by floy xiong | Jun 03, 2021
Imagine watching Thanos thrashing the Avengers with the sound turned off. Or 007 racing through the streets in a silent Aston Martin. Or worse, a T-Rex who squeaks like a mouse?Clearly, sound is critical to enjoying the big picture. And with projectors that can throw a 120-inch display onto a wall in seconds, you really need big sound to go along with it. The soundtrack, whether it's accompanying pyrotechnics or pianos, makes you feel like you're in the picture, you are there. It's what makes a movie or video immersive. So in choosing a projector you should consider not just the quality of its picture but also its built-in speakers and how well they reproduce sound. They should kick out enough volume to clearly hear the dialogue in a large room as well as blast an Adele theme song without adding distortion and static. Why don't you hear more about the importance of sound when it comes to TVs and projectors? Because it's difficult to get it right. Making sound means moving air to make sound waves and that can be tricky given how small and thin today's TVs are. That's why most flat-panel LCD sets, for example, have such meek audio capabilities and usually need an external sound bar. Sound is often just a secondary consideration.
Of course, to get the full psychoacoustic effect of feeling like you're in the center of the jungle, with tree frogs chirping overhead and tigers in the underbrush or the excitement of rocketing along in a speedster with laser blasts hitting all around, you need surround sound. Typically, surround sound systems use multiple speakers, like in a theater, to make you feel that you're in the middle of the action. However, surround sound can be recreated using DSPs or digital signal processors to adjust the timing of certain frequencies. The Cosmos Max, for example, uses a DSP and can decode advanced surround sound Dolby soundtracks. Dolby has been the name most associated with immersive cinema soundtracks, and you can find it supported in some projectors. Most movies use surround sound created in the Dolby format, but in order to enjoy the boisterous fireworks and three-dimensional audio effects, the projector has to be able to decode the Dolby soundtrack. The Nebula Solar, for example, can reproduce Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks, putting you in the front row of a jazz club in L.A. or making you feel like you're being chased by a thanator on Pandora. And with a 4K projector, like the Nebula Cosmos Max, in addition to the Dolby Digital Plus support, the sound is manipulated by its DSP, giving videos and movies a 360-degree sonic presence.
A projector that can reproduce sounds with such fidelity also makes them an excellent choice for playing music as Bluetooth speakers. Want to share a few tunes while you're making dinner or just relaxing with friends? NEBULA projectors can play your favorite playlist from a smartphone or streaming music account. Sure, the big picture is what first attracts people to smart projectors, but great sound is what makes them stay. After all, what would Frozen or Baby Driver or even Guardians of the Galaxy be without the music?
