David_Jr
Supporting Actor
Had been considering an RPTV purchase maybe a year down the road. I've been seeing a lot of buzz about the new "less expensive" front projectors on sites like Projector People. They make some of the new under $3K projectors sound pretty tempting when compared to RPTVs in the same price range. Two friends of mine have recently purchased entry level RPTVs; a 46" Sony and a 42" Samsung. I have to admit after helping each guy with setup, I was not very impressed with their pictures, even from a progressive scan player. I think that the picture on my 36" Tosh from a 4 year old Tosh DVD interlaced player is superior in sharpness. Maybe I don't know what to look for. Anyway, I have been drooling over the thought of having a 65" WS in the family room, but after seeing the aforementioned setups I have been backing away from that. Started thinking about 57s. I have a viewing distance of about 12 feet, which should be negotiable a foot or so either way. Then I started doing some projector research for the church I go to and I start reading all of these things about these amazing projectors for under $5K and these great projectors for under $3K and good projectors for under $2K. Is this for real? The thought of a decent quality FP is very appealing (stupid point I realize)!! It would be nice to keep the 36" Tosh right where it is and put a pull-down screen on the ceiling for critical viewing and let the Tosh do the rest. My questions are as follows:
1. Can you really get a great projector for under $3K? Seems to me all the really good projectors in the magazines cost more than $10K and many much more than that.
2. Will these under $3K machines actually produce an HD image (assuming I ever get access to HD)? If so at what resolution, 1080I, 720P or something else?
3. I don't see much on connection setup on these sites. My goal would be to set the projector up as a ceiling mount in the kid's playroom behind the family room through a hole I would make in the wall to project through (assuming my wife would let me do that you understand). That would put the lens of the projector about 15 feet from the proposed screen location. The big question is: what type and how long of a cable can you get to do this? I would only need the cable for the video as I would never consider using the projector's speaker instead of my sound system. My problem is that all of my electronics including Sat receiver and DVD & 5.1 receiver are in a hall closet in front of the room and all of my connections are snaked through the wall and I use a Niles IR repeater. That would put the video sources about 20 feet as the crow flies from the proposed projector location. Assuming snaking through the basement back up to the projector could make the run close to 40 feet. Is that uncommon?
4. What about light output? My room is pretty light controlled at night when I do most of my critical viewing (probably not as critical a viewer as some of you guys, but you know what I mean), but not so in the daytime as the opposite side of the family room has double french doors with no shades. I guess my real question is does it have to be absolutely pitch black in the room to enjoy a FP?
5. How much of a concern is "the screen door effect" and the "rainbow effect"? Most of what you read says that it depends on how sensitive you are to it. Well how do I know that until I've seen it. And how do I know that I won't notice it right away, but after I settle in with a machine I start noticing it and it drives me nuts? What have your experiences been?
6. What about calibration? Is there much to calibrate on an LCD or DLP FP? Also wchich makes more sense, DLP or LCD?
I know I am asking a lot here, but I also know that there are people here that know these things. So that's why I'm asking. Appreciate the help as always.
1. Can you really get a great projector for under $3K? Seems to me all the really good projectors in the magazines cost more than $10K and many much more than that.
2. Will these under $3K machines actually produce an HD image (assuming I ever get access to HD)? If so at what resolution, 1080I, 720P or something else?
3. I don't see much on connection setup on these sites. My goal would be to set the projector up as a ceiling mount in the kid's playroom behind the family room through a hole I would make in the wall to project through (assuming my wife would let me do that you understand). That would put the lens of the projector about 15 feet from the proposed screen location. The big question is: what type and how long of a cable can you get to do this? I would only need the cable for the video as I would never consider using the projector's speaker instead of my sound system. My problem is that all of my electronics including Sat receiver and DVD & 5.1 receiver are in a hall closet in front of the room and all of my connections are snaked through the wall and I use a Niles IR repeater. That would put the video sources about 20 feet as the crow flies from the proposed projector location. Assuming snaking through the basement back up to the projector could make the run close to 40 feet. Is that uncommon?
4. What about light output? My room is pretty light controlled at night when I do most of my critical viewing (probably not as critical a viewer as some of you guys, but you know what I mean), but not so in the daytime as the opposite side of the family room has double french doors with no shades. I guess my real question is does it have to be absolutely pitch black in the room to enjoy a FP?
5. How much of a concern is "the screen door effect" and the "rainbow effect"? Most of what you read says that it depends on how sensitive you are to it. Well how do I know that until I've seen it. And how do I know that I won't notice it right away, but after I settle in with a machine I start noticing it and it drives me nuts? What have your experiences been?
6. What about calibration? Is there much to calibrate on an LCD or DLP FP? Also wchich makes more sense, DLP or LCD?
I know I am asking a lot here, but I also know that there are people here that know these things. So that's why I'm asking. Appreciate the help as always.
