811 with front projector

JimMcC

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 4, 2004
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Does anyone have their 811 hooked up to a front projector for HDTV? Which projector do you have? I will be buying a projector in near future and am considering the Sanyo Z1 & Epson Home 10. I have read reviews on both but am looking for some real world opinions from owners. Thanks.
 
I use the 811 with a front projector. I use the Sharp 10000 with an 100" FireHawk screen. As for quality of the projector - awesome. As for the 811 - awesome on HD channels (if real HD) as for SD stuff it's okay. DVD's look great also. I don't know anything about the projectors you mentioned but as anyone will tell you try before you buy. Find a place to demo those projectors. Good luck!
 
I'm using the 811 with a Sanyo PLV-Z2 for the time being. Depending on what hits the market for 2005, I might upgrade projectors.

I agree with Bones378's assessment -- HD looks anywhere from very good to spectacular. SD is dicey at best.

The best picture quality that I see is on:
ESPN-HD for sports
HDNet and Discovery for regular programming

Cheers,
 
I use the 811 with an Infocus X1. Like the others, HD is pretty awesome but SD is kind of hit and miss and definitely not awesome on any channel. I will say that SD content looks a little better on the 811 than the 721 or 501. I'm not sure if this is due to the component vs. s-video input or the upconvert to 1080i the 811 is doing on the SD content. The ability to use the zoom modes with the SD content is a nice feature too, as you can fill up a 16x9 screen.
 
I use the 811 with a Sony HS20 & 84 Greyhawk, HD looks fantastic!! I went for the 84 and not bigger just because to have some "decent" looking SD when for instance watching soccer or so.

Cant wait for more HD channels, btw I get the networks HD show via OTA and they mostly look great also.
 
My 811 is connected to a Dwin Transvision 3 via the DVI to the Dwin's scaler.

We're watching it on a 110" screen.

Steve
 
Thanks everybody. I will not be using it for SD. I will use it mainly for DVD's & HDTV.
 
Toshiba TDP-MT8U (Infocus 7200) with a Da-Lite 119" screen. No issues with my 811 on DVI or component (24' cable run).

Depending on the source, HD is excellent to outstanding. SD is very good from the 811 or via s-video from my old 501. I would imagine the s-video and composite sources look good due to the Faroudja DCDi.

I only feed the FP with 480i from the DVD player, component.

Lee
 
I wonder if there would not be so much compression on satellite if the SD would look a bit better on a projector? I know that many cannot tell much if any difference on the smaller tv's after the satellite channels were compressed even more.
 
LeeS said:
Depending on the source, HD is excellent to outstanding. SD is very good from the 811 or via s-video from my old 501. I would imagine the s-video and composite sources look good due to the Faroudja DCDi.

I only feed the FP with 480i from the DVD player, component.

Lee
I have an infocus X1 I use much the same except I have a 6000u instead of an 811. I also have a replay box that outputs component that looks very good. Dvds and the downrezzed hd look very good with it.
 
Tried the 811 with a Barco Graphics 800 and a Panasonic AE100, both using component connection. SD and HD, satellite and digital OTA, all have crushed blacks and are intolerable. Also used DVI to a LCD panel, that sucked too. S-video to a CRT TV, sucks. I can best say this - 811 to a front projector is just as good as the 811 to any other display.

Switched to a 6000 - great picture PQ. Don't miss the DVI connection at all, because my Barco is analog, and I can live with the slower guide. I am designing a component to DVI adapter/switcher box for a major client, so I can use that if I ever need to add DVI.

Shucks, I won't be getting OpenTV on the 6000.

Point of note - it's a shame that the 811 analog OTA tuner is so mediocre, because that does not have crushed blacks!

Keith.
 
I also have the 811 hooked up to the X-1. The screen is 9 feet wide by 5 feet high. I had a crowd over for the superbowl and everyone was blown away! However, I agree that SD tv is almost unwatchable.
 
C5Guy said:
I also have the 811 hooked up to the X-1. The screen is 9 feet wide by 5 feet high. I had a crowd over for the superbowl and everyone was blown away! However, I agree that SD tv is almost unwatchable.
1. How hard would it be, or is it possible to shrink the picture size down to a viewable size when watching SD TV?
2. I see various projecters advertised but haven't seen any screens. Where does one go to find a screen and what do they typically cost?
3. Is a screen for HD fixed in place like in a viewing room, or are they roll up like the old movie screens we used to buy back in the dark ages of 8mm movie cameras?
 
Grandude said:
1. How hard would it be, or is it possible to shrink the picture size down to a viewable size when watching SD TV?

Most projectors will box SD(4x3) or you can shrink the throw of the lens yourself.

Grandude said:
2. I see various projecters advertised but haven't seen any screens. Where does one go to find a screen and what do they typically cost?

I purchased mine on the net,you are looking anywhere from $100.00-up,and buying a screen really depends on what kind of projector,light output,how much light is in the room,LCD,DLP,etc-like with LCD projectors they say to use gray fabric to make the blacks look better(blacks sometimes are really dark gray in LCD projectors)

Grandude said:
3. Is a screen for HD fixed in place like in a viewing room, or are they roll up like the old movie screens we used to buy back in the dark ages of 8mm movie cameras?

Mine is a roll up because it also the main kids area in the basement and at night is when we watch movies on it and once you go projector it is hard to go back,I have a 50" Toshiba HDTV upstairs which I thought was plenty big then the bug bit me when we bought our house and now watching movies on that big 52" x 96" screen I never watch DVD's upstairs anymore(except the TV ones)and watching the Pistons smack the Lakers on it in HD was :cool: .
 
I bought a 4'x8' sheet of white(uknown what it is for material )at my local home improvement center it works just fine for a screen. Bought another one and trimmed for portable use. check out avsform , in the display forums for more info on diy screens. And with the X1 you can shorten the throw, or go to native for a smaller picture. To me the sd pq is better on my x1 than my hitachi 42" in the livingroom. :)
 
I have been thinking about getting a projector instead of a tv as well because it would be portable, display a bigger picture, and may actually be cheaper compared to the size of tv you would have to buy. It would also be easier to move around (especially upon delivery) and take up less space than a tv would.

The things I worry about is if the SD picture quality would be just as good as on a tv, if it would work in a room that had light in it during the daytime, and if the cost of the bulbs that burn out would be expensive or not. I could get some blinds and have it semi dark and put some lamps in the room to cut down on the light if I needed to.
 
My X1 is more for a dark room, I use it for dvd movies mostly, occasionally move 6000 into the room with it, but use mostly a 501. Right now I have my D* sd receiver hooked to it (sg1 last night, taking no chances)along with a Replay that will stream downrez from the living room Replay or from computers. Also have progressive scan dvd players hooked to it along with a P4 3 gig computer. This room is a small one and only has one window which I ended up "foiling" over to achieve darkness after trying blinds etc. X1 only puts out 1000 lumens but picture is impressive. bulb for x1 is 299, supposed to last a couple of thousand hours or so have 350 on mine and have had since Jan. I do not know if it would work for primary viewing, but I love it.(my effective screen size is only 80" right now). As for the portability, I have taken to some friends ranchhouse for superbowl with the 6000. And have even set it up outside with styrofoam as a screen. (has internal speaker)ran it off of an inverter and generator.
 
The type of projector I would be looking for needs to have good SD quality, good quality coming from a computer so that I can read the text and so forth which would be about as good as webtv or viewing it on a computer screen, and hopefully to where I can see it in a room with a little bit of light although I could shade a lot of it out with blinds.
 
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