Main Factors of Projector Pricing
For all the projectors avaliable in the market now, different price ranges still exist. You can see both projectors tagged over $1,000 and projectors sold under $100.For sure, more money means enhanced quality, longer product life and better user experience, etc. Still it would be nice to know why these projectors are priced so.
Common light sources are: Ultra high pressure mercury lamp (UHP), LED, LED- laser hybrid, and laser. As a matter of fact, there is no absolute superiority or inferiority between these light sources. They all can achieve excellent display effect if optimized.
Traditional projectors used in conference rooms are large in size, have very high brightness and large power consumption and generate heat. It is necessary to reserve enough space for heat dissipation, for ceiling mount projectors, you could refer to the detail.
Pico-projectors mainly use LED as the light source.Most of the pico projectors(small-sized projectors) in the industry use DMD chips designed by Texas Instrument(TI), ranging from 0.2 inches to 0.47 inches. The size of the chips limits not only the resolution but also the brightness.
3 dominant factors deciding the prices
1 Size of the chip
2 Size and complexity of the machine itself (the chip size, to some extent, directly determines in size and complexity)
Generally, the larger the chip size, the higher the price would be.
3 Size, structure and material of the lens and other peripheral components. (indirectly related to the chip size)
Chip size is the most essential factor overall.Different chip sizes determine the purpose of this projector and the final display effect.
0.2 inches
WVGA |
0.3 inches
720p |
0.45 inches
WXGA |
0.47 inches
1080p |
|
Super portable, low power consumption | Super portable, low power consumption | Super portable, low power consumption |
Portable,
high-performance |
|
Micromirror Array
(Diagonal inch value) |
0.2 inches | 0.3 inches | 0.45 inches | 0.47 inches |
Resolution | 854×480 | 1280×720 | 1280×800 | 1920×1080 |
Pixel Pitch | 5.4um | 5.4um | 7.6um | 5.4um |
Pixel Arrangement | square | square | rhombus | square |
Brightness
typical value(lumens) |
50 to 100 | 200 to 300 | 300 to 1000+ | 300 to 1000+ |
Recommended screen size in bright rooms |
25 to 35
inches |
35 to 45
inches |
40 to 50
inches |
50 to 60
inches |
Recommended screen size in dim rooms | 50inches+ | 60inches+ | 60inches+ | 70inches+ |
Price range | $200-$300 | $300-$500 | $400-$600 | over $500 |
Common DMD chip size- 0.2 inches, 0.3 inches, 0.45 inches and 0.47 inches
Other than the three factors above, projection techhnlogy also plays an important role in the pricing. So there’s DLP, LCD, LCoS corresponding to DLP projector, LCD projector and LCoS projector.Here we’ve got a comparison of how they perform in the actual imaging.
Contrast | Black level | Bright output | Color | Physical resolution | Motion Blur | Rainbow effect | Convergence problem | Service life | |
The authenticity of the image | Better contrast, dark expression | The brightness of the image, reduce the effect of ambient light | Bright, full, accurate color representation | More image information | The smear of the image with quick movement | Color band visible in the image | Sharpness of picture, color edge of white object | The aging phenomenon of chip | |
DLP | So-so | So-so | Good | Good | High | Good | Yes | No | The best |
LCD | Good | Good | Good | The best | So-so | So-so | No | Yes | Good |
LCoS | The best | The best | So-so | The best | The highest | So-so | No | Yes | So-so |