Plasma, LED, or Projector? (1 Viewer)

[eyeage30]

Hello everyone, I'm hoping to get some action on this topic as I'm going to go buy tomorrow. I'm setting up a media room. Viewing distance 10ft, supreme light control. Use: Blueray, PS3, TV occasionally (rarely), potentially 3D. Question: Best option? I have 2 panasonic plasmas (love them). Curious what my best option is here. While size is tempting (hence the projector option) I'd rather not sacrfice quality for it. I've never seen a projector outside of a movie theater, and cannot find one on "display" at any stores near me (I live in a big city too). If I buy a plasma it will be panasonic GT/VT, LED will be?, Projector will be? Budget around $3000 (on the high side of the budget). What's the best? Help me out Thanks

 

[Jim Mcc]

I recommend a projector, but with that short viewing distance you'll need to keep the screen reasonably sized. About 90" diagonal is good. Are you aware of all the extras you'll need if you go with a projector? Screen(bought or DIY), A/V Receiver, speakers, ceiling mount or shelf, cables. Does $3,000 include everything I listed or just the projector?

 

[eyeage30]

Does $3,000 include everything I listed or just the projector?

Projector and the screen. There seems to be an epson that's reasonable priced. 8700UB, seems to have good reviews. And looks like I could get a modest sized screen. It's about $2200.. seems reasonable. The 60" GT 3D is slightly cheaper, and probably a lot easier to get working. Oy! So many decisions

 

[Jim Mcc]

A projector will give the room a "home theater" experience. A TV will just make the room a "room with a TV in it". You can make or paint a very nice screen for very little money. It's a shame you can't view a projector somewhere, to see what you're missing.

 

[eyeage30]

A projector will give the room a "home theater" experience. A TV will just make the room a "room with a TV in it".

What a solid point.

 

[winniw]

An Epson 8350 or 8700 will give you a 100" image at around 10'. I highly recommend going that route. Placement is so flexible with these epsons that you could put it on a coffe table in front of your sofa (if it would be 10' from the screen).


Check out my living room setup with the 8350 and a 100" Elite CineTension2 screen.

http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk243/NickWizard/


Note that a couple of shots are with a 60 watt lamp on in the room. I took these shots for someone who was wondering if they could leave a light on in the room. Also, note that my projector is on top of my AV rack to the far left of my seating, yet it projects an undistorted image in front of the seating. Like I said... very flexible.


Before I got a projector, I thought that I would have to give up at least a little quality in order to go bigger. Not so, you don't give up any quality.

 

[Jim Mcc]

100" diagonal from 10' away is too big, unless you enjoy sitting in the front row at the movie theater.

 

[winniw]

Personally, I don't think that 100" is too big at 10' but actually, I was just pointing out the capabilities of the Epson. I view at 14' and I wish that I had gone with a 120" screen. I do agree with your previous post that 90" is a reasonable size at that distance. So, somewhere between 90" and 100" based on personal preference. At least this gives the OP an idea of what could work.

 

[eyeage30]

The more you guys talk about it, the more I'm moving towards it. I saw a projector yesterday at a high end store. They had the epson 9700. It looked pretty good, not quite the picture that is the GT/VT, but very cinematic and cool. Like Jim said though, A tv makes it a room with a tv in it....

 

[smithb]

I like to point that it is not just the quality of the projector's output that determines the best size screen but also the quality of the type of content you like to view. If you are prone to only watch blu-ray or pristine DVD releases then you can stretch to the larger size. But if you watch any content of lesser quality a little smaller may be better. I personally enjoy watching older material of a lesser video quality, so a 92" screen from 14' back works well for me. It can be useful to take it in steps, first get the projector and output to the wall for a little bit to best gauge what I size work best for your useage. Then you can check out screens of the appropriate size and materials. Back in 2003 when I setup my HT I wavered a bit on front or rear projection. Rear projection being much easier to setup and for the whole family to use. In the end, I jumped into front projection and have never looked back.