Reviews of 3D Projectors

Reviews of 3D Projectors

About 3D Projectors

3D projectors come in both the business / education variety, and also for the home.  To date, implementation in businesses has been limited, but 3D interest in the classroom is very strong, and many districts are testing or rolling out 3D projectors and content into classrooms.

Almost all of today’s home theater and home entertainment projectors are 3D ready.  Yes, even most entry level projectors around $600 – $1000.  Not all come with the needed 3D glasses, but many come with one or two pair.  Essentially all you need are those glasses, a 3D capable Blu-ray player (including the Sony PS3 and PS4 gaming consoles).  Note that 3rd party 3D active glasses are now around for most projectors, in the $20 to $30 price range.

3D at its best enhances your viewing experience.  It’s not about gimmicky 3D movements, but about not even “noticing that it’s 3D after a while, but enjoying the movie or other content all the more, because it is in 3D.

If you are a home theater person, you should keep this in mind, at all times: With projectors – it’s like the theaters – awesome – you are immersed. With those pesky little 40 and 65″ LCDTVs, it’s like having a cute little window box in 3D. “awe – how sweet” but forget the immersive 3D “theater” experience. Tsk!

If there’s one area where projectors blow away smaller displays, more than any other, it’s got to be 3D. People who have been in my rooms and seen some of the 3D content on a large screen – are – truly impressed!

Not everyone can view in 3D.  You need to have two good eyes.  If someone has one problem eye, for whatever cause, 3D probably won’t work.

Brightness is a key challenge for 3D which “gobbles up” more than half of the available brightness and really closer to 2/3rds at this time.  Earlier 3D projectors couldn’t even get 25% of the total brightness to our eyes.  Thanks to most home projectors today offering 3D, many of todays newest home theater projectors are about twice as bright (or more) as their equivalent models just 4-5  years ago when 3D projectors were first shipping.  Today many 3D home projectors claim 2000 lumens or more, and mostly, you’ll need that extra for comfortably bright 3D viewing.  Of course in the business and education space, projectors are inherently brighter, with most offering 3000 lumens or more.

Is 3D the epiphany event for home theater projectors?

Price

When I first wrote this page, I was talking about the LG CF3D projector.  Call it on of the first home/commercial projectors.  Only $15,000

Fear not, today’s home entertainment projectors sporting 3D start around $500 for 720p resolution, and from $699 for full 1080p with 3D.  Still moving up from entry level needs to get you up to around $900 – $1000 with popular projectors from BenQ and Epson and Optoma as excellent examples.  Moving to over $2000 to $8000 priced projectors, again virtually all have 3D, and the 3D projector market is dominated by Epson, Sony, and JVC Projectors, along with entries from Panasonic, Sharp, and others.

On the business and education side projectors with 3D again start well under $1000, however, in group settings, such as a classroom, the cost of 35 pair of active 3D glasses, can really damage the budget, even at $20 and $30 a pair.  So far Epson has come up with an interesting solution.  Their W16SK is two projectors stacked together, allowing the use of passive 3D glasses which are only a couple of dollars each!   It’s a clever approach, worth mentioning when 3D is needed for more that small groups. You pay more for the two projectors but   save a lot more in the long run.

Commercial projectors are available in 3D as well, If you need a 3000, 5000  or 8000 lumen projector that’s 3D capable, there are plenty of choices, and more coming.  Commercial ovie theater projectors I should note, at least in the US, are dominated by “stacked” projectors – essentially two in one, so they can use low cost passive 3D glasses.

Resolution

Home entertainment projectors start at standard HD resolution known as 720p (1280×720), I’d say more serious home theater projectors, at this time, are all 1080p resolution except for the very pricy true 4K projectors (3840×2160) from Sony starting at $15,000.

On the business and education side of things, there are even a couple of lower resolution SVGA projectors, but mostly the action starts with XGA (1024×768) and WXGA (1280×800).  3D is found on plenty business 1080p projectors, and there are 4K 3D projectors on the market as well (with stratospheric prices for the moment).

Conclusion

I personally love watching 3D using the many Home Theater Projectors that pass through my theater.  I do feel it’s a superior experience to 2D, as most who view 3D at the local Cineplex would agree.  In fact expect to enjoy a superior experience overall, in your home, than in the typical 3D theater, with all but the most entry level projectors, when in a good room, with a good screen.

I think 3D has great possibilities in the classroom, and a projector is likely to be the best vehicle for utilizing 3D in the classroom.

In the business world I can see specialized training, scientific uses, engineering and many other specific applications but do not see 3D taking over the typical conference room anytime soon.