
These two aspects are important for ensuring that the size of any image that you wish to display is correctly portrayed. Most people should be fairly familiar with the idea of resolution. Put simply, the higher the resolution, the sharper and more detailed the image is likely to be. Resolution for projectors is measured in pixels. Most projectors will come with a 'native resolution', this is the setting that the projector is most comfortable working from. However, most of them can be used at higher resolutions if necessary. Note that this would have an effect on image quality.
Projectors come in a wide variety of resolutions ranging from
800 x 600 all the way up to 2048 x 1080. You should make your choice of resolution based again on what you are likely to be using the projector for. For good all round use,
1024 x 768 has emerged as a popular favourite, but you could get away with
854 x 480 for basic home cinema requirements. If your product is to have a practical application, i.e highly detailed drawings or detailed photography, then a resolution of
1920 x 1080 may be more suitable.
Quickly dealing with aspect ratio, you will observe three common projector ratios: 4:3, 16:10 and 16:9. 4:3 is the standard ratio for standard television, 16:10 ratio has been designed for widescreen computers and 16:9 is recommended for movies or high definition content.