Anyone who owns a multimedia or home theatre projector please comment

[gll99]

I have been looking at some inexpensive projectors (probably dlp) and don't trust the sales people at Best Buy, Futureshop etc... who seem to either not know or lose interest when you ask questions but aren't ready to buy right away. The models I have looked at are priced $700 to $1200 canadian.
I can read the specs with the best of them but no-one has a display where you can actually see the units in action so I have no point of comparison. Some salespeople say they are great and very clear even at native res of 800x600 but when I press them they don't even own one and haven't seen one on.

I know the base models will not have hdmi input and I'm not concerned about that. Many have dvi, component and standard inputs and for me that will be ok if I can input my computer signal and my DVD and vcr players.

My question is how clear is the 800x600 svga native resolution unit. Can you read text. Would 1024x768 xga be much better?

Can I shoot the picture on a large white window roller blind or white wall?

Are you concerned about getting replacement bulbs for your unit? I'm not just talking cost but future availablity.

What is the difference between home theatre and multimedia models?

I saw a unit on the shopping network a couple of weeks ago which was about $1100 and almost $200 more for a manual 108" diagonal screen and about $375 with a motorised screen. They gave the brand but not the model number but it claimed to be 2000 lumens with 2000:1 contrast. The picture looked great on tv even with the studio lights. I searched the internet for a model matching the stated specs (lumens and contrast ratio) and came up with the BenQ MP610. The picture of the box was identical to the one on the shopping channel so I think I got it right. When I looked up the native resolution it was only 800x600 but it sure looked great on tv. They did say they were using a hd source but it got my attention. Is that a reasonable expectation?

btw) Lots of friends have opinions too but it's all what they have read or been told since none of them own one. I'd really like to hear from those who own or have watched some movies on one or more units.

If cost was no object I wouldn't be asking, that is why I was curious about the lower priced units.

Thanks.

[Denvers Dawgs]

I think you may have seen the InFocus IN72 DLP Home Theater Projector on HSN

or perhaps these from shopathometv.com

1.InFocus 5000 Projector with 100" Ultra Manual Screen

2. InFocus SP5000 with 100" Ultra Electric Screen

*Yes picture would be better @ 1024x768
*Yes you can use a white wall or blinds, even a light beige will work. The only differece would be if using a white screen made for projectors, the picture may look brighter and/or clearer.

This is also a good site the do some research on....Projector People

[gll99]

@Denvers Dawgs
It was on the Canadian Home shopping network.

The model had a black case and contrast and lumens like the one on this site here in US dollars the price is very similar to what was quoted on TV

http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-MP610.htm

I'm not hung up on this model but it looked great on tv during the sales demo. I'll take anything if it's worth watching and the price is right. Best Buy right now is advertising a Viewsonic at $699 canadian for an 800x600 and for $200 one with better res. I just got the flyer so will have to get in to see what the specific model and features are. My problem is that having never seen one in a home, I don't know how clear the picture is on the lower end models. When I bought my first tv-out computer video card I was mildly disappointed with text on my NVIDIA tv-out at 800x600. When I bought my next card ( an ATI) I made sure it had 1024x768 but the video out is worse. So you don't always win with higher res.

btw) I'm kind of limited by what the stores are pushing locally if I want to get a good price. I'm not too sure about ordering on the net. Too many things can go wrong.

[redwudz]

Just my experience. I have a Sony video projector, a Sony VPL-HS2. 800 X 600, for about 3 years. No complaints. I changed the bulb out out at 2000Hrs. About $200US. But that's a lot of videos and the bulb cost VS the time used is negligible.

I Would rather have a higher resolution projector. I will wait till this one fails before I upgrade.
The bottom line, I've never regretted the purchase for a second. I have a 5 X 8 foot screen and the quality is very good. Buy a good quality screen. It will make a major difference. A electric screen is best. Mine is manual, and is a pain to run up and down.

The newer projectors favor DLP. That's fine. Better quality.

Think of this: A 5 X 8 ft display or bigger is what home theater is all about. Having this in front of you, along with a good surround sound system is as close as you can get to a real theater at a fairly low cost. You will like it.

A few sites I like:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/
http://hometheater.about.com/cs/television/a/aavprojectora.htm
http://www.projectorpeople.com/videoprojectors.html

For Screens: http://www.da-lite.com/ There are others, but these guys seem to be very good.

Recommendations: Spend a lot of time studying all the options. It's a big investment. But if you make the right choices, you will never regret it. I don't .

[Paul Simmel]

This is the best website on the planet:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=68

(Note: above is one of many places on AVS.

[joshcali]

What are you looking to do with the projector?

are you looking to mostly watch dvd's? are you looking to mostly watch HD projected, or are you looking to watch 4x3 television?

each has a different recommendation, os what is it that you would like to do?

cheers!
-Josh

[pchan]

Those thingy are relatively cheap. Please check the cost of bulb. This is running cost. Just like ink re-fill.

[dun4cheap]

I bought the Sharp 47 model at Best Buy for $499. It has a crisp picture at 800x600. I take it to the desert camping for the kids so they can watch movies like the drive in they love it. I have also used it at large banquets for my daughters highschool teams, water polo, softball, cheer etc with groups of 140 poeple and more. The last banquet I did video for I used 2 projectors playing from the same source on 2 screens. My sharp and an infocu model. I had problems with the infocus model, I couldn't get it to project to a bigger screen. I didn't have the manual for it, so maybe I was doing something wrong. The bulbs are expensive for these, but I have not had to replace one yet.

If I were to buy a new one now, I would consider a 16:9 model with HD resolution but I would not spend more that $800 for it. Thats just my opinion, especially if its going to be abused like my Sharp one which is sitting on the floor on the bottom of my stair case. It takes a beating. I also use it in the living room occasionally and I will probably pull it out for a block party soon.

Its no fun if your not going to use it though. My hobby is Video editing and photography, I so the videos at the banquets go over really well.

[joshcali]

If I were to buy a new one now, I would consider a 16:9 model with HD resolution but I would not spend more that $800 for it.

HD resolution is 16x9, and all the projectors with HD resolution are at least $1350 (for the outdated models like the plv-z4). the projectors that are under $800 have HD inputs, but are video resolution and downsample the video to ntsc.

which projector were you thinking of for under $800?

[dun4cheap]

I have seen 16:9 projectors that are not HD. You want to make sure they suppor 1080i .

[dphirschler]

Mine is fairly old. 700 lumens. Pretty weak by today's standards, but I LOVE it! It's 800x600. If I feed it a 1024x768 signal (which I do) it downsamples it. And it does a damn good job at it too. Two things I love to do with it are:

1. Watch HDTV - even at 800x600, it looks spectacular.

2. Play DVDs. I used to have the settop DVD player connected via svideo, but now I play DVDs on the PC connected to the projector. Much better!

I'd consider 700 lumens the minimum. If I ever get a new projector I'll look for greater than 1300 lumens. And although I am heppy with 800x600, I will get 1024x768 or better on the next one.. if that day ever comes. I've had to change the lamp once. It cost <$300 US.
I project on a white wall. If I could afford it, I'd paint the wall with that special paint, or get a real screen.


Darryl

[joshcali]

16x9!!!

I can't recommend a 16x9 enough if you would like to view 16x9 dvd's or hdtv television. but there's a lot of different recommendations depending on what you want to do
like everyone says... What do you want?

there's a difference between xga projectors which are 4x3, and the home theater projectors which are 16x9, there's also a difference between the resolution for dvd's and hdtv, and some cost considerations.

do you want 16x9 dvd's, 16x9 hdtv, or regular tv
or do you want a good combination of all?
if you talk a little bit about what your uses for the projector will be (even the conflicting ones) then we can get you some great recommendations

[edDV]

16x9!!!

I can't recommend a 16x9 enough if you would like to view 16x9 dvd's or hdtv television. but there's a lot of different recommendations depending on what you want to do
like everyone says... What do you want?

there's a difference between xga projectors which are 4x3, and the home theater projectors which are 16x9, there's also a difference between the resolution for dvd's and hdtv, and some cost considerations.

do you want 16x9 dvd's, 16x9 hdtv, or regular tv
or do you want a good combination of all?
if you talk a little bit about what your uses for the projector will be (even the conflicting ones) then we can get you some great recommendations

The other major division between projectors are those intended for bright conference rooms and Powerpoint presentations. Those have high contrast and very poor dark gray response. They suck for video.

Projectors intended for playing DVD (or HDTV) are intended for darker rooms, use TV gamma which gives more response in the dark grays and TV weigted colorimetry. These projectors would look washed out in bright room lighting. Be careful making judgement in stores, unless their lighting matches your intended room.

[gll99]

I just remembered I posted this topic.

I put my plans on hold until I learn and digest a bit more.

Not that $1000 will break the bank but neither do I want to throw good money out the window.

Although my main use will be watching DVD and DIVX movies using a divx player, I was shopping for a business projector because looking at the lumens and contrast ratios these models on the surface seem to provide the most bang for the buck.

Lately, the DLP projectors I've seen show both lumens and contrast in the 2000 to 2500 range at the price point I stated. LCD contrast ratios are usually only about 400 or so but the lumens are similar to the DLP models.

It's hard to get accurate information from local sources on specific models. As I said, store employees lack personal experience with these units. Many stores place business models and Home Theatre models in different departments so it's impossible to compare features with the same salesperson. The featured models are also very limited in any one store. Those with working demos are poorly placed for viewing and lighting and so far I've only seen the home theatre models hooked up for viewing. It's been impossible to find anyone in a store to discuss business projectors that know how they look in a home theatre setting.

After comparing units locally and checking the specs at projectorcentral.com I was ready to make a choice but then I found out a few things.....

LCD vs DLP That's a whole argument in itself but for me, for similarly priced xga models, most dlp specs reported more brightness and much higher contrast ratios. Real life may be a different story.

LCD is reported to suffer more from the screendoor effect which is supposedly minimized with higher resolutions.

DLP may have a rainbow effect. Faster color wheels and more segments are supposed to minimize the rainbow effect. Unfortunately it appears that all the models of business projector in my price range and even higher priced use a 2x color wheel and the minimum number of segments. If my family has issues with rainbows then I may be stuck with a unit that I can't use. From what I read this can be a real nuisance especially for those watching movies with dark scenes on a large screen.

Connectivity: Many models are easy to connect to pc via the vga connector but connecting to a component DVD player like I want requires a special breakout cable which seems difficult to obtain in my area and doesn't come with the projector so must be ordered online at a cost of about $100. One model has a DVI connector but I don't know if you can go DVD component to dvi and what cable or convertor would be needed. None of the salespeople could help with that one. One told me to call their competitors because they might know. (They didn't)

Display aspect ratio: Business projectors are mostly native 4:3 but 16:9 switchable within the 4:3 box. Since I plan to mainly view DVDs this may be a major mistake.

Lamps / Bulbs: Prices and local availability vary wildly for what seem like similar projectors in the 160 to 200 watt range. They go from around $350+ to over $700.

Reported Brightness versus actual: Perhaps the most confusing and upsetting discovery is that when projectors are adjusted for viewing video, all the advertised high brightness specs can be thrown out the window. After adjustment for viewing video the projector may only deliver from 200 to 400 lumens when new at its maximum setting.

Econo mode which saves lamp life can reduce that from 10 to 40%. Lamp life reduces with use and more quickly with frequent on and off. So if you watch 1 movie then shut it off and then turn it on later to watch another it uses more lamp life than watching 2 movies one after the other. Lamps do not normally die all at once but rather get dimmer until their rated number of hours have passed so that a lamp rated at 2000 hours will be half as bright as it was when new. This seems to mean that you need to buy the brightest projector and expect the picture to get dimmer and dimmer with time. This happens more quickly at first and then slows down.

Common sense seems to dictate that I should change my mind.

If I buy a newer HT DLP projector then home theatre models likely come with a faster color wheel with more segments so the rainbow effect may not be an issue.
The HT models are 16:9 closer to DVD aspect ratios.
The HT models usually have connectors more suited to DVD, and cablebox inputs such as dvi, component and some still have vga. The HT models are optimised for video playing.

The unknowns with HT
Lamp longevity and price.
Do they have the same lumen loss as business projectors in video mode. What I mean is, will the HT projector already geared for video deliver its full rated lumens because many of the units in the lower priced range $1200 to $2000 are only rated at 700 to 1200 lumens to start. If they suffer the same loss as business projectors then the max real lumens would be very low and require viewing in total darkness.

I should go HT that cost more but I'm just not totally convinced enough to make a decision right now.

btw) I've left HD out of the equation because those models are priced much higher and I don't require this for my DVDs. Some models have DVI input and can accept higher res but will downconvert the signal to xga.

There is probably more things I forgot (like the lumenlab DIY projectors) but it's not as simple as it seemed at first. If I was plunking down $100 I wouldn't think twice but this could double my original costs if I follow through with this toy so the decision needs careful thought.