New Member (1 Viewer)

[Tom WC]

First I would like to say that I am exciting about being a new member. I have read from multiple forums on the site, but have never posted. I am excited about getting some feedback.

My first questions are general ones. Does a front projector meet my needs as detailed below? If so, what is the best projector and screen combination for my needs? If not, what type of TV should I be looking for?

I have been planning a home theater in my basement for months. The contractor starts finishing the basement next week so I thought it a good time to start buying my audio/visual equipment. It will not be a dedicated room, but I should have fairly decent light control. Most of my viewing is sports related although my wife is a movie buff. I prefer not to have complete darkness when I have friends over to watch football on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

I am planning on a 100" or so screen size and the portion of the room where the viewing will occur is about 12' x 20'.

I have budgeted about $10K for a ceiling mounted front projector and a screen. Any thoughts on which direction I should go? LCD or DLP? A friend has the Sharp 12000 and it is impressive, but I have only seen it in a dark dedicated room, how will it look with moderate ambient light? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Tom, welcome aboard. You can get a great setup for a lot less than $10,000. If you are going to have some lights on, you will need a higher lumen projector. You have to decide: 1) DLP or LCD(see both in person)
2) 16:9 or 4:3 projector and screen
3) What type of screen

Go to Projectorcentral.com and do a lot of reading. It's a great site.

 

[Scott L]

One useful link:

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

The BenQ's have been getting a lot of attention for the higher end DLPs.

 

[Dave Milne]

With that kind of budget and good light control, I'd strongly consider CRT front projection. There are many great used models in that range that will blow away any digital projector (except perhaps the high-end 3-chippers which are way beyond your budget). Check out CRT cinema or Curt Palme or "Tim" (Tim Martin of E-home tech) -they hang out on the CRT projector forum at AVS

 

[John S]

At least consider CRT Front Projection in the mix.

I consider them the best. The light control thing is rough for sure... Especially when viewing sports, where the black level is pretty important for image crispness in appearence.

On front projection, your black is only as good as how dark your room is.

I usually suggest one of the largest Mitsu Rear Projection displays, for those that crave the larger displays for sports viewing, that intend to have some lighting about while viewing. I agree, I never watch an HD Sports program with the guys is even close to total darkness, enough working light, to munch, and lots of trips back and forth to the fridge and stuff.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

In my opinion, even as a CRTer, unless you can get your room black to watch, a digital at your budget point may be a better choice. Something like the sharp 12K is a very nice unit, but make sure you're not susceptiple to rainbows at night when things are dark and you're watching a movie, check this, because this is a big concern. Probably won't see rainbows with a lot of ambient light in the room.

Make sure you can keep the ambient light off the screen.

But do realize that the 12K has iris settings, so you can open it up and blast it bright during the day, and then set it back down to the highest CR mode for more critical viewing at night. you could spend less for a CRT projector and get a better picture, however, only at night. I'm not sure that overall it would be as satisfying, because you don't have an ideal setting.