Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

Re: Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

You know this is going to start a war, don't you? I like the look of DLP better, and DLP has less "potential" problems than LCD. LCD projectors are popular because they have more installation flexibility(with lens shift and long zoom lenses). You need to view both types and see which you prefer.

Re: Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

Yes, I have the Mits. HD1000, which is a 720p DLP projector.

What is your budget for projector?
Will you ceiling mount projector?
Is your ceiling limited to where you can mount it?
What screen size do you want?

Re: Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

I don't know that DLP units have less potential for problems -- they have different problems.

The big one you need to discover is if you have a problem with DLP.

Single chip units (read: affordable) display the picture with sequential color. If you look at the screen in short enough periods of time, the image is only one color. It is very fast, this flicker rate. Unfortunately, people's eyes also move very fast as they do their little twittering motions to keep the image alive in the brain, and build up the whole image. The question is if you can see the sequential color or not. Different projectors use different flicker rates, so just because you can see it on one, doesn't mean you'll see it on a different make/model.

All else being equal, DLP often have better contrast and brightness specifications per dollar of cost. They also have more moving parts - not just the color wheel that provides the sequential color, but also the individual mirrors on the chip. They do fail, and sometimes you have a chip that has a whole lot of failures in a short period of time. It's bad when that happens, in case you didn't catch that.

But often times they don't fail.

In my experience at home and at work, I've been able to see the color twitter on all single-chip DLP units, although some much less than others. I've also seen one projector in a relatively short period of time develop more than a hundred dead pixels.

I've also watched eight LCD projectors burn themselves out -- the delamination of the optical block, the failure of the polarizers, (all heat-related,) and that wasn't very good, either. (But we run 9+hours per day, every day, which now LCDs aren't warrented for.)

Given my druthers, I'd say, D-ILA (the JVC units,) followed by 3-chip DLP (insanely expensive,) then LCD, before finally single-chip DLP. But then I can see the color twitter. Otherwise, I'd drop the 3-chip DLP and bump single-chip DLP into its place.

Leo

Re: Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

I currently own a 720p resolution DLP projector (Optoma HD-65) and *love* it ... But I paid less than half of what you have budgeted for a projector.

Here are the basic differences between DLP and LCD:
* Single-chip DLP projectors will *never* have convergence issues ... period. LCD projectors could potentially have a convergence issue if the LCD panel warps slightly. This could occur if power is suddenly removed from the projector such that the projector cannot go through its normal "cool down" procedure.

* DLP projectors have inherently better "color fill" per pixel. This is why a 720p native resolution DLP projector can compete favorably with a 1080p LCD projector in the area of SDE (screen door effect).

* Single-chip DLP projectors use a spinning color wheel in front of the light engine which in turn energizes the DLP chip. If the color wheel spins slow enough it's possible that some people can see the "color flicker" which is called RBE (Rainbow Effect). Most modern home theater DLP projectors use 4x or 5x speed color wheels which pretty much makes RBE impossible to detect for about 95% of the population. By contrast, presentation DLP projectors will typically utilize 2x speed color wheels and do exhibit RBE artifacts for about 20% of the population.

* LCD projectors use three chips (red-green-blue) glued together in a panel and will therefore never exhibit RBE artifacts. However, as explained above, it is possible for some slight convergence problems to occur should the panel warp beyond the ability of the on-board alignment circuitry to rectify. Admittedly, this would be an extreme case of warpage; but I have seen it on occasion.

DLP has inherently better contrast ratio attributes than LCD; but these days the contrast ratio difference is pretty much moot from a practical perspective. Most home theater LCD projectors utilize "auto-iris" lens and other tricks to make the CR acceptable.

Having said all that, with your budget I would take a serious look at the LCD-based Panasonic PT-AE3000.

This projector has a native resolution of 1080p and other incredible specifications. But its main claim to fame is its ability to provide a "constant height" setup with no external lens such that a 2.35:1 aspect ratio movie is rendered at the same height (but of course much wider) than a 1.85:1 aspect ratio movie -- just as you would have in a theater. It achieves this with a system that it calls "Lens Memory". Lens memory takes advantage of the fact that the projector has powered zoom, powered focus, and image shift. Just play a 2.35:1 movie and adjust zoom, focus, and image shift until the image perfectly fills your 2.35:1 screen and then store those settings to one of the provided Lens Memory User settings. Do the same for a 1.85:1 AR movie, and you can then switch back and forth between the two aspect ratios by pressing two buttons! Since most DLP projectors don't include powered zoom and focus, this is a truly useful function that provides this particular LCD projector with a clear advantage over DLP!

Re: Please help me with info on DLP or LCD Projector

I still say you need to view both DLP and LCD and see which you prefer. Then you can narrow down your search.