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Aeka 2.0 posted:Speaking of screens. What exactly is the difference between a budget screen like Visual Apex and something like an Elite screen? Assuming the same gain. I'd say that Elite is firmly in the "budget" category of projector screens, but I'll answer anyway. You get a smoother screen surface that is more evenly tensioned. You get screen fabric that is more resistant to wear and more evenly reflective. You generally get a wider viewing angle. You get less of a color shift -- cheap screens make your picture look blue, or yellow, or just off. I am a total screen snob. My screen at home is a 100" Stewart Studiotek 130. It is the most beautiful screen I have ever used, and I have used a lot of screens. What you get is a perfectly cut screen in a frame that fits it exactly, using an attachment system that isn't a total pain in the rear end. The fabric is perfectly even and the screen has exactly zero color shift. Then again, I think it cost like two thousand bucks new, so it'd loving better be good. I'm one of those weirdos who think you should spend more on your screen than on your projector. Projectors get replaced. A good screen will last a decade or two. Mine has. General screen guidelines:
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Mar 2, 2013 09:20
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I wish Elite screens were only $100 in Canada. I'd probably spend more than that building my own with blackout cloth.
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Mar 2, 2013 11:18
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If its a home theater and not a living room with a projector, a 1.0 gain or even a .8 gain is fine. I use a 1.0 gain screen and my projector's brightness setting is turned way the hell down. This is using a DVE bluray to "calibrate" it. So if you can control light so that the room is theater dark, you will be fine with a darker screen or even a grey screen. I'm using an Optoma HD33 which is a low-midrange projector. The blacks are decent but I wish they were a bit darker. With that said, I'd like to build a false wall soon, and have my speakers and 2 subs behind it, and expand the screen to 130" from the 106" I have now. There are so many benefits to having the screen away from the back wall. You can fit a much larger screen, hide your speakers behind it, and treat the entire front wall with acoustic treatments and bass traps. Plus then your center speaker doesn't have to be a center. It could be a matching floor standing speaker.
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Mar 3, 2013 01:33
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Ok, so I have an OP for a projector thread sort of drafted, and it covers this stuff:
So what's missing? I know something's missing.
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Mar 4, 2013 06:50
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King Hotpants posted:Ok, so I have an OP for a projector thread sort of drafted, and it covers this stuff: Looks good to me. Horray!
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Mar 4, 2013 19:43
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King Hotpants posted:I'd say that Elite is firmly in the "budget" category of projector screens, but I'll answer anyway. I guess I'll have to see one of those in person because my Vapex screen seems to be pretty awesome, its perma mount and the screen is physically tight, no hot spots, color or brightness, the framing is clean and well constructed, but I don't have anything to compare it to. I don't know if there is any color shift and its a 1.1 instead of a 1.3. I'm about to move my projector closer because the aging bulb is starting to show and I'm beyond the sweet spot in a large way. I'm 21' out when I can be 14' if I calculated it correctly. My next screen will cost me as I've been eyeballing the 2.35 setups, but that is a long way out.
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Mar 5, 2013 00:41
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Have you seen my apex seals? I seem to have lost them.
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King Hotpants posted:Ok, so I have an OP for a projector thread sort of drafted, and it covers this stuff: Looks good to me, Hotpants. Let it rip!
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Mar 5, 2013 03:46
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Ok so I'm going to design and build a false wall and upsize my screen to 140". The screen and surrounding area will be acoustically transparent. I want to know though: Is it worth bothering with a masking system ? My current 106" screen is 16:9 and so far I've simply watched the other wider formats in letterbox form. It doesn't really bother me, but I'f I'm going to go the extra mile to make my front stage really nice, I might as well look into a masking setup. What are my options for an automated setup? Most viewing is done from an HTPC using xbmc on windows 7. The rest is done with a sony bluray player. Is there a script that allows xbmc to tell the maskign system which format is being shown ? Or am I stuck using some form of remote with presets ? Projector is an Optoma HD33. Edit: Oh yeah, and will a acoustically transparent screen be affected by low tones ? I'm building two sonosubs with 18" Mach5 drivers that will be behind the screen. Depending on the volume I go with they will be capable of over 100db @ 10hz. If I can hide them behind the screen I can go with 19ft^3 volume for the enclosures. If they're in the room I can only do 12ft^3. However the advantage of the bigger volume behind the screen would be useless if all it does is toss the screen around. jonathan fucked around with this message at 22:35 on Mar 5, 2013 |
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Mar 5, 2013 22:29
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A remote is what I use. One button click and it goes to work. My projector doesn't have lens memory and my masking only masks the top so I have to manually shift my image down. Behind my screen is an alcove and instead of getting an acoustically transparent screen I laid my speakers on their side behind the screen and left a near two foot gap below the screen and framed in my own large speaker grill that runs the length of the screen. this may or may not work depending on your speakers, but it saved a ton of money. On a side note the wife and I thought the curtains around my screen look like junk, so we're scrapping it and painting the walls a darker color instead. Holy mess! Phone makes the walls look like poop, its a much darker, richer color. Its also still wet in the photo which makes it blotchy. I'll have better pics up when it is done. 
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Mar 6, 2013 17:05
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I bought a refurb Epson 8350 from their website for $900. Anyone have one? Hope it was a good choice. The AE4000 I bought off eBay was full of dust blobs so I sent it back. Made me realize I don't want to deal with a used projector with no warranty, especially without seeing it before buying it.
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Mar 15, 2013 12:23
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wolfbiker posted:I bought a refurb Epson 8350 from their website for $900. Anyone have one? Hope it was a good choice. The AE4000 I bought off eBay was full of dust blobs so I sent it back. Made me realize I don't want to deal with a used projector with no warranty, especially without seeing it before buying it. I asked this question earlier in the thread and the response was positive. Let us know your thoughts when you get it installed.
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Mar 17, 2013 15:40
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The order was cancelled for some reason so I'm back to square one. I can't seem to make up my mind. I think I've made up my mind only to change it and want something else an hour later.
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Mar 17, 2013 15:54
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King Hotpants posted:Ok, so I have an OP for a projector thread sort of drafted, and it covers this stuff: This is basically all of the information I currently lack. Where do I even start - I have a loft (25' across, 15' high) that I'm trying to buy a projector for. Got about $2000 to spend, want 1080p and/or something that will keep up with video games.  Little bit of digging brought me to the BenQ SP891. Any thoughts or alternative suggestions? jeaves fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Mar 27, 2013 |
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Mar 27, 2013 19:24
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jeaves posted:This is basically all of the information I currently lack. From what I've gathered, DLP projectors tend to run hotter (bulb degradation) and can suffer from the "rainbow effect", although this can depend on the speed of the color wheel. The 3000:1 contrast ratio on this particular unit seems a bit low as well, but I'm certainly no expert on the topic. With the budget you have, you could explore LCD projector units. DLPs tend to have less input lag, but there are some models of LCD projectors that can perform just as well, such as the Epson 8350. Other LCD projectors can have terrible input lag, so this is something that you will want to research a bit, too.
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Mar 31, 2013 17:48
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I prefer the look of dlp over LCD. It has a more commercial theater look to it.
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Apr 1, 2013 03:05
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What's the current consensus on good ~$500 portable projectors? Currently looking at the InForcus IN116, is that right or is something by Acer or Optoma a better idea? http://www.amazon.com/InFocus-IN116-Portable-Projector-Lumens/dp/B004YRUDPM/
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Apr 1, 2013 05:42
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I pulled the trigger on the Epson 8350 refurb. Shipping was free with no tax (899.99). The few items I have bought refurbished have turned out really well. The 2 year warranty and fresh bulb doesn't hurt anything, either. I'll post some pics when I get the entire setup finished.
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Apr 3, 2013 01:59
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What are the best entry level 1080p projectors? My only experience with projectors was having a Sony 1292Q CRT projector in college that was far from perfectly set up, and I haven't owned a good tv in a long time. My screen will be roughly 90"-110" with a 10' viewing distance. I was looking into 720p projectors, but then I saw this chart and now I'm worried. This would be in a room that only has shutters so there will be some light, but I would be fine with 'decent' picture when it's bright outside.
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Apr 25, 2013 07:54
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Satchmo posted:What are the best entry level 1080p projectors? My only experience with projectors was having a Sony 1292Q CRT projector in college that was far from perfectly set up, and I haven't owned a good tv in a long time. My screen will be roughly 90"-110" with a 10' viewing distance. I was looking into 720p projectors, but then I saw this chart and now I'm worried. This would be in a room that only has shutters so there will be some light, but I would be fine with 'decent' picture when it's bright outside. Epson 8350/8345 is probably the best bang for the buck.
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Apr 25, 2013 17:20
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Any suggestions on the best 720p projector I can get for under $500? I might be willing to spend a little more if its worth it. I looked at the HD66 a couple years back but never purchased. Would that still be a good choice? What about the Infocus 116 someone mentioned? Epson 5210?
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Apr 29, 2013 15:32
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Moonbloodsflow posted:Any suggestions on the best 720p projector I can get for under $500? I might be willing to spend a little more if its worth it. I looked at the HD66 a couple years back but never purchased. Would that still be a good choice? What about the Infocus 116 someone mentioned? Epson 5210? I've asked the same thing a couple times and haven't really gotten a response. I was specifically asking about the HD66 and no one balked at the mention so maybe I can assume that it should be fine? I have a price track setup for the HD66 and right now it's $437.66 on amazon, best price in a while. http://www.amazon.com/Optoma-HD66-Lumens-Theater-Projector/dp/B002ZWU33U
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May 1, 2013 12:49
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I was playing with a single chip DLP projector my mother in law has. She uses it for school, but I decided to watch some movies on it. I always heard about the rainbow effect and have no personal experience with it (all my previous sets and current projector have been sxrd), holy cow was it really bad when I was watching it. It was quite distracting and was almost getting sick from it. Is this because I was using one that was more for presentations vs one for movies? This is in no way in response to the above Optima projector as I was just coming in to post my own experience before I saw the post, but the one I used was also an Optima, it wasn't the same model, it had a fixed tilt shift for table top use. edit: to add, it was bright as poo poo, but the low contrast ratio was obvious. Aeka 2.0 fucked around with this message at 02:36 on May 17, 2013 |
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May 17, 2013 02:30
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What was the model number? If it's a optimized for presentations, watching movies would not be a great experience just as you described. Presentation projectors are designed for static images in well lit areas, a very different setting than the average movie viewing.
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May 17, 2013 06:46
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I wish I could remember as I was trying to look it up.
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May 17, 2013 16:49
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We're planning a big thing for my mother's 60th birthday, and among other things we'd like to project a movie on a large outdoors screen for dozens of guests. The screen would most likely be a large, white sheet drawn over the side of a 2 story house. I've been tasked with figuring out if the one projector we already have should be up to the task, or if we'll need to rent something better. The projector is an Epson EMP-S5. According to the theoretical specifications out there, the biggest, farthest distance within spec is a 7.5m-ish diagonal screen, which given a 4:3 aspect ratio would be 6m x 4.5m. But I honestly know nothing about projectors or luminosity units, so I don't know if those specifications are reasonable or if I'd need more than a 2000 ANSI Lumens projector to get a decent image at that size. I could just test it out myself, I suppose, but I don't really have access to the projection distance, let alone height, required to test it... So before I try to set up some ghetto analogue, I was hoping maybe someone would have better insight over whether this is at all feasible?
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May 25, 2013 18:46
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http://www.projectorcentral.com/Epson-EMP-S5-projection-calculator-pro.htm If you up the screen size to 7.5m, you will need to have the projector 10.2m from the screen. It will work, if its very dark out. According to the calculator, if it's just low ambient light, the max screen size would be 4.7m diagonal with a distance of 6.4m. FYI your projector is listed under epson europe.
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May 28, 2013 02:12
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jonathan posted:Epson 8350/8345 is probably the best bang for the buck.
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May 30, 2013 16:34
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Check out the Benq W1070, should be had for around $1000 or a bit less, 1080p, does 3D, decent black levels. Lots of people seem to like this one.
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May 30, 2013 17:00
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wolfbiker posted:Check out the Benq W1070, should be had for around $1000 or a bit less, 1080p, does 3D, decent black levels. Lots of people seem to like this one. I found the Epson 8350 refurbished on Newegg for $800 (currently out of stock). Is it worth buying refurbs? Do they replace the bulbs and/or offer any kind of warranty?
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May 30, 2013 18:26
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Clanpot Shake posted:I found the Epson 8350 refurbished on Newegg for $800 (currently out of stock). Is it worth buying refurbs? Do they replace the bulbs and/or offer any kind of warranty? Don't know about refurbs, but the standard epson warranty is 2 years on the projector and 90 days on the bulb. However, people have had success getting a replacement bulb after 90 days but before the 2 years if the first bulb burns out prematurely. They just did this for me (bulb blew after 2500 hours, almost all in ECO mode) the other day as a "one time courtesy".
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May 30, 2013 18:37
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Clanpot Shake posted:This looks nice, but it's a little pricier than I'd like - it's about $1,000 everywhere I've found it. I don't really need 3D. I was hoping to only spent $5-800. I bought my 8350 as a refurb directly from Epson and have been very happy with it so far.
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May 31, 2013 02:06
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Yeah, if you go to Epson's webpage they have a Clearance Center in their webstore where you can buy refurb'ed projectors. The 8350 is pretty much always in stock and listed at $899, not sure what the price is in the USA.
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May 31, 2013 11:28
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If you're lucky/brave, I think the best value projector is a good used higher end model. About three months ago I bought an Epson 6500UB from a guy on AVSforum for $500 shipped, they were around $3,000 new. Came in the original box with all the original papers/disk/packaging, etc., 1200 hours on a bulb rated for 4000 hours. I'm projecting onto a DIY 110" screen and I am completely blown away nearly every time I watch it. The picture is fantastic, much better than the 60" LG plasma it replaced. The black levels are better than the 48" Panasonic LCD I used to have, which came out the same year as the 6500UB. The big drawback is of course the lack of a warranty and the fact that if I ever need to replace anything other than the bulb or the air filter, I'll end up selling it for parts on eBay. it would cost more than a new projector to get it fixed. I figure for $500, if it lasts another 2 years I will be extremely happy and feel like I got my money's worth.
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Jun 1, 2013 06:01
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I had a bad experience buying a used projector off eBay so I personally wouldn't try that route again. If it's not new, I'm gonna get something from Epson since they seem to have great customer service and a solid warranty.
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Jun 1, 2013 11:32
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King Hotpants posted:Ok, so I have an OP for a projector thread sort of drafted, and it covers this stuff:
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Jun 18, 2013 13:12
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Well, so much for that. I'm now the proud owner of an Optoma HD25-LV. Here's an actual question though: I'm looking for a 120" fixed-frame (or alternatively tab-tension) projection screen I can get in Germany (or Europe in general if I can have it shipped). Specifically grey color with a 0.8 - 1.0 gain. For some reason it seems impossible to find one, except maybe for an insanely expensive Black Diamond one. I'd like a gray screen since my walls are pure white, the room itself isn't pitch black even with the curtains drawn and the projector outputs 3200 lumens. I think there's more to gain from a grey screen than a white one. Mango Polo fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Jul 3, 2013 22:47
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Mango Polo posted:Well, so much for that. I'm now the proud owner of an Optoma HD25-LV. Consider a DIY screen ? Construct a frame with 1x1 or 2x2. Wrap in black cloth. Screen material is either white spandex or silver spandex, usually you do a silver front layer and a white layer behind to get slightly below 1.0 gain. Tensioning is handled by the screen door tensioners. You're looking at $50 to $200 in materials and a 1/2 day labour and the colour accuracy is as good as it can be. Plus with spandex it will be acousticallly transparent, so you can put speakers behind it.
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Jul 4, 2013 00:02
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Making one would be an option, yeah. I'll look into that if I don't hear back from a few shops that I contacted.
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Jul 5, 2013 08:59
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So I am either going to buy a crappy $400 television, or a projector. I don't care about super great picture or perfectly deep blacks and I'm just going to project it onto a white wall from about 8 feet away. I know this is sort of out of place in this thread full of you trying to create the perfect home theater, but is there a good mid-range projector that will do this pretty well without being a big ripoff?
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Jul 8, 2013 02:04
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Stereotype posted:So I am either going to buy a crappy $400 television, or a projector. I don't care about super great picture or perfectly deep blacks and I'm just going to project it onto a white wall from about 8 feet away. Have you considered an HD66? 1080P is probably outside your budget at that price range but the HD66 is very nice and has 3D if you care about that.
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Jul 8, 2013 06:58
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