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Type of projectors

Although there's a dazzling array of makes and models available in the market, projectors can be segmented into two broad categories: Home theater and multimedia.

Home theater

These home theater projectors can be easily identified by their widescreen (16:9) format and high-contrast performance. Optimized for movie playback in light-controlled environments, most have only modest brightness levels and are shipped in mainly three film-based native resolutions, from standard-definition 480p to high-def 720p and 1080p.

Common resolution	Pixel size (H x V)	Applications
480p	854 x 480	DVD
720p	1,280 x 720	Entry HD
1080p	1,920 x 1,080	A.k.a. full-HD for Blu-ray

Other auxiliary functions targeted at enhancing picture quality include powerful video processors, Imaging Science Foundation Certified Calibration Configuration (ISF 3C) for professional color tuning, dynamic iris control to boast dynamic contrast, etc.

The dynamic iris, in particular, works by restricting light output on-the-fly to yield deeper blacks in dark scenes, while allowing maximum emission during bright clips. Using an InFocus Play Big IN83 as an example, this enables a three-fold leap from a native 5,000:1 contrast to 15,000:1.

Multimedia

The business-centric counterparts of their home theater siblings, multimedia or data projectors emphasize brightness for presentations and produce mainly standard 4:3 aspect ratio projection in computer-based resolutions. The latter encompasses entry-level SVGA and popular XGA sets to Excel spreadsheet-friendly SXGA and rare WXGA wide entries, among others.

Common resolution	Pixel size (H x V)	Aspect ratio	Applications
SVGA	800 x 600	4:3	Small meeting room
XGA	1,024 x 768	4:3	Conference room
SXGA	1,280 x 1024	4:3	CAD/CAM, Excel spreadsheet, etc.
WXGA	1,280 x 800	16:10	Widescreen laptops

Besides resolutions, multimedia projectors can be subcategorized into portable, conference room and auditorium models in terms of form factor and brightness. As a quick reference, a true mobile portable will have a weight of less than 2kg. On the other hand, the light output of the conference and auditorium equivalents is rated at over 2,000 and 4,000 lumens, respectively.

As for the extra bits, expect productivity enhancements ranging from wireless connectivity option and integrated network administration to a secondary lamp for redundancy and instant powering-up plus shutdown capabilities. Some higher-end kits also have onboard multimedia playback for PC-less presentation via a memory card slot and PowerPoint conversation software.

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