Ultimate FP setup for daily viewing... (1 Viewer)

[MannyE]

I have been kicking the move up from RP to FP for quite some time. I'm glad I've waited because I seem to be seeing a huge drop in prices for better and better FPs these days.

I've also had a long time to study my viewing habits and I've found that I do quite a bit of watching during the day, and, thanks to Tivo, am watching much more TV than I used to, and a lot less DVDs. Add to that the children which feed the monitor a steady diet of Barney and Wiggles plus weekend sports events and it adds up to a minimum of 6 hours daily with the occasional 10 hour day.

Is there a FP that can withstand this kind of abuse without constantly breaking down? What about ambient light? During the day there is a considerable amount of light in the room, and although I'm sure my kids don't care about the contrast and color reproduction on Barney, a picture that is so washed out as to be unviewable is not acceptable.

What would be your ultimate (less than 7K) setup for a TV room that gets lots of abuse/FP HT?

 

[Kin]

Geat time to be looking! InFocus has a new thin DLP coming out. The 50" is only like 6.85 inches deep and it shlould be selling for $6999ish. Don't quote me on the price

Will use the HD2+ chip(1280x720). Should be very nice. A wall mountable DLP.

-TVAuthority

 

[Scott L]

^^I think he wants a projector. Though it sounds nice I can't imagine going back to a measily 50" for 7 grand after being used to 80" for much less.

As for longevity concerns with digital FPTVs the only thing you have to worry about is bulb life. They cost about $300 and will last you a couple of years with your viewing habits. I used to watch my viewing time when I first got mine but I just said screw it and leave it on for ambience when I'm web surfing. $300 isn't that much every couple of years or so.

For that budget I'd definitely look at a BenQ 8700 or Infocus 7205.

 

[Kin]

I'm not sure on the longevity of the InFocus thin DLP bulb... New light engine by ScreenPlay.....

FP, though I would second the vote for the 7205 and the 8700. Preference to the 7205 (DCDi processing). Maybe with a 1.3 gain screen or so... ...

The only bad thing about the 7205 is no online purchases :frowning:

 

[ChrisWiggles]

For the longest longevity and repairability, I'd probably go with a CRT projector. however, the caveat is that it won't be as bright potentially as a digital, and since you are in ambient light, you might want to consider a RP implementation of a projector regardless of type.

CRT will throw a superior image, I don't know if it's quite right for your needs though. I'd probably most likely explore a very bright digital, and consider a RP setup.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I would recommend spending some of that money on ways to make the room dark if needed during the day.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

I'd wait for the new Canon SX-50.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...pcworld/118088

LCOS Projector, $4999 MSRP, $4k street.
1400 x 1050 native
2500 ANSI lumens
1000:1 contrast
8.6 lbs
2000 hour bulb life

If there's ever a low cost, high brightness, ultra-high fill rate, high resolution projector in your price range, that would be the one.

 

[MannyE]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

I've also begun to seriously look at some flat panel (say a smaller 42 incher that I can finagle for 2K or so, which would leave me 5K for a FP/screen budget.

I think 42'' is acceptable for the kiddies (when i think all I had was a 13 inch B&W until I was like, 7 yrs old...jeez) AND THEN on movie/game night, bring down the screen...

I only have to figure out how to handle center channel placement and I should be golden!

I understand the perforated screens are really expensive and would bust my budget, so I would probably end up placing the center under the screen. Has anyone used this setup and is it acceptable?

 

[Allan Jayne]

If the room is not darkened, you will need so much contrast that a CRT projector's tube life will be somewhat shortened. Calibration will always be different, more so for front projection, for a not so dark room vs. a dark room.

>>> withstand this kind of abuse ...

How many buttons, knobs, remotes, etc. need to be operated to get your HT going? Is there the likelihood of frequent turn offs and turn ons, that shorten the life of projection lamps? You may find that children don't want to go through all of those maneuvers to watch Barney and that an ordinary TV behind or below your main (roll up) HT screen may be a good idea.

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

 

[MannyE]

Allan,

A macro on the B&K remote turns on the whole deal with one push, but that doesn't matter, the kids are three year old twins and all they do (so far) is use the Tivo remote to scroll through the programs and play them. It was scary how quickly they picked up the use of that Tivo remote (can you say, proud papa?)

A dual system is exactly what I am thinking about, which you can see in my post right before yours.

And you are absolutely correct about the frequent on/off thing. Right now the rack is still set up "pre kids", so the Pre/pro is accesible to little fingers. The new setup will move the rack to a hidden (and locked) room.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[John S]

I have yet to see any fp projection, throw anything even close to acceptable with even just enough light in the room to read by.

 

[MannyE]

John,

That depends on what your definition of acceptable is.

My definition changes depending on the material being watched.

Movie watching brings out the uncompromising videophile in me. Everything about that picture has to be as close to perfect as possible. I have spent many many hours in the HT at night, and in total darkness staring through blue, red, and green filters making adjustments.

But just the other day, I was in a bar, watching the Red Sox destroy the Angels, and despite the room having more than enough light to read by, I found the picture OK. Sure the blacks weren't black, and the colors weren't brilliant, but I didn't really care.

Ditto with the presidential debate in that very same bar a few days before. I was watching the debate, and the picture, even though there were lights on (as you say, enough to read by) the picture was acceptable, because the content was more important than the picture.

Now, would I watch Star Wars in that bar? Not on your life! I would be so distracted by the poor picture that I would not enjoy the movie.

You may be uncompromising no matter what the material you watch and that's great, but I am not.

 

[John S]

Wow Manny.. I have not even seen FP in any bars around here.... RP, does pretty well with lighting in my opinion.

I wonder what fp projector they were using? Might could you ask them?

 

[MannyE]

Sure thing! Heck, I'll even take a pic of the screen and put it up here!

 

[John S]

I mean, to me.. That is about as demanding an environment for FP as there can be. If they are getting even decent results, I wanna know what Projector they are using for sure.

 

[MannyE]

Next time I'm in there I'll take a look and post, but just from what I can remember seeing, it looks like it might be a DLP or LCD but more of a business PJ. That would explain the brightness. It's not too big, maybe 10 or so inches on a side, and about four inches tall. (I may be way off, but that's what memory serves up)

 

[John Alvarez]

MannyE,
Which bar was it? Here in Jacksonville we have 2 huge sports bars called sneakers that have 4 projection units. One on each wall with plasma's all the way around the bar area in addition to the CRT sets hanging above the booths.

 

[MannyE]

This is an Irish bar called "The Playwright" on Washigton and 13th street in Miami Beach. It has plasmas all over the place as well. But it's more "bar" than "sports". They mainly cater to the european tourists who just can't miss a second of Liverpool going against whoever. Lots of football (soccer).

Funny thing is that with the time difference, it is not unlikely to walk in at 10AM and find a bunch of drunk football fans whooping it up like it was late evening... but being as how most of them are on vacation...what the heck, right?

Now I'll bet you're asking yourself what I'm doing walking into a bar at 10AM...

 

[John Alvarez]

I'll have to check it out next time I'm there. We have a house in Opa Locka and get there every couple of weeks.