Can't go to the movies? Invite some friends, grab some blankets and hot cocoa, and watch your favorite flick in the backyard with one of these top-pick projectors. Here's what you need to know to choose the right one.

If you'd love to watch movies in the backyard—whether you're bundled up with the patio heater on, enjoying balmy evening temps, or planning ahead for next summer—it's easier to pull off than you might think. You can use virtually any projector on the planet to turn a wall into a cinema, and we've got some tips for putting on a backyard movie night without breaking the bank. That said, while there's really no such thing as an "outdoor projector" purpose-designed for consumers, some projectors are a better fit for backyard use than others. Assuming you don't own one yet, minding the nuances when shopping for the right model can mean the difference between an A-list experience and a B-movie one. Here's what you need to know. 

Every projector choice you make stems from a single decision: Do you aim for a permanent installation, or an ad hoc setup? At one extreme, you can install all your projection equipment outdoors, fixed in place and weatherproofed: projector, video source, ancillary sound system, screen, the power gear. At the other, you can lug everything out to set up only when needed. In between, you might install, say, an outdoor screen and speakers, and carry the rest of the gear out and back as needed.

For permanent setups, only the projector, the video source, and any additional audio components need to be protected from the weather, and that can be easy if you have, say, an enclosed Florida room with a sliding door to the outside. With everything set up, you can just open the door to let the projector light up the screen. But note that you might want to store even outdoor screens inside for winter or before a storm.

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If you're looking at a true, permanent outdoor installation of all the bits, we'd leave that approach to a local pro A/V installer, who can consult on your property's specific needs for optimization, and be sure all the proper power wiring and the like is implemented safely. We'll concentrate here on the DIY approach, in which you set up and break down all or most of your setup as needed.

Brightness requirements for a given projector, in a sense, are no different outdoors than indoors. It's all about ambient light and the target image size (which we'll get to shortly).

The ambient light level outdoors, after dark, will likely be in the range between a dark room—if you're way out in the country far from light pollution, and it's a moonless night—and a family room at night with dim lighting. But don't just assume that. Check your backyard at night, including on nights with a full moon, as well as when your closest neighbors have their backyard lights blazing. Then pick a projector that's bright enough to stand up to brightest light level you'll use it under at the image size you want—an issue we discuss in our reviews.

You can watch a movie outdoors at night even on a pocket projector that puts out 100 lumens or less, but you'll have to huddle around a small image to watch it. If you want a true movie-watching experience, you'll want a minimum 80-inch screen size, and preferably larger.

For a comfortably watchable image at that size in dim lighting, you need a projector that puts out about 800 lumens—a level of brightness that rules out most small projectors, from pocket-size models to lightweight portable projectors with handles.

Keep in mind, also, that the highest brightness mode that most projectors can put out comes at the cost of much lower picture quality. Whatever brightness you need has to be for the mode you want to use—which is often just 40 or 50 percent of the brightest mode.

You can use literally any flat surface for a screen, including a hanging bedsheet, the garage door, or a wall of your house. Seamless photography paper and even white foam board can be good inexpensive screen materials. But for the best image, you absolutely want a dedicated projector screen.

It's easy to find outdoor frames for permanent, seasonal, and temporary setups, but the screen material is the more important part. The key choices are the same as for an indoor screen, starting with a spec called "gain," which can increase image brightness.

A 1.0-gain screen reflects light equally in all directions over a 180-degree viewing angle. A higher gain reflects the light over a smaller angle, making the image brighter within that angle and dimmer outside of it. So, a 1.2-gain screen would give you a 20 percent brighter image. The key thing is the angle, though: You'll want to make sure nobody will be sitting so far to the side of the screen and projected image that they'll be outside the optimal viewing angle. It's a bit like older LCD screens that have a sweet spot for viewing dead-on in front of them, but show degraded image quality outside the "cone."

If you are screen-shopping, look for the resolution the screen is designed for. Many are not meant for showing even 4K imagery, while some are designed for future-looking 8K output. Even if you're using a simple 720p-capable projector now, you might want a 4K-rated screen to accommodate your next projector, given that a projection screen is a longer-term investment than many core electronics are these days.

Finally, be sure the screen offers the right aspect ratio—typically, 16:9 for watching movies or TV shows. Some are squarer.

"Throw distance" is the measure of space between the projector lens and your screen. You'll find four categories of throw distance for projector lenses.

As the name implies, a standard throw is the most common, needing roughly 10 feet to the screen for a 90-inch image (measured on the diagonal), give or take a couple of feet depending on the lens. A long throw lets you put the projector much farther away for the same screen and projected-image size.

A short throw lets you position the projector closer than standard, which is absolutely necessary in a tight space and actually helpful for any backyard-movie night. That may seem counterintuitive, but think about it: If everyone is sitting behind the projector, rather than between the projector and screen, no one can cast shadows when they stand up mid-movie to get another skewer of shrimp from the barbie.

Last, ultra short throws, or USTs, let you put the projector just inches away for the same image size. However, these are best avoided for outdoors, because they are finicky about being positioned "just so" relative to the screen, which adds to setup time. 

Some projectors have a built-in speaker or speakers, but in most cases, you'll want an external audio system, or at least external speakers. Only a few projectors offer onboard audio that is in remotely the same league as a typical big screen TV for quality and volume. The reason: It's difficult to deliver good stereo with so little room to separate the speakers, given the size of the chassis of the typical consumer projector.

Consider getting outdoor speakers, and look for analog or digital audio-out ports or Bluetooth speaker support from the projector you use. (Bluetooth can be especially handy if you already own a robust Bluetooth speaker set, but with a caveat we'll get to in a moment.) Many home theater projectors don't offer even a pass-through audio port, however. They're designed with the assumption that you'll use a separate audio system connected to your video source.

As for Bluetooth speakers: Because of the vagaries of both video processing and audio processing on different devices, it is possile to lose sync between the two. To avoid that, look for audio-delay adjustments in Bluetooth speaker support in projectors and in external audio systems.

One last thing: A booming audio system might be great within the confines of your own backyard, but consider your neighbors' comfort when you set the volume. (Or make sure to skewer extra shrimp, pop extra popcorn, and invite them over.)

You should plan on using AC power for all your equipment. Some small projectors can run off of battery power, and some even claim to run for long enough to watch a movie. But they typically drop brightness significantly when running off batteries, and most aren't bright enough in the first place for a backyard movie night at a suitably large size, even using AC power.

For safety's sake, add a professionally installed outdoor outlet near the equipment location, so you don't have to use a trip-me-up extension cord or a chain of cords and power strips. And make sure any outlet you plug into includes ground fault protection to guard against electrical hazards.

Of course, unless you're playing movies stored on a flash card or USB drive connected to a so-equipped projector, you'll need to pipe in your video from somewhere—most likely, a separately powered device.

One option, of course, is a streaming stick such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick or a Roku Streaming Stick+. (See our guide to selecting the best media streamer.) These can be a handy method of projecting media from a streaming service such as Netflix, or accessing stored files on your home network wirelessly via an app like Plex. Most current home projectors offer a USB port to provide power for an HDMI dongle, typically near an HDMI port and often with no other function. You might want to check for one when choosing a projector. If you happen to wind up with a projector without one, a robust power bank connected to a USB power cable may do if a power cord can't reach.

When you're outdoors, connecting a larger discrete video source to the projector can be a challenge. Active optical HDMI cables and HDMI extenders can let you connect over hundreds of feet, but typical HDMI cables are limited to a maximum of 25 feet, at best, and even much shorter cables often have problems providing a reliable connection for 4K HDR content output. You otherwise may need to haul a DVD or Blu-ray player, or a laptop, outside and plug it into the projector.

If the projector supports Wi-Fi, and the video source can connect to your network, by either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, you can connect wirelessly, of course. But you may need to add a Wi-Fi extender to your network to get a strong enough signal out to your backyard, depending on the configuration of your home and the output strength and location of your router. Another alternative: Convert your home network to a mesh system to ensure more even, complete coverage. (See our primer Wi-Fi Range Extender vs. Mesh Network: What's the Difference?) This Wi-Fi booster shot may be necessary, too, to get video flowing from a streaming stick smoothly.

Another possibility—which will work with any projector and video source with HDMI ports—is a wireless HDMI kit. These kits include a transmitter that plugs into the video source's HDMI output and a receiver that plugs into the projector's HDMI-in port, working in essence just like an HDMI cable. We've chosen a good, representative one in our picks below.

Finally, as mentioned above, if you want to play content downloaded (legally, mind you) to a USB drive or flash-memory card, make sure to pick a projector with an appropriate card slot or USB port. One wrinkle to that: Verify that it not only supports playing movies, but supports playing them at the target resolution you want to use. That is not always a given.

Below, we've chosen some of the best projectors on the market for specific outdoor-projection situations and usage cases. For more projector reviews and our latest coverage of the category, check out our projector summary page, as well as our top picks for home projectors. 

Best Mini Projector with 4K Input

The $599.99 Anker Nebula Solar Portable fits a lot of features into a small package. Fully portable, thanks to a built-in rechargeable battery that can outlast most full-length movies, it has built-in Android TV 9 for streaming over a Wi-Fi connection, screen mirroring, and an HDMI port for connecting to other video sources. Unlike much of its competition, it can also accept 4K input and downconvert it without any hiccups. Anker rates the Nebula Solar at 400 ANSI lumens, which is much less than most of the projectors on this list. Even in a very dark outdoor space, you may need to reduce your projected image size (or your expectations). Nonetheless, the projector's price and features make it well worth considering.

The GT1080HDR is designed for gaming, but most of the features gamers want—starting with a reasonable weight (here, 7.7 pounds) for portability—are important pluses for backyard movies, too. The short throw can give you a 100-inch diagonal image with the projector just 43 inches from the screen, so everyone can sit behind the projector and eliminate the possibility of casting shadows. It also offers a 3,800 lumen rating for a bright image that can stand up to ambient light, and it delivers good image quality for movies at its native 1080p, along with support for HDR10 and HLG.

Best 1080p with Onboard Audio

If you want to avoid having to use an external audio system, at least in a pinch, consider the TH685. (It's also available equipped with Android TV, as the $799 TH685i.) It delivers unusually good onboard audio, thanks to a chamber speaker that delivers high-quality sound for a projector and far higher volume than you would expect from the 5-watt spec.

This model also offers a long list of other strong points for backyard movies, including a 3,500 ANSI lumen rating, a 6.2-pound weight for easy luggability, support for HDR10 (for watching 4K HDR movies on disc down-converted to the projector's native 1080p), and support for HLG, the HDR standard for broadcast and streaming TV.

The EF-100 isn't really as pricey as it may seem for the 720p resolution. After taking the included Android TV streaming dongle and the laser light source into account (the laser means you'll never have to buy a replacement lamp), you'll wind up paying only a small premium over its lifetime for the laser.

The projector is rated at 2,000 ANSI lumens, weighs only 6 pounds, offers both a usable 5-watt speaker and Bluetooth speaker support, and uses the streaming dongle to connect to your Wi-Fi network. The 3LCD design (using three LCD chips) also guarantees you won't see the rainbow artifacts (red/green/blue flashes) that single-chip projectors can show. 

Best Semi-Portable Short Throw 4K

Widely available online for $1,499.99,  the ViewSonic X10-4KE weighs just 9 pounds, includes a handle to make it that much easier to take to the backyard, and offers 3,840-by-2,160-pixel (4K UHD) resolution, courtesy of an XPR fast-shift pixel shifting DLP chip, along with HDR10 support. ViewSonic rates the LED light source, which will last the life of the projector, at 2,400 LED lumens, which translates to a claim that it will be perceived as being as bright as a 2,400 ANSI lumen lamp-based projector, despite its 1,000 ANSI lumen rating.

Also noteworthy is the short throw, which can give you a 100-inch image from a little less than 6 feet from the screen, as well as the included Wi-Fi dongle and support for downloading streaming apps from the Aptoide store. 

Best Movie and Gaming Bargain

The ViewSonic PX701HD's $849 MSRP wouldn't qualify it as a low-cost projector, but ViewSonic lists it on its site at this writing at $588.99, and it's available elsewhere online for as little as $549.99. More important, it delivers a lot for the price for backyard movie watching. It offers 1080p resolution, a 3,500 ANSI lumen rating, and a 1.1x optical zoom that adds a little flexibility for placement. At just 5.7 pounds, it's easy to lug around, too.

Best 1080p Wireless HDMI Connection

The OREI WHD-PRO330-K is one of the few HDMI 1080p transmitter and receiver combinations with all the features you need to successfully connect a video device inside your house to a projector in your backyard. It offers a range of up to 300 feet, which is farther than many can manage. It can send a signal, for a smaller distance, through walls, which many such kits can't do. And it supports HDMI 1.3a (so no 3D or 4K unfortunately) and HDCP 2.0 copy protection, which is a higher level than needed for 1080p video content.

As a bonus, it offers both a loop out HDMI port, so you can also connect to a nearby TV or display by HDMI cable, and full band IR transmission, so you can control your player, set-top box, or other video source from the backyard using the video source's remote.

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M. David Stone is a freelance writer and computer industry consultant. He's a confirmed generalist, with writing credits on subjects as varied as ape language experiments, politics, quantum physics, and an overview of a top company in the gaming industry. David has significant expertise in imaging technologies (including printers, monitors, large-screen displays, projectors, scanners, and digital cameras), storage (both magnetic and optical), and word processing.

David's 40-plus years of writing about science and technology include a longtime concentration on PC hardware and software. Writing credits include nine computer-related books, major contributions to four others, and more than 4,000 articles in national and worldwide computer and general interest publications. His books include The Underground Guide to Color Printers (Addison-Wesley) Troubleshooting Your PC, (Microsoft Press), and Faster, Smarter Digital Photography (Microsoft Press). His work has appeared in a number of print and online magazines and newspapers, including Wired, Computer Shopper, ProjectorCentral, and Science Digest, where he was Computers Editor. He also wrote a column for the Newark Star Ledger. His non-computer-related work includes the Project Data Book for NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (written for GE's Astro-Space Division) and occasional science fiction short stories (including publications in Analog).

Much of David's writing through 2016 was for PC Magazine and PCMag.com as a Contributing Editor and Lead Analyst for Printers, Scanners, and Projectors. He returned in 2019 as a Contributing Editor.

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