Projector & Screen Installation in Utah

Why the screen choice matters as much as the projector

The screen is half the picture. In a dark, dedicated room a plain matte white fixed-frame screen is the most accurate and the best value. In a room with some light, an ambient-light-rejecting (ALR) screen keeps blacks from washing out by reflecting the projector's light back at you and soaking up light from the sides.

Motorized drop-down screens make sense when the theater shares a wall with a TV or a window. And if the speakers need to sit behind the screen, like in a real cinema, an acoustically transparent screen lets the sound through.

• Dark dedicated room: fixed-frame matte white
• Some ambient light: ALR screen
• Shared wall or great room: motorized drop-down
• Speakers behind the screen: acoustically transparent

Laser vs lamp, and what '4K' really gets you

Laser projectors cost more up front, but they come on instantly, hold their brightness for years, and don't need lamp replacements. For a room that gets used a lot, laser is what I recommend.

4K matters more on a projector than on a TV, because at 120 inches you can actually see the extra detail. What matters just as much is brightness (lumens) matched to the screen size and the light in the room.

Ultra-short-throw: a projector for rooms that aren't theaters

An ultra-short-throw projector sits on a cabinet inches from the wall and throws a 100 to 120 inch picture upward onto a matching ALR screen. No ceiling mount, no long cable runs. It's a good answer for a family room where a ceiling projector isn't practical.