Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the House & Home myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
When I bought a projector for our family home some 13 years ago, I could not have predicted the Marmite reaction. “But where’s the TV?” “But is the picture quality any good?” and “How do your kids cope?” are the most common questions from friends who can’t fathom life without an actual telly. But we — children included — stand firm. Watching a series or film on our massive pull-down screen installed on the ceiling is an event, particularly at this time of year. It draws us together, and reduces the tendency for my children to splinter off into their rooms and on to separate screens.
Recently, more people have been asking me for advice on projectors, which chimes with an uptick in projector sales; Samsung’s are up by 2,612 per cent in the past four years, and by 67 per cent in the past year.
I’ve been a convert since 2012 when, eight months pregnant with my first child, I declared televisions too ugly for our new family home. That happy, sweaty summer, I watched The Killing, Wimbledon and the London Olympics projected on to our sitting room wall thanks to the Epson bulb projector I bought from Argos. Three children and thousands of movie nights later, it’s time for an upgrade.
Projectors today are more stylish and discreet — and quieter. Smart laser and LED technology have replaced bulbs, most have impressive sound systems built-in, and lots have all the perks of a TV — such as voice command and gaming mode.
There are three main elements to focus on. First, lumens determine brightness — the higher the lumens, the better. Second, resolution (measured in pixels) affects image sharpness: 1,080 is standard while 4k is considered “ultra-high definition” (UHD) and is better for larger screens like ours. Finally, “throw ratio” dictates how far back from the screen/wall the projector needs to sit: standard throw (1.5:1 to 2:1) requires 1.8-3 metres for a 254cm/100in image, short throw sits just feet away and ultra-short throw sits inches from the wall.
Measure your room, decide where your projector will live and use an online projector throw calculator to make sure the projector fits your space and the screen size you’d like. Other things to think about include surround sound and built-in streaming platforms such as Google TV and Apple TV.
Best for money no object
The Leica Cine 1 (from £8,495) is the aesthete’s pick for an ultra-short throw projector: silver, with smart TV and Dolby Atmos surround sound. In the Leica store in Harrods, Girish Surlekar, the charming manager, blasts me with Top Gun: Maverick (the crux moment when Maverick and Rooster drop the bunker buster bombs). The surround sound is impressive and the picture ultra crisp. Then the screen disappears down into its Poltrona Frau x Leica integrated cabinet (£23,940, poltronafrau.com) and Girish smiles: “The volume was only at 23; the maximum is 100.” I am sold — although it’s not designed to be portable and I don’t have a spare £23k.
Runner up: Samsung’s The Premiere LPU9D 4K Triple Laser Projector (£4,999) is more portable, and has AI integration to upscale resolution and brightness. It’s not such a looker.
Best for portability
Richer Sounds’ best-selling portable projector is Samsung’s The Freestyle 2 (£449), a dinky point-and-play with built-in speakers. It automatically adjusts focus for an image up to 254cm/100in. At 830g, it’s lightweight and cute, with three colourful sleeves to choose from and a hard case for travelling. Streaming apps are embedded. According to Samsung, The Freestyle doesn’t replace an existing TV for 90 per cent of purchases; it is used for travelling and is moved about to rooms without a TV — mostly the master bedroom.
Runner up: The Anker Nebula Capsule 3 (£750) is a bestseller on the Harrods tech floor. Though tiny, the image quality is excellent. It also doubles up as a Bluetooth speaker. Its newer, even smaller sister, the Capsule 3 1080p Mini Google TV Projector (£499), has been upgraded and now has Netflix integrated. Good for students and renters.
Best for adaptability
Leica’s Cine Play 1 (£2,950, with a separate floorstand, £335) is both portable and a thing of beauty. It’s 4k resolution, with 3,000 lumens, Triple RGB laser projector, a projection size of up to 762cm/300in and two built-in speakers. The bass is “sick”, according to the teenager. It’s my favourite for a pull-down ceiling screen indoors, but I can also see it working outdoors, to create a garden cinema (or indeed, projected on to the main sail of your yacht, as in the ad).
Runner up: Epson’s Lifestudio Flex EF-72 (£1,150) is the brand’s first 4k projector with Sound by Bose and Google TV. This was the 10-year-old’s pick after we transformed his bedroom into a temporary cinema and augmented the Planet of the Apes drama to maximum level. It auto-resizes the image to the space — in this case, his blackout blind — meaning no hours were lost fiddling with focus or manual sizing adjustments. The Flex can also swivel and tilt upwards 90 degrees for watching movies on the ceiling.
The Leica Cine Play 1 (without the floorstand) was our family’s overall winner for its plug-and-play simplicity, picture quality and auto resizing to fit. We want a semi-permanent set-up in our sitting room, with the option to move it around the house or into the garden in summer. However, given the children’s newfound penchant for movie night in the bath and other random locations, the Samsung Freestyle 2 may also be on the Christmas present list.
Find out about our latest stories first — follow @ft_houseandhome on Instagram
Read the full article here