The Hottest Home Theater Projectors: Our Top Picks for Best Projectors of 2007
03/12/2007-Art Feierman

In this comparison of home theater projectors by price range, we are pleased to share with you our top picks. Visit the different sections to learn which home theater projectors have earned our Best In Class, Runner Up, and Special Interest Awards.

As you work your way through this article, you will see links for the different projectors. Those links will not take you to the summaries immediately below in these pages, but instead take you to the reviews, or, if no review, to the projector specs page in our database.

Introduction
All-in-one home projectors
Lowest cost home theater projectors
Under $1000 home theater projectors
$1000 - $1500 home theater projectors
$1500 - $2000 home theater projectors
$2000+ 720p home theater projectors
Under $5000 1080p projectors
Over $5000 1080p home theater projectors

Introduction:

Choosing the right home theater projector isn't simple, in fact, it's much like choosing your next vehicle. I say this because there are so many issues, that the very best projector solution for one person, may not even be an acceptable choice for another person with the same budget.

In order to try to make some sense out of all this, I am going to provide my recommendations - by price range, and by specific requirements. This should allow you to narrow the field easily, to just a couple of home theater projectors.

This image shown is complements of Stewart Filmscreen. And while most dream of a fancy dedicated home theater like the one shown here, we fully appreciate that most projector buyers have more modest rooms, and many are using or adapting rooms that are "less perfect". In fact most peoples home theater will fall somewhere between the room right above, and the family room at the top of the page, (a semi-permanent setup with the Epson MovieMate 33s all-in-one projector sitting on a coffee table).

I decided, in most cases, to provide a Best In Class, and also a Runner Up home theater projector pick. Due however, to the specific needs aspect (what will work in your room), though, there may be, a Special Interest home theater projector pick. A Special Interest projector typically will be a projector, that, although not as mainstream as the Best of Class, may be worthy of recognition for its ability to work especially well for some potential owners. This will be based on specific requirements (i.e., ambient room light, limits in where a projector can be placed in the room, etc.)

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Not every projector listed or mentioned, will have been reviewed by us (yet), but there are only one or two exceptions. Links in this article will take you to the specific reviews where you can learn a great deal more about these projectors.

QuickTip: M y price points are for typical "street" prices at the time of this writing (3/07). That's a very imprecise determination. Please don't email to say, this or that can be had for less, etc. Also prices are always changing (dropping). Consider, that these street prices are our best estimate in mid-March 2007. Unfortunately, MSRP's (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) are "all over the place" so very misleading (for example, two major brands have projectors selling for $1600 or so, one has a $1995 MSRP, the other, $2995 MSRP. This compelled us to look for a better solution. So, as imprecise as "street prices" are, they will have to do. I should note, that when determining "street prices", I focus on prices from authorized direct dealers. There are always some lower prices from unauthorized dealers floating around, but my belief is that most people do want to buy from a dealer that is authorized, and "knows their stuff."

The image below as taken, using JVC's RS1, which received the Best In Class award for the most expensive grouping: 1080p projectors over $5000. (I guess you could say it's the Best of the Best!) The source material is a DTS demo Blu-ray DVD. You can click to enlarge. Wow!:

Time to get started! Click on the links below for the price catagories of home theater projectors that interest you.

And, the home theater projector catagories are (this is the introduction page):

Introduction
All-in-one home projectors
Lowest cost home theater projectors
Under $1000 home theater projectors
$1000 - $1500 home theater projectors
$1500 - $2000 home theater projectors
$2000+ 720p home theater projectors
Under $5000 1080p projectors
Over $5000 1080p home theater projectors