV to notice otherwise. Do you really want the most out of 4K content or your Blu-ray discs? Hooking up a streaming device or your player to your projector makes sense.
There are some things that TVs have on their side for picture quality, however. The main one of these is HDR, which more movies and shows are using. While some projectors might have it, projectors simply are not as good at it as the best television sets.
Continuing from the discussion about space earlier, figuring out precisely what you want your entertainment center (and thus whether you get a projector or television) for is one of the first things you have to think about if you do not have a clear idea already.
A television can be great for casual viewing or entertaining guests. It can make for pleasant background noise or viewing, and making adjustments is easy. It is not the centerpiece of the room, and the focus can more easily be on who is in the room with you. In short, a TV, unless the volume is pumped up, can be ignored.
If you want an experience as close to the theater as possible and are willing to spend the money and space on it, a high-quality projector is probably what you want. There is nothing like watching a fantastic film on your projector at home. Other potential uses for a projector include gaming with multiple people (split-screen is not so bad when each split of the screen is as large as a television), making presentations and slideshows at home, and playing some party games. A projector and its ideal environment are not easily ignored when turned on.
With the right model and peripherals, you can make either device do pretty much whatever you like. On average, a television will have more features built-in such as streaming apps, improved connectivity, and more. A projector is more likely to be just a projector and will likely fare better with a direct connection. However, there are exceptions to this, and each product is different.
Smart TVs are likely what you are used to already. They can effectively be considered the default in home entertainment, with the only variable being just how smart you want it to be. Do you want a constantly connected living room that can access just about any content imaginable, or do you want something a bit more modest and easier to control? There is no wrong answer, only a wrong answer for your personal preferences.
While smart televisions are excellent and are practically unavoidable if you want a newer model, there are a few things about them you should note:
In addition to the projectors you might be used to, there are also "smart projectors." These are, of course, projectors but generally have a bit of a different design philosophy. They are more portable, use LED lighting and bulbs, and contain most of the smart features you are familiar with, such as voice control, a dedicated app store, and the ability to stream content either from an app or directly from your phone.
While a smart projector as described here might not be the best option for your household, it might be a good supplementary device, especially if you travel often. There are smart projectors that are primarily concerned with a stationary experience, and they can likely provide a better picture quality for the same price (there is a tradeoff for everything). In general, we recommend weighing all your options and checking whether your home would be best served by one of these smart projectors or a more standard model.
Additionally, smart projectors might suffer the same drawbacks as a smart TV, although to a lesser degree. Just make sure to find a trusted brand that will do its best to support the projector.
Whichever way you go, you also need to think about each type of device's future and how well you feel that your device of choice will be supported. Do the apps matter to you? Are there any features related to picture quality that you cannot do without?
Television sets certainly are not going anywhere, even if some people are cutting the cord and switching over to online streaming for their content. Instead, they are adapting, taking on more of the above smart features, and making sure that they can connect to whatever devices come along. Meanwhile, resolutions and screens improve, allowing for a cutting-edge entertainment experience on ever-increasing screen sizes for lower prices.
On the other hand, projectors might be a little bit behind the television markets when it comes to some metrics, but the screen size is not limited, and many people will swear by the image quality. Projectors can also often be more portable, as "smart projectors" have proven, and one can more easily adjust where the image is. They simply do things that televisions cannot and never be able to do.
As mentioned, smart devices are practically the norm, and there will always be something around the corner. In truth, no one can precisely predict what is going to happen. While you should not stress over the issue, if you know something is about to be released in a short while and want to wait, that can be a sensible course of action.
Yet even considering all the above, we think that the ultimate question to this debate is what kind of experience you want and to what lengths are you willing to go to get it? This might not only be in terms of money but in terms of rearranging your home, as described above. You will have to balance several resources and consider just how often you will be realistically using the setup. If it is your primary form of entertainment, the best experience should be a priority (you will not regret it). If not, then convenience might be key.
If the thought of going to the movie theater minus all the people excites you, then you should certainly consider getting a projector and setting up your living room around the concept of a home theater. This is especially true if you live alone or live with people with the same ideas as you. Alternatively, if your entertainment center is going to be in the basement or another place that can be darker and out of the way, then you will be able to get that heavy immersion you are looking for without sacrificing much home functionality.
If you want a more standard living room and TV viewing experience where you can somewhat tune out the tube and easily change things up, then using a television might be best. You still might want a big or high-quality TV, but a standard set nonetheless. If you just want a small television for the kitchen, bedroom, or another room, then we would recommend a television over a projector nearly every time.
There is no definitive answer to whether one is better than the other, but we are confident that there is a clear choice for your particular home. Remember all your notes from answering the above questions, and you will find it difficult to go wrong. Remember to try and see an example of what you have in mind in-person (as difficult as that might be at the current time). Please return to this page as you feel necessary and keep it on hand should you ever get confused.
