Front Projection Help?

[JAG72]

I am looking at putting in a front projection system in our basement for a new HD theater room. The projector will be placed about 10' from the screen and I would like to be able to produce a 100" picture.

Questions

1) Will 10' be far enough back to produce a 100" picture? I could possibly go back further but a support beam is around 12' from where the screen would be placed.

2) Looking at the following three projectors. Looking at keeping costs down as this is going to be primarily for the kids to play their games and watch a some movies on. Of course I will also have to use it to watch my HD sports on.

Mitsubishi - DLP Home Theater Projector - HC1500

Sony - 3LCD HD Home Theater Projector - VPL-AW10

If you have any other ideas in the same price range I would be grateful for other suggestions.

3) As I am really new to the front projection systems what type of screen should I be looking for?

Thanks in advance for all your help on this subject.

 

[JimMcC]

Pj

Do you prefer DLP or LCD? You need to determine that first. The Sony will give you a 104" max. image from 10'. But the Mits. will only give you an 84" max. image from 10'. The Mits. will give a 100" image from 12'. There's a calculator at Projectorcentral.com for these numbers. The beam may not be a problem. How tall is your ceiling, and what is the clearance below beam?

 

[charper1]

What kind of screen do you want? Manual, electric, tensioned, portable, etc. I am partial to the DaLite High Contrast Matte White version.

In addition to the Mitz HC1500; Have you looked at:
Panasonic PT-AX200U
Sanyo PLV-Z4/5

I have the Sanyo and love it; and we are currently looking to add a 2nd FPTV and like the Pany as well.

 

[JAG72]

I really don't have a preference on DLP or LCD right now. The ceiling is 7 1/2' with about 6 7/8' under the beam. I also have a total of 12 1/2' from the wall to where the beam starts. I could get about 11' of distance from the screen without a problem. I was just trying to keep it further out for ventilation.

 

[JAG72]

What kind of screen do you want? Manual, electric, tensioned, portable, etc. I am partial to the DaLite High Contrast Matte White version.

The room is only going to be used for the HT so the screen does not have to be electric or manual. I would be OK with a perminate screen attached to the wall.

 

[charper1]

Well from my past research (I too wanted the permanent screen) those are far more expensive than a manual tensioned pull-down made of the same material and thus went by the wayside for me. I wanted to come in under $2300 total way back when we first bought, and the electric and permanent models would have broke the bank along with the projector, extra lamp and cables. Maybe you would be interested in framing an area and using the "FPTV screen paint"; I have never used it, but some of the posters say it does a great job.

 

[JAG72]

I have thought about trying the FPTV screen paint but was not sure how well it worked. The only bad part is that it is pretty expensive if it does not work out well.

Charper1, I was wondering your experience with the life of the bulbs in the projectors. I know that many of them are rated at 2000 to 3000 hours. Is that about how many hours you have been getting out of yours?

I also like the looks of the pany that you posted above also. It is still pretty much in my price range right now. Do you have any opinions on the Sony that I posted above?

 

[charper1]

I have been getting around 3300hrs with relatively avg to high use. And based on my real world use, avg'd out my FPTV will still cost less over a 7 year span (say 1 lamp per year at today's price) than a "similar flat display"; in addition to the FPTV being larger (try pricing a 70"+ display - OUCH!); FPTV is truly "flatter" and actually portable too if you care to do that.

No, I have no info on the Sony, sorry.

 

[diogen]

1. If you don't see rainbows, I'd recommend DLP. Sharpest picture, IMHO.
2. My favorites ~$1k are Optomas (Costco here has a bunch). But with under 8' ceiling there will be a
problem - they have large offsets, i.e. the picture would be too low. Or screen tilting is required.
3. Panasonic is the best if you hate screendoor (visible pixel grid). Some claim to notice the picture being softer - I don't.
4. If you have light control, a self-painted part of the wall can be as good as any entry level screen with unity gain.
If you want to run it in ambient light, get the highest brightness projector and screen with gain around 2
(higher would be better but they get expensive fast).

Diogen.

 

[charper1]

I can attest to the Pany and Sanyo mentioned above as running very well in normal ambient lighting conditions; on the screen mentioned; which I think is a 1.5 gain. My buddy has an Optoma and says it runs rater hot and also mentioned the offset issue or angling as he called it. I have read some decent pro reviews on the HD72/73 (1280x768/15:9 native) and HD80/81 (1920x1080 native), but with the same offset issue only. But as I read it they were pricer as well than the Pany, Sanyo and Mitz on the street; all told is why I did not mention those. Optoma 70's $1800+ & 80's $2500+ ... and I would not feel comfortable recommending any other FPTV that was not 720p or 1080p native, regardless of price.

 

[diogen]

HD70 was $999 (Canadian) a month ago (and I think had $50 off for a week).
I think this is the best entry level projector at the moment. Very HTPC friendly.

HD7100 is $1350 with a 92" screen
Costco - Optoma HD7100 DLPâ„¢ Home Theatre System

HD6800 is $1499 with the same screen
Costco - $200 OFF Optoma HD6800 DLPâ„¢ Home Theatre System

They are traditionally cheaper in the US.

Diogen.

 

[charper1]

HD70 was $999 (Canadian) a month ago (and I think had $50 off for a week).
I think this is the best entry level projector at the moment. Very HTPC friendly.


HD7100 is $1350 with a 92" screen
Costco - Optoma HD7100 DLPâ„¢ Home Theatre System

Sorry, the HD70 and HD7100 didn't hit my search radar because I was search for listed lumen of better than 1000; which is exactly what the book is on those two.


I see the HD70 at a few places now on close out for $799 after mail-in rebate.

HD6800 is $1499 with the same screen
Costco - $200 OFF Optoma HD6800 DLPâ„¢ Home Theatre System They are traditionally cheaper in the US. Diogen.

As far as the HD6800, I think the HD6800 is a Costco re-marketed HD72 and is a 1280x768 native around $1450 street (non-Costco). I would go with this one out of all the Optomas listed and did not know if that was in the OP's budget; and to me, and when compared to the Pany and Sanyo above; not sure. But that is me. If there was any possible package deal within $100 of this one I might, but all things being equal (sold separate) I am not sure; I would really want the better projector regardless of packaged deals.

Please don't think I am saying they are junk or not worth trying, I just think (IMHO) for the money the Pany or Sanyo and maybe the Mitz are better units.

 

[JAG72]

Just an FYI. All the ones listed so far are in my current price range.

Next question. Does the LCD projectors suffer from burn in? I know that DLP normally does not suffer from it but not sure about the LCD projectors.

 

[diogen]

Unless you set a static picture and leave on vacation - no, it doesn't.

Diogen.

 

[diogen]

I prefer DLPs because I think they are sharper and .... because my first projector was the X1.

Main reason I like Optomas (and Samsung DLP TVs) - they are tweakers' friendly. And if you are into the HTPC thingy -
no displays in this price range allow for faster setup and achieving the holy grail of 1:1 pixel mapping.

A gigabyte S2H motherboard with onboard ATI 1250 video was setup to run on HD70 in less than 15 min (basic calibration included) under XP32.
About the same on Vista32 Ultimate.

When playing "The Shooter" - the mountain scene: snow, sky, two helicopters, four snipers - the picture was very nice.

Diogen.

 

[charper1]

and $749-$799 is hard to pass up too!

 

[diogen]

All the ones listed so far are in my current price range.

Then also add this one, just announced (10,000:1 contrast ratio!)
3LCD
1600ANSI Lumens
$1300
Electronic House will load shortly

Diogen.

 

[charper1]

What is your experience with the Epson lines? I have not met to many with them, but they seem to have good specs?

Is this it? Looks to be out by Christmas.

Epson Projectors: Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 720 PolySi 3LCD projector

 

[JAG72]

Then also add this one, just announced (10,000:1 contrast ratio!)
3LCD
1600ANSI Lumens
$1300
Electronic House will load shortly

Diogen.

I like the looks of this one (draw back is I would have to wait a little). I am also looking at the Panasonic PT-AX200U right now as well as the Sony VPL-AW10. I just started doing some reading on the 3LCD technology. Just don't want to make sure I don't regret the purchase after a couple of months. Not to sure that the Panasonic would be worth the extra $300 right now. The only major difference I could find is that Panasonic is 2000 lumens and the Sony is 1100 lumens.

 

[diogen]

What is your experience with the Epson lines?

Never had my own.
Around 2002-2003 it looked like LCD's days are numbered (as technology). At that time - first generation Sanyo, Panasonic - they didn't look good to me: low contrast, washed out colors, not very HTPC friendly. But Sony gave LCD's another life (there are stories why they never licensed DLP from Texas Instruments) and when I started paying attention, they were replaced with LCoS (technology that looked almost dead after Intel bailed a year after announcing interest).

LCD today doesn't get very good press.
AnandTech: CEDIA 2007 - Day 2: 1080p Projector Roundup, High Def Players & Ferrari Sound

The other common trend at CEDIA was the dramatic difference between picture quality of LCD projectors and DLP/LCoS based units. While there were some impressive demonstrations at CEDIA, the best LCD projectors we saw couldn't hold a candle to the DLP/LCoS models at the show. Although it's true that none of the demos were under the same conditions, it was very easy to pick out whether or not a projector used LCD technology or one of the newer microdisplay techs.

This is about 1080p projectors and as a first step into the projector world 720p LCD can be very good, I believe.
Especially with specs like this latest Epson has; 3LCD, 10K CR... (is that an automatic iris?)

Diogen.