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looking for a good projector (1 Viewer)

DarrinG

Grip
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Jul 28, 2003
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I am looking into projectors and I want a decent one but I have no idea who is good and who is bad and so on. Could I have some help.

Brands, quality.....

Thanks
 

Micheal

Screenwriter
Joined
Apr 13, 1999
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Mike
Wow! That's a tough question.
Can you break down what kind of PJ you're looking for? SVGA, XGA, DLP, CRT, LCD, size, etc...

What will you use it for the most? DVD's, TV, Videogames, Maybe a combination of all 3?

What is your price range?

NEC makes a good DLP projector.
 

DarrinG

Grip
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
21
Well the room is about 15x20 and there is one window on the right side of the room.

Also I wouldn't mind getting a decent projector that won't break the bank when it comes to replacement bulbs

Also it will be mostly used for DVD and satellite movie watching

Seating distance will be about 7 - 10 feet
Just getting my feet wet. The room is still bare bones I want to do it right
 

Neil Joseph

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Neil Joseph
You will still have to provide us with a budget but to help you out a little, you can get a used crt or new entry level digital projector (LCD or DLP) for around $1000. Then there a batch of very good projectors between $1500 and $3500 and then some great projectors that can range anywhere from $3000 - $10,000 and higher.

A seating distance of 10ft will allow you to get a larger screen, even up to 100" diagonal 16x9 without totally overpowering your field of vision, but I am getting ahead of myself. Once you decide what projector you are getting and the amount of ambient light in the room, then you can more intelligently pick your screen to match it. With the one window in the room, it should be easy to control the ambient light unless you have light leaking from the rest of the house into that room.
 

Michael FF

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 5, 2002
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In my humble opinion, the two top projectors for under $20,000 are the Runco VX1000 and the Sharpvision. 10000. Both are DLP.
 

Michael FF

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 5, 2002
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Could you indicate specifically how the 9" E-Home projectors are superior to Runco/Sharpvision?
 

Chad B

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Jul 5, 2001
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Contrast and resolution on a 9" CRT will both be superior to any DLP out there. I have to admit, if I had an unlimited budget, I'd be going for a 9" CRT. They can put out a surprising amount of light; a couple of 9" Mitsubishi's I calibrated could put out much more than enough (before blooming) to make it uncomfortable to watch in the dark. Some of that is due to the high gain screen, though.

Chad
 

Patrick Larkin

Screenwriter
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May 8, 2001
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1,759
When specs say "4:3 Native - 16:9 Compatible" does that simply mean a widescreen DVD will play with black bars? Thanks.
 

Ron-P

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When specs say "4:3 Native - 16:9 Compatible" does that simply mean a widescreen DVD will play with black bars? Thanks.
That means it's just like your average TV. With your two most common movie aspect ratio's you'll have very large black bars with 2.35:1 material and smaller black bars with 1.85:1 material. If you go with a native 16:9 PJ, you'll have no black bars with 1.85:1 and small bars with 2.35:1. But, if you watch 1.33:1 material, you'll have black bars on the sides.

If your going to use it for mostly DVD, get a native 16:9.


Peace Out~:D
 

Patrick Larkin

Screenwriter
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May 8, 2001
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1,759
Thanks Ron. I borrowed a DLP projector to see what FP was all about. Its a small DLP projector. I set it up quickly on the only white wall I had and I was convinced within 5 minutes that this was the route for me!

Anyhow, in the projector's menu, there was a setting for 4:3 or 16:9. It was set to 4:3 and I changed it to 16:9 but the image just narrowed. I'm not sure what the 16:9 mode is for if it just narrows the image. I must be doing something wrong. 4:3 looked normal with the usual massive black bars at the bottom (source was a Powerbook and the 2.35:1 Moulin Rouge DVD.)
 

Kevin Nolan

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Joined
Jun 16, 2000
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I have I nice 16mm Bell and Howell 26 yrs old works fine $7.95 REALLY!

Ahem Sorry couldn't resist;)
 

Paul_Scott

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Jul 19, 2002
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Anyhow, in the projector's menu, there was a setting for 4:3 or 16:9. It was set to 4:3 and I changed it to 16:9 but the image just narrowed. I'm not sure what the 16:9 mode is for if it just narrows the image. I must be doing something wrong. 4:3 looked normal with the usual massive black bars at the bottom (source was a Powerbook and the 2.35:1 Moulin Rouge DVD.)
the 16:9 setting on the pj is designed to take a 16:9 signal from a dvd player.
otherwise if you set the projector to 4:3 and the dvd player to 16:9- the image will be distorted.
if you set both the dvd player and the pj to 4:3, the image will look correct, but -in the case of an anamorphically enhanced disc- the dvd player would be downconverting the image- you would be losing resolution and possibly introducing downconversion artifacts from the player.

i'm not sure a bout use with a PC as the pc would be doing the scaling.
 

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