LCD/Plasma/CRT Projection TV or Projector? (1 Viewer)

[DonRo]

Greetings & Salutations from the Land of Sauerkraut & Beer...

I have the following situation/problem and sincerely hoping your experience and knowledge will help me out here.

Situation:
I am currently watching a few DVD films and only 2-3 hours of TV (digital SAT) per week (mostly sports or movies) and would like to crank up the display size & quality considerably. My current display device is 3 1/2 year old Sony KV-29FX66 TV (*this is an European-only version as far as I can tell?) and is a WEGA 100 Hz 4:3 format (fully supports 16:9 mode though) My DVD player is the Denon DVD-2200 (has progressive scan)

My "entertainment" room is small, only 12' x 13'. I would have a projector throw distance of 10.5' and a viewing distance of only 9' regardless of the final display device used. I can make this room "cave-black" any time I use it.

Question:
Does it make any sense (other than from a cost standpoint) in this situation to consider a projector over either a large screen LCD, Plasma, or CRT-projection TV?

If I understand it, the rule of thumb for viewing distance vs. screen size, is about 2.5 x the height of the screen. Which means at 9' the maximum height should be around 43" ...meaning a 65" diagonal screen should still be, "technically speaking" ok?

I would sincerely appreciate any and all input if you can spare a few minutes to reply. I am having a real problem here finding stores & outlets that allow me to get a good feeling for a visual comparison of the different screen types and projectors for my "little" environment. At this distance what would you recommend for an "optimal" image quality & size.

Thanks in advance!
Don

Rest of the set-up:
Denon AVR-1804
Canton Movie CD1 (5.1) speakers

 

[ChrisWiggles]

What is your budget?


I'm bad at math, and I have all screen width ratios in my head, but basically a good cinematic viewing ratio would be about 1.5 screen widths or less. don't know what kind of height that is.

However, a lot of entry digital projectors don't have the resolution to support that close a viewing. 720p can barely do that for some people, but IMO not for me.

I still think FP is the way to go even though you may get an overall superior picture with a CRT RPTV, a really big screen is hard to beat. Something like the AE900 would be a great choice, but I don't know your budget.

 

[DonRo]

Hi Chris...
Thanks for your response!

I don't have the budget restraints yet... which means I am trying to identify the optimal solution from a device/technology standpoint first (based upon the physical room limitations) and then would try and invest in the "best" that I could afford for that particular solution. Perhaps I am getting my "cart in front of the horse" by doing this?

I guess ideally I would like to stay around the $2K mark... but actually could go to $3-3.5K if necessary.

I realize 9 feet isn't much of a viewing distance and I am stuck with that ...well at least until my son finally moves out and frees up the basement apartment :-D ...so I am trying to find an optimal 16:9 format solution for my "small" space.

I have been planning on going with a FP for a while now, but when I started actually looking at them (in stores) I found that, for my throw distance the results with respect to image size/quality were not all that great. Then I started looking at LCD & Plasma TV's and felt like, that for a realistic investment amount (see above)...they were considerbly smaller than what I wanted for a good quality device.

That is when I came running here to get input from some folks with experience and some good ideas. I haven't actually loooked at one yet, but how would a CRT RPTV like the Panasonic PT-53TW54 or the Samsung HC-R5245W stand up against the image quality and size of FP at this distance.

Chris do you, or any one else know or have any ideas on this?

Thanks again & all the best...
Don

 

[Allan Jayne]

Don't forget that an RPTV is a big box that may be very heavy. If you can mount something about the size of a cake box on your ceiling, and you never need to do something else (requiring room light to read by) at the same time as you watch TV, a front projector, even a 720p LCD, is a very good choice.

Sitting nine feet from a six or seven foot wide screen is not necessarily bad. It's personal preference also. If you visit just about any upscale TV store you can stand six feet from a four foot wide screen (same proportions) for an equivalent experience.

For panel TV's, LCD isn't larger than 40 inches and larger plasmas cost much more than front projection.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[ChrisWiggles]

I don't know about specific models, but a CRT RPTV would be superior.

Have you considered used CRT projection? If you can eliminate ambient light, look into that. Europe may make finding one more difficult, but I do know that there are used CRT guys over there, and spaz is in germany. This would get you the big FP picture with the incredible PQ of a CRT display.

 

[Kirk Patrick]

i say get a crt-rp at least 57 or preferably 65

sitting 9 feet from a 65" crt would be very acceptable, if you watch a lot of 2.35 to 1 movies your picture ends up being even smaller

i have a optoma h31 front projector (h30A in europe) which i think is a fantastic projector for the money $900 US +/-

i get a 65 inch diagonal picture with great contrast and no screendoor at all, it makes dvd's look great

unfortunately i am susceptible to the rainbow effect but in every sense i couldn't be happier

good luck!