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If you need to purchase a power point projector for an upcoming presentation or deadline, time is of the essence and with all the technical jargon and options, this task can really seem overwhelming. We hope this article will meet your needs for some simple and basic information to help in your power point projector search. With all the buzz words and projector jargon out there, your knowing the basics will be a great help to you in your projector search.

Whether you view an image via your laptop or a presentation projector, that image is comprised of pixels. Your laptop or video source determines the resolution and if you are going to upgrade soon, you may wish to pick an LCD projector with a high resolution.

VGA resolution (640×480) used to be the most common over 10 years ago, this was soon replaced by SVGA (800×600) now you are most likely to find XGA projectors with a (1,024 x 768) resolution. For graphic presentations however, sometimes a inexpensive used SVGA projector will meet your needs. One can even venture into the really high end resolutions such as SXGA and UXGA, (1,280 x 1,024) and (1600 x 1200) respectively. This ultra high-end resolution comes with a high price tag.  Some projectors support a number of different resolutions, but the “default” is usually referred to as its native resolution.

For on the go projector presentations, brightness (measured in lumens) is one of the most important projector parameters to consider.  Because of the significant influence of the screening environment, ambient light and projector brightness on the visual appeal of your projector presentations, lumens (units for light intensity) are an important spec to look at when choosing a projector. If you plan on making your presentation in a fully or semi lit room or just a huge venue for a large audience, you will need a very bright high lumen projector, something on the order of 4000 lumens or more.  With a small audience and a very dark room, you could get by with just 1,000 lumens. The term ANSI lumens refers to a uniform standard of measuring lumens.

The term “throw distance” is also a common one in projector speak, it simply means the distance that is the optimal placement for a projector from the screen.  Projectors that reside significantly further than 15 feet away from the screen  typically have long throw or large throw lenses. Short throw power point projectors can be great when doing presentations as you can place them close to the screen and enjoy a shadow free presentation. The speaker or presenter also doesn’t have to contend with distracting, bright projector lights beaming in her eyes while the short throw projector is actually in front of her.

Compatibility between your projector and laptop is also very important for smooth on the go presentations. You should obtain your computers native resolution and write this down, note if it’s SVGA or XGA, also you’ll need to know the connection standard by which you can connect computer and projector, many projectors have a computer in port and  with the common standards in place, this isn’t much of a worry. None the less, be sure that regardless what kind of projector you purchase that it has all the cords and other port attachments that you’ll need. Again, when everything is compatible, that’s one less thing to worry about.

In your projector search, you want to look at a really wide range of items and narrow it down from these; find a place that allows you to view many projectors in a sitting. Projectorselect.com is one site that meets this criteria. Now that you know all about some of the basics about Power Point Projectors, you are armed with the knowledge you need to visit sites like ProjectorSelect.com, browse and compare the multitude of projectors available. Good luck.