Projector decision help requested. (1 Viewer)

[Greg Miles]

Gang,

Hitachi CP-SX5500W versus the SHARP XV-Z9000 versus Marantz VP-12S1

Basically to me the Sharp and the Marantz are about equal but a friend told me to get on the LCOS bandwagon...

If between these 3 price was not an issue...what are the advantages of LCOS versus DLP at these quality levels?

It seems as if the Hitachi has a lot more HDTV scalability.

It is going to replace my infocus in a newly build dedicated theater used for DVD's and HDTV sporting events.

Thanks for the opinions...

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Hitachi LCOS:

1. No Rainbows at all
2. >93% pixel fill, which is more than DLP and much more than LCD
3. Higher brightness, so some ambient light is ok[/list=1]
   
   
   
   Sharp:
   1. Fast color wheel means rainbows are more difficult to see
   2. Great colors
   3. High contrast
   4. Middle brightness[/list=1]
      
      
      
      Marantz:
      1. Fast color wheel means rainbows are more difficult to see
      2. Great colors
      3. Very high contrast
      4. Lowest brightness[/list=1]
         
         
         
         What do you plan to use to drive the projector? HTPC? Scaler? What DVD?

 

[Greg Miles]

What do you plan to use to drive the projector? HTPC? Scaler? What DVD?

Phase one is buying a new projector and a Denon 9000 DVD(just because I have a 5800 and am going to upgrade it to a 5803, kinda ...some proprietary connectivity that supposedly gives an advantage.) But I'm open to opinions.

I looked at HTPC's but got so confused I backed away..and I work for Cisco Systems...I should understand this stuff better. I looked at an outboard scaler but didn't want to spend 6-10K for something I don't know if I need yet to meet my level of desired quality.

I have yet to decide the method of HDTV I want but this is phase II I'm leaning toward DirectTV. The Hitachi appears to be the best projector but only operates in 4:3... Will it squeeze or stretch 16:9 to 4:3 or will I just get bars on top and bottom like I do now?

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Ah, very nice DVD and receiver.
With a HTPC, you're going to get an absolutely excellent picture, but the WAF tends to be low. If you get something with an SDI Silk card, use DScaler, a HiPix HDTV card, and output to DVI, it's going to be extremely difficult to beat without spending thousands and thousand of dollars.
The Hitachi is 4:3 like you said, but you can turn the top and bottom pixels off (equivalent of 1200 lumen or so, but that's plenty), or get a lens.