How far have projectors come?

[inline 6]

The house we are having built has a media area that is prime for a large screen. The room has several exterior windows though.... Just how good have the projectors become? If the room was dark could you tell much of a difference between say a 50ish", lcd, 1080p, 240hz tv? and a projector with similiar specs?

[jakesford]

If you can control ambient light, nothing can beat a projector... There are additional costs and setup hassles, but its worth it IMO

[inline 6]

Turn me on to some good projectors. I may just use it for our evening movie watching. and use the other rooms TV for regular TV watching.

[Lason]

what kind of price range? The 1080P stuff has really come down in price. Im about to pick up a Epson 6500UB for my new HT.

[pgans]

If you can do light control like said above, projectors are hard to beat. I'm still using an old IF4805 which is 480P and it still looks great. I'm projecting around 105" diagonal onto a custom painted screen. Even with a decent amount of ambient light the picture looks very good. You are not going to get LCD contrast ratios with a projector though in any sort of light.

[97ssconvertible]

If u like tinkering with stuff. Get a crt projector. I have had both and crt kills digitals. Mine is from 1995 and will do 1080p. And they get roughly 10k hours on the guns. Try that with a digital. You can buy a really nice crt for the price of a lower end digital.

[Tangstang]

this just rolled out recently, should be worth a look;)

http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/22/vivitek-to-shake-up-hd-projector-market-with-1080p-h1080fd-at-9/

[5.0_CJ]

Lots of good projectors. I have an Optoma 720p projector, love it.

[Lason]

Figured I would throw this out there. I had two buddies come over and check out the new 122" projection setup in my living room and both of them have 60"+ plasma's at home. They both said they would switch in a heartbeat if they could. They came over about 6pm last night and the afternoon sun was on the living room windows and they both agreed the projection setup wasnt as bright as their plasma's but it was still very much tolerable. As soon as the sun set, they were blown away at just how great it looked.

Basically if you can control the sunlight in the room to a point then go for it. I dont have anything special, just heavy drapes over the windows and light still leaks on the edges. I may improve that later on but who knows.

Epson 6500UB projector BTW

[HORSPLA]

I have a room similar to yours. I have solar screens (not for the light but for the heat), blinds, and curtains to control the ambient light. My Optoma throws a 120" diagonal image and even larger with the short throw lens on it, but I have too much stuff in the way to view much larger than that. I don't use it every day - only for college football and the occasional movie night.

[miketyler]

Lots of good projectors. I have an Optoma 720p projector, love it.

Yup - I have an HD70 720P and use a Dalite High Power electric widescreen. The projector is a lot of it, but the screen and ambient light in the room are key components as well.

You can read up on the subject in detail on the AVS forums. Ck out this thread on high gain screens: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=773065

[futant]

+1 for the need light control thing
I have a Eiki LCX-70 , at 100" diagonal
everyone is pretty impressed with it, and I use no screen just a flat white painted wall
We run it at 1080i most of the time
considering I got it for about 1500$ , I have done pretty well.
The only thing that is annoying is bulb purchases.

The bulb it came with lasted a year and a half - minimal usage - video games and movies only
next bulb costs me 300$, lasted one year - medium usage = vids,games, and computer last three months.
the bulb im on now costs less at 200 dollars, but it seems to be doing great so far.
I would highly suggest advancedlamps.com for you other bulb buyers reading this. I found a place selling refilimented ones for 277$ !(that i popped two of in the first ten mins of usage)
so buyer BEWARE! use only OEM, and order by part number specifically to find some savings.

I'd say the worst part about getting a projector is building a quality mount (made mine of welded steel after seeing the costs of these things)
and getting drapes / light control.

[0 GT 2]

I have a 720p projector and a 120" screen for sale if you're interested.