HD Projectors?

[capone125]

Does anybody have any kind of experience with HD projectors?  I just started looking into them and saw a large variety of 1080p ones but I don't even know where to start.  Anybody use them or have any advice?  I've just been reading reviews because I'm trying to learn more about them but I figured why not ask NT for some advice.  With these movie collections I've seen some NTers post I know somebody out there has to be watching movies on a projector.

 

[josebronx]

 

[biff lawson]

i know my neighbors have one and it always looked garbage imo but maybe they were doing it wrong

 

[dathbgboy]

Ivest in a hdtv instead bro, just read that the bulb life on them projectors are short so u're replacin em every yr at $200-$400 a pop

 

[thedegeneral]

i have a sony aw10 hd projector and it is spectacular. well worth the money. everyone that sees it goes freakin crazy and wants one.

 

[youneedthese]

Not to sound stupid, but i think my bro has a set up like that. He has a movie theater in his crib with a projector and like a 130 inch screen. It's crack, like a personal imax. He has seats with built in surround in them. That's his man room. BTW he's specializes in audio/visual.

 

[bjamez20]

my old roommate picked up an hd projector that fell off the truck for cheap, thing was magnificent.

 

[mumbles3k]

I've had a decent amount of experience with video projectors both personally and professionally. The upside is obvious. It's a big-!*! picture. The downside is that it's rather high-maintenance.

For one thing, you need a room where you can keep light out. It really does need to be nearly pitch black, otherwise the picture gets washed out.

The initial setup can be a !++%! too. You'll spend hours trying to get the frakking thing to line up perfectly with your screen.

Like Dathbgboy said, bulb life is certainly an issue. If you treat it right, the bulb should last about 2,000 hours (depending on the projector, of course). But the act of turning it on is what really kills it. So you really can't just turn it on and channel surf for 15 minutes and then turn it off. If you do stuff like that, you'll be lucky to get 1,000 hours out of the bulb. And yeah, they do cost about $300. I think the general rule of thumb is that it makes sense just to leave it on if you plan on watching something within the next 2 hours.

As far as different types of projectors, there's essentially 2. LCD and DLP. They both have their pros and cons. LCD has better colors, DLP has better contrast.

I've had both, and would recommend DLP over LCD because LCD has a tendency to get dust blobs on the chips, which look like dark blue, red, or green smudges on the screen. They can be removed, but it's a pain in the !*!, and depending on the projector, they can happen a lot.

On the other hand, DLP has this weird artifacting called the rainbow effect. Most people can't see it, but it drives some people crazy. I can see it, but I can live with it.

I haven't done much research on them lately, but from past experience, the brand I would most highly recommend is InFocus. They've been known to make really good and reliable stuff. I've also had Sanyo and Optoma. My Sanyo was a piece of crap, and their customer service department is quite likely the worst I've ever come across. My Optoma was good when it worked, but there were some design flaws that had it in and out of the shop for a good long time.

One thing you might want to look into is this new wave of 3D-capable projectors which will be coming out in the next year or so. I think the low end ones are going to be about $2,000, but obviously, the price will drop. If it were me, I'd wait and invest in one those.

 

[capone125]

3D projectors?! I know that's more than likely for movies only but I just got a picture of hooking my ps3 up and playing Call of Duty on 3D...


I've heard about InFocus but waiting for a 3D projector sounds like a great idea. I'm going to be hooking my laptop and ps3 up to the projector but I know I'm going to have females begging to come over to watch a 3D movie if I get one of these.