10 Best Projectors under $1000 For 2021
In a Hurry? Editors choice - Editor Choice
- Rec.709 HDTV color
- Flexible Connectivity
- Low Latency Gaming Projector
- Native 1080p Full Hd Image
- Video Games 300 Inches
- Vertical Keystone Correction
Nowadays everyone likes to have a bigger picture. For playing a video game or watching a movie at home, while having a movie theater experience, the best thing to do is to upgrade your projector than upgrading your television. You get a highly adjustable screen size, with your wall’s size being much more significant than standard TV.
Agreed? These days you can get some best projectors under $1000 with high-end features, being the best alternative to the priced televisions. As there are many in the market these days to choose from, so you might be confused about what the projector under $1000 is for you. So we are here to help you. After spending hours on testing, we found these ten home theater projectors for you.
Keeping in mind the display technologies, screen size, throw distance, resolution, contrast and the brightness impact in mind, we have reviewed the top-selling portable projectors under $1000 here. Each one of them being of great value for the people who need a high-end 1080p projector, either for using at home or in the office for movies, games, and presentations.
There are some other great projectors available, check out our reviews on the best projectors below $200 and projectors under $500.
10 Best Projectors under $1000 List
Creating a more lifelike and realistic image with accurate colors for its viewers, BenQ HT2050 produces a great motion detail along with a high contrast ratio.
Its users love this modestly priced projector by Epson being its best model for the image quality and deep colors it offers along with giving a full HD content.
This bright model by Epson is a perfect choice for a completely dark room.
This projector by Epson having the 3LCD display technology is designed for office use, where you have to give presentations.
This quiet and compact projector by BenQ is another addition to our list of projectors under $500.
In focus is the pioneer in digital projection, amazes us with its incredible HD projector.
Bringing Epson 2040 home means you are carrying a full HD 1080 p screen home.
It provides a bright and high brightness for small and well-lit meeting rooms.
1BenQ HT2050A
Creating a more lifelike and realistic image with accurate colors for its viewers, BenQ HT2050 produces a great motion detail along with a high contrast ratio. This DLP projector sets apart due to the number of features it offers. Its light output is enough for illuminating a home theatre screen.
Using the RGB color wheel, it enables brilliant colors for extra brightness in the advanced menu. Working with a DLP technology, it’s enriched having a high-resolution DLP. The 2200 lumens brightness makes sure to brighten it up for you every day. It has an ISF certified calibration for both day and night viewing, and its contrast makes every detail noticeable for you. With 16 ms low input lag and 20 keystones projection, this home projectors will be good suitable for gamers.
The array of ports combined with 10-watt built-in speakers of BenHT 2050, enable you to have family movie nights even outdoors. For use in smaller rooms, it has got 1.15 minimum throw and 1.3 zoom-in lenses. The flexible lens had both vertical shift and zoom, and it also has low input lags compared to the projectors in this price range.
Low Budget? You might be surprised after checking these projectors under 100 dollars.
- Easy connectivity
- Good speakers
- Vibrant colors
- Easy setup
- 3D DLP projector
- stellar display
- 180 inches max. screen size
2Epson Home Cinema
Its users love this modestly priced projector by Epson being its best model for the image quality and deep colors it offers along with giving a full HD content. Because of its 3 LCD technology, it has no rainbow effects. It offers a brightness of 2500 lumens which is averagely enough, but due to its significantly high contrast ratio, the loss of clarity isn’t noticed.
It is among the most top contrast-rich projectors. Thus able to handling ambient light and natural light in the room well. With all the fantastic features it offers. Producing a 1080p resolution with a 300-inch screen, it’s ideal for watching movies at your backyard while projecting a massive screen.
For creating a display of 132 inches, it requires a throw distance of 11 feet, making the picture 4 x larger. Its wireless screen mirroring makes it ideal for playing games, streaming movies and much more. Another feature loved by the users is wireless casting technology. It has got a 10-watt built-in speaker.
- Vibrant images
- Dynamic contrast
- 3 LCD technology
- Nice speakers
- HD content
- Good lamp life
- No rainbow effect
- Fan noise increases as it heats up
3BenQ HT2150ST
As the name suggests, BenQ HT2150ST, ST standing for short throws here. Having almost the same design features like BenQ HT2050A, HT2150 is a more powerful package. Built with 3D DLP technology, it features 2200 lumens of brightness along with a high contrast ratio. Producing 1.07 billion colors, you get well-saturated colors with BenQ HT2150 ST.
Having the dual RGB color wheel with 6 x speed, it presents accurate and crisp colors. The 16 millisecond lag time makes it an excellent choice for gamers. With a superb throw ratio, only at 4.9 feet distance from the screen, it provides a display of 100 inches. It is ideal for people having a small living space who are looking for a short-throw projector without compromising on the other specs.
A maximum screen size of 120 inches is most suitable for small or average-sized rooms. With a bit limited surround sound options, the two 10 watt speakers provide enough sound to make your watching or gaming experience more enjoyable. Its low fan noise adds more to its specs. Offering a fully saturated balanced color, it provides ample light output too bringing it among the list of cheapest 4k projectors.
- Stellar display
- Nice speakers
- Bright images
- Low fan noise
- RGB color wheel
- Short lag time
- 120 inches maximum screen size
4Epson home cinema 2100
This bright model by Epson is a perfect choice for a completely dark room. Having an integrated 10 W speaker along with a USB port and powering a streaming stick, it’s ideal for different lighting conditions. Its amazing 3LCD technology inculcates excellent actions scenes.
The 2500 lumens of both color and white brightness make this premium product more pleasurable to use. These projectors were suitable for movie nights outdoor. With a dynamic iris, this projector helps to improve the contrast ratios and black levels, enabling rich detail in the dark.
If you find rainbows bothersome and need an excellent alternative to the DLP projectors in the same price range, then Epson 2100 is a safe choice. With a full HD widescreen, it projects a 4 x larger throw distance of 132 inches or more. Its versatile connectivity adds more to its features.
Its 3 LCD panels when perfectly aligned produce a perfectly sharp picture having remarkable color accuracy. Even a small misalignment can produce color fringing on the large screen. Each group of the three LCD is responsible for different colors, red, blue and green. Supporting MHL enabled devices; you can stream HD games, movies and videos for charging and mirroring.
- Vibrant images
- Big screen
- Full HD
- Flexible installation
- Dynamic contrast ratio
- Portable
- No rainbow effect
- Color fringing if misaligned
5Optoma HD 39 Darbee
This projector by Optoma amazes users with its 3D DLP technology. It sports a whopping brightness of 3500 lumens for giving a sharp contrast in brightly lit rooms. Having the largest screen size of 370 inches with a resolution of 1080 p, it provides high brightness, detail, and depth even outdoor.
Along with outstanding picture quality, it gives a fantastic experience with 3D movies too. Its contrast ratio ensures a detail out of the games and movies. A few gamers don’t like the lag time of 32 milliseconds. If you have a minimum of 15 feet throw distance in your room, you should opt for this projector under $1000 — support for various MHL devices for directly connecting it to the projector.
Providing a full HD resolution, it enables accurate colors with reference display mode. Delivering a large and powerful way of watching movie and gaming, it gives an immersive and larger than life experience. The 15,000 hours lamp life enables hours of viewing entertainment and gaming without worrying about changing the lamp.
- Maximum screen size
- Long lamp hours
- Great contrast
- Brilliant color dazzles
- 3D DLP technology
- Exceptional depth in colors
- No zoom ring for adjustment
6Epson pro Ex9220
This projector by Epson having the 3LCD display technology is designed for office use, where you have to give presentations. But it also works well for games and movies, due to its solid contrast and high brightness. This lamp puts out 3600 lumens of light enabling sight of the projected display more evident even in lit rooms.
Its contrast ratio provides enough clarity and detail for presentations. Capable of producing 300 inches screen size, along with wireless mirroring, Epson Pro EX 9220 every part is crafted to make it more powerful. Offering 4.5 x more full HD resolution, its wireless screen mirroring inculcate more to its specs. With a wireless connection to tablets and smartphones, it works with android and window devices.
Enhancing more vivid and accurate colors, this excellent office projector is no doubt one of the projectors for business presentations. Being compatible with the latest media players and laptops, it supports HDMI for digital audio and video. As it helps MHL technology, you can share HD videos from your wireless device directly.
- Great brightness
- Easy set-up
- portable
- Long lamp life
- Robust wireless connectivity
- Pro-quality projector
- loud fan
- wireless for windows and android only
7BenQ HT3050
This quiet and compact projector by BenQ is another addition to our list of projectors. It projects 3D DLP technology along with good contrast and dual RGB color wheels. With solid color accuracy, its black levels are excellent.
In short, this great projector is the best bang for your bucks. The fan cooling system of this projector makes it stand out among other hd 4k projectors. The 20-watt built-in stereo speaker along with its quiet fan makes hearing movies easy and enjoyable for you. The fan remains quiet and unnoticeable even after heating up while using it for several hours.
Though it has a brightness of only 2,000 lumens, still it’s free from any rainbow effects. It is capable of producing a resolution of 1080p with a 180-inch screen. It also offers an excellent lamp life of 7,000 hours emitting the need of replacing it. This ISF certified cinematic color reproduction in BenQ HT3050 elevates a home theatre experience to the new level.
- Lowest fan noise
- Punchy speakers
- Crisp images
- Energy efficient
- Short throw
- Easy installation
- Low brightness
8Infocus IN118HD x C
In focus is the pioneer in digital projection, amazes us with its incredible HD projector. For displaying HD content, it gives a native resolution of 1080p.
A money saving feature it enables is its long-lasting lamp life. This compact powerhouse is an excellent projector for the reasonable price it offers. Weighing less than 5 pounds, it’s incredibly portable with the array of connection options it offers. The built-in speaker provides clear audio and its fantastic contrast ratio is adding more sharpness to the images.
Premium designed for presentations, thanks to its 16.7 million colors which engage its audience through every continent. Being the most affordable HD projector, it delivers clear images even with lights on because of its 3200 lumens of brightness. An audio port of 3.55 mm along with the built-in speakers provides a clear sound. But if you want to buy external speakers check out these outdoor projector speakers. Featured with DLP technology, excellent, and clear audio.
- Great color
- Crisp focus
- Extended lamp life
- Inexpensive
- 3D content
- High contrast ratio
- portable
- Slight rainbow effects in video
9Epson home cinema 2040
Bringing Epson 2040 home means you are carrying a full HD 1080 p screen home. Offering 3 x more color brightness than the competitors, it ensures vibrant images. With advanced image processing, it enables a color brightness of 2200 lumens. Its three-chip technology enhances brilliant images having true to life colors.
This portable device delivers a fantastic dynamic contrast ratio of 35,000: 1. You can enjoy games and movies with MHL connectivity and its 2 HDMI ports. With Epson 2040 you are virtually able to project almost 300” anywhere. The innovative 3 LCD technology amazes you with action scenes having no rainbow effect.
Being an inexpensive 3D home entertainment projector, it delivers high-quality 3D technology with a short lag time making it ideal for gamers who want to buy the projector. The image enhancement enables crisp and smooth images.
This premium performer allows easy setup, versatile connectivity and built-in speakers elevate a new level of portability and performance. Every part is crafted to make it more powerful. The 3D feature makes movies and games more exciting and life like an adventure.
If you want High resolution results with out portable screen then take a closer look at the best projector screen paints.
- Portable
- High contrast ratio
- Bright and colorful
- 3 D technology
- Versatile connectivity
- Built-in speakers
- Easy setup
- Smooth and crisp images
- No 3D glasses included
10BenQ MH535A
It provides a bright and high brightness for small and well-lit meeting rooms. Its high brightness of 3500 lumens enables vibrant and clear slides while boosting its picture quality. With this projector you don’t need a prominent place for having a big image; at a distance of 3.29 meters, it can project a 100-inch image.
Increasing clarity for white and black, it provides high contrast for a clear text. With pixel fill factor and a leading contrast, BenQ MH 535A enables a full HD 1080. It delivers an ultra sharp readability with a high resolution of 2 megapixels. The universal VGA and HDMI connectivity host multiple presenters. For obtaining perfect alignment, it offers a vertical keystone.
The convenient triple adjustment feet enhance flexibility while giving presentations. With one-touch on the remote, you can easily access to the install functions. Exclusively designed for a businessperson, it features the Kensington lock for discouraging theft.
- Crisp text
- Vibrant color
- Remote included
- Great contrast
- Amazingly bright
- Exceptionally long lamp life
- 3 D compatible
- Big screen projection
- Average built-in speakers
- Doesn’t support 4 K viewing
Buyer Guide
As you must have read about our 10 best projectors, now its necessary for you to choose the right one among them. You need to understand the technical specifications of the projectors. So this buyer’s guide is highlighting the most vital features which need to be considered before buying a projector.
FAQs
Nowadays four types of technologies are used to project images in the modern projectors.
DLP: Digital light processing projectors are using a panel of mirrors representing one pixel for pointing light on the screen. Some DLP projectors are incorporating the
3D technology for creating an effect of popping off images towards you on the screen. Most movie theatres use DLP technology in their projectors.
LCD projectors are using the technologies found in the modern televisions these days. DLP projectors are brighter than the LCD projectors, but they don’t have the same contrast ratio for producing crisp images. DLP projectors also refresh quickly so you can’t see any motion blur effect on the screen while watching a fast action movie.
LED projectors are using diodes for transmitting three separate images with the RGB color spectrum.
LCOS being hybrid of the three systems stands for liquid crystal on silicon. For creating the image, it combines both RGB and mirrors elements.
Every type of the display mentioned above technologies provides both strengths and weaknesses in areas like contrast ratio and brightness etc.
Throw Distance
A throw distance tells you how far you need to place your projector for achieving a specific screen size. Throw distance is often rated as a range. Depending on where you want to use your projector, usually, people prefer smaller throw ratios.
In-home theatre projectors this distance between the screen and the projector often limits the image size. The projectors are allowing a specific range for focusing distance.
Display Resolution
An important factor you need to know is what level of display resolution your HD projector can handle. A decision indicates some pixels of the projector. A higher resolution allows fine detailing in the light and color of the projection.
Almost all the projectors I mentioned in this list have the ability to display full 1080p resolution. Some cheap projectors only support 720p, so you need to check its specifications before making any purchases.
Brightness
Being measured in lumens, projectors brightness is one of the primary factors to look for. Brighter images are preferred as they make it easy to see along with overpowering the ambient light. At least 3,000 lumens of brightness is needed for spaces having enough amount of ambient light.
Contrast
In picture quality, contrast is being a vital factor which is measured as the ratio of brighter blacks and whites in the images. For better picture quality, you should opt for high contrast ratios as they have a wide dynamic range allowing more light and shades of colors. Although if there is enough light in the room, the difference between low contrast and high contrast can hardly be noticed.
Screen Size
The size of images a projector can project is called its screen size. A projector with either small or large image size must retain a clear picture with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Usually, the good picture a projector can produce is between these ranges.
While choosing the minimum or maximum screen size, first of all, you need to decide where and on which wall you want to use the projector. You must be sure about the size of the wall being large enough for accommodating the minimum screen size.
KeyStone Feature
This new feature is worth considering as you may want to use the projector at a different angle with your screen. If you’re going to move your projector with you, this is an essential factor to consider.
With keystone correction, the image projection is rectified, so it appears nondistorted and rectangular on the screen. In the modern LCD and DLP projectors, it is performed automatically, but it can also be performed manually. This amount of correction ranges typically from 12 – 35 degrees.
Lamp life
The lamps of these projectors do not have an unlimited life. Different projectors have different lamp life. They start from 3,000 hours and might go up to 15,000 hours. After their lamp life is complete, you need to replace your lamp.
Additional Features
There are some more additional features you need to consider before choosing your projector. They include easy set-up, connectivity, powerful cooling system, portability, etc.
Final words
Either you are a movie geek or an avid gamer, or impressing the crowd through your presentations, the best solution is a projector. These projectors during day time viewing won’t be as good as the TV screen, but if your top priority is screen size, then this guide is for you.
Finding a mediocre convertible is easy, but for a premium experience, BenQ and Epson would be your best bets. They fulfill almost all the requirements we mentioned in the guide for choosing the projector under $1000.
