Stiftung Warentest tests 15 projectors with Full HD or UHD resolution. The cheapest device costs around 500 euros, the most expensive just under 4000 euros. However, a high price does not necessarily mean better quality, and with projectors it is not just about a good picture.
Projectors have clear advantages over televisions: When they are not in use, they take up very little space, they can produce very large images and, as portable devices, are perfect for public presentations. However, selecting a suitable device is not easy. First you have to decide how high the resolution should be, Full HD projectors are significantly cheaper than UHD models with four times more pixels. It is also important to take into account different light sources and imagers, different equipment and the distance to the wall.
Stiftung Warentest has tested 15 current devices that cost between 500 and 4000 euros. The most expensive projectors did not necessarily perform best in the study. “The price says nothing about the quality of a product,” write the examiners. “A few very expensive models of all things don’t achieve what more than half of the projectors achieve in the current projector test by Stiftung Warentest: a good test quality rating.”
Two UHD devices won the test with an overall grade of 1.9: the OptomaUHZ50 with an average online price of 2500 euros and the Epson EH-TW7000 for an average of 1200 euros. The much cheaper Epson projector is even the only test candidate that delivers a very good picture. However, he uses a high-pressure mercury vapor lamp (HQL) for this. This light source is relatively cheap and bright, but uses a lot of electricity, loses its luminosity over time and can pose a health and environmental risk if the mercury escapes through damage.
The Optoma projector, on the other hand, uses laser technology for its good display (2.1), which requires significantly less energy but is significantly more expensive. It also features DLP imaging technology, which uses the color wheel and micromirror. It occasionally causes an annoying flashing of colors at the edge of the picture. The Epson’s traditional LCD imager doesn’t have this problem, but with this technology, color saturation and contrast degrade over the years.
With a quality rating of 2.5, the cheapest good UHD projector is the ViewsonicPX701-4K (DLP/HQL), which you can get for around 930 euros. Its picture is good (2.5) and its power consumption is not too high.
As far as image quality is concerned, a Full HD projector is often sufficient at the moment, as 4K material is still rare, writes Warentest. However, the 4K resolution is now standard for streaming providers. In addition, the projectors with lower resolution usually do not offer HDR with high contrasts and very fine color gradations.
Among the Full HD devices, the BenQTH585P (DLP/HQL), which costs about 650 euros, is the sole test winner with an overall rating of 2.3. It delivers a good image (2.3) and is very easy to use. Like the Epson EH-TW7000, however, it has a very high power consumption.
Although it performed somewhat weaker overall with a quality rating of 2.4, the secret test winner is the Acer H6542ABDi. Because it not only throws a better picture on the screen (2.2), it is also the cheapest device tested at an average of 530 euros. It is just not quite as easy to handle and is also very energy-hungry.
