• Watch Movies or Conduct Presentations

• Assess Home Theatre Projector Specs

• Set Up Your Home Theatre Projector

• Find Projectors on eBay Australia

• Buy Home Theatre Projectors with Confidence

• Need More Help?

• Legal Disclaimer

Watch Movies or Conduct Presentations

Watch Movies or Conduct Presentations

Decide how you plan to use your projector before you start shopping; whether you want the largest TV screen possible in your living room or to take your projector to business meetings.

Watch your favorite movies & TV shows with a projector

For some, a big-screen TV just isn't big enough. Take your home theatre system to the ultimate level with a home theatre projector from Sony, NEC, Hitachi, BenQ, Epson, Sanyo, Panasonic or InFocus. They work well for home use, by projecting widescreen and high-definition video onto a wall or viewing screen, allowing you to create an engrossing viewing experience.

Buy an HDTV-compatible projector if you receive high-definition programming from your television service provider.

Bring your projector to work

Multimedia projectors give the best results for business professionals who need visual aids for presentations and lectures. Hook your laptop computer, TV (high or low definition), DVD player, or VCR to the projector and play audio and video, or text and image-based presentations.

Compared to home theatre projectors, multimedia projectors offer a smaller, portable size that allows you to transport your projector from meeting to meeting. Many projectors include a carrying case for protection and easy storage. For more flexibility and freedom purchase a projector with remote control and laser pointer.

If you want to use your multimedia projector to watch movies, look for home theatre compatibility.

Decide which projection technology you need

Projectors use digital light processing (DLP) or liquid crystal display (LCD) technology to process light and display an image.

• LCD projectors: Turn down the lights and deliver a presentation with vibrant colour and sharp, detailed images. LCD projectors pass light through three small LCD panels, creating bright images appropriate for dimly-lit rooms and auditoriums.

• DLP projectors: DLP projectors use a single digital chip that makes them weigh less than LCD projectors. They are perfect for home theatre use as they offer smooth video performance, high contrast ratios, and little pixilation.

• CRT projectors: The image in a CRT projector is scanned with an electron beam, just as in regular tube TV. This makes the CRT projector the best option where the flexibility of displaying variable resolutions is the main consideration. Perfect for a pitch black room.

Assess Home Theatre Projector Specs

Assess Home Theatre Projector Specs

When you shop for a projector on eBay Australia compare resolution, contrast ratio, brightness, and weight specifications as well as optional features.

Projector resolution

Projector resolution is the number of pixels per square produced by a projector. Expressed as two numbers, the first number indicates horizontal pixels and the second number represents vertical pixels. For example, 800x600 and 1024x768. The higher the resolution, the sharper the image.

HDTV-compatible projectors will need to support high-quality 720p (1280x720 progressive scan) and/or 1080i (1920x1080 resolution interlaced scan) HDTV signals.

Contrast ratio

Video projectors automatically measure the difference between the brightest and darkest sections of an image with a ratio. For example, 600:1 or 2,220:1. Projectors with higher contrast ratios produce the most well-defined pictures.

Image brightness

Brightness, or light output, measured in ANSI lumens, determines how well you'll see projected images in a well-lit room. The more lumens, the bigger and brighter the image.

Home theatre projectors generally have 700 to 2,500 lumens, perfect for dimly-lit or dark rooms. If you plan to use your projector in a room filled with sunlight look for a higher lumen count.

Projector weight

Projectors can weigh less than 3 kilograms or as much as 10 kilograms. Look for a lightweight projector if you want your projector to be portable.

Special features

Home theatre projectors possess a wide range of features, including:

• Zoom: Put yourself in the action by zooming into your picture.

• Picture-in-picture: With picture-in-picture you can view more than one channel or video source at a time.

• Cinema mode: For richer colour and less fan noise turn on cinema mode.

Do a keyword search for the features most important to you when you shop on eBay Australia.

Set Up Your Home Theatre Projector

Set Up Your Home Theatre Projector

Make your home theatre dreams come true by placing a home theatre projector on a flat surface such as a coffee table or bookshelf or mounting it from the ceiling with ceiling mounts.

• Ceiling-mount your projector : Permanently install a home theatre projector as part of your home theatre system and use it whenever you want. To keep cables out of the way you’ll need to run power and signal cables through your walls.

• Keep projector portability in mind: Set up your home theatre projector whenever (and wherever) you want to use it. Buy a retractable screen and you'll gain the ability to hide your equipment when company comes over.

Whether you mount the screen or set up as needed, not only will your projector and viewing screen take up less space than a big-screen TV, the image will be larger and clearer.

Make basic projector connections

By connecting the projector to your TV’s satellite receiver, HDTV tuner or receiver, cable box or DVD/VCR player your home theatre projector takes the signal from your home theatre system and then displays the image on a screen.

Home theatre projectors generally come with multiple video input connectors, allowing you to connect a video game console or computer.

Set up a viewing screen

Either buy a separate viewing screen or use an empty white wall to see the sharpest projected video possible. Screens come in three types:

• Wall-mounted projector screens: Hang your screen on the wall.

• Retractable projector screens: Mount your screen on the ceiling or wall and roll it out when you want to use your projector.

• Free-standing projector screens: Bring out your screen when you need it and hide it away when you don't. 

Projector screens come in a variety of sizes ranging from 90 to 120 inches (228 to 305 centimetres) in diameter. To find a screen perfect for the dimensions of your room, measure the length, width, and depth of the area where you plan to put it. Sellers will include screen dimensions in item listings and the dimensions of your space can help you determine screen size and type. Unless you enjoy sitting in the front row at the cinema include at least 4.5 metres space from the large screens.

The size of the image will depend on how far you place the projector from your screen. Before installing your ceiling-mount projector and wall-mounted or retractable screen make sure you like your projector settings.

Find Projectors on eBay Australia

Find Projectors on eBay Australia

Once you know what type of projector you want, search for items on eBay Australia. For home theatre projectors, start by going to the Electronics portal, click TV, Video and Home Theatre, then click Projectors and Accessories. For multimedia projectors, go to the Computers & IT portal, and click the Projectors link under Video & Multimedia.

• Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you concentrate your search by item type. For example, the Projector and Accessories Categories list contains links to Accessories, Screens, CRT Projectors, LCD Projectors, DLP Projectors and more.

• Keyword search: Search eBay Australia listing titles for specific words. For example, if you wanted to find a Sony home theatre projector, type "Sony home theatre projector" (without quotation marks) into the Search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay Australia's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Australia Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay Australia will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Home Theatre Projectors with Confidence

Buy Home Theatre Projectors with Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay Australia and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay Australia (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay Australia are not covered by eBay Australia protection programmes.

• Never pay for your eBay Australia item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?

• What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?

• Most top eBay Australia sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money-back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?

Buyer protection

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay Australia and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorised payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to $1,500.

• eBay Australia Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay Australia's quick and efficient resolution tools.

Need More Help?

Need More Help?

Visit our help pages or start a thread on one of our Community Discussion Boards - If you have a quick question that needs answering, try posting it on our community Answer Centre - there's bound to be a seasoned eBay Australia veteran with just the information you're looking for!                    

Legal Disclaimer

Legal Disclaimer

Buying Guides are intended merely as a guide or review for members when considering what products or services they may be interested in bidding on or purchasing. eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the accuracy of the information or content contained in these Buying Guides. Furthermore, eBay does not make, and nothing in these Buying Guides is intended to constitute, any warranties, guarantees, representations or assurances about the nature or performance of the products or services appearing in the Buying Guides. Content, trademarks and brands referred to and contained in the third-party links provided are the property of their respective owners, and eBay has no control over and accepts no responsibility for their content. eBay is not affiliated with nor does it endorse the use of any particular product or service.