DLP or LCD: Which projector to buy?

Before you buy a projector, you have to decide between two technologies: DLP or LCD. We explain what’s behind it and which beamer is suitable when.

DLP or LCD – What’s the difference?

DLP and LCD projectors differ in the technology they use to produce an image.

• In the LCD projector, the light from the projector lamp is split into the primary colours green, blue and red using a prism and directed through three small LCD screens.
• The LCD screens only allow light to pass through at the points needed for the image, after which the three light beams are recombined to create a complete image.
• In a DLP projector, the light first passes through a rotating colour filter. Then it is deflected by millions of small, moving mirrors and projected through the lens onto the wall
• By rearranging the mirrors to match the respective colour, a complete image is created for the human eye from the individual successive images in the three primary colours.
• In another practical tip, we explain the two beamer techniques in detail
• In addition to the LCD and DLP beamers, there is another competing model: the LED beamer.

Which beamer is better?

Neither technique is better. Which projector you should buy depends on what you want to use it for.

• The advantage of LCD technology is that the dark and light colour tones are finely graded.
• However, the maximum contrast is lower than with DLP technology because the image can never be created entirely without light.
• DLP technology, on the other hand, offers the possibility of turning away the small mirrors in dark areas. This creates a true black in the picture, the contrast is higher than with LCD
• The disadvantage of the DLP projector is that the image is composed of individual images in the primary colours. This results in colour streaks in the picture during fast movements, known as the rainbow effect
• So if you want to use the projector for home cinema, you should go for an LCD unit to avoid the rainbow effect
• For projecting photos and presentations, on the other hand, the DLP projector is more suitable because it provides a higher contrast.