Portable projectors: Rising trend of movie time at home

Mini projectors have been on the top gadget trend list since the beginning of this year. The lockdown has brought more attention to USB devices and portable devices than ever before. Priced considerably below their professional full-size counterparts, mini projectors are more convenient and fun to take outdoors or a family evening at home.   

Why did mini projectors become such a big trend? 
Buying a projector for home use was not common in India even in 2019. Nobody in India were familiar with the words ‘social distancing’ or ‘lockdown’ either. The pandemic changed our content consumption forever. Many mini projectors include wireless streaming functionality, so they are ideal for watching movies and TV series. Projecting movies from YouTube and watching them at home has gone from a rarity to common practice very rapidly. A good indication is searching on any internet marketplace such as Amazon or Flipkart. Mini projectors are getting review and star ratings from thousands of Indian home customers.   

How do we choose a good mini projector?  
To make an informed choice when buying a mini projector, it’s essential to understand the basic specs. Let’s take a look at some key features we need to consider before buying a mini portable projector for home use.  

How bright is the image of the projector? 
Portable projectors are frequently used in rooms darkened by curtains only, where controlling ambient light is not always possible. Image brightness makes a big difference. The low transmittance of single-panel LCD projectors stop them from competing with DLP mini projectors. We also need to check the lumen (lamp brightness) of a projector before buying it.  

How easy is it to carry the projector around?  
Portability and ease of use are two main reasons of buying a mini projector, other than the price factor. We need to check height, weight, dimensions and see actual images of the projector before buying it. It’s prudent to read reviews of other users to understand what actual buyers are saying. Also, we need to check whether it’s power dependant or can also run on battery.