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I just moved to a new apartment that has a perfect projector wall in the living room, but no good place for a shelf or ceiling mount opposite. It seems like a good case for an ultra short throw projector. Anything I should be aware of/look for here? My plan is to project directly onto the wall after filling in a couple small nail holes. It's white and mostly smooth -- I know UST projectors are a bit more sensitive to imperfections in the surface. I've been using a $300 refurbished Epson Home Cinema 760 on a gray wall for the past year, so I'm not going for ultra high quality or fancy features here. 720p is plenty. Any UST projectors I should keep an eye out for? Not looking to spend thousands and I'm happy to get something used on ebay.
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May 31, 2022 04:50
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I leant my Epson 1060 out to a friend do show movies for a Veterinary fundraiser, either they broke it or more likely i broke it when I was reinstalling it at my house. I called IT and they diagnosed it as an "Optical Engine Error" and said that this part was not available for user repair. Of course this part is availible on Ebay. Is this actually a doable DIY project? The service center says that repair will cost about the same as a new projector especially if I can wait for like a big sale.
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Oct 11, 2022 21:47
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Just ordered this https://www.projectorscreen.com/formovie-theater-ultra-short-throw-projector-2800-lumen-triple-laser-ust-fengmi-t1.html And a 120” screen. Excited for 4K in a size where the extra pixels actually matter, plus hopefully better black levels and ambient light rejection than I’ve currently got. Also hoping I can unload my Panasonic pt-ae8000 and 133” da-lite on Facebook market place to subsidize some of it.
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Oct 20, 2022 17:53
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What is it with "portable" projectors and having extremely short cables? I got an Anker Capsule Max and while it does have a built-in battery, the charging brick (because gently caress USB-C I guess) only has like a 6 foot long cable on the thing. Before that, I had a cheap drop-shipped portable projector (no battery) that shipped with a cable so short it barely reached the floor. I'm a cheap college student, I can't be spending money on extension cords all willy nilly. (BTW, Capsule Max is a really solid portable projector. Great sound, shockingly solid image, and if you install VLC on it you can just play a bunch of movies off a flash drive.)
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Oct 24, 2022 07:15
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mutantIke posted:What is it with "portable" projectors and having extremely short cables? I got an Anker Capsule Max and while it does have a built-in battery, the charging brick (because gently caress USB-C I guess) only has like a 6 foot long cable on the thing. Before that, I had a cheap drop-shipped portable projector (no battery) that shipped with a cable so short it barely reached the floor. I'm a cheap college student, I can't be spending money on extension cords all willy nilly. (BTW, Capsule Max is a really solid portable projector. Great sound, shockingly solid image, and if you install VLC on it you can just play a bunch of movies off a flash drive.) Long cables aren't as portable and cost more money.
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Oct 24, 2022 15:11
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It has begun
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Nov 3, 2022 21:19
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bird with big dick posted:It has begun bird with big screen
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Nov 3, 2022 23:32
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13” smaller than the screen I just took down. There’s not a huge selection of UST/ALR/CLR screens and they get pricy quick so I had to go from 133” to 120”. Look at that piracy warning though I’ve never seen it so detailed and bright. 
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Nov 4, 2022 15:08
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I currently have a 65" Samsung 4K LED that I sit 16.5' back from, against a wall that could easily accommodate a 120" screen, and every time I look at the large amount of blank wall space that surrounds the TV, I get the itch. I've toyed with getting a projector into the space in the past, but the way the room is set up and the vaulted ceilings means I could never quite crack how I'd mount it or handle all the wires for the various things I'd want to run through it. These USTs seem to solve all the logistical problems I had with that, so I'm back to seriously considering the projector life. A couple questions: 1) Do USTs require special screens vs. a traditional projector screen? 2) Similarly, does the nature of a UST mean I should plan for a static, mounted screen vs. a retractable/pull down screen? 3) Are there any anticipated leaps forward for USTs in the near future that would suggest I should hold off for a bit rather than investing now?
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Nov 15, 2022 20:01
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Klungar posted:I currently have a 65" Samsung 4K LED that I sit 16.5' back from, against a wall that could easily accommodate a 120" screen, and every time I look at the large amount of blank wall space that surrounds the TV, I get the itch. I've toyed with getting a projector into the space in the past, but the way the room is set up and the vaulted ceilings means I could never quite crack how I'd mount it or handle all the wires for the various things I'd want to run through it. These USTs seem to solve all the logistical problems I had with that, so I'm back to seriously considering the projector life. 1) yes, I believe they perform best with screens designed for UST 2) you’ll probably have a better time with a static screen, IMO 3) just get what you want man. Prices might go down and some new models might appear but I haven’t heard of any big leaps in tech that make it worth waiting 1-2 years. I could be very wrong on this tho.
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Nov 15, 2022 20:11
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What’s the current sweet spot in terms of 4K projectors shooting at a 120-130” screen? I’m debating putting a movie/tv setup in my basement so light is not an issue. Ideally 2500 canadian or less but flexible within reason if a bit of extra money makes a huge difference. I’m not a videophile or anything, just want it to be nice.
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Nov 16, 2022 02:38
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Klungar posted:I currently have a 65" Samsung 4K LED that I sit 16.5' back from, against a wall that could easily accommodate a 120" screen, and every time I look at the large amount of blank wall space that surrounds the TV, I get the itch. I've toyed with getting a projector into the space in the past, but the way the room is set up and the vaulted ceilings means I could never quite crack how I'd mount it or handle all the wires for the various things I'd want to run through it. These USTs seem to solve all the logistical problems I had with that, so I'm back to seriously considering the projector life. 1. You can project them on a flat white wall if you want to and it'll still look okay. Just won't be optimal. It seems like the Ambient/Ceiling Light Rejecting type screens are particularly effective with UST projectors just because the UST are close and below i.e. the opposite of overhead bulbs and a lot of ambient light. I would have liked to have left my old screen up to compare the two but we painted the room so I had to take the old screen down and I patched the holes for the mounting system because I didn't want to have to do it again later, so I never got the chance. I was always going to get a new screen because the old one had some dirt/splotches on it that I couldn't fix. 2. They make UST roll ups but unless you've got a really good reason I'd probably go with a fixed screen. What you gonna do, put fancy art behind your roll up to try and convince your hoity toity friends that you don't just watch MCU movies all day long? Come on. And before I bought a retractable I'd make drat sure it had really good reviews and didn't have problems with tension/creases/flatness/etc. 3. I'm biased obviously but I think it's a great time to buy. Even regular 4k projectors haven't been "reasonably" priced for that long, let alone UST 4k. I've had 3 different projectors, 2 different screens, and set ups in 3 different houses. My last set up (A Panasonic DLP projector and a 134" 1.0 gain Da-Lite screen) lasted me about ten years before I really got the upgrade bug. I figure 10 years from now you'll probably be able to buy a 120" OLED flexible panel for 3k that comes rolled up and you just tape it to the wall, so it wouldn't surprise me if this were my last projector. Light control with this PJ is less necessary than my previous "regular" PJ but it's not magical or anything. Or, rather, the saw-tooth/lenticular type screen really is kind of magic in that the black tops of the teeth reject overhead light while the white/gray bottoms of the teeth reflect the PJ Image, but magic still has limits. The image still gets washed out with too much ambient light. My theater room has huge windows all along one wall but I have 100% blackout curtains that do a good job of keeping the light out, and I don't have the problem of some rooms that really screw you, like big openings to other rooms where you can't control the light or big open stairwells that you see sometimes. This is my 120" screen https://www.projectorscreen.com/spectra-projection-vantage-120-ust-alr-clr-projector-screen-for-ultra-short-throw-projectors.html I wish I could have gone 135" but from what I found going up even to 130" would have increased the price by nearly 60% so not worth it. I think projectorscreen.com also didn't charge me sales tax so that's nice. I read somewhere during my research that the actual equipment in china that manufactures this lenticular style fabric is only 120" wide so for wider screens it involves splicing pieces together which makes larger screens currently rare and expensive. Don't know if it's true or not but it would certainly make sense. The Spectra 120 is 2299 while the 130 is 3599, a 57% increase in price for a 17% increase in surface area. Crazy. In the total dark (i.e. my theater room at night) this projector/screen combo is pretty amazing. Like approaching OLED levels of vibrance and contrast. With a little ambient light leakage (my theater during the day) it's just as good, I would say. With the overhead lights on it's still very watchable. The attached pics are dark vs room lights on and they're not 100% accurate because of the tricks your brain plays on you with regard to contrast, but they're pretty close I think. With the curtains open i.e. severely light polluted it's watchable for things like sports or news or sit commy type poo poo but anything with dark scenes is going to look pretty bad. It's actually a bit darker than in this pic, very much a medium gray and it has a sort of odd metallic looking reflection sometimes due to the different colored "saw teeth."     
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Nov 16, 2022 17:54
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bird with big dick posted:This is my 120" screen Thanks for the info! Your projector seems the ideal way to go for USTs. At the moment, my biggest question is on the screen side of things. I’m still struggling to understand the difference between the screen you linked and other 120” ALR 4K screens that could run half/quarter the price on Amazon and whatnot. I’m guessing they might just be lying about 4K support or the amount of ambient light they reject, and since I will be using this in a non-perfectly controlled environment, I’m willing to pay more for a better light control situation, just hard to tell for a newcomer what aspects are actually important to compare or what brands are trustworthy.
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Nov 16, 2022 19:38
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I basically just read a lot of AVSforum posts and watched/read a lot of reviews. There's one guy in particular that compared black levels/light rejection of a bunch of screen materials that I'll try and find. His pictures caused me to take an Elite screen out of my shopping cart that was IIRC $500 cheaper and go with the Spectra. e: here: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/spectra-projection-vantage-alr-screen.3246587/ reading a bunch of this guys posts might not be a bad way to start some research. But yeah cheaper ones I'm sure are going to be cheaper because of a combination of A)material that doesn't reject unwanted light as much, B)Material that doesn't resolve 4k fully, and C)lovely frame that doesn't work as well/hold up as well. I'm not so sure how much B is a factor. I absolutely believe it makes a difference but maybe not a huge one. I can say going from Da-Lite to Spectra that the Spectra's frame is light years ahead. The Da-Lite was fine but not as sturdy and if I'd had tension/wrinkle issues there'd be no mechanism to correct it whereas the Spectra you can really adjust the tension all over the screen via these little springs and if it's not perfect you can fix it. That said, my Da-Lite was pretty decent in its lack of tension problems and I don't really have any complaints. What's your light situation? Everyone has sort of different tolerances when it comes to that. You'll see two people look at the exact same setup and one thinks it looks good and the other thinks its dogshit. I've always had rooms that I could light control pretty darn well though never 100% so I've never really had that issue. I wonder if you could find a place with a decent return policy on a projector and try it out. I assume there's practically no decent screen sellers that will take a screen return though, they're so big and bulky and a pain in the rear end to assemble and its pretty easy to gently caress one up while youre putting it together if you're not careful. bird with big dick fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Nov 16, 2022 |
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Nov 16, 2022 22:54
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It’s a living room with black out curtains, but open concept to a dining room and kitchen, the kitchen of which we don’t have any curtains. It’s manageable but I also need something that can be used during the day for kids or whatnot when it’ll still be light outside or we don’t want to necessarily turn off all the lights. Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out.
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Nov 16, 2022 23:15
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bird with big dick posted:B)Material that doesn't resolve 4k fully I didn't know this was a real thing, when I was shopping for screens they all said 4k and I thought it was just some marketing bullshit like a Windows compatible mousepad or something. How does a screen not resolve 4k fully? It's just light, the screens not actually doing anything?
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Nov 17, 2022 03:29
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BrainDance posted:I didn't know this was a real thing, when I was shopping for screens they all said 4k and I thought it was just some marketing bullshit like a Windows compatible mousepad or something. How does a screen not resolve 4k fully? It's just light, the screens not actually doing anything? I’m no expert on this, but it has something to do with the screens not actually being flat. Some are configured with a bump for each pixel in a 720p image, which helped make things sharper back when that was the best the projector could output, but that causes fuzziness of a image that is higher resolution than that. Also with the way that some projectors pixel shift in order to generate a 4K image rather than outputting it natively.
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Nov 17, 2022 03:50
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Any fresh deals today on USTs or screens?
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Nov 25, 2022 15:46
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I read the OP but it seems very dated and I am looking for some advice. I assume the general/screen recommendations remain the same but I gather that projector technology/prices/models have changed quite a bit since that was written. Have a new space that a previous owner put a projector in, and I am appropriately tempted. The space is very low light as it is and easily blacked out completely. There is a wall that can accommodate a fixed frame of at least 140" diagonal, which it seems was about the size the previous owner had installed, but even that might be overkill with the viewing distance we would be at. I need to remeasure the distance to the couch (which is eventually getting replaced, and that stupid gross built in couch thing is getting torn out), which we could put against the rear wall if that would be better. There is an outlet in the ceiling along with an HDMI cable of an unknown spec that is at least four years old, so I would probably want to run a newer spec through there, and probably add a second one for HDMI-ARC, which I assume newer projectors would have an output for, right? I'm looking for a projector recommendation, and It's either a that or a 75"+ OLED TV, so my budget is roughly $3000, but I like to do things like this the right way so that's not necessarily rigid. We already have a Sonos 5.1 system to take care of the sound, but I will need a screen and projector. 4k is a must, and 120hz is pretty important to me too. I am a real lover of deep black levels, hence the OLED alternative. Is there any sort of latency issue with projectors? I do a bit of PS5 gaming. crackhaed fucked around with this message at 21:37 on Feb 16, 2023 |
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Dec 12, 2022 23:31
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Despite having a seemingly ideal space for a projector and a willingness to spent up to $5k on a setup, I have decided not to go with a projector and just get a 77" OLED. I demoed some stuff that was in my general price range, so around $3k for the projector itself, saving around $2k for the screen. I was honestly shocked at how terrible it looked compared a modern TV, even on a decent screen in near complete darkness. It seems that in order to be happy with image quality, even under perfect conditions, I'd be looking at more like $12k-15k, so no thank you. I figured I'd post this to help out anyone who is in a similar position. I'd rather move the primary viewing seating closer forward and have a large TV with, really a pretty perfect image quality in very flexible conditions. It's just a bummer that the next size up from 77" is 83" and it basically doubles the price. I figured I could keep another $2.5 in my wallet by just giving up 5" of diagonal. In short, it seems that unless one is willing to spend $10k or more, a projector is really only for those who prioritize a massive image over anything else.
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Feb 1, 2023 00:42
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crackhaed posted:In short, it seems that unless one is willing to spend $10k or more, a projector is really only for those who prioritize a massive image over anything else.   It me. ~$5200 on my Formovie Theater and 120” Spectra Vision ALR screen, and despite being hesitant on dropping that much on a new set up when I’ve never had a projector and never spent more than $1200 on a TV previously, its quickly become one of my best purchases ever. Moving from a 65” screen to a 120” screen has just made every aspect of my viewing/gaming experience so much more enjoyable. My previous TV was 7-8 years old and nothing special, so it’s also a big step up in picture quality for me as well. I can definitely see going back to a regular TV once micro LED or whatever enables TVs of this size that don’t cost six figures, but until then I’m going to enjoy this for a long time.
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Feb 1, 2023 00:53
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Klungar posted:It me.
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Feb 1, 2023 01:42
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crackhaed posted:Despite having a seemingly ideal space for a projector and a willingness to spent up to $5k on a setup, I have decided not to go with a projector and just get a 77" OLED. What did you demo and where? I would absolutely believe someone could think a mediocre projector shown on a 1.2 gain screen in a Best Buy doesn’t look the greatest. I refuse to believe someone could think a 4K laser on a good ALR 0.5-0.8 gain screen looks terrible. They look friggin great. Yeah, they’re obviously not going to be as good as an OLED, but terrible? No way.
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Feb 13, 2023 15:32
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crackhaed posted:Yep, I know they're out there. I am just not one of them. Black levels are my biggest visual pet-peeve, by far, and projectors under $10k, even with a low gain grey screen in a dark as hell room just don't have very good blacks by modern TV standards. I kept trying to talk myself into it over a big OLED but then every time I look at an OLED, for what I like in image quality it's just a 10/10. LCDs don’t have as good a blacks as OLEDs either so it seems like what you’re saying is every TV that isn’t an OLED has a terrible picture. Maybe qualify things a little further before coming into the thread and making GBS threads on everyone in it. If you care about black levels more than anything else then you absolutely shouldn’t look at anything but an OLED. Some people are willing to give a little on that front to get more than double the screen area, it doesn’t mean their equipment looks “Terrible.” bird with big dick fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Feb 13, 2023 |
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Feb 13, 2023 15:37
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bird with big dick posted:What did you demo and where? lol yeah, my first stop was a Best Buy and they couldn't even do a demo because the bulb was dead in the demo model. I had to find a dedicated home theater place that was by appointment. Part of what I found really frustrating about projector shopping is that it's so hard to actually do a side by side comparison. All they had sub $5k was an Epson that wasn't laser, so idk, maybe there are less expensive lasers out there that look good but the two lasers they had on demo were both over $10k. They did look really fantastic but that's quite a bit more than I am willing to spend. Didn't mean to poo poo on anyone, I was stating a personal preference and opinion on black levels. I was just trying to help anyone else out who may be in a similar boat. and yeah, I have an older LCD with dimmable areas and in dark scenes I think it looks pretty terrible compared to OLED. OLED just ruined everything else for me, I guess. Some of the modern LCDs with the newer dimmable tech looked really good though.
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Feb 16, 2023 21:37
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I knew a guy who had a projector and also a 4k TV on a wheeled stand that he would use interchangeably depending on situation/mood (this is a few years back when projectors were "bad for gaming" or whatever). Anybody here do that? I guess the way he saw it, the projector was a "sometimes, not always" device and the TV could be more convenient to use (it had its own onboard speakers, for example, instead of relying on the HT system), but it seemed kind of nitpicky to the point of extravagance for me.
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Feb 16, 2023 22:01
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bird with big dick posted:I refuse to believe someone could think a 4K laser on a good ALR 0.5-0.8 gain screen looks terrible. They look friggin great. Yeah, they’re obviously not going to be as good as an OLED, but terrible? No way. Every time we're over it looks terrible. One light in the kitchen and the image gets poo poo contrast. Completely terrible unless you have a dark basement/attic
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Feb 17, 2023 05:08
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Ok Comboomer posted:I knew a guy who had a projector and also a 4k TV on a wheeled stand that he would use interchangeably depending on situation/mood (this is a few years back when projectors were "bad for gaming" or whatever). Anybody here do that? At my old home i had a tv on the wall and a motorized projection screen that came down in front of it. It wasn't gaming or anything just dont always want the huge screen and low lights if your just watching dumb tv or something. I am actually right now in the middle of renovating my current basement and will have a fixed frame projection screen but with a tv mounted on the side wall, with a swing arm type mount so that it tucks away to the side when not in use but can be pulled out in front of the same seating when i want it.
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Feb 17, 2023 14:01
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FilthyImp posted:My buddy has the gear for a great laser setup. Just shut off the light in the kitchen. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a basement or attic (I successfully light controlled a bonus room/loft at the top of the stairs in my last house) but “is open to the kitchen” is almost never going to be a recipe for a decent projector setup unless you only want to use it at night. bird with big dick fucked around with this message at 14:49 on Mar 28, 2023 |
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Feb 17, 2023 15:42
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emocrat posted:At my old home i had a tv on the wall and a motorized projection screen that came down in front of it. It wasn't gaming or anything just dont always want the huge screen and low lights if your just watching dumb tv or something. That's a lot of effort and some non-trivial hardware just to make the switch between TV and projector look cooler though.
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Feb 17, 2023 17:19
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Last piece of my HT refresh has arrived but probably going to be a while before I get everything back together, new flooring still isn’t quite finished. 
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Mar 28, 2023 14:51
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Nice to see you can get a receiver with all 8k 2.3 inputs now. I have that dumb Costco Denon where half are full bandwidth, and who connected things to the wrong inputs for their bandwidth needs and spent months troubleshooting? Yeah I’m that idiot.
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Mar 29, 2023 03:19
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Back together. Very happy with it. PS5 wouldn't detect the Denon as 4k capable for some reason so I had to run it straight to the PJ and use eARC for audio. And for some reason my Shield wants to be on all the time like I guess I understand why it powers on when I turn on the PJ due to CEC but it's like it's really insistent and will change the source to itself 2 or 3 times and I'll have to keep switching it back to the PS5 or Panason BD player.  Gonna put in a big plug for these things: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=39165 They're not fancy but they're sturdy and they don't advertise it but they can be taken apart and reassembled in a lot of combinations. I have two and had combined them into 1 double height one and now have them broken into 3 smaller units, one which I managed to make the perfect height for the PJ by picking the right combination of leg lengths and feet. Which I guess brings me to the only real negative is that you really need the projector at the exact correct location. It's not like my 15' throw Panasonic where a little lens shift or tiny bit of keystone correction can fix huge placement issues. This PJ really needs to be in the exact location +/- literally about an inch.  
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Apr 17, 2023 05:23
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How bad of an idea is buying an open box projector? I’d like something for outdoor movies and Mario Kart with the kids. I think brightness and audio line-out are priorities because it’s not always completely dark by bedtime and I’d like to run serious speakers. The units that come up on “best portables” lists don’t seem particularly bright, and none of them have audio output jacks. I see an Optoma UHD38 open-box for $900 and that seems to tick my boxes, but used makes me nervous. Can I do better? Is anything cheaper not total junk? edit: Nevermind, I bought an Optoma HD39HDRx eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 20:26 on May 6, 2023 |
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May 6, 2023 15:56
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Man, the BenQ HT4550i is like the dream upgrade for me from a W1070, but that price increase...
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May 8, 2023 01:47
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I got a cheapie Vankyo projector as a proof of concept for my living room and find that I like it quite nicely. I’m going to hold off on getting a 4k capable projector because the price will inevitably drop in a year or two, but I wouldn’t mind upgrading to a slightly better 1080p projector, like a BenQ or Optoma at the $600 or below range. Any suggestions, especially now that Prime Day is upon us?
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Jul 11, 2023 09:57
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After I made a 50% joke to a buddy that I’d sell him my projector cheap so I could buy a new one, he took me up on it. My Epson LS11000 should be delivered today. Time is moving at a snails pace. I had an Epson 8350. This is going to be a massive upgrade. mrbass21 fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Aug 18, 2023 |
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Aug 18, 2023 15:36
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Meanwhile I just ordered a $50 more-than-likely junk FANGOR projector from Walmart because there's some sort of 50% off sale going on, and I just want something to point at the cieling while I fall asleep. Image quality isn't going to be an issue for me so long as it's above 240p (i made that mistake before buying a mini projector from the drug store) since I'll be asleep, but I hope it will let my windows pc cast to it. Hopefully the info about walmart's website having discounts is of some use to y'all.
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Aug 20, 2023 12:05
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I had planned something like that, for the bedroom. Something cheap because I don't need to play games on it, just for lazy hungover days or something when I dont wanna get out of bed, or just who knows. But my wife doesn't like my idea of projectors everywhere  And I get it, shes lived through a few "small projects" that turn into massive "I need to run cables through the ceiling and to build a new computer specifically for this" projects.
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Aug 20, 2023 12:15
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“honey, what if we turned the house into an art installation?”
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Aug 20, 2023 12:17
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