Best Front Projector from $5k to $10k

Richard Mass · 07-31-2003, 01:34 PM

I am currently building a new home that should be complete in early November, 2003. It will have a dedicated theater room over the garage with an 8' vaulted ceiling that is 11'3" wide and 20'6" long. The room while have very little to no ambient light. I would appreciate any recommendations as to what projector/screen combination would be best if I want to spend $10,000 for the pair.

My current plans are to go with a Stewart Deluxe Fixed HDTV 100" screen and one of the following projectors:
Optoma H76, Infocus 7200, SharpVision XV-Z10000U, Marantz VP-12S2 or Yamaha DPX-1000.

Should I include LCD projectors? Is a sealed light engine necessary?

Neil Joseph · 07-31-2003, 02:43 PM

I think any one of these 5 will be better PQ-wise than any LCD projector int he HT market that I am aware of as all are HD-2 models.

Guy Kuo · 07-31-2003, 03:23 PM

I would strongly consider waiting until mid-september before deciding on your projector. There will be some changes on the near horizon.

Oswald Pascual · 02-14-2004, 03:54 PM

What Changes have taken Place since this thread was started?

Richrad which PJ did you get?

Guy Kuo · 02-14-2004, 05:09 PM

HD2+ single chip projectors have now achieve 4,000:1 on/off contrast ratio after calibration! That is a huge increase in the image envelope that a machine can render convincingly.

**HTF Ads**

Oswald Pascual · 02-14-2004, 08:09 PM

With the improved black levels of the HD2+ DMD's, are the greyhawk and firehawk screens really needed, or are we better off with a standard white 1.3 gain screen as mostly reccomended for CRT's?

Thanks

Richard Mass · 02-16-2004, 10:45 AM

I ended up buying the XV-Z10000U and the Stewart screen with the Firehawk material. I am very pleased with the performance but am having some flicker that is generally attributed in theses forums to the lamp.

I felt that the Sharp was the best bang for the buck as I was able to but it for around 60% of msrp.

Oswald Pascual · 02-16-2004, 07:43 PM

Richard what size diagonally did you get, and is your screen perforated?

I have been trying to decide myself what screen to get, but have found that the firehawk screens kill some of the details in the black level when used inconjunction with the newer DLP's that have improved black levels. I have been also considering a micro-perf screen for placing my center speaker behind the screen, but have seen this moire effect, and I definately do not like that.

I have read on a screen maker called Clear-Pix, and they claim there woven screen will not produce this effect, but I have yet to see one of those screens at work to see if they produce a nice image or not. I am in a quandry now with screen selection and it is frustrating when one can not do direct comparison with screens, and projectors.

Also I have not seen this flicker effect that you mentioned, is it noticable all the time or only in certain scenes? Is it a permanent problem?

Richard Mass · 02-17-2004, 08:19 AM

I purchased the 100" 16 x 9. It is not perforated.

As far the flicker. What I have read has been at AVSforum and indicates that the flicker problem generally lasts from 300 to 600 hours on the lamp. Mine started around 200 hours and is not constant but very frequent.

search for sharp z10000 flicker problem