I'm So Confused...... (1 Viewer)

[jerry L]

Hi,
I’m new to this site so forgive me if you’ve heard it all before. My basement is under construction at the moment and I’ve decided to build a home theatre in a section of the basement. I’ve just finished the framing of all the walls and I’m ready to do my electrical, I plan on using a projector instead of a large T.V. because of the cost difference, which brings me to the dilemma I’m having !!! I did not realize there were so many projectors to choose from! I’ll start by telling you what I’m hoping to spend for a projector ($900 - $1500) and I’m relying on the wisdom of all you HT guys. ( I don’t want my wife saying “ I told you so” she thinks I’m nuts!, but I want her to be Aawww stuck when it’s complete, which brings me to the question that you probably answered a hundred times . What is better for home theatre LCD or DLP? What a good contrast ratio to have? What are good lumens to start with? What should my standard be 4.3 Native or 16.9? I’ve been reading up on a few projectors and the reviews like the BENQ DLP projector it’s in my price range but the reviews aren’t so hot or the Epson LCDx3 cheap price but will I’ll be buying a new projector in a year? The more I read the more confused I get!! Or like the Hitachi cps318 svga projector, a little over my budget and with a 400:1 contrast ratio…I plan on watching movies with this projector and hooking up my sons X box to it and also watching regular or Satellite T.V. I will have control over my ambient lighting and I plan on building my own screen.
So that’s why I’m asking for a little help I’ve seen some of the nice work you guys have done with your HT that it inspired me to do it! And this site has been very informative for me.

Thanks in advance
Jerry

 

[Jack Briggs]

Welcome aboard, Jerry.

Since you're asking about what to get -- that is, for specific-model advice -- I've moved your post to here. The Basics area is for general discussion at the beginner level ("What's a front projector?" would be a Basics-type question, in other words).

 

[Brad E]

I don't think anything would beat the Infocus 4805 in the price range you specified.

 

[Torgny Nilsson]

I have the BenQ PB8220 and am very happy with it. I would buy it again.

I chose a DLP projector rather than a LCD projector as I wanted to avoid the pixel burn out problem that LCD projectors sometimes have. But some DLP projectors have a problem with rainbows; I have not heard of this being much of an issue with the 8220 though.

I chose a native 4x3 projector because I watch a lot of older movies that are in 4x3 and I liked the fact that a 4x3 projector and a 100' screen give me a 48 sq.ft. picture with old movies and still give me a very large 16x3 image (a simple press of a button switches between the two formats).

If you watch more TV or old movies, go with a native 4x3 projector. If you watch more new movies in 16x9 format, go with a native 16x9 projector.

My projector is 2000:1 contrast ratio, which I really like. 400:1 seems low to me.

Most importantly, make sure you check out the thread on what people would have done differently in their HT if they had the chance. It can save you a lot of headaches. I wish it had been around when I was building my HT!

 

[Jim Mcc]

Jerry, I agree with the Infocus 4805, if you want DLP.
If LCD, check out the Panasonic 500, it can be bought less than $1500, and it's 720p HD.

 

[Ian-Fl]

First of all contrast ratio doesn't mean a lot today. Manufacturers will base their numbers on many different criteria.
I have a three year old 300:1 LCD projector on a DIY blackout material screen and the picture still looks good. I've seen a Z2 and although it had better resolution than mine the blacks looked no better.
Having said that I doubt a 2000:1 contrast projector looks twice as good as a 1000:1 projector because lumens can also play a part.
I'd see if I could find some people in my area and screen their theaters. Projector people love to show off their theaters.
I use my theater for watching films and download two TV programs a week for it. After that the TV upstairs gets used the most.
Bulbs on a FP might give you 2000 hours set at econo mode and they'll cost $500.
FP's are also very portable. I took my projector, some blackout material and my PC speakers on my vacation last summer.
There are lots of good 4:3 projectors out there so I wouldn't just base my decision on format.
Projectorcentral.com is a good place to go if you haven't been there already.

 

[DaveGTP]

The Infocus 4805 is always a good budget choice. The Panny 500 is recommended by the LCD folks (personally not a fan of LCD myself, prefer DLP). There's a new

Here's a good page on projectorcentral to start (scroll down the the under $1500 section, and the $1500-2000 range. Realistically many of the $1500-$2000 projectors are available for quite a bit less than MSRP.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/reco...projectors.htm

Word on avsforum is that the MSRP on the 4805 dropped to $1299, but the dealer price didn't drop nearly as much. So you should be able to get a 4805

 

[jerry L]

Thanks for your replies guys…..it’s by listening to your replies that put me at ease with buying a projector. The other day I went to a local electronic store with multi projector set ups. I’ve finally saw the rainbow effects people talk about and the screen door effects produced by the LCD PJ. Personally I rather have the screen door effect then the rainbow effect I saw, cause if you stood back far enough the screen door effect is basically non-existent. I’ve also had the pleasure of viewing a higher end Yamaha PJ and it was incredible but not a cheap unit it $(5000 CDN) but what a picture!. I was also impressed with the lower end model that they had and it just a little over my budget, it was the Epson Home 10+ and yes I did see the screen door effect but only when I was close to the screen…they are selling that unit for $1900 CDN. I’ve seen it cheaper in the states and with the money conversion I would cost me around $1500 CDN and comes with a free screen offer but I’m not really sure about buying online!!. Does any body have any comments on the Epson Home 10+ - I’ve read the reviews at projector central and nobody had anything bad to say about it the only down fall was the remote control was to small – and I also was looking and the surround sound receivers - he showed me the Pioneer for about $379 which he recommends it over the Yamaha receiver for about $400 but when it came to the speakers he tried to convince me on $1000 worth of speakers. Is that cheap for speakers or can I do it for less?
Well if Santa’s good to me and brings the digital camera I was asking for I’ll take some pictures of my progress and post them so you can see what I end up with

Thanks again!!

 

[DaveGTP]

Aha...someone vulnerable to the rainbow effect.

Check the projector's stats to see if it was a 2x wheel, 4x wheel, or what. I am vulnerable to the 2x wheel on my X1, but the 4x and 5x wheels on the Samsung DLP RPTVs, higher end pj's, etc I am rainbow free.

 

[Ian-Fl]

Online speakers give good value especially Cdn speakers bought in Cda. Fluance are sold out of Ontario so if you live outside there's no PST.
I always liked the look of Onix. There are a lot of people on this forum with the ELT's. There on sale for $700 US
http://www.av123.com/products_produc...&product=31.1ç
Athena are good. Paradigm atoms as well but you can't find them online.

 

[jerry L]

Hello again, the projector that i saw the rainbow effect on was the BENQ pb 6100, i don't know what X wheel it was the only reason i looked at it was because of the price range.
i noticed the rainbows appear all over the screen. They appeared as quick green or red flashes when ever there was bright image against the dark background (we were watching the lord of the rings on it). Now the Epson Home 10+ was a more expensive unit, but if you got to close to the screen it look like we were looking through a screen door but like i said the image was really nice and at 5ft back you did not notice the screen door. and one of the cool things that impressed me with the Epson was that it was in a section of the store that had the overhead lights on and the image was still clean and not washed out. (IMPRESSIVE !!)
i'm leaning towards the Epson unless i read some horror stories about it. oh yeah and another thing! - about the bulb replacement price only $199 - not bad eh!!!

Question - are most lower or midrange LCD projectors assessable to the screen door effect?

thanks in advance.....

 

[DaveGTP]

The 6100 is a 2x wheeled pj, like the X1. I personally see rainbows in white on black scenes on the X1's 2x wheel.

There's a reason that most of the pjs have moved to 4x - many less people can see rainbows at 4x. You should view a 4x before you throw DLP out entirely.

All the digital pj's are going to have screendoor. Higher rez should = less noticeable screendoor. Historically DLP projectors have less noticeable screen door than LCDs...although it has been pointed out to me by someone on the forum here that the Panny 500 is supposed to be better in this regard.

Last I know one of the most popular economical LCD pjs was the Sanyo PLV-Z2. The Home 10 has been well-commented on too. The Panny L500 is also quite popular.

 

[Torgny Nilsson]

My BenQ 8220 is a 3x color wheel and no one has complained about rainbows on it. And as with the screen door effect, the rainbow effect seems to be more pronounced the closer you are to the screen.

So, your choice of Epson may be fine, but don't give up on DLP because of the 2x color wheel projector you saw. And LCD burnout is another risk of an LCD projector that you don't have with DLP and one that would bother me much more than a rainbow now and then.

I ordered most of my HT equipment through the Internet. If you use a reputable company such as Projectorpeople.com you should not have any problems and you will probably get a very good price.