Front Projectors.. (1 Viewer)

[CurtJ]

I would like to build a home theater with a front projector but was wondering is it will cover all of my watching needs. Will the picture be good for sporting events (especially football games with alot of motion) and is it alright to use my front projector to do the majority of my TV watching?

 

[mark alan]

If you are watching a high definition football broadcast, it will look incredible. A regular football broadcast, not so good.

I personally don't like to use my projector so much for tv, other than the occassional football game. You have to keep the room pretty dim, otherwise the picture quality really suffers. Plus, projector bulbs aren't cheap, and you can really rack up the hours if you use your projector as a tv.

My preferred option is a tv and projector both in the room. I have a 36" tv recessed in the wall. When I want to use the projector, I simply hang the screen on the wall in front of the tv.

 

[Sahib]

I have a projector in a dedicated Home Theater Room. I have a front projector, Sony Cineza VPL-HS51. I use it mainly for Football Sundays (I have the DirecTV NFL Ticket) and for watching movies with my wife and friends. My use is typically Sundays, Monday Nights & the occasional Friday nights. You will want to be careful of how many hours you use the front projector as bulbs last typically 2000-3000 hours and cast around $350. If you do decide that that the front projector is for you, I recomment that you upgrade your video source (Cable, Satellite TV) to HD. You will definately see the difference especially when your picture is now almost 90".

Good Luck!

 

[Oren Paul]

I have used my Panasonic L-500 for my TV since July of '04, in low lamp mode the bulb lasts a lot longer than the 2000 hours stated.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Keep in mind that projector bulbs have a lifespan like any other and if you plan to spend hours every evening watching sports broadcasts and treating it as you would a regular television set, you can probably expect to spend quite a bit replacing your lamp every few months.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Somebody beat me to it.

I've got aaprox. 1-2000 hrs lamp life and a $700 CAN bill for replacement!


I'm looking into an LCD screen to ease my pockets in the long run...

 

[Nancy Parr]

I use my Sanyo PLV-Z2 (800 Lumens, 1300:1 contrast) projector (which is a native 720p 16:9 projector) in low lamp to watch regular TV. The TV signal set up is simple. It is a Star Choice (DTH satellite service) receiver connected by a S-VIDEO cable to my DVD recorder. The DVD recorder is connected to my projector using component video cables. The DVD player is of course set to 480p. I use this set up only to watch SD TV. To watch DVDs I use my Denon 2910 DVD player which upscale the 480p DVD picture to 720p and send it to the projector using a DVI cable. To watch HDTV I use my Star Choice HDTV receiver which is connected to the projector using component video cables. My Harmon Kardon audio receiver is used as a switcher between the two component video cables set (the ones from my DVD recorder and the ones from my Star Choice HDTV receiver).

If you are a football fan I think you should buy a 720p projector. Projectors price is dropping. For example I bought my Sanyo PLV-Z2 something like 2 years ago and paid $2,700 CND for it and now it is possible to get one for about $1,500 CDN.

Now Sanyo has the PLV-Z3 (1000 lumens, 2000:1 contrast) and the PLV-Z4 (1000 lumens, 7000:1 contrast). These projectors are probably better than my Z2 but for now I like my Z2.

In conclusion I think that for sports viewing a 720p projector is ideal.

P.S. Note that for low lumen projectors like those you can get under $2000 you will need to have a totally dark dedicated room. My HT room does not have any window and is totally dark even in a beautiful summer sunny day.