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WTB: Digital Projector...tips? (1 Viewer)

Rich_Henn

Auditioning
Joined
Oct 20, 2001
Messages
13
Hey gang!
I am looking to buy a Digital Projector in lieu of a big screen TV.
Does anyone have any tips for me as to what to look for?

I am currently looking at a new model called "The Matinee".
It projects in 16:9 ratio to widescreen.

Rich
 

PaulHeroy

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 24, 2001
Messages
186
First, do you have a particular budget? Digital projectors have been falling in price but you can spend from under $2k for entry level, to $10k for state of the art. You can get lots of good info and reviews at Projector Central.
Your HT environment will also play a big role in this -- do you have light control (need a brighter pj if not), what's your anticipated room layout (short throw vs. long throw pj), amount of use (bulb life & cost varies, can be expensive if you use it a lot).
If you haven't viewed any projectors I'd advise trying to see at least a few before buying. The 2 main technologies, DLP & LCD, both have particular weaknesses that you should determine your tolerance for. LCD tends to have lower contrast, leading to "gray blacks". It also sometimes has a problem with "screendoor" effect because of space between pixels. DLP does much better on those 2 issues, but most models suffer from the "rainbow" effect, because a single chip is used to send R/G/B sequentially via a rotating color wheel. LCD seems to have higher resolution units available for entry level projectors, which helps on the screendoor issue.
For entry level LCD, the Panasonic AE300 ($1.8 - $2k) is getting lots of positive notice, along with the Sony HS10 ($2.5 - 3k). On DLP, the brand new Infocus X1 ($1.6k) is starting to get some attention. The Sharp PG-M20X ($2.7 - 3k) has been popular because it's bright, has very good contrast and somewhat less rainbows. NEC has an interesting new projector with 3 versions: 2 business oriented ones LT240 (short throw, $3 - 3.5k), LT260 (long throw, $3.5k), HT1000 (HT customized and getting VERY good reviews, $4.5 - 5k). Of course there are many other choices.
 

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