Projectors (merged)

[old.user4556]

Will having the projector 2m back and on the ceiling fuck up the picture and make it trapezoid?

As long as it's square onto the screen it'll be ok - there is only vertical keystone correction on the H30.

2 m doesn't sound very far away and isn't going to give you a 100" screen Clown, it'll need to be at least 4m back. To enjoy it to its potential, you're also gonna have to sit that distance away, otherwise the picture might be too pixelated. Keep some cash aside for a ceiling mounting bracket too.

Edit - did you edit your post from 100" to 50" Clown? ... ... ~50" should be achievable at that distance, although I still reckon it's a bit close.

 

[Clown]

Heh, it never said 100
I'm budgeting for -
~ £1000 Projector
~ £50 VGA Cable
~ £X for some sort of white background
There's already a shelf right opposite where I want to project, so I might not need a ceiling rack after all.

Still, this is helluva lot cheaper than a proper 50" TV.

 

[Clown]

Guess who just bought a Themescene H30
How long can the VGA cable be without losing signal? I got a 7.5m one... I hope it's long enough without fucking up.

 

[Cask]

Nutter. Can I come around and see it?

 

[old.user4556]

Guess who just bought a Themescene H30
How long can the VGA cable be without losing signal? I got a 7.5m one... I hope it's long enough without fucking up.

7.5 metres is fine, im sure the manual says 20m max?

 

[Ch3tan]

God damn it, I'm pre-paring to pay the same for a telly, its a very nice television mind. I'd just use the projector way to much and pay a fortune for bulbs :/

 

[TdC]

mmm my thoughts exactly. I'd be thinking of permanently using the projector for everything, and I suppose that the occasional dvd is fine but that, general telly and the computer will start to add up. still, such a large, good quality picture is very attractive.

I wonder...would someone be so kind as to open up a thing like notepad, dump it full of random text and take a pic of how that's projected? I'm very curious as to how the quality is. for some odd reason I'm thinking that it somehow has to be worse than my monitor. a pic would be really cool

 

[Clown]

God damn it, I'm pre-paring to pay the same for a telly, its a very nice television mind. I'd just use the projector way to much and pay a fortune for bulbs :/

I almost, almost bought a television. I went the projector route because it was cheaper, and the screen size is bigger.
I don't mind buying bulbs every year, I'll make that money up in no time. Also the projector is smaller and a big TV won't fit on my desk.

Hooboy! San Andreas on a projector. Hooyeaah!

 

[Ch3tan]

So wats the exact cost of these bulbs then? And their projected life span? Also what resolutions does the projector handle?

signed, too lazy to google.

 

[old.user4556]

So wats the exact cost of these bulbs then? And their projected life span? Also what resolutions does the projector handle?

signed, too lazy to google.

Cost, depends on projector.
Life span, depends on projector.
Resolution, depends on projector.

A nice lazy answer .

I covered all this earlier in the thread

As for bulb life, yes it's a problem - but it depends on your usage. A typical bulb life on the H30 is 3000 hours, so if you watch a 2 hour DVD every weekend (like me...), your bulb would last about 28 years and cost about £250-£300 to replace. If you used it 2 hours per night, you'd get about 4 years from a bulb; so the bulb life isn't too bad even by heavy usage (every day) standards. Remember CRT TV's don't last forever - our last Trinitron lasted about 5 years before it started to whine a lot and the picture went a bit green.

The H30 res is 800*600.

 

[Ch3tan]

Hmmm, think I will stick to a 32" CRT. As tempting as the projector is.

Big G, I've been having a good ole read over at avforums, but wanted to see if you were in the know when it comes to av receivers?

 

[old.user4556]

What would you like to know chets, loads to cover.

For starters, try here for a load of archived reviews to help you make the right choice for the price range.

As a general guide, more money tends to buy you more amps, more power per channel, better quality and more features.

For example (not real prices, just e.g.), you might spend £180 for Sony's entry - it has a five 50w per channel amp and sub output. For the £250 model, you might get six 80w per channel amp and sub output as well as support for Dolby Digital EX and DTS:ES (through the sixth centre-rear channel). For £350, you might go up to 7.1 support and perhaps 100w per channel, more flexible speaker setup, support for scart in and out, support for component video etc. For £500+, you might start to see amps with an amplified sub output (low range models have a sub output, meaning you require an active subwoofer in the setup) in addition to the 6 amps for the 'satellite' units.

Sony's top of the range unit is not only jam packed with features (see the back of it here - costs £2000) but it's made of gorgeous brushed champagne aluminium and uses all digital amplification. You can see it has DVI in and out, component in and out, more connections for devices than you could possibly need, trigger connections (you power the amp on and it can trigger the projector screen to come down, the projector to come on, the lights to dim, you name it)

That's a really basic generalisation and it's far from as black and white as that.

G

 

[Ch3tan]

Wanted to see if you had any other review sites up your sleve, I wanted an opinion other than home cinema choices

Think I have my heart set on a denon avr3805, it will be overkill for my current speakers, so looks like im going to shell out a lot more.

 

[old.user4556]

Again my advice is the same for the projector - i'd demo several amps with your speakers to get the best match.

 

[Ch3tan]

Yep got 3 days off this weekend, hoping to get sevenoaks to demo the 3805, 2805 and yamaha 1400.

 

[old.user4556]

Yamaha make some cracking kit.

However, and this is personal opinion, i think 7.1 is a wasted investment because it doesn't really exist per sé; it's just marketing hype and a matrixed surround channel. Additionally, if the DVD soundtrack isn't supplied with a DTS:ES Discrete track then even 6.1 is a bit of a waste because that rear middle is just a mix down of the rear left and right channels.

If cinemas aren't using Dolby EX (a rare few do, even then that's not 'true' 6.1 anyway, but more of a 'fake' rear centre) then neither will I - i want to be true to the cinema experience as possible.

G

 

[Clown]

Yep got 3 days off this weekend, hoping to get sevenoaks to demo the 3805, 2805 and yamaha 1400.

3 day weekend!
/me goes to Ch3tan's planet

 

[babs]

Sony's top of the range unit is not only jam packed with features (see the back of it here - costs £2000) but it's made of gorgeous brushed champagne aluminium and uses all digital amplification. You can see it has DVI in and out, component in and out, more connections for devices than you could possibly need, trigger connections (you power the amp on and it can trigger the projector screen to come down, the projector to come on, the lights to dim, you name it)

droooool

I want, I don't have nearly enough things to fill it, but I'd have a damn good time trying. Not sure the missus would understand though :/

 

[Ch3tan]

Comet are selling the LG 44" DLP rear projection for £1500. I was really tempted, my old manager paid £2500 for it about 7 months ago, it's a buautiful set. Think I will stick to something I dont have to pay for with finance plans though, Toshiba picture fram 3 is topping my list.

 

[old.user4556]

Comet are selling the LG 44" DLP rear projection for £1500. I was really tempted

Chets, you'll have the same problems with the bulb issues you're not keen on. Additionally it still makes sense to buy a front projection unit and get 100"+ screen sizes for less money (although, no TV tuner i guess)

HaY Clown!

Glad to see you took the plunge, how are you finding it so far? Fantastic, i'm sure you'll agree.

G

 

[Ch3tan]

I know 9000 hour bulb life on the LG unit, but its sooo sexy

Just ordered a picture frame 3 though, so I am now poor. Cost the same as Clowns projector, but I really want a TV.

 

[Clown]

It's coming next week. Fuck.

 

[Ch3tan]

Heh I know how you feel Clowlet.

£1000 on the TV, £120 in a Dv575 Prog scan DVD player, £40 on a Component lead to get the best quality out of both.

Still got to get an RGB or component lead for my x-box and Gamecube, new centre speaker and rear speakers. New sub, new a/v receiver and new speaker cable.

So thats me poor till next year then :/

 

[Ch3tan]

Bah! I wish I had looked on the power buys bit of avforums before I ordered my cables. Ho hum.

 

[Clown]

Now I just need the projector.

 

[Cask]

You're gonna use that thing to browse FH?

 

[Panda On Smack]

heh, im jumping on the projector bandwagon

think im gonna get a Sanyo PLV-Z2 with a motorized screen!

u gonna be sitting a bit close to the screen andy?

 

[Clown]

About a metre away

 

[Panda On Smack]

you got a couch or something further back so you can watch films?

 

[TdC]

that seems a great thing for dual-displays. does that work at all? you have your regular desktop on a tft or summat, and play games and watch movies on the projector? or am I being silly?