Spec me a living room projector, also for the van?

My wife and I, after some years watching streaming content on the sofa with a laptop, are thinking of getting a projector for the living room. We have a suitable wall opposite. We were sucked in by talk of a few hundred quid, but that has spiraled to where we have nearly ordered an Epsom EF12 at about a grand.

Because we don’t have a TV, it’s rather difficult to gauge what we actually want, and we haven’t found any places locally that actually have a choice, or even any plugged in to demo. So it seems that we are resigned to ordering online.

So can someone please distill all the reviews and just tell me what I want and why…

Projecting to the bedroom ceiling sounds cool… but isn’t a widely advertised feature. Seems I need to go digging in to the spec to see if is possible.

Would a battery powered unit be able to project on the ceiling of our campervan? We occasionally watch something on a tablet.

Is wireless/bluetooth a realistic setup expectation for movies?

Projecting to the bedroom ceiling sounds cool…

Err….

I went for a used Epson EB-585WI – it’s just ‘under’ HD resolution. This was an expensive projector once upon a time. I bought it without a lamp for about £60, and then a brand new LED lamp for another £60 direct from Epson.

You’ll want a short throw projector like the 585. Your biggest issue is lumens – loads of projectors out there, but they are crap unless the room is dark. Our Epson is fine during the day. so long as the curtain is closed. I use a tripod on the floor about two feet from the wall. We’ve also got an electric retractable screen that gives me a 2.5m wide picture – about as big as the wall.

As said it’s just under HD, but looks blooming amazing – bright colours, and can’t see the pixels even at maximum size. We also have a smaller screen that I use in the garden in summer – being a short throw projector there is less messing trying to find an optimal position.

I’d certainly look at an older, reconditioned projector that has a high lumen. Just check out the bulb costs. 

Very pleased with ours – had it about 18 months now. Really makes movies pop, add in Bluetooth to the hifi or a couple of good portable speakers – just like the cinema, although my wine is easier to get !

Ahsoka action.

Indiana Jones in the ‘garden’.

The EF12 is 1000 lumen. For a big picture – 100 inch, you need the unit over 2m away – it say’s short throw, I suppose it is, I was referring to ‘ultra short throw’ – more versatile.
The issue is, with portable, you are looking at lower lumen, and restricting visibility – you’ll need dark. The 585 I have is 3,300 lumen.

I think the latest generation of cheap LCD panels has made most home projectors (other than portibility) pretty useless – you can get an 85″ LCD for the price of a half-decent projector, which is realistically as large as most people will want to project, and will be way more flexible with light levels, minimal faff, etc.

the 98″ TCL can be had for under £2k

Thanks. I don’t ‘need’ ultra short throw… I can see it’s benefits for some uses though.

We’ve got an Optima 1080p projector mounted onto the ceiling. I would highly recommend – it’s out the way and you forget it’s there most of the time. It’s got a chromecast dongle plugged into it for connectivity and an audio cable running to the hifi for sound.

It’s about 3m away from the screen and allows for a circa 120″ screen. There is no way I would want a screen that size dominating the room permanently on show.

Whilst the set up is not 4k, as an overall set up I find it more comfortable and preferable to the cinema!

I think the latest generation of cheap LCD panels has made most home projectors (other than portibility) pretty useless

This ^^^. I’ve got a 100″ screen and projector in the kids playroom (used to be the cinema/movie room/library before kids arrived). Was planning on moving it to the living room soon, but picked up a 65″ Samsung 4k screen for not much over the xmas sales. So now wondering what to do with the projector…

Might move it anyway, and get a bigger screen for “big” movie nights, as the projector is good for “up to” 120-130″ screens.

1080p optoma pointing at a 120” retractable screen here. Only comes out for movie night and despite being relatively inexpensive it gives decent results.

Since it sounds like you might be intending to use it for all your viewing, I’d suggest it might not be the tool for the job for watching the news or Eastenders – small screen entertainment shouldn’t be that big!

Benq th690st is staggeringly good. Insanely good intra-scene contrast.

Short throw and 4K HDR signal ready – looks better than a 1080p projector even though the panel is technically 1080p.

No bulb so it uses LED illumination with 10,000-20,000 hours of use. This also makes it a low power projector too:  140w V about 300-400 watts for a bulb based model.

Only downside is checking if you are bothered by DLP rainbow effect.

I have a dedicated room. Only the LG OLEDs C3 are better in my opinion (for the price point) – but with a projector you don’t have reflections at all if used on a proper screen. That’s a big one for me.

OLEDs do an amazing black though.

Should add I don’t actually watch telly incidentally, it’s always stuff I sit down to watch. I get that TVs are cheap and bright, but not what I want thanks.

The ef12 isn’t bright in terms of lumens, but it is laser which apparently is not directly comparable…

BenQ W1800 is another that has caught my eye with reviews

Some Youtube shorts randomly came up with mobile projectors that would automatically adjust the projection so that you could project onto any flat surface, even if you’re slight pissed /curved surface….