I saw a perfect demo of why a great projector screen is vital to making the most of your beamer – especially a budget portable one

Hisense projector screen showing a difference in picture quality on the left and right.

One of the breakout hits of the tech world over the last couple of years has been the best portable projectors. They've really rocketed in popularity because people love the idea of being able to point the projector at a wall anywhere to instantly have big-screen entertainment.

Well, stop that right now. The fun police are here, and we've had reports of people enjoying their media in a sub-standard manner. Okay, you can keep doing it if the portability of these mobile projectors is vital, but if you're investing in one of the best projectors that will stay static – and especially one of the best 4K projectors, which are not cheap – you really need to make sure you invest in a good screen, and not just project onto a wall, or the cheapest screen you can find.