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Hardware

Home Theatre Projectors, Dell, InFocus and Sanyo 261

Posted by CmdrTaco from the everybody-wants-a-big-tv dept.
ssassen writes "Hardware Analysis is gearing up towards the holiday season with an indepth comparison of three popular home theatre projectors; the perfect gift for under the Christmas tree. They decipher the marketing mumbo-jumbo you'll be faced with and explain all that you need to know prior to buying a home theatre projector."
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Home Theatre Projectors, Dell, InFocus and Sanyo More

Home Theatre Projectors, Dell, InFocus and Sanyo

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  • InFocus Screenplay 4800 same as X1. my mini review (Score:5, Interesting)

    by scottm ( 288 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:32AM (#7473509)

    Once I had a room to dedicate to home theater I started looking for an affordable upgrade to the 32" TV I had been watching on.

    I bought an Infocus X1 a few months ago and have been amazed. It's nearly identical to the Screenplay 4800 reviewed in the article (some software/settings tweaks and extra cables for your few hundred bucks extra for the 4800).

    I bought the X1 after seeing glowing reviews on AVS Forums. There are a number of good entry level choices in the projector market now. I did make sure I bought from a place with no restocking fees, as I was worried about rainbows (X1 has a 2x color wheel and some fraction of people seem to be sensitive to them, it's a potential problem with any low end DLP)... I can see rainbows if I try, but they haven't bothered any of the 15 or so people who've watched movies on my X1.

    Once I got it home & set up, I was amazed... You have to have some level of light control in your viewing area, but it's such a huge difference... I've seen only 2 movies in the theater since I got the projector... I'm projecting a ~90" diagonal 16:9 screen (note the X1/4800 is natively 4:3, but scales fine to 16:9). DVDs are spectacular, 4 player split screen Gamecube is a lot of fun (vs. squinting at your little corner of the 32" tv).

    Not sure why anyone spends the $$ on a big screen CRT/FPTV/RPTV anymore. I've already converted two coworkers to projectors (an X1 & a Z1).

    Now, if anyone has an easy DIY screen I can get rid of this bed sheet nailed to the ceiling in my basement....

    • We project in one of our labs using a similar unit onto a painted wall. We just had to find the proper flat white paint. Looks good, no "sun bursts" or areas of intense light from various viewing angles...
    • I'm curious about your setup. What kind of hardware are you using for DVD player and TV? Are you using a computer with a DVD and HDTV/VIVO card? If you're using your PC, what kind of resolution are you able to achieve with it?

      Do you have any recommendations or know of a good site with more info?

    • Re:InFocus Screenplay 4800 same as X1. my mini rev (Score:4, Informative)

      by Albanach ( 527650 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:48AM (#7473633) Homepage
      Not sure why anyone spends the $$ on a big screen CRT/FPTV/RPTV anymore

      Because a 36" flat tube wide-screen TV at, say 1,500 GBP ($2,500) or a 32" screen at a fraction of that cost will probably have a lifespan of a decade, with zero maintenance costs. The same cannot be said for any LCD projector I've seen.

      • Or even better, a 36" flat screen (4:3 aspect) for only $500. Considering that I was upgrading from an older 27" boob tube, this represented a major step forward (using component jacks instead of coax, for example) and I couldn't be happier. Not to mention the fact that a TV fits my living space much better than a projector would...

      • Read the post. The X1 is a DLP projector. No LCDs involved. And for the price of your 36" CRT behemoth you'll be able to get diagonals measured in yards from a box the size of a few video cassettes, plus you'll be able to use it for PC gaming.
      • Because my X1 bulb life is ~5 years with average use (3000 hours) and that puts the cost at around $1500 instead of your overpriced $2500 screen.

        How often do you take that 32" screen over to someone elses house to watch a movie or play games or show pictures? It takes about a minute to detach from my ceiling mount.

      • Don't know if its true, but I was just reading someone who said bulb life for this unit had been increased to 4000 vs 3000 hours, and that bulbs were down to $99 vs $199. Seems like its worth it to me.

        Although I don't have a grand to blow right now, saving up a year for it is certainly possible. I'd love to redo my basement and dedicate part of it to a HT. Let's hope these typs of projectors continue to come on the market for afforable prices.
      • Did you miss the part where he said 90" diagonal? You might as well say that he's foolish for spending any more than $99 because you have a mini TV that cost that much.

        I'm not trying to make this a Size Matters thing any more than it needs to be. But compare like to like - a 60" rear projection TV runs more like $4500, and is a bastard to get up and down stairs. A few years ago when I bought my LCD projector, Fry's (a local chain in Silicon Valley) was selling a 70" projection-screen TV for $8000.

        BTW folk
        • Look in the mirror before you call anyone a freak. I'm amazed you put someone down for thinking that wanting a bigger screen makes you a freak, and then call someone who wants a $30,000 system a freak.

          You consider yourself rational because you save money by not going to the theater. Perhaps the freak needed to spend $30,000 before they were content to watch movies at home; a $30,000 system is still substantially cheaper than buying and running a 35 mm movie theater.
    • The inFocus rocks.

      The ScreenPlay 110's connectivity options are fairly comprehensive. Without the Enhanced Connectivity Module, the projector only offers an I-MI connection for a computer (as well as a DVI connection), one S-video input, one composite video input, and a mini-jack audio input. When you add the module, you get one set of broadband component video inputs (Y/Pb/Pr) that will do 480i, 480p, 720p, and 1080i, a standard HD-15 VGA input, a 15-pin monitor output to send the signal to a PC or laptop

    • Re:InFocus Screenplay 4800 same as X1. my mini rev (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Mantrid ( 250133 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:51AM (#7473653) Journal
      What are your bulb costs? I looked at doing this a year or so ago, but ended up with a rear projection TV - the bulb costs just seemed too high.
      • I'm not sure what the bulb costs are at the moment, but since I've bought my Sony CS5 last February, I've used only 10% of the bulb life.

        It's nice watching DVD's and certain TV programmes on the "big screen" but I tend to use it only if a programme deserves it, hence the low 200hrs useage in the last 10 months.

        The only downside I have with it is the amount of electricity it uses - about a days worth of normal useage in about 4 hours.

        Saying that I did a rough calculation back in March and it worked out at

      • Re:InFocus Screenplay 4800 same as X1. my mini rev (Score:5, Informative)

        by UserChrisCanter4 ( 464072 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @11:12AM (#7473797)
        While I don't have the X1 yet (still waiting for a few bonuses and such), I have put a good amount of research into it. The bulb is rated for 3,000 hours, and goes for $300. I estimated ~2 hours per day of viewing between myself and my SO, which puts me at just over 4 years between bulbs, a completely reasonable expense. Of course, your mileage may vary based on how much you watch, but do keep in mind that when the X1 first hit the streets, replacement bulbs were $500, so I don't see any reason why they wouldn't drop some in the next few years as well.
        • While I don't have the X1 yet (still waiting for a few bonuses and such), I have put a good amount of research into it. The bulb is rated for 3,000 hours, and goes for $300.

          I bought an X1 over the summer and have been satisfied with it. The only complaint I have is a bit of rainbow effect from the slow spinning color-wheel on dark action sequences (I see this a bit in the Matrix and Spider-man). Otherwise it's great. I went into it with the expectation that it was just a step up from my 32" TV for w

        • Hmm...my TV is pretty much as long as I am home. Hell, I even set the timer on it...so I can sleep at night to the tv. It's my 'big' nightlight.

          Do any of these projectors have a timer on them? During the week, I probably avg. 3-4 hours/day. On the weekends...tv is on 24/7. Even if not being watched...it is background noise unless I throw on some music. But, even at that...most of my DVD's I buy these days are music performances...so, once again...tv on.

          How bad would this cost in bulb replacements?

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • The bulb for my Epson Powerlite S1 (also a great projector) is about $250. I figured I'll spend that about once every 4 years - and by that time I might just go buy another $1000 projector as they should be amazing by then.

        As long as you have an appropriate room (a large paintable wall far that's darkenable during the day), the projector is easily the way to go.
        • "As long as you have an appropriate room (a large paintable wall far that's darkenable during the day), the projector is easily the way to go."

          That's my one problem. The place where this would go, the living room, has windows that let in a pretty decent amount of light. In the mornings...hits the screen a little bit. So, would a projector be bright enough for day time viewing? If I get one...I want it to replace my TV. Once advantage I can see, is that I would no longer have the 'glare' problem of the lig

      • The bulb cost is high but I think it is worth it. Bulbs cost between $300-$500 but they last between 1000 and 5000 hours depending on the model of projector you bought. If you assume you watch two hours of video per evening, every evening, that is nearly 1.4 years for every 1000 hours. So if you get a unit with a 3000 hour bulb rating, watch two hours a night, then that means four years of use before replacing it.

        On a 2000 hour bulb, if you pay the SRP of $500, that is twenty five cents per hour. That
      • A rear projection TV has a bulb too (if LCD or DLP based), otherwise it has three very bright CRTs that also burn out and are even more expensive to replace than bulbs.

        The only difference between rear and front projection TV's is the side of the screen the light hits. The cost of replacing bulbs or CRT tubes depends on how bright they need to be. If you could buy a 100" rear projection set, it would have identical bulb (or CRT) replacement costs as an equally bright front projection setup. If you're hap
    • Now, if anyone has an easy DIY screen I can get rid of this bed sheet nailed to the ceiling in my basement....

      ROFL, EXACTLY like my first screen (my bedsheet was light blue, made everything look really interesting) :)))

      It's really easy to make your own screen, all you need is the right colour paint and a big piece of thin, stable wood.
      I found a forum that explained exactly which colours would give the best picture, and I ended up paiting the wood really light grey (gives a better black for my AE-300
    • Now, if anyone has an easy DIY screen I can get rid of this bed sheet nailed to the ceiling in my basement....

      Get yourself a large piece of MDO board with a nice finish. You may want to contact a sign supply shop to see if they have something pre-finished. The stuff from a sign shop is generally of better quality than that of the typical lumber yard. You should be able to get a primed piece as well.

      Once you've got your board cut to size, you'll need to get some glossy white paint (or silver for the ex
    • There are a number of good entry level choices in the projector market now. I did make sure I bought from a place with no restocking fees, as I was worried about rainbows (X1 has a 2x color wheel and some fraction of people seem to be sensitive to them, it's a potential problem with any low end DLP)... I can see rainbows if I try, but they haven't bothered any of the 15 or so people who've watched movies on my X1.

      The rainbows are an artifact of the single chip DLP system's need for a color wheel. Even "h
      • > My personal feeling is that DLP looks a little too "digital"
        > compared to some of the LCD offerings, at least in the RPTV arena

        That's because you've probably only seen one set up for presentations, not for video. If you crank up the brightness and contrast to make those PPT slides bright and saturated, video will look like sh!t, kind of like RPTVs on the showroom floor. Calibrate the projector for video and you won't recognize the picture.
    • Simple, go to Home Depot, get a can of glidden Misty Evening, and some Kilz 2 primer. Paint desired size/shape on wall. Point projector at newly painted space. Done. There are several threads at AVS right now, in the Screens forum, dealing with this very subject. Misty Evening is the easy, one coat choice right now. There are several variations that tweak it, but it doesn't get much easier than that. If painting isn't your thing, then just go buy a parkland plastics or doable board at HD for about $2
    • I've had my X1 for a few months now. The only annoying factor I would say is this - it takes progressive input only through the VGA style connector, not through the component->SVideo connector. That means if you have a device that has mixed progressive/non-progressive output (which is the case for most consoles right now) you need some kind of switching solution as you'll probably want to hook it up to the progressive source.

      I use a KVM to bring together output from various devices and out to the proj
    • I had a friend that spent $4000 on a really nice Sharp projector that had more lumens than the X1, and better resolution. He displayed it on a 120" screen. It was fabulous. The BIG downside was the $600 bulb. If I remember, the bulbs are rated for only so many hours (500?). That was not made clear to him when he bought the projector. Of course football season came along, the bulb dies in the middle of a college football game, and panic set in. I know he could have saved money mail order, but he neede
    • Now, if anyone has an easy DIY screen I can get rid of this bed sheet nailed to the ceiling in my basement....

      The guy at the site below made his out of a material called blackout cloth, and he has instructions on the site. Be gentle, it just ISP webspace.

      http://members.shaw.ca/danhanson/Theater/screen/sc reenproject.htm [members.shaw.ca]

    • Not sure why anyone spends the $$ on a big screen CRT/FPTV/RPTV anymore.

      Easy, in addition to the ambient light requirements the X1 (along with most front projectors) doesn't do an HD picture. It will take an HD signal and downconvert it to it's 800x600 native resolution, but that's not the same. There are lots of RPTVs out there that will natively do full HD. If you're spending that amount of money on a picture that big, most people would want it to be HDTV capable.

  • cheap! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by proj_2501 ( 78149 ) <mkb@ele.uri.edu> on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:32AM (#7473511) Journal
    the dell one is missing some useful features!

    NO POWER SWITCH!

    still, under $1k is awesome.
    • You want the fan to stay on a little longer than the lamp, because that greatly increased lamp life. Hence, no switch. A button will do, actually just a button on the remote will do because the projector will be up there close to the ceiling anyway.

      • i assumed that would be the power switch, no?
        • A switch is not a button. A switch breaks the circuit and cuts the power. Hence, there will be no fan running after you flip the switch...

          Yes I've seen projectors with both a switch and a button, and their lamps suddenly last a lot longer when you tell their owners about the button, the lamp, and the fan.

  • Z-coordinate? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pipingguy ( 566974 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:33AM (#7473513)
    Can they project vertically? Since I spend most of my life being horizontal, that would be a great feature on the ceiling.
    • yes, but be careful not to move it to quickly or the liquid crystal will slosh around and ruin your picture. ;)

    • Re:Z-coordinate? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Marillion ( 33728 )
      I don't know. However, a small front coated mirror on an end table and use the rear projection feature to correct the reversal problem caused by the mirror.

      If you have a higher tollerance for distortion, a cheap cosmetic mirror (non-magnifying) would do too and save you the cost of front coated optics.

      • The reversal problem isn't reversal, and it isn't "caused" by the mirror.

        If you point the projector towards your toes, the image on the ceiling will appear upside-down. The top of the image will hit the top of the mirror and be sent toe-ward from the bottom of the image.

        If you point the projector towards your headboard, the top and bottom of the image will appear to be in the right places, but now the normal right-side of the image will be on your left. This reversal is caused because you turned the mac

  • how about the Sony HD-20 (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:35AM (#7473531)
    My friend likes the new Sony HD-20 projector;
    It seems to be quiet and bright, with the
    new HDMI interface which is a superset of DVI
    and allows for longer cable length.

    Ref:
    http://www.projectorexperts.com/projector/ Sony/665

    Does anyone have one of these yet?
    • (Sniff) I miss the days of having $3,700 bucks to spend on this and that... No wait a minute. I've never had a time where I've had more that $100 bucks that wasn't allocated for bills. If I added up all the goofy things I bought that were frivilous over the last 5 years, it MIGHT add up to $3,700.

      I don't envy those who can afford it. I am very content with what I do have. I have a cute little house, a car that's paid off. A wife. A kid. A job that understands that my family come first.

      For now if I want

  • Rent, then buy! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dada21 ( 163177 ) <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:35AM (#7473533) Homepage Journal
    Many online and offline business rental companies will let you rent a projector. This is HIGHLY recommended. The $50-$100 more you'll spend will give you a big chance to see if the projector is for you.

    Lumens, contrast ratio, and even resolution is NOT comparitive between brands. Some people see "rainbows" with DLP projectors. Some people see excess screen door with LCD projectors.

    Before I bought my (CHEAP) Sanyo PLV-Z1 projector, I scoured the AVS Forums [avsforum.com] for information, and it was the best help I could find.

    Now I have a 110" projector on my living room wall, the room feels twice as big (the TV took up so much space), and my projector looks great during the day, the night, and in HDTV (thanks Comcast for doing something right!).

    dada

    • Re:Rent, then buy! (Score:5, Informative)

      by JaredOfEuropa ( 526365 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @11:07AM (#7473753) Journal
      Many online and offline business rental companies will let you rent a projector. This is HIGHLY recommended. The $50-$100 more you'll spend will give you a big chance to see if the projector is for you.
      Better yet: the shops that specialise in projectors often both rent beamers and sell them. Sometimes you can get good deals from them... some will waive the rental fee if you decide to buy a unit from them when you return the rental. Ask around!

    • Re:Rent, then buy! (Score:3, Interesting)

      by jelle ( 14827 )
      Hmm.

      700 Lumens at 110" and still 'looks great during the day'.

      Lumens is an absolute measure of light defined in physics. Unless the manufacturers are lying about the numbers, it's comparable between brands.

      At 700 Lumen spread across a 110" screen, there is not much light left per unit surface area.

      Indoor artificial lighting for offices is usually 300-500 lux [londonmet.ac.uk], and outdoors it goes up to 30000 lux. Lux is lumens per square meter. So, assuming your 110" measure is the size of the bottom edge of your screen
  • Yoshi did this on TechTV. Projector, HTS, Screen with Microperf, very nice setup indeed (and for cheap, well, relatively speaking). You can check it out here [techtv.com]

  • mmmm... projector... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:38AM (#7473557)
    I had the interesting experience of working for a company back in 2001 that closed and couldn't pay me for the vacation that I'd accrued, so the office manager/CFO and I made a deal where I'd write off the time in exchange for the company video projector. It was probably the best deal that I'd made working with them.

    I use a Philips Proscreen 4100, which is an older 800x600 projector that puts out 300 ANSI Lumens. It's not nearly as bright as modern projectors (coming in at 1000+ Lumens), but the 4000 hour lamp is nice.

    I'll never go back to a TV. Even if my projector breaks and I am forced to replace it outright, I'll buy the $1500 projector again. The furniture savings, the space savings, and the ability to have a room not centered around a glass TV, but still able to become a multimedia room with 100" of screen with the pull of a retractable screen far outweighs having a fixed TV. I can take it wherever I go, and it'll fit in the trunk of my friend's Mazda Miata. I can show up to 200" diagonal picture from a computer, composite, or S-Video source on any wall suitable.

    For versatility, picture size, and general niftiness, I don't think that you can beat a video projector.

  • Where is EPSON? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    EPSON is a reference in video projectors, they are the number 1 in sales worldwide and other companies just simple OEM the products from them! My company has 2 EPSON projectors, I took one home for testing (don't tell anyone) and it rocks DVD, X and Counter-Strike!

    I heard they launched a new one below 30 dB! That's silent!
  • .. if you need a home theatre system to make a particular film worth watching, then it's not worth watching.
    • This is modded insightful? Should be -1, Sour grapes!!

      I'll agree that a great film is a great film, even if you watch it on a 13" B&W TV. And Gigli is going to suck even in a $50K home theater.

      However, I'd much rather watch a good movie with a modest HT setup (decent size screen, surround sound, and so forth) than on a piddly standard TV with built-in speakers. It cannot be overstated how much better the experience is.

  • Anyone using this tech for daily computer use? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:46AM (#7473614)
    I've noticed that many of these large screen products (projectors and PDPs) have VGA or DVI inputs and support higher resolutions than the minimum required to display an NTSC signal. Thus, they could be connected to a computer and used for multi-user computer applications (e.g., gaming, boardrooms, or extreme programming) or just a single-person big-screen. What is it like to have a big screen that is more distant than the usual monitor?
    • >What is it like to have a big screen that is more distant than the usual monitor?

      It makes it harder to cover up the pr0n when your mother walks into your room. :)
    • At work we have a NEC 540T, XGA, 1500 Lumen,400:1, 2.5 kg. I took it home for the weekend, 5 months ago and hooked it up to my computer. 100" diagonal is like being right in the middle of the action, when you play GTA VC or Unreal Tournament. If you happen to sit slighty of axis you surely will get motion sickness. I will not recommend it for hardcore programming, but for leisure surfing, divxing and watching funky screensavers or Visualisations at partys. While my boss had his hoilidays i had the projecto
      • 100" diagonal is like being right in the middle of the action, when you play GTA VC or Unreal Tournament. If you happen to sit slighty of axis you surely will get motion sickness.

        Interesting (and thanks for your impressions). Its not surprising that off-axis veiwing leads to motion sickness - I'm sure the game's rendering engine assumes you are sitting front and center. If bigscreens become more popular for gaming, I wonder if game makers will need to add controls for off-axis use -- something that a
    • I've worked with our planetarium's computer. Imagine, if you will, a computer screen 80 feet in diameter, in a room with perfect darkness, perfect reflectivity, and all the noisy equipment banished to a backroom.

      You use the screen a lot differently when projected. A desktop screen is treated like a piece of scribble paper. You try to fill in every square inch with crap. A projected screen takes you back to the days of on window at a time. Since your eyes need so much more time to navigate the screen, your

  • Ehh.. where's the sharp? (Score:5, Informative)

    by muffen ( 321442 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:49AM (#7473649)
    How can you have a serious home cinema projector comparison without comparing the Sharp AE series projectors?
    I own the Sharp AE-100 and Sharp AE-300 (no, I don't work for them or think that they are the best brand in everything, they just make awesome "cheap" widescreen projectors).

    I had some minor problems with my AE-100 (red/green tint in the picture), but this was a known problem with the AE-100, and it is solved in the AE-200 and AE-300.
    In my livingroom I have the AE-300 running, projecting a 110 inch screen. If you get the right signal to it (progressive NTSC or VGA), the projector is unbeatable by anything in the same pricerange (asuming you want a WideScreen projector).

    I read A LOT of articles/reviews/forums before going for the sharp, and with the AE-300, I'm really happy! You'd be able to get the AE-300 for under $2000, and you can get the AE-100 for around $1000 (although you should be aware of the red/green tint in the picture on the AE-100).

  • Yeah, they're great, but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:55AM (#7473679)
    ...It's the cost of the freakin' bulbs that'll kill ya. 500 for 2000 hours? You'd better be watchin' some pretty top-drawer p0rn to make it worth your while.
    • (since I own one and all) Why does no one make p0rn in 16:9 aspect ratio, damnit!?!?

      FWIW- The bulbs for mine are about $250 and at 2000 hours a bulb that's $.13 an hour which is fine by me. $.26 to watch Monday Night Football on a 100" screen in high-def (or LOTR in my private home theater) is quite worth it, thank you!

      - PM

  • Reference Links (Score:4, Informative)

    by ed1park ( 100777 ) <ed1park@hotmail . c om> on Friday November 14, 2003 @10:56AM (#7473686)
    Best PJ's by price range
    http://www.projectorcentral.com/recommended -home-t heater-projectors.htm

    Reviews of each PJ and other info
    hhtp://www.projectorcentral.com

    Great forum site
    http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay. php?fo rumid=9

    I used to own a 42" Plasma (Panny EDTV 848x480 $4000). However, had I known how good projectors were nowadays, I would never would have bought it.

    Currently I own a Sanyo PLV-70 ($3,500 1366x768) with a 105" Dalite HiPower screen ($350). And it's almost like a 105" plasma!

    HDTV looks awesome. And DVD's look pretty good too. Finding Nemo is one of the best looking ones so far... But the hardware really needs Hi Definition material to shine. 480 just don't cut it at that size. Hollywood needs to get their butt in gear.

    And with a DVI input, I've connected my computer and played Unreal2, MotoGP2, Vice City, etc. at 16:9 widescreen at 1360x768. Sick!

    And you can do email, surf the web and everything with the 3D gyro mouse and keypad. Completely useable as a computer screen. :)

    I can only hope Half Life 2 and Doom 3 properly support widescreen.

  • Fig 2. The left projector clearly has too much lumen output, saturating the image, the left one is alright.

    This is under two pictures, one atop the other, on page 2. My brain hurts.

  • I own one, and LOVE it! (Score:4, Informative)

    by phreakmonkey ( 548714 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @11:21AM (#7473880) Homepage
    I just bought (4 weeks ago) the Japanese-only Panasonic AE-500 projector for $1700US including shipping from PriceJapan [pricejapan.com]. (Be sure to read his terms and conditions carefully before ordering from him- he's only a broker, not a reseller.)

    Let me just say I _LOVE_ this projector. It does native 16:9 1280x720 resolution and makes a great computer display in addition to being a great home theater projector. I have it projected on a homemade 100" diag screen! (7.1' wide, 4' tall) and it's very usable. Video games are unbelievable, web sites are HUGE, and WinAmp visualizations are absolutely breathtaking.

    With ANY projector though- a light-controlled environment is KEY. Sunlight completely destroys the picture, so be sure you have a decent size room with no windows or are willing to cover the windows with something if you use it during the day.

    The Sanyo Z2 / Panasonic AE-500 use the same LCD array, so either one would be an excellent choice for the /. crowd.

    - P.M.

  • The InFocus model can be had for cheaper (Score:4, Informative)

    by saddino ( 183491 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @11:23AM (#7473892)
    According to Projector Central [projectorcentral.com] (IMHO the best site for ind. projector reviews, the InFocus Screenplay 4800 is the basically the same model as the InFocus X1 (which can be had for $500 cheaper and can be bought online instead of an AV dealer). More details here [projectorcentral.com].

  • Some Cautions and Observations: (Score:3, Informative)

    by xianzombie ( 123633 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @11:47AM (#7474074)
    First let me state that I will never buy nor reccomend an InFOcus projector. Unless you are an "authorized" service rep, you cannot get replacment parts (sans lamps and normal "user replacable parts). I had one that someone shattred the lamp in and damaged the diffuser panel. Cost of replacment? ~$1000. Could only get it by ordering the full optics assembly. Basically, we found that you can only order via "assemblies" not individual parts.

    If you want to be able to repair your own...don't bother with Infocus.

    Most other companies are quite nice about supplying parts and manuals (at a price of course) I've delt most w/ Toshiba and Sharp and they've all provided exceptional customer/technical service to someone wishing to repair their own units.

    Smaller projectors (such as the SONY VPL-PX11(?)) are wonderful LCD Projectors (image quality wise), but have a fairly low lamp life for a theater or confrence room type setup.

    Recently we've begun using some DLP's from Plus Vision Corp (namely the U2-1200 line) which also seem to provide exceptional image quality and a fairly adequate lamp life (given their size). 1200 Lumens and about 3000hrs (4k hrs in Eco mode). Eco drops the brightness down a bit, however its still fairly acceptable in a dark room. Price is a bit higher for these, MSRP around $5k, but can be found closer to $3200 or so if you look. These support the standard 4:3 as well as a 16:9 aspect ratios, VGA, DVI, and Composite video inputs.

    I would highly reccomend these at this point, and Plus/Lightware have both provided us with very acceptable warrenty service as well over the years.

    In closing: Infocus is the devil!
    • I've had much the same experience with them. I'm looking to buy a new projector to replace my aging InFocus LP735, but from my dealings with them in attempting to purchase a replacement polarization filter (a piece of color coated glass worth $1000 to have replaced through them) I've decided I'll never purchase any of their products again. In fact it's even more appealing for me to pay more for an inferior product that I can get parts for than purchase something that will cause me to scour eBay for salva
  • 1 Year, a nearly 100+ movies watched (thank the lord for netflix) and a few hundred hours on the XBOX and no problems.

    I have a 105" 4:3 screen that gives me a large 16:9 real-estate for the dvd movies and HDTV content.

    I have converted all my "tubbies" to projectors since they're light, affordable, easy to hide and give you a move experience over and beyond what any tv can do.

    Plus they support, like others have said, Computers, VGA/Component/DVI and many other interfaces. These uses go over and beyond a
  • We occassionally have "movie day" where people are selected at random to see a movie on company time and they vote on which movie to see.

    We just set up one of our Dimension Desktops with a THX certified speakers and a dvd player, pushing the video through one of our Dell Projectors.

    Now, I don't really know that much about projectors in general, but let me tell you...having watched a few movies on the Dell Projector, I was and am just amazed at the quality. Absolutely stunning...amazing home theatre se

  • Anyone know why projectors are so expensive? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bob Bitchen ( 147646 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @12:17PM (#7474324) Homepage
    There's not that much technology in them. A bulb, a lens, the LCDs or the DLP, some mirrors, a fan or two. I would think they would cost much less than they do. What's keeping the price so high? Is it simply lack of demand? A television seems to have a lot more hardware than a projector so maybe it is demand that is driving the price.
    • There is alot to them. The bulbs are fairly advanced and expensive to make, the entire color wheel/motor/lcd panel needs to be calibrated to exact measurements and it takes a refigned/exact process to build an lcd panel or DLP system effeciently and with 0 errors.

      You have to remember a dead pixel can look HUGE on a large screen.

      On the other hand, this stuff costed 2,500 to 5,000 just 2 years ago. Now you can get it for 900 or less.

      That seems like a fairly decent price drop!

      Speeed, Performance, Durabili
  • About two years ago, I bought a Sony CPJ-200 from eBay for about $600. It's a crappy projector, but it was about the only affordable projector when I got it.

    Since I'm not experiencing any of the modern wonders of video projection, I thought I'd share some of the inherent strengths of projection viewing:

    • It's a much better experience for movies, since it really feels like sitting in a theater. I have young children, so my movie days are over. This has been a lifesaver.
    • At least with my projector, you can'
    • My Wife and I had a tiny apartment before we moved into our tiny house. We have been doing pretty will with just a 20" monitor (a cast-off from work). Our computer is our DVD player, and we have TV card that lets us plug in the Playstation. (Not bad considering the computer is Linux ;) We don't watch any network TV. I'm too cheap for cable, and TV reception is crappy even with rabbit ears.

      I definitely know what you mean by the center of attention for guests. We actually seat folks on all 4 sides of the ro

  • My projector Experience (Score:3, Informative)

    by Innova ( 1669 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @12:32PM (#7474426) Homepage
    I did a lot of research both at AVSForums and at a local dealer. I decided on the Infocus 5700. I also saw the Infocus 4800, but the faster color wheel (reduces rainbows), and higher resolution of the 5700 was definately worth the extra money in my book.

    I would have really liked to get the 7200, but like all electronics the prices of projectors are falling fast. I decided that I could upgrade in a year or two and spend alot less in the long run.

    All I know is that once you've seen a HD Football game on a 119" screen, you will never want to go back to a "normal" tv.

    You have to love Infocus' marketing: You measure your tv size in inches? How cute.

  • DLP Biased (Score:4, Informative)

    by cfoster70 ( 643772 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @12:41PM (#7474502) Homepage

    They are missing a lot of important information in that article. It seems written to promote DLP and skims over a lot of deficiencies with what they tested, and uneven ways in which the testing was done.

    Page 3, Contrast. What it doesn't mention is that above 800:1, it becomes hard to see any difference, and above 1200:1, it's pretty much impossible.

    The examples are also set up to make you think that the 'low constrast LCD' is the Z1, which it isn't. Here's a quick snap [colinfoster.net] taken of my Z1 (slight blur due to hand-held camera) of the same scene.

    Page 4, Resolution. Again what's left out is at what point it no longer makes a difference. This varies projector by projector and is a factor of the screen size, LCD resolution and distance the viewer is sitting from the screen.

    For SVGA/WVGA one can no longer see the grid at all if they are sitting about 1.8x the diagonal of their screen away. For XGA, WXGA that number drops to 1x (probably closer than you'd want to be).

    I sit 1.5x screen diagonal away from my WVGA projector (Z1) and can see the grid in very bright-white scenes only. (Specifically, I sit 15' away from a screen with a 10' diagonal.)

    Page 5, Fan Noise. Fan noise varies depending on whether you are using the projector's low-lamp/theatre mode. Most projectors give you an option of running at its highest brightness level, or a dark but quieter mode. Where the manufacturer doesn't list

    I sit directly below my Z1 and can definitely hear the fan in 'low-lamp' mode, if there is no sound in the movie. I can also here my refrigerator humming in the kitchen if its quiet. If someone is speaking it covers up the sound of the projector (and the fridge). Any guests I have seem oblivious to the sound of the fan until I mention it.

    It seems like they must have measured the Z1s lumens in 'low-lamp' mode, and its fan in regular mode (to make it measure as loud as possible). If a manufacturer only lists one fan noise level, it will be their 'low-lamp' mode volume.

    Page 6,7, LCD & DLP. He fails to mention that some people cannot watch a DLP projector without getting a headache or becoming nauseous due to a 'strobing' effect. It only happens to small percentage of the population (maybe 2%), but it is a well documented phenomenon. The problem does not exist on high end DLP projectors as they use a slightly different projection technique, but it does exist on all low end DLPs.

    This is an issue because if you are ordering your projector over the internet, sight unseen, you may get it home to find out you can't watch it. Likewise, you may have a bunch of friends over, only to find out one of them can't sit through the film/game/etc.

    The article fails to mention that LCD has better color saturation.

    For a fair and balanced look at the DLP vs. LCD debate, see this Projector Central article [projectorcentral.com].

    The conclusion fails to factor in other important cost information, like that over the course of 6 years of ownership, the Dell projector will cost significantly more because you will have to buy 2 bulbs for it, in the same period you will only buy 1 for the other two projectors.

    It also never returns to the briefly mentioned benefits of natively Widescreen projectors over traditional 4x3 projectors. Unless you watch a lot of very old movies, you will want to own a widescreen projector. All movies today are widescreen, and in 5 years, so will your television.

    There is a lot more wrong with the article, but this should at least give you an idea that you should not make this your single source of information about home projectors. Instead do some reading over at AVSForum [avsforum.com]. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there who can set you straight where this article would mislead you.

    -Colin.

  • My Favorite Quotes (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Aidtopia ( 667351 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @12:45PM (#7474554) Homepage Journal
    "They decipher the marketing mumbo-jumbo you'll be faced with and explain all that you need to know prior to buying a home theatre projector."

    Oh really?

    ... a high-pressure gas-discharge lamp ... generates a substantial amount of heat which must be transported away from the lamp because of risk of melting and imploding

    If it's a high-pressure lamp, wouldn't the risk be exploding?

    the inside of the lamp is a vacuum, filled with an inert gas

    A filled vacuum?

    Obviously with these three primary colors every possible color can be displayed....

    Not so obvious to those of use who understand device gamuts.

    Despite these errors, I found the comparison useful, but I'm still confused as to their methods. In one place, the author says:

    We've adjusted the lumen output, the contrast and the color balance as well as the sharpness of the individual projectors to get as close to the [reference image] as possible.... If we had not done so we'd have ended up with the factory defaults that in some cases did not do the projector justice.

    But a few screens later:

    We've used the default factory settings for all projectors so we get a fair comparison between them.

    Perhaps for some measurements they used defaults and some they adjusted to match the reference image, but that's far from clear.

  • DLPs and flicker may be a problem for video (Score:3, Informative)

    by Goldenhawk ( 242867 ) on Friday November 14, 2003 @02:30PM (#7475533) Homepage
    I purchased a DLP project (an InFocus) about a year ago. While it's a GREAT projector for the cost, about $1200 for a 1500-lumen SVGA unit, I've found it's not very well suited for video.

    The problem is that the update frequency on the DLP, combined with the color wheel technology, means that when you look from one area of the image to another, and the image contains any high-contrast vertical edges, you'll catch an afterimage of vertical red, green and blue bars on the margin of the edge. Essentially, your eye catches the sequential flashing of R, G and B used to form white or any bright color.

    The problem is obvious even with still content - like a powerpoint slide presentation or a DVD menu - because even though the content isn't moving, the DLP still has to mix RGB to get white, and the mirrors and color wheel are rotating thru the colors constantly.

    The problem gets more apparent the closer you get to the screen, because your eyes have to move farther to see various parts of the image - if the action suddenly changes from the left edge of the screen to the right edge, you look to follow the action. Up close, your peripheral vision is more tasked, so you tend to look back and forth a lot. When you're further from the screen you don't need to move your eyes as often.

    So while it's great for slow content like a powerpoint slide show, and it's fine if you're a long way from the screen (like in a big presentation), when you try to use it as a video projector in a smallish living room setting, it's VERY distracting.

    This may not be true for all DLPs. But the moral of the story is TRY IT before you buy it. Specifically, stand close to the screen, set up some still image with a vertical white line, or white-on-black text, and look back and forth across the screen. If you see color bars, you'll see them just the same in your dark living room watching a movie.

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