Gadgetory

if you're a home theater or nut there comes a point when you realize that the TV you really want wouldn't even be able to fit through the door maybe what you really need is a projector we're seeing a fresh crop of great new projectors that will leave you just as breathless as a 4k TV but at a fraction of the price i'm donald bell and in this top 5 we're counting down see Matt's picks for the best home theater projectors selected by senior editor David Katz Myer starting off at number 5 the Epson power light home cinema 3020 now Epson is a big player in this game at a $1,500 a 3020 gives you a taste of what got them there great black levels good shadow detail and 3d support you can upgrade this one to a wireless hdmi for an extra $300 but at that price there are some other options worth exploring plus something about the grills on this one give it an evil robot vibe that kind of freaks me out for the best value check out number for the Ben QW 1070 at $1,000 the Ben Q is the most compact and inexpensive projector on this list but the picture quality holds up to that Epson 3020 you can even shift the lens around a little bit instead of having to digitally warp the image to get it all squared up and nice on the downside the 3d glasses are 99 dollars each so if your kid really wants to watch avatar they've got to earn it but for a projector that covers all the bases check out number 3 the Sony VP LHW 50 es you get two pairs of active 3d glasses an extra replacement lamp and reference quality picture right out of the box unfortunately the price tag on that box is around four thousand dollars this is a big step up in picture quality try to think of it in terms of picture quality per square inch and it's a steal over a 4k TV coming in at number two the JVC dla X 35 this beauty comes in five hundred dollars less than the Sony but matches it absolutely in terms of picture quality once it's calibrated now out of the box the sony is the clear winner but having that five hundred dollars in your pocket to pay for professional installation and calibration which you should be doing anyway makes the jvc a better choice also is compatible with some inexpensive third-party 3d glasses so you won't have to go broke just to watch some of Hollywood's crappiest movies now before we get to our number one pick and home theater projectors let's take a minute to acknowledge one of the best TVs you can buy seen its current top choices the Panasonic TC Pvt $63,000 buys you the best picture quality we've seen since the legendary pioneer Kuro and unlike the projector there are no bulbs to replace no fancy screens to hang up and you can keep the freaking lights on but for all you cave-dwelling video files one projector rises above all the rest when it comes to both picture quality and value at number one the Epson power light home cinema 5020 you be now for under $3,000 you get excellent color accuracy deep blacks and 2 pairs of 3d glasses best of all the projection is bright enough that you can actually leave a few lights on without ruining the image quality that said maybe you're weird home theater dungeon is best left in the dark so there you have it 5 great home theater projector is perfect for your remastered edition of Citizen Kane or maybe a storage wars marathon I won't judge you more top fives like this head over top-5 cnet.com i'm donald bell thanks for watching