Have home projectors got bad press?

Scubachick

I am trying to convince Himself (and possibly myself) that we should get a projector and I have my eye on the Optoma HD700X. It looks like a nice neat and cheap HD ready projector. But, how come, anytime I ask sales assistances/ IT professionals I am warned against projectors - their costs, noise, poor picture quality, cost of replacement bulbs etc. Am I just reading the projector manufacturer euphoric sales pitches online, or are these machines really an alternative to the LDC or Plasma? Have projectors got bad press that they don't deserve?

Villain

I'm by no means an expert here scubachick but I will give you some information based on my own personal expierence.

I bought a Panasonic ae100 about 6 years ago and it lasted 4 years with over 2000 hours on the clock. I then bought a Panasonic AX100 HD projector about 2 years and still have it with 1000 just up on it, my Uncle also bought an AX100 about 6 months ago.

Now based on those projectors my expierence is this, you need a dark room no matter how many Lumens you have you still need to be able to darken the room to get a good picture, blackout lining on curtains is a must.

As regards noise, the newer HD projectors are very very quite and will only be heard if you are sitting directly under/beside the projector.

Picture Quality? Well at 100" diagnal picture on a white wall my picture is amazing, blows people away when they see it, my Uncle has it up to 120" and still is amazing.

Con's: Projectors aren't meant for everyday watching, the bulbs are expensive and running projectors for over 4 hours at once shortens the life of the projector quite a bit.

The only thing about a projector is you need space for a screen or a wall that you can project on, you need to be able to Mount the projector somewhere or have a self to sit it on and also a way of running cable from the projector to the Sky Box, Games Console DVD player etc.

The projector you link to is a mid range HD projector, 1300 lumens is pretty low and you will need a dark room to enjoy a decent Picture, 3000:1 contrast is low too but these things will only really affect you if you are used to watching a HD LCD screen with HD content on a regular basis and obviously depends on whether you are actually going to watch HD on it. It is very good value and perhaps the extra €330 for the Panasonic AX200E isn't worth it.

It depends on what you can manage to work in the space you want to use the projector and also depends on what you intend on using it for, I use it for Movies and Sky Sports HD for soccer and I have never shown the picture to someone who wasn't amazed by it and also amazed that its on a white wall and cost less than €1000.

I have a old thread :http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055035743 and http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055032449

Scubachick

Villain wrote: »

...or have a self to sit it on..

:D:D I have Himself to sit it on! but, IKWYM!

Thanks for all the info. I plan on a shelf on the back wall over the couch and projecting the image onto the chimney breast opposite. From what you say, we may have problems with the windows - there are three plus french doors in the room and two of these are either side of the chimney. Its a nice room with lots of light and I don't really want to have the room blacked out anytime I want to switch on Corry! One of the reasons I like the idea of a projector is because there is no TV unit/ screen in the room once it is switched off (we would project onto the wall).

I will keep up the research...

Ghost Train

Have an infocus in 76... very happy with it. Like has been said, needs to be darkened room to get the best out of it. No problem with noise. This is my second projector, no major issues so far

Dont use it that much at the moment, during the winter gets more use. Not as practical as TV but love watching stuff on it.

Would need to plan a bit more how you are going to set it up and if it would work well in a room.

Scubachick

Ghost Train wrote: »

...Not as practical as TV...Would need to plan a bit more how you are going to set it up and if it would work well in a room.

Here come the dumb blonde questions: Why is it not as practical as a TV and what sort of planning would I need to do? I know I will have to check the throw distance and the size of the chimney breast, which will be the screen. and thanks to Villian I need to look for higher lumens, contrast ratio and blackout lining. Any other things for me to concider?

Ghost Train

Scubachick wrote: »

Here come the dumb blonde questions: Why is it not as practical as a TV and what sort of planning would I need to do? I know I will have to check the throw distance and the size of the chimney breast, which will be the screen. and thanks to Villian I need to look for higher lumens, contrast ratio and blackout lining. Any other things for me to concider?

TV is just easier, you turn it on you turn it off. Projector bulb is under most stress heating up and cooling down, so you don't want to be turning it on and off like a tv. But fine to turn it on, leave it running for a few hours imo. You can use tv with the lights on or off or without closing curtains. TV does sound and might have its own tuner. Projector has advantages too, takes up less space, much bigger picture. More like cinema

Sounds like you've been thinking about the setup, not too much else to consider. Projector will throw the image upwards, so usually best to have it high up or low down, if its high up usually best to mount it upside down so the image is thrown down towards wall. Projector will just do video, so need some sort of sound system of course, and video cable will to be routed to the projector. Nothing too tricky really if you have the space it should be okay, most projectors can be aimed and adjusted to get the picture the way you need

you can use the projector calculator on projectorcentral.com to work all that out the throw distance screensize etc

eddiem74

I've an AX200 for nearly 2 years now, my first projector, and we use it for all our main TV viewing. However we do make a point of turning it on when we want to starting watching, and not turn it off until we are done.

Ambient light can be a problem, but a certain screen gains can help compensate for that. As already said, light will be the main issue, and really to get the best from any projector complete darkness if what you need, however, I have a white matt ceiling, brown matt walls, and a wooden floor which reflects a lot of light still, but the picture can still be stunning. We often start watching in these brigther days with the blinds half tilted so the room is quite bright, although no direct light hitting the screen, but the darker the better the room can be is the really what you need for optimum viewing.

Good Luck !