Smart Home Theatre Projectors Buyers Guide

What is a Smart projector?

Like regular projectors Smart projectors can produce an incredible large picture but with the ability to connect in to your home internet to stream movies all on their own. This makes smart projectors a stand alone item they can do it without the big installation and just be popped on a coffee table and for the short throw ones on a TV unit and project without all the additional components. While some of them can be ceiling mounted this will in many cases save you installing it, save you on amplifiers, players etc. You can simply plug it into a power point and start watching Netflix movies.

How does Smart Projection work?

Essentially Smart projectors are the same as regular projectors but have a few extra feature built in. The different brands go about it in different ways but essentially they have a simple computer inside with the ability to connect in to your home internet (usually through wifi) then they can download apps to get your favorite streaming channel running. Many of these projectors have a decent speaker inbuilt so can work all on their own with both video and audio but for a full theatre experience they often have Bluetooth audio as well so you can connect more powerful speakers.

Are there any drawbacks?

There is usually a slightly higher cost to produce a projector with smart features than one without them. Most smart projectors still have external HDMI input ports so they can operate exactly the same as a normal projector and still plug in everything from a games console to Blu-ray player.
Essentially they are like a normal projector but with some extra bells and whistles.

What do I need for a Smart projector to work?

To get a smart projector up and running you would usually need an internet connection. Normally transmitting within your home with a Wifi router. Ideally this would be a pretty fast broadband connection, if it is quite slow streaming HD or 4K content would be difficult.

Then a subscription to your favorite streaming service. Whether it be Netflix etc. you would sign up to the monthly plan and connect it with the app on the projector.

Projecting onto a white wall is something a lot of people do, making it cheaper and simpler to get up and running. You could go a step further for colour accuracy with a screen and if you would like it on the ceiling you could also mount most smart projectors to get them out of the way.

Can I upgrade my existing projector to have smart features?

Yes absolutely. If you wish to watch all the major streaming apps on your projector you can easily plug in a smart streaming device. Popular devices include GoogleTV, AppleTV and the Amazon FireTVStick. In addition to these smart media players many modern entertainment devices feature streaming apps inbuilt, these devices include the Xbox and Playstation consoles, some bluray players, and Foxtel's IQ4 box.

If your projector is connected to a surround sound audio system, it is usually recommended to use an external smart streaming device rather than one inbuilt in the projector. This way you can have your device connected directly to your amplifier to achieve higher quality audio.

What Smart projectors do you recommend?

Smart Home theatre projectors with bluetooth and wifi for streaming movies from the internet: