Mighty Big TV

[hunnyy]

I have a Samsung 50" Plasma TV, HD-ready, (not full-HD), around 3 years old.

Much as I think this is an excellent set, as I now watch more Blu-rays than DVDs, methinks it's time for a change. I'm considering a larger size set, (I have the room), and of course full-HD. I prefer plasma to LCD, although not zealous in this preference, and have looked (on-line) at the Samsung PS58C6500, although haven't found anywhere locally that has this TV instore to see in action.

Has anyone here had the opportunity to see this particular TV, or else could recommend an alternative? My budget is £2,500, (although could spend more if convinced necessary!).

Thanks in advance.

Samsung 50" Plasma TV, Sony 760 Blu-ray player, Yamaha RX-V3800 amp, Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10 (5.1) speakers.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hi

This will depend on your circumstances, but have you considered a projector? That way you can have whatever size screen you want. The TV you have can be used for everyday viewing, and the PJ can be bought into play for when watching movies. I find projectors around your budget tend to look cleaner and more natural than LCD's and plasmas (I prefer plasma to LCD too), and adds another dimension to the whole experience.

Just a thought.....

 

[bigboss]

David, what size projector screen would you recommend for a 9 feet viewing distance? I'm thinking of investing in a projector screen for movies.......

 

[hunnyy]

Hi David,

Thanks for the thought re. a projector. I have considered this, but not sure my wife would appreciate a projector mounted to the ceiling, or on a coffee table, plus more cabling! When I suggested this possibility recently, she made some fearsome noises. . .

 

[chudleighpaul]

Tell her you are going to have a PJ whether she likes it or not!!!

 

[hunnyy]

Chudleighpaul, you obviously haven't met my wife!

 

[Frank Harvey]

hunnyy: Hi David,

Thanks for the thought re. a projector. I have considered this, but not sure my wife would appreciate a projector mounted to the ceiling, or on a coffee table, plus more cabling! When I suggested this possibility recently, she made some fearsome noises. . .

Tell her all cables can be hidden. A projector needen't be a hulking great thing, and with most ceilings being white, most will blend in ok.

Best thing to do is to take her to a dealer who has a decent one on demo so she understands exactly what the end result looks like. That's usually enough to convince anyone.....

 

[Frank Harvey]

bigboss:David, what size projector screen would you recommend for a 9 feet viewing distance? I'm thinking of investing in a projector screen for movies.......

Entry level projectors tend to have a 1.5x zoom lens, which can limit the size of screen you want, especially when room is limited. Better projectors have a 2x zoom lens, which allows a larger screen to be used. Off the top of my head, Panasonic's PTEA4000, Mitsubishi's HC7000 and HC6800, and the Epson TW3500 and TW4400. The Epson TW3500 would be the cheapest option.

My projection distance is 10ft, producing a 7ft wide screen.

 

[DJEPSON]

Does the room have to be completely dark to get the best from a projector ? I sit 5 metres (16 feet) away and currently have a 42" Panasonic so am looking at 58" and above TV's but they are all quite expensive. It is completely impossible to get the room where I will be watching completely dark (apart from at night) so would I get the best from a projector ?

 

[hunnyy]

FrankHarveyHiFi:hunnyy: Hi David,

Thanks for the thought re. a projector. I have considered this, but not sure my wife would appreciate a projector mounted to the ceiling, or on a coffee table, plus more cabling! When I suggested this possibility recently, she made some fearsome noises. . .

Tell her all cables can be hidden. A projector needen't be a hulking great thing, and with most ceilings being white, most will blend in ok.

Best thing to do is to take her to a dealer who has a decent one on demo so she understands exactly what the end result looks like. That's usually enough to convince anyone.....

Hi David,

A couple of questions, please. Although I appreciate what you say about a white projector blending (to some degree) with a white ceiling, will there not also be an HDMI cable across the ceiling? Alternatively, if the projector were to be placed on a coffee table (is that viable?), there will surely be an HDMI cable trailing across the lounge floor?

Thanks.

 

[Frank Harvey]

DJEPSON:Does the room have to be completely dark to get the best from a projector ? I sit 5 metres (16 feet) away and currently have a 42" Panasonic so am looking at 58" and above TV's but they are all quite expensive. It is completely impossible to get the room where I will be watching completely dark (apart from at night) so would I get the best from a projector ?

For me, sitting that distance away, a projector would be a necessity! I currently sit about 9ft away from my 7ft wide screen.

Once TV's get above 50" the size/cost ratio does tend to go a little squiffy! You can easily pay £4,000/5,000 for a 60" plus screen, which has never seemed value for money for me, especially when you can get a 1080p projector that will look stunning at around £2,500.

Ideally, the room needs to be as dark as possible. White walls don't help as they tend to reflect light back into the room which makes it's way back to the screen. With a bit of light coming in (depending where it's coming in from), you will lose a bit of contrast ratio, but then watching TV's with reflective screens tend to be an issue, as are LCD's, which tend to lose a bit of contrast ratio as well, and usually have issues with people viewing them properly from certain angles anyway. All types of screens have their drawbacks, and although I've only managed to get a darkened room in the past few years, I don't regret changing to a projector around 7/8 years ago.

 

[Frank Harvey]

hunnyy:Hi David,

A couple of questions, please. Although I appreciate what you say about a white projector blending (to some degree) with a white ceiling, will there not also be an HDMI cable across the ceiling? Alternatively, if the projector were to be placed on a coffee table (is that viable?), there will surely be an HDMI cable trailing across the lounge floor?

Any cables can usually be run above the ceiling and dropped down with the bracket - some are hollow to allow you to hide cables.

For years I used a projector which I got out when I wanted it and lpaced it on the coffee table. Many people do this if they don't use a projector frequently, or if they're in rented accommodation and not allowed to mount brackets.

 

[DJEPSON]

all the walls are magnolia (new house, not painted it yet !) and it has double door openings to the kitchen on the right and a conservatory to the left, both openings have no doors and never will as my other half loves the open space and light !!! so I have no chance of darkness during daytime viewing.

 

[kinda]

Hello,

I wouldn't worry about any of the potential issues, and if you're looking for a really big image go projector.

I've got the Epson TW3500, (which is white). My partner is not interested in AV at all, but has been into the projector, and likes the fact it's white and blends in and that there's no screen when we don't watch it. A few of the women I know seem to have similar views.

In terms of light you'll get the very best picture in the dark, but I can and do watch mine in sunshine, daylight, and darker or totally dark condtions. Using the different picture modes it's easy to get a good picture in all kinds of light. A plasma owning sceptic came round to watch the football at the weekend, on a sunny evening, and thought it was great.

I've ceiling mounted mine and put the wires straight into the wall behind, coming out at the bottom behind the settee. I then bought a flat HDMI that goes across the room under a rug to the DVD player, Freeview box, and so on. That could be an easy option in terms of wire-hiding if you've got a carpet.

I'm about 3 metres away, and have got about a 2m wide screen, but as my old TV's in the way, I can only do about 1.5m at the moment. The picture is totally fine, even with upscaled SD.

I've still got the old CRT and felt as if maybe I needed to keep a TV for casual viewing, but I'm more and more thinking it's not necessay.

If you look at projectors I'd say try and get one with lens shift, and I think LCDs are good enough now to avoid the rainbow effect downfalls of DLP, (if you're susceptible). I think the picture is great oin the Epson, and for me it represented the tipping point in value. From reviews spending £700 or so more doesn't get you a proportionate performance boost.

The one thing the TW3500 doesn't have is the motion interpolation processing. Personally I'm not a fan as I think the overall effect of the processing adds artificiality to the whole film just to mask the occasional small amount of film judder. However, it's something to keep in mind. Motion is fine on the TW3500.

Hope this helps.

 

[DJEPSON]

Kinda, thats very helpful thankyou. How important is the screen I was thinking of an electric one but the prices vary between around £100 to ove £1,000 and how do you decide what size to go for ?

 

[AEJim]

Yeah, don't worry too much - I used to use a projector in a room with patio doors at the opposite end and a window to one side, the screen was a magnolia wall (rented house) and I just turned the "warmth" down on the picture. I pulled the curtains for proper viewing but ambient light could get in, wasn't a major problem - Eastenders was even more scary at 7 feet+...

 

[DJEPSON]

James, did using a wall detract from the picture quality and is the HD quality as good as on a TV

 

[AEJim]

Well I never had a proper projection screen to compare to at home, but I'd say a wall is definitely not ideal due to it's own colour temp and low reflectivity + imperfections - it was perfectly watchable though. These were the days before HD! If you want the best image use a screen with a projector 100% though, any will be better than a wall.

 

[kinda]

I think you can get away with projecting on a wall, but with screen prices reasonably low I'd go for a screen. The reflectivity of the wall, and flatness probably won't be quite as good as a screen.

It's a personal viewpoint, but for me, just taking a few seconds to pull down a screen isn't worth the expense and bother of putting a motirised one in.

I got a manual screen for well under £100. It's an Optoma Panoview and it seems fine. It stops on it's own, (I've seen ones where the handle needs to be hooked), and retracts with a nice dampened motion. Plus it's inoffensive when shut, (just a white square length about 2" in section).

In picking the size I went for the maximum screen size my projector could reach with it's expected distance from the screen, (for whichever you pick there'll be a throw calculator somewhere). I thought if it was too big I could just use the zoom to make it smaller.

Of course if you make the image smaller, you won't go right up to the screen edge, so if that's an issue you may wanrt to think about the screen size in a bit more detail. I've heard a good guide is that you should be 1.5x - 2x the width of the screen to the viewing position.