Best Projectors for Home Cinema in 2026

Projector reviews online are usually written by people who've tested a unit for a week in a showroom. We install these things in real homes with real lighting conditions and real customers who want them to just work. That gives us a different perspective.

Here's what we actually recommend—and what we've learned to avoid.

The Short Answer

For most home cinemas in the £1,000-2,500 range: Epson EH-TW7100 or its successors. It's not the flashiest, but it delivers excellent picture quality, reliable performance, and lens shift that makes installation much easier.

For bigger budgets: JVC DLA-NP5 or the Sony VPL-XW5000ES. Native 4K, incredible contrast, and a picture that genuinely approaches commercial cinema quality.

But let me explain the reasoning.

What Actually Matters in a Projector

Contrast Ratio (More Than Resolution)

Everyone obsesses over 4K, but contrast ratio affects picture quality more. A projector with excellent contrast shows deep blacks and subtle shadow detail. A projector with poor contrast—even at 4K—looks washed out.

This is why JVC projectors, despite being "only" 4K via pixel shifting, often look better than native 4K DLP projectors with worse contrast.

Lens Quality and Shift

A projector with good lens shift can be mounted off-centre and still produce a perfect image. Cheap projectors with no lens shift need to be positioned exactly in line with the screen—often impossible without a shelf sticking out of the ceiling.

Lamp vs Laser

Lamp projectors: cheaper upfront, but bulbs dim over time and need replacing (£200-400 every 3-5 years).

Laser projectors: more expensive initially, but the light source lasts 20,000+ hours with consistent brightness. For a dedicated cinema room that'll be used heavily, laser often makes sense long-term.

Projectors We Install Most

Best Value: Epson EH-TW7100

Price: ~£1,500
Resolution: 4K via pixel shifting
Why we like it: Reliable, great colour accuracy out of the box, excellent lens shift (±60% vertical, ±24% horizontal), and Epson's support is solid. We've installed dozens without issues.

Best Mid-Range: BenQ W2710i

Price: ~£1,800
Resolution: 4K via pixel shifting
Why we like it: Built-in Android TV is actually useful (unlike most projector "smart" features), great HDR processing, and the single-chip DLP means no risk of convergence issues.

Best Premium: JVC DLA-NP5

Price: ~£5,500
Resolution: 4K via 8K e-shifting
Why we like it: That native contrast ratio. Blacks that actually look black, not dark grey. Once you've seen a JVC in a properly dark room, everything else looks flat. This is the entry point to serious home cinema.

Best Laser (If Budget Allows): Sony VPL-XW5000ES

Price: ~£5,000
Resolution: Native 4K SXRD
Why we like it: Native 4K (not pixel-shifted), laser light source, and Sony's colour science is exceptional. For a dedicated cinema that'll be used for years, this is hard to beat.

What We've Stopped Recommending

Ultra-cheap 4K projectors (sub-£500) – The "4K support" often means it can accept a 4K signal, not that it displays 4K. Actual resolution is often 1080p or worse. The savings aren't worth the disappointing picture.

Most ultra-short-throw projectors for cinema use – Great for living rooms where you can't mount a projector properly. But the image quality at a given price is noticeably worse than standard throw projectors. If you can do a ceiling mount, do it.

Optoma UHD series (older models) – We had reliability issues with a few of these. Rainbow effect visible to some viewers. The newer models may be better, but we've moved on.

Don't Forget the Screen

A £2,000 projector with a painted wall looks worse than a £1,500 projector with a proper screen. Budget at least £200-500 for a decent screen—more if you want motorised, acoustically transparent (for speakers behind), or ambient light rejecting.

Our Recommendation by Budget

• £1,000-1,500: Epson EH-TW7100 + manual pull-down screen
• £2,000-3,000: BenQ W2710i + motorised screen
• £5,000-7,000: JVC DLA-NP5 + quality fixed frame screen
• £8,000+: Sony VPL-XW5000ES + acoustically transparent screen for behind-screen speakers