Can you watch regular tv on a projector (1 Viewer)

[dickTH]

If I am looking at getting a panny 900 and a good screen, can you watch normal, satellite, non-hd tv on it? (P.S. I know you can WATCH it, but is the picture good?)

It will be in a basement, so light is not usually a problem

I was thinking of getting a 42"-50" plasma to mount on the wall, then get a roll down screen to drop in front of it for movies, the "big game", etc. I'm just wondering if it's worth buying both

There is always a chance that the back half of the room (15x20' of a 15'x43' room) which has a pool table, bar, etc may be in use while people want to watch, therefore some lights on.

 

[Jimi C]

"If I am looking at getting a panny 900 and a good screen, can you watch normal, satellite, non-hd tv on it? (P.S. I know you can WATCH it, but is the picture good?)"

We have been watching playoff hockey on my edtv projector on an 84" screen and I have no complaints. Its just basic cable ran through a VCR. The qulaity is alright, not good, but it is certainly watchable. From 12ft away you can clearly make out the puck if that says anything. The quality is comprable to watching an old tv with rabbit ears.

 

[Allan Jayne]

A Panasonic AE900 should deliver ordinary broadcasts or cable TV pictures with the quality of a high grade box TV. Of course the inherent imperfections will be more noticeable in the big picture unless you are standing far enough away that the picture looks no bigger than on a regular TV at normal viewing distance.

Data grade projectors might not give so great a picture from composite or S-video inputs because the de-interlacing needed to put the video on 640 to 768 rows of pixels may be mediocre, and below the quality of that in a typical box HDTV.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/viddoubl.htm

 

[todbnla]

I watch on occasion, HD cable feeds on my Infocus 4805, great picture.

 

[dickTH]

I'm going to bump this up as I'm still thinking.
Does anyoneout there watch regular satellite on a projector? I have an HD satellite box, but don't have the HD feature hooked up at this time as it is alot of work to run an underground cable from the dish to the house, but I will do it sooner or later.

 

[Robert_J]

I'm not sure what you mean by "HD feature"? If you already have one cable from the dish to the receiver, that's all you need for satellite HD. Post some details and we can help you with this as well.

-Robert

 

[dickTH]

Sorry, wrong terminology. I have ExpressVu here in canada (same as Dish Network)
In order for me to get HD broadcasts, you need the dish pointed at two satellites, and wired with dual LNB's to pick it up. I don't currently have the second LNB Wired as it would be alot of work to run the wires through my backyard and into the basement. Not impossible, just one of the many things on my to do list. I actually had one of the bell tech's here to do it once, but they sent a new guy who just didn't know what to do because I have 2 other receivers that are not HD, he was pretty confused, finally left without doing anything.

 

[Robert_J]

ExpressVu uses Echostar equipment. There's a chance you could put your switch for the two dishes out at the dish location and use your existing wiring. Post some more details. I spend more time helping people with satellite questions that I do with display questions.

-Robert

 

[David-Wright]

I watch TV all the time on my projector. Regular Tv is a little soft but it is fine. But HDTV is amazing. I wouldn't spend the extra money just to have a flat screen and a projector. See about getting HDTV to your projector and you will be in Tv heaven.

 

[BrianNorman]

I love being the guy that does all these things hahaha. I have the 4805 using the 3 lbn dish from DTV. this fri i am having the guys come out to install the new 5 lnb dish (which ironically only has three circle things, but still looks funcky) and upgrading to the hd package. right now the normal sat feed is going from s vid to component upconverted to 480p through my denon 3806. The feed looks ok i watch all my tivo'd stuff on it, but the best description i have heard is its like watching through a sheet of wax paper. the screen appears to have a grey cloud over it because it is such a low resolution. but i am going to see how the pic looks like coming off the hd box on hd chan and non hd chan. My uncle who owns his own HT company said the difference just from going from the s vid to comp out will be HUGE. I will let you know on fri just how big the diff is. Just in case people were wondering the reason that the standard tivo's and receivers don't have a comp out is because hardly anyone would upgrade to the hd package.

Also, just to vent minus points for DTV on their new system. Just by getting the new dish you have to sign a two year contract. Granted i am going to have them for a longer time than that, but its just a deterrence for people that want to upgrade. and the most irritating thing. The current HD tivo will not work on the new system. Weird yes especially since the non hd tivo will work as with all the old receivers, which originally were all going to have to be upgraded. I just want them to get their act together and come out with the new hd dvr which will be lacking tivo for the new system which i have heard is ok, but lacks a lot of features.

 

[Robert_J]

Yes, the difference between s-video and component is huge IF the source material is good. DirecTV's over-compressed standard def picture is barely adequate on most big screen TVs. The reason standard Tivos and receivers don't have component outputs is because it is a waste of equipment. With my HR10-250 and watching standard def channels via component or HDMI, I can't tell any difference between that picture and the one from my GXCEBOT (series 1 DirecTivo) via S-video.

-Robert

 

[BrianNorman]

"The only receivers that recognize the additional satellites are the ones designed to decode MPEG4 signals."

Thats what i meant you can't record any of the local chan in hd with the old tivo units.

"The HR20-250 is rumored to be just around the corner. That means anytime between now and the end of the year! And where did you hear that it was OK? There are a lot of DirecTivo users that tried the R20 DVR and HATED it."

My uncle who owns his store is privy to info that the public is not and i have also talked to direct tv myself. They were supposed to have the new dvr's ready to be release with the new dish, but now the date is the end of sept. but through a source i am not allowed to disclose don't count on the release until atleast jan of next year, and possibly even summer if they re negotiate with tivo


and for the last comment i will have an answer after my new equip is put in tomorrow

 

[Robert_J]

This information is available from Tivo Community, DBS Talk, DBS Forums and Satellite Guys. Numerous people at those forums have very reliable inside contacts at DirecTV and very good track record of their "rumors" being true. All are saying right after the first of the year.

None have mentioned anything about renewing the contract with Tivo. In fact that would go against what was stated at the last conference call with Wall Street analysts. There was a support contract that was recently extended and that was a surprise. The Series 2 DirecTivos immediately got a software update after that that brought their menu structure more in line with the Series 2 & Series 2.5 models.

-Robert

 

[BrianNorman]

MMMMM HD Just got it installed. Totally worth the new dish and hd reciever. Even the non high def looks better (a little brighter and WAY less artifacts so its clearer) The high def looks amazing even on my 92" screen. Can't wait to get my HDMI cord next week and see the little jump in quality again.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I don't have HD yet and I watch cable all the time on my SP 4805 and DIY 103" screen. I have my cable running through my dvd recorder which must digitize any source going into it so that it can record them onto discs, so this digitization cleans up cable a bit, plus the projector has a Faroudia DCDi chip in it which does amazing things with the cable.

It looks very good IMO.

If you decide to go this route, make sure the recorder is set to output 480i so that the Faroujia chip, assuming the projector you get is equipped with that, can do it's work because it's a far superior deinterlacer than the dvd recorder's tuner. I have it fed to the projector via componant cable, BTW.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

I also have a Panny AE900 - and it's paired up with a 106" Da Lite screen.

I originally planned on using it for strictly HD/DVD/HTPC use and purchased a smaller flat screen (32") to use for everything else.

I returned the 32" display - didn't need it!

I'm happy with everything I have seen displayed on the Panny.

Just added a HD-DVD player this past week - WOW!

 

[dogbert]

Hi, Had a quick question. So, you can connect the antenna cable to the receiver/VCR and from the receiver/VCR to the projector for the projector to project the picture onto the screen; am I understanding this right? I always thought that the projector had to be connected to a television or computer/laptop to project out the picture. Would appreciate a response to confirm that I am understanding the concept of watching the channels/shows without the need of a TV or laptop.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Hi, Had a quick question. So, you can connect the antenna cable to the receiver/VCR and from the receiver/VCR to the projector for the projector to project the picture onto the screen; am I understanding this right? Correct. You'll be using the VCR as your tuner. BUT the VCR cannot output HD. The image will look bad blown up on the projector. I assume you're using an OTA antenna? If so, the best thing to do is buy an HD-OTA tuner, that's what I use in my projector setup. I use the HD tuner by Centronics, and it cost me about $100. Of course, this all depends on the projector's resolution.