2021-2022 Education Projector Buyer's Guide

Welcome to our annual Education Buyer's Guide.

In this guide, we will discuss a wide variety of projectors that work well in K-12, higher education, and museum applications. When we are reviewing projectors as well as when choosing award winners for this guide, we consider several different projectors and how they are used in different situations.

Before we dive into the guide, we would be remiss to not mention the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the education industry.

Educators have gotten very creative in how to continue to engage learners whether in person or online. With many schools and museums having to move to virtual for most of the last year, it has significantly changed the way technology is incorporated into the classroom. We are seeing more and more interactive projectors which work well with teachers who have some students physically in the classroom and others who are attending class virtually as both groups can see the same thing broadcast at the same time.

Even as more and more students return to in-person learning, we will see the effects of the pandemic for many years to come, if not an entire shift in how we engage in learning. In some ways, one benefit of the pandemic is getting both teachers and students even more comfortable incorporating technology into their classrooms.

Also, can be used effectively as schools re-open with distancing requirements. Students can be better spread out, in decent sized classrooms, including some at the very back, if the room is equipped with a large enough display (i.e. in K-12 a 90″ diagonal or larger and typically a minimum of 100″ in Higher Education).

It may be time to rethink using smaller displays (ie. 60″ diagonal) as they would be far less effective than larger displays. Please check out our feature on the Equivalent Visibility Rule.

We at Projector Reviews are very curious to see what long-term changes take place, but for now, we think many schools will be looking to invest tools and technology to make learning more engaging and interactive for all learners and we believe an immersive projection experience can support that goal!

Let’s look at the different categories we are including in our Education Projector Report.”

First we have what we call “Standard”, which includes projectors found primarily in K-12 classrooms. Several factors, including budgets, contribute to the fact that K-12 schools will often spend less per projector than a higher education institution.

Often in higher education application “Large Venue” class projectors are utilized in big lecture halls or larger classrooms. But remember, all types of schools will often need bigger and more powerful projectors for their multi-function rooms and auditoriums, not just classrooms.

A third category is our “High-End/Specialty” projectors, with the “specialty” including projectors designed for digital signage and projection mapping, many of which are widely used in museum displays.

Within each of these classes are different type of projectors for example standard and ultra-short throw. Features like interchangeable lenses and horizontal/vertical lens shift can affect price, and the cost of installation. Some projectors have fully interactive capabilities, others have varying degrees, including very limited, and none. Interactivity is popular and growing more so.

In this report we think “usage.” It’s not a specs competition. Our awards go out to great projectors and some that are great for certain applications, environments, etc.

This year we considered dozens of projectors and chose around 20 projectors we felt were most geared for the education market. In this report you will find an overview of each of those projectors with links to their in-depth reviews if you want to read more.

Many of the projectors we reviewed also have “siblings” which typically includes a few additional models, many times almost identical to the product we reviewed, but with varying resolution, or with additional wireless capabilities, perhaps slightly brighter, etc. Our focus was to show you a sample of what is available which would represent perhaps close to 100 different models currently available.

Some of the projectors in this report may look familiar and that is because most projectors are on the market for 2-4 years. Therefore a few of the projectors included in this year’s report were also introduced in last year’s report, however they are still highly relevant to the market. We have noted where projectors won awards last year in addition to the new award winners.

As institutions upgrade and enhance their technology over the peak time, the summer, and schools get ready to open their doors back up to welcome all students in the fall (we are hopeful!) we hope you find the information contained within this report useful.

Selecting projectors to review: We are very selective in choosing the projectors we choose to review and those we feature in this report. WE work hard to ensure that most of the projectors we review are considered to be among the best in their price ranges and capabilities.

We hope this report helps you in selecting the right products needed for your success. Our sincere thanks to all of you who have persevered and continued to educate through one of the most unexpected and challenging years in modern history. Whatever we can do to make your job a little easier and hopefully more brilliant, we are happy to support. Thank you again for all that you do!