What's new

I think I need a new projector (1 Viewer)

mac66

Auditioning
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
7
Real Name
Mike
Really hope I can get some good advice. Recently had my 4 year old Sanyo PLV3000 repaired for $900 because the warning lights would come on. It was sent to Sanyo/Panasonic for the repair. I got it back, it worked fine for about a month (less than 40 hours of operation) and then it would shut-down presumably of overheating. After shutting it down for a few minutes it would work again. Now, while watching, I decided to change the view to Dynamic cinema and the warning lights came back on and I'm back to where I started a month ago. I can't see sticking any more money into this thing so, unless you guys tell me differently, its time for a new projector. I have a dedicated theater room built by the previous owner of my house. Its has a 100" screen with the projector mounted on the ceiling at about 8' height, 12' from the screen. This room is great for blu-rays and hi-def sports watching. I'm not that interested in 3-D capability.

Any and all advice would be immensely appreciated.
 

Type A

HW Reviewer
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
898
Location
Aurora Oregon
Real Name
Ty
Man, I would be pissed and I certainly would not be accepting a $900 loss easily. I would be calling them back and finding out why this expensive repair failed so quickly and what they plan to do about it. I owned the z2000 for several years and it was a solid projector indeed, the z3000 is also a damn fine projector. I suppose if you want to look at replacement prior to getting your $900 back my favorite is JVC and Sony but we'll need to know your budget to be more specific on models...
 

Jim Mcc

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
3,757
Location
Oconomowoc, WI.
Real Name
Jim
Yeah that sucks. I wish you had asked prior to sending it in for repair, because that repair was not worth doing. So you want advice on a new projector for a 12' throw and 100" diagonal screen?1) Budget?2) LCD or DLP3) Do you need lens shift?
 

mac66

Auditioning
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
7
Real Name
Mike
Thank you both for responding. I'm such a newbie, I don't know if I need LCD or DLP or lens shift. When my old Sanyo's (Z2000 and Z3000) were working properly, they were perfect. Seeing as how I've already flushed $900 down the drain, my budget is somewhere around $1500-$2000.

Thanks again for your replies
 

Type A

HW Reviewer
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
898
Location
Aurora Oregon
Real Name
Ty
Ah, well sadly a dynamic iris system is in your future as native high contrast projectors from the likes of sony and jvc are $2700 for entry level. Bummer, but Im sure Jim can advise you further.
 

Jim Mcc

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2004
Messages
3,757
Location
Oconomowoc, WI.
Real Name
Jim
For LCD, you should check into the Epson 8350 and 3020, and the Panasonic AR100U. For DLP, the Acer 9500, Optoma HD33, and Benq W7000. You really should decide on which technology you prefer first, by viewing them, if possible. DLP and LCD have a different look to them.
 

mac66

Auditioning
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
7
Real Name
Mike
Does anybody have an opinion on the Epson 5020 or the Panasonic 8000? The seller where I've bought my projectors in the past is recommending the Espon ($2700) Are the JVC or Sony's better than the Epson or Panasonic? At this point I'm very hesitant to go with Panasonic based upon the terrible repair issue that I went through. Again, all opinions/thoughts are really appreciated.
 

schan1269

HTF Expert
HW Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
17,104
Location
Chicago-ish/NW Indiana
Real Name
Sam
If JVC and Sony make your wallet run for cover...look at LG.If JVC and Sony are Mercedes and Acura...LG is the Hyundai Equus. As far as I recall, SXRD is LG license from Sony. The 115 and 181D are worth a look. Both are discontinued for the new $13,000 LCoS CF3D.
 

Type A

HW Reviewer
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
898
Location
Aurora Oregon
Real Name
Ty
Well here's the thing about the current LCD and DLP technologies: their contrast ratio is achieved through trickery. Look at it as being much like a shutter in a camera. The shutter limits the amount of light into the camera, whereas a varible iris in a projector varies the amount of light coming out of the projector. This is how manufactures achieve these mind-altering contrast ratios of, in the case of the Epson 5020 LCD projector, like "320,000 to 1." In a nutshell you have a iris that closes down when the image is dark and then opens when the projected image is light. Even though this sounds like an awesome solution the end result isnt as great as you may think. The problem is that this iris doing its job is not selective to specifice parts of the image; if the overall image is dark the iris closes and even light objects within a scene are darken! And then, of course, the same is done to overall light images on your screen...all objects, even dark ones, are lighten as the iris opens. So this is where these manufactures get their misleading contrast ratios, with that "dynamic iris" hard at work.


Enter LCOS, or liquid crystal on silicon. This technology allows for those super high contrast ratios but they are native contrast ratios, meaning theres NO dynamic iris at work in these projectors! So the bright objects remain bright in dark scenes and conversely the dark objects remain dark in bright scenes because you dont have an iris constantly jacking with your light output to achieve a 320,000 to 1 contrast ratio. In the sub $3k price range are Sony with SXRD and JVC with D-ILA. If you have increased your budget to $2700 you should be skipping DLP and LCD and considering the Sony HW30ES or the JVC X35. JVC also has a pro line that, aside from some cosmetic differences, is the same model as the X35 and its model number is the RS46. A word of warning, once you go native contrast you will never look at anything else. Ill admit, Im a hopeless fan of JVC but I would have to give the nod to the Sony HW30ES in this price range. When I spent $3500 on my factory refurb JVC RS60 you can bet the Sony HW50ES was a very serious contender the whole time. Read reviews, theyre out there for all these models.
 

schan1269

HTF Expert
HW Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
17,104
Location
Chicago-ish/NW Indiana
Real Name
Sam

Type A

HW Reviewer
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
898
Location
Aurora Oregon
Real Name
Ty
A friend pointed out that Sony does in fact employ a dynamic iris and it does have the same drawbacks as other manufactures who use them, so boy do I stand corrected. However Sony is touted as one of the best in the dynamic iris business and the HW50ES is pretty flexible in how you can implement it's dynamic iris.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Forum statistics

Threads
356,815
Messages
5,123,812
Members
144,184
Latest member
H-508
Recent bookmarks
0
Top