Best HDTV projector under $1400? (1 Viewer)

[Sacha_C]

I have a Sharp PG-A10X and it's awesome for everything from DVDs to games and computer use. The image is sharp and crips due to the XGA resolution and very bright even on economy mode which is 1050 lumens (or 1300 in normal mode). The X1 is only 400 lumens in movie/video mode which is why it's so dim.

I've had my A10X for just over a year now and am not even considering getting a better one, this one is perfect except for the lower contrast but it really isn't a problem at all, even dark movies are great. I'll probably wait another year or 2 and get a very good XGA+ DLP with a nigh speed color wheel.

 

[Sacha_C]

haha, I hadnt even noticed that 2 replies up is a post from me of when I was considering the A10X over a year ago

 

[Evan M.]

The MSRP for the Infocus SP4805 was just reduced to $1,299 according to the Infocus website. It is 16x9 and has the new dark chip 2. It is DLP but it has a 4X color wheel. If you wait a little bit the streetprice will probably go down to 1150 -1200 real soon. good luck.

 

[Sami Kallio]

Infocus SP4805

Not HD though. It downscales the HD signal to 8xx * 600.

 

[Evan M.]

"Not HD though. It downscales the HD signal to 8xx * 600."

True....but NONE of the projectors that anyone has mentioned in this thread is HD. Not the Z1, home10, the Dell or the X1 is HD. I was just following the trend LOL . Plus if you are not bothered by rainbows I think the 4805 will be far superior when it comes to PQ over the others mentioned......of course it helps to be the newest one....by far....of the bunch.

 

[Sacha_C]

Why anyone would get a 854x480 Infocus 4805 for $1300 when you can get the Sharp A10X that is 1024x768 and 1300 lumens with 4500 bulb life for less than $1k is beyond me, unless you absolutely need blacker blacks, but they're still more than black enough for me on my A10X.

The A10X is hard to find since it's discontinued (it first sold for $3500 just over a year ago) but there are new ones listed on ebay every now and then, ebay has a feature to email you whenever a new match is found so this makes it easy to catch one.

Here are pictures of mine:
http://jetpaper.com/projector.html

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

The A10X is an LCD based projector and has a very low contrast ratio, 450:1 compared to the 2000:1 of the 4805 giving it far superior black levels. Also the A10X is native 4:3 its 16:9 resolution is only 1024x576. This slight gain in overall resolution is not that great and can actually decrease PQ since DVD sources must be scaled further to this non-standard resolution. The 4805 also has superior onbard scaling (faroujda) for SD and HD sources. Since the A10X has no digital video input you can't use DVI/HDMI players for a full digital video path which eliminates A-D and D-A conversions which can introduce noise, digital artifacting, and further lower PQ.

So the list of negative features of the A10X compared to the 4805:
-Native 4:3
-Non-standard 16:9 resolution
-LCD vs. DLP
-Low Contrast ratio
-No DVI/HDMI input

 

[Evan M.]

"Why anyone would get a 854x480 Infocus 4805 for $1300 when you can get the Sharp A10X " - Sacha C

"The A10X is hard to find since it's discontinued (it first sold for $3500 just over a year ago) but there are new ones listed on ebay every now and then," - Sacha C

LOL!! I think you answered your own question. No offence but by the specs it seems as if that projector is a bit out-dated. That does not mean that it is bad by any stretch.....but for the amount of money he is willing to spend he can find something brand new from an authorized seller and be a very current model.

 

[Sacha_C]

Sorry I dont remember of any budgets mentioned since this thread started over a year ago, if your budget is over $1500 than definately do NOT get the A10X, there are better ones for this budget, but the 4805 is not one in my opinion due do it's laughably low resolution for the price.

-Native 4:3
-Non-standard 16:9 resolution
These two are exactly the same which you listed in 2 different wordings to make the A10X look bad, and for me I use more 4:3 than 16:9 so for me and others 4:3 is an advantage, no matter how many times you relist it in different words to add fake disadvantages which are advantages to many

-LCD vs. DLP
-Low Contrast ratio
Again, these two are similar, but LCD has many benefits over DLP as well such as nicer and more vivid colors, more film like image, also a much brighter image for the same lamp brightness (DLP is 33% of the brightness of an LCD using the same brightness lamp since only 1/3rd the light is being projected at any given time)

-No DVD/HDMI input
What's a DVD input? Perhaps you mean component (it's not called DVD input), in which case it does, it only needs a cheap $5 adapter

I use my A10X only from my PC so faroudja would be a complete waste for me, but if you want high quality to start with, you should be using a PC because it gives the best possible image quality than any other standalone DVD player.

I think the 4805 is very deceiving, the resolution is a total joke for the price, if it was $800-900 new it would be acceptable, but for $1300 you can get MUCH MUCH higher resolutions in other models.

Sure the A10X has 450:1 contrast, but that's just a number, most of those that saw the A10X next to an X1 prefered the A10X, that's why I bought it instead of the X1, because not a single person that compared them prefered the X1's image. The pictures I linked to speak for themselves.

 

[Sami Kallio]

PC because it gives the best possible image quality than any other standalone DVD player.

Maybe with the professional equipment but certainly not your normal PC. I had one connected to my FP with 9800Pro (should be top PQ for budget video card) and it was considerably weaker image than with Denon DVD-1600.

 

[Brian Gi]

At this point in time since this thread has been resurrected, PJPeople has a demo PT-L500 1280x720 HD Front Projector for just under $1400.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

OK... first off... calm down... secondly, read and think before you reply.

-Native 4:3
-Non-standard 16:9 resolution
These are not the same. Saying that the projector's 16:9 resolution is non-standard is saying that it's non a resolution shared by many sources (DVD, SDTV, HDTV, etc). Using a non-standard resolution requires scaling and data projectors are not known for their stellar scaling.

-LCD vs. DLP
-Low Contrast Ratio
Again, these are not the same. I'm not sure where you came up with LCD having more vivid colors and being more film like. If anything LCD offers a more digital looking image with larger spacing between pixels and more chance of SDE. Also, brightness output is measured as the output from the projector, not from the lamp directly.

-No DVI/HDMI input
DVI is a digital video input, superior to component video for the reasons mentioned in my prior post. If you noticed in the main paragraph it was listed as DVI and was a simple typo in the listing at the bottom that has now been corrected.

Not everyone uses a PC in the HT setup. HTPC can offer great PQ but most often it is an expensive solution and doesn't offer the usability of a stand-alone dvd player. The big advantage of HTPC is scailing. With the advent of scaling players with digital video outputs (DVI and HDMI) the gap between DVD and HTPC has all but been elimintated, especially considering the price of very solid scaling players is now below $300.

The resolution of the 4805 is not deceiving at all. It is 854x480, the native resolution of progressive scan DVD. If anything the resolution of the A10X is deceiving because its widescreen resolution is much less than the published 4:3 resolution. This is a HOME THEATER forum and mot of us are doing out critical viewing of 16:9 material. Higher resolution is not always better, the resolution needs to match the dominant source's resolution. The majority of HOME THEATER viewing is currently DVD and the 4805 matches that resolution with stellar scaling for other sources such as HDTV and SDTV.

Discounting contrast ratio's importance to projector performance is like saying horsepower is not important to the performance of a car. Low contrast ratio projectors can not produce deep blacks without the help of grey screens which have lower gains and in turn lower the actual brightness. High contrast ratio projectors do a much better job producing true blacks and don't require brightness robbing grey screens. Compare the A10X to an X1 all you want, the 4805 is NOT an X1. If you read 4805 reviews you'll see that it is widely praised and one of the most widely used HT projectors. The pictures you link to show very good PQ, but they don't show anything beyond that because they're not showing the PQ compared to anything else.

I'm not a 4805 owner. I have first hand experience with it and it is a stellar unit, but my praises for it are not groudned in my need to tout my own gear as superior to anyone elses.

 

[Evan M.]

Very well said Stephen.

It shocks me that people can actually get angry when people may not want to buy the same projector that they own........plus they insult another suggestion when they HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN IT!!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

To judge the picture quality of the 4805 without seeing it based on the resolution specs is a total joke, foolish and laughable, very deceiving.
Here's a good review that shows how to look at what goes into the total image:

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...r-11-2004.html

 

[Sacha_C]

I didnt judge the 4805's quality, I said that for the price fothe projector, the resolution is a joke because many other projectors that actually cost less have a much higher resolution.

I would also definately not recommend getting an A10X which I own if your budget is $1400, you can get a much better projector for that price, but my A10X is still more than good enough and everyone that sees it drops their jaw, but for $1400 you can get an even better projector.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

I didnt judge the 4805's quality, I said that for the price fothe projector, the resolution is a joke because many other projectors that actually cost less have a much higher resolution

Implying, of course, that resolution is the only spec that matters.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Assuming proper distance from the scren resolution is much less important than resolution matching and scaling. You can get higher resolution at the price of the 4805, but not with the combination of a comon resolution, very high contrast ratio, and 16:9 native. My L300U has a higher resolution (960 x 540) but I would make the trade off for the MUCH higher contrast ratio if there were a short-throw equivalent of the 4805 (I would also like an HDCP compliant DVI input).