Projector or Big-Sceen

[taylorwilsdon]

I'm looking to throw some serious inches up on my wall and I'm not quite sure if I should go the projector route or just buy a big LCD (50 inch).

Right now I've got a 40'' Sony Bravia LCD and its too small for my tastes, so I'm thinking the 50 (while an improvement) won't totally satisfy me. However, it also looks like 1080P projectors cost a fortune and are in short supply. Furthermore, the screen would have to be mounted on a weird slanted ceiling and the projector wouldn't have a very good home either.

Can the image quality of a LCD even come close to being matched by a projector or is it a night and day difference? I think thats my major problem.

I'll be buying in the next few weeks so please don't suggest a future/vapor product

 

[Nenu]

The following is what I can squeeze out very late at night so anyone please feel free to correct it or add your own opinions.
I'm bound to have forgotten a few things.

to the OP, when choosing a projector it depends what you want, how much cash you have now, how much you intend to use it and how much disposable cash you have to replace bulbs
If you get the right projector you may be able to forget about the cost of bulbs but this varies wildly.

Ideally you want a projector thats high res -min 1024x768 (XGA), low noise, at least 1200 Lumens and at least 1000:1 contrast ratio with a long lasting bulb - 2000 to 6000 hours.
Preferably you want all those to be better than the minimum.
FYI: a 6000 hour bulb will last more than a year if used 16 hours a day, every day.


The cost of a 720p or 1280 projector goes up a bit over XGA and any higher res costs a lot more.
Please dont get an 800x600 projector as you wont like the lack of definition in games or movies and Windows isnt pleasant at that res.

Bulbs generally cost around £200 to £600 and normally last around 2 to 3000 hours.
There are some projectors that use long life £30 bulbs but they arent very common.
Beware there are many projectors that use very expensive bulbs with a short life so research this well.

There are 2 main types of projector you will be in the market for, LCD and DLP.
I'll give a few points for each:

DLP Positives:
Brighter
Higher contrast ratio

Negatives:
Older DLPs didnt produce a good black so a grey/silver screen is recommended for those.
Some DLPs twinkle, a bit like TN panels
You sometimes get a rainbow effect.
Some high contrast ratios are achieved by changing the bulbs brightness. This is noticable in movies.

LCD Positives:
Natural looking picture (as long as the projector has a good contrast ratio)
No picture anomolies

Negatives:
Generally not as bright.

This is not to say that DLPs are bad or that LCDs arent bright enough, but that you need to do a lot of reading up and get good advice when choosing a projector.
There are some awesome bargains to be had but I havent kept up with it for a while so cant advise on whats best.

Other things to watch out for:
Business projectors have their brightness measured with a different metric to Home Entertainment projectors. Business Projectors usually have really high brightness figures which translates to much less brightness when used for Movies and games.
Bear this in mind when comparing projectors.
Dont forget to get one with long lasting cheap bulbs !
If you can get a 4:3 projector, it might be the best option as this will display 4:3 and widescreen material properly. When displaying 4:3 material on a widescreen projector, the screen size is vastly reduced.

You can project a fairly low power (1000 Lumens) LCD projector onto a 3 metre diagonal screen of Matt White painted wall as long as the curtains are closed. This will give a lovely picture but depending on the ambient light level (ie you have bright walls) you may want brighter.
FYI, ye average matt white paint has a gain of approximately 1.0. Useful to know when buying a brighter screen.

If you want a more vibrant picture, either paint the wall with Screen Goo (probably the best all round solution) or buy a higher gain screen. Put a black border round a painted screen to increase the perceived contrast, black felt looks nice.

Dont get a normal glass bead screen unless you can all sit within a 30 degree arc, 15 degrees either side of screen centre.
These do go up to a gain of about 3.0 (3 times as bright) though and can be obtained relatively cheaply.

No matter how bright the projector, you cannot get the most enjoyment from it unless the room is quite dark (not so dark that you cant see although thats even better for immersion!).
With 1000 lumens, you should be able use Windows with the curtains open but gaming and movies will need a darker room.
1400 Lumens is a good figure.
The best room has dark walls or curtains on the walls but it shouldnt matter too much if bright side walls arent too close to the screen.


Given all this you might wonder why anyone bothers to get a projector but I have to say the result is truly awesome, another level alltogether!
You will have never felt so immersed in movies and games, it brings a new level of adrenaline to gaming!
Using Windows is the most easy thing on your eyes. Even late at night, its so relaxing.
You wanted a home cinema, well you have it. The new high definition movies even look brilliant at XGA res, you can clearly tell the difference from 720p.
You see so much more detail in everything and the immersion is great!

To finally answer your question if the quality of a projector is good enough, easily!
Especially if you get a nice screen or use Screen Goo, the picture literally jumps out then!