If you’re looking for a way to bring the cinema to your living room, investing in a coffee table projector can be a great way to go.
Their flexible design means they can be used in a variety of different settings, from a pitch black environment to a dimly lit room. Plus they usually offer a tiltable build, so you can adjust its position easily.
Coffee table projectors can also go much bigger than the majority of TV screens, too, without taking up nearly as much space. That means they are ideal for those working with a smaller living space, or just looking for the ability to easily take their viewing experience on the move.
We’ve had some pretty impressive coffee table projector models in our test room in the last year, including the four-star Anker Nebula X1. Its sleek build and three-dimensional picture makes it a strong performer, although we did find its picture to be noisy at points.
We are also currently reviewing Epson’s latest lifestyle projector, the EF-72, which boasts a stylish flexible design as well as 4K resolution. We’ll save our full thoughts on that for our dedicated review coming soon, though.
But there’s a mistake that many people make which means they are not giving their projector a chance to really perform to the best of its abilities – and that's not investing in a projector screen.
So, what difference does getting a projector screen make to the overall performance? Quite a big one, as it turns out.
While it might seem like using a white wall or a sheet will get the job done, it heavily compromises the detail, contrast and colour fidelity of an image.
That's because conventional wall paint isn’t designed to reflect light in an even way and, no matter how smooth the plaster on the surface, the light will be scattered.
This results in a sub-par performance that simply is not getting you your money's worth. It's like keeping a racehorse locked up in a stable.
Some coffee table projectors offer various features to help improve the picture in these conditions, such as a wall colour correction option which attempts to correct the picture based on the colour of the surface. But nothing beats the real projector screen deal.
They don't have to cost the earth, either. Decent options start from below £100 / $100 / AU$200, with premium offerings coming in at around 10 times that.
Some brands will also offer them as part of a bundle deal when you buy one of its projectors, so it's worth keeping this in mind.
So if you are considering a coffee table projector, make sure you don't make this crucial blunder and budget a little extra for a separate screen. Trust us, it's worth it.
MORE:
Here are the best portable projectors
