What inputs to look for in a projector

When it comes to hooking up a projector to your DVD player or your blu-ray player there is really only about 3 options to consider.

• Composite- Composite Video is just a single video stream used for older devices like VCR’s and game systems. It is used to hook up a yellow RCA Cable that is carrying over video. This is the worst quality and should not be used to carry high quality video
• Component cables- video feed is split into 3 different inputs (red, green, blue) instead of the normal 1 video input (yellow.) Make sure not to mistake the red, white, yellow inputs on your DVD player with these.
• S Video- S-video cable will take the video and run it over one line. S-video will offer a better image quality over component cables.
• HDMI- HDMI cables are the newest high definition connectivity. An HDMI connector is smaller and carries digital audio along with digital video.

The best quality is said to be found using HDMI cables, but the difference is negligible and only really there when you are talking about converting signals of 720p and 1080p.

Most of the time it really does not matter what connector you use. They all do the exact same thing and they do it well enough that you will not notice a huge performance gain. The only reason there is so many of the on your projector is so they can allow it to be plugged into numerous devices.

In today’s times almost every DVD and blu-ray player will have at least component cables and S-Video. So at least make sure you have these hook-ups on your projector. If you want to future proof yourself then aim fro getting an HDMI input. HDMI is being used more and more to transport HDTV signals and will soon phase out the competition.

Also if you are interested in hooking your projector up to a computer then look for a VGA or DVI input on the projector. This will allow you to plug your pc into your projector using a VGA or DVI cable just like you would a computer monitor.