The amount of noise the projector produces when switched on is another important factor to consider, especially in a home theatre setup. As a loud projector will be audible over the sounds from the movie you’re watching, which never is a good thing as that’ll draw your attention away from the movie you're watching. Naturally some projector noise is unavoidable as the lamp inside it needs to be properly cooled, thus you can’t simply do away with the fan noise.


Fig 7. The InFocus ScreenPlay 4800 projector is very well ventilated with a large grill in the front and back.
Most home theatre projectors have a noise level of about 37dBA which makes them quiet enough for watching movies at a low to moderate sound volume without being distracted. The crux of the matter however is where the projector is located; if you place it right behind you it might still be loud enough to be distracting, so projector placement is very important here. And naturally not everybody thinks fan noise is distracting. Whether or not you find a projector’s noise level obtrusive is often a subjective matter which is different for each individual.