Projector advice

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I'm looking to convert an empty room in our house into a cinema room, it is relatively small (3.1m x 3.4m, with the shorter distance having to be used due to window/door placement) but has very little natural light making it ideal.

As it's a small room I need a projector with a good throw ratio to maximise the screen size, I accept that I'm going to struggle to get a horizontal width beyond 170-180cm.

Richer Sounds have a cracking deal on the JVC HD350, available at the end of the month at £1999, however due to the size of the room (and a move to a larger room very unlikely for a good few years) I don't know if this system would be overkill for what I'm looking for, baring in mind that I've seen offers for the Samsung 600 for around £700-800 or the LG AF115 (very similar to the Sony HW10) for under £1000. Unfortunately getting comparisons of all three is night on impossible as I've not seen any 'brixks and mortar' shops demoing the Samsung and LG models.

Any advice and opinions would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Phil

 

[AEJim]

In some ways it's almost more important to get a projector with a better image if you're going to be sitting closer to it! Most modern ones will handle that kind of throw, I have an old Fujitsu 720p/1080i running at the moment in a similar sized room and I could definitely do with 1080p at the distance I sit, not that it's bad, just that detail is a little on the soft side... More importantly the tech behind it may matter more, I'm at an AV show in China at the moment and I see the rainbow effect instantly as I walk past many rooms with DLP's running - I don't care in the slightest what companies say about resolving the issue, I see it on all DLP's I've looked at. No risk with the JVC, not sure about the other two. Just a point to bear in mind!

 

[Frank Harvey]

I agree with James, I see rainbow on DLP's too. The only ones I haven't seen it on are well into 5 figure sums, so not an option. I also find them too noisy. If you really want to stick to the budget end, Epson are about to bring out a 1080p for less than £1k, and based on the 3500 and 4400, it should be rather good, and with it being LCD, there won't be any issues that other projectors suffer from. I suspect there will be a few projectors changing in a few months time, so hold tight and see what comes up at a good price....

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice guys, the budget is there for the JVC or even a bit more should the right model be available. Without wanting to hold you to anything or have you accused of touting for business David, you think that there maty be better value to be found than the JVC at £2k in the near future? I'd be quite surprised as I thought that was a staggering deal!

There's obviously quite a bit of prep work beforehand as I'd want it ceiling mounted and all the cables concealing so I'd be prepared to wait a couple of months.

 

[AEJim]

Just FYI, this is how mine looks on an 84" screen, room is 2.8 x 3.6 (screen on short wall, nearly finished decorating now!) and seating is now about 1m from the back wall, looks great at that distance despite the softness of 720p/1080i at that size. I will probably upgrade to a full HD projector at some point in the near future too... My only issues now are DVD playback via component on PS3 or XBox both go very bright and off-centre, been through settings and can't see anything amiss (?), and secondly my Blu-Ray of Casino Royale refuses to register on the PS3 for no reason whatsoever now, disk is like a clean mirror and used to play so no idea, doesn't even spin when it's put in!

PS3 upscaling of SD material played wirelessly from PC is great though, highly recommend it as an all-in-one source!

 

[Frank Harvey]

AEJim:My only issues now are DVD playback via component on PS3 or XBox both go very bright and off-centre, been through settings and can't see anything amiss (?)

That's weird!!

 

[Frank Harvey]

PhilPhilips:Without wanting to hold you to anything or have you accused of touting for business David, you think that there maty be better value to be found than the JVC at £2k in the near future? I'd be quite surprised as I thought that was a staggering deal!

The JVC for that price is going to be great, and will be worthwhile at £2k. With it's current replacement being £2995 (which has a more 3D looking picture), I'd say that £1,800/2,000k is about right for it.

I'm suspecting there will be a couple of PJ manufacturers changing models pretty soon, so you never know what's going to come up....

 

[AEJim]

Yeah, I'm going to put it down to some odd component problem with this projector which will magically go away when I get a new one with HDMI's...

Saw the Sanyo PLVZ3000 at this show, looked pretty decent for a cheaper option, I'd still expect the JVC to thoroughly outdo it though, or the Pana PTAE3/4000 in same price range.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Jim & David,

Can you just clear up 'I'd still expect the JVC to thoroughly outdo it though, or the Pana PTAE3/4000 in same price range' for me Jim as the Panasonic AE4000 was another that I was looking at in the JVC price bracket, were you saying that the JVC would beat the Pana comfortably or the Pana to outdo the Sanyo?

 

[Frank Harvey]

AEJim:Yeah, I'm going to put it down to some odd component problem with this projector which will magically go away when I get a new one with HDMI's...

I'd have said it was the screen material, until you mentioned about it was only certain inputs!

 

[AEJim]

Both should outdo the Sanyo

, though I had little to fault in the pic I saw on that aside from some slight "un-naturalness" that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Both the Pana or JVC should be great and would probably take a significant hike in budget to get better, or significant cuts in price of older models as I believe David is hinting at for either to be beat!

 

[Frank Harvey]

PhilPhilips: Thanks again Jim & David,

Can you just clear up 'I'd still expect the JVC to thoroughly outdo it though, or the Pana PTAE3/4000 in same price range' for me Jim as the Panasonic AE4000 was another that I was looking at in the JVC price bracket, were you saying that the JVC would beat the Pana comfortably or the Pana to outdo the Sanyo?

The Pana's a good projector, but I find the Mitsubishi HC7000 to outperform it, hence why I bought one. I found the JVC's at that time (350/750) had a flatter looking picture in comparison to the LCD ones (Epson/Mitsubishi etc) which looked more three dimensional, although the JVC's had a slightly better black level/contrast ratio, and the 750 had the THX mode.

I've not seen the Sanyo, so can't comment there.

 

[AEJim]

Oh, and you may be able to get some good prices on the Pana 3000 as it's near enough identical to the model that replaced it aside from a couple of minor upgrades in colour reproduction (which was already top notch).

 

[AEJim]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
AEJim:Yeah, I'm going to put it down to some odd component problem with this projector which will magically go away when I get a new one with HDMI's...

I'd have said it was the screen material, until you mentioned about it was only certain inputs!

Deffo not the screen (though is a cheapy - £90!), both machines do same thing - very bright bleached pic and shift about 18" to one side, PS3 worked fine with DVD via HDMI on the Plasma so putting it down to the Fuji's component input - been through all the relevant settings and something must be eluding me!

Seems we're having multiple conversations, sorry OP I should have started another thread! David has more hands-on experience than me, most of my viewing of various models is done in Hotel rooms (as dodgy as that sounds!) at shows! Also, dodgy hotel internet in China so my replies are too slow to make sense!

 

[Cookie Monster]

Hi Phil,

I use a Panny PJ at 4.5m on a 77" screen and i have to admit that although i think its great i do think PJ's are better at distance. I recently tried out Samsung's 50" 3D Plasma (600 series) and have to say that up to 3.5 metres i would definetly go down this route. At £1,500 i think i would need to spend at least 3 times that amount to match the performance from a PJ. Plasma performance was very good though very lcd like 'punch'. I actually tried to get the wife to let me convert the garage after trying it. Seemed like an absolute bargain. With the PJ from close up you will notice things like 'camera pans' and lower contrast areas more when you should be looking at the picture and enjoying the film.

Only thing i will say is have a try. Got my first PJ from Creative Audio in Shrops and they were great at letting me try things out. Suggest you speak to a store and ask to try out PJ's and TV's at 3.5m's. In the end you are paying out £2,000 - £3,000. You wouldnt buy a car without trying it and you get to have a great time 'playing'.

Any stores going to offer to help?

Best of luck,

Cookie Monster

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

PhilPhilips:

Thanks again Jim & David,

Can you just clear up 'I'd still expect the JVC to thoroughly outdo it though, or the Pana PTAE3/4000 in same price range' for me Jim as the Panasonic AE4000 was another that I was looking at in the JVC price bracket, were you saying that the JVC would beat the Pana comfortably or the Pana to outdo the Sanyo?

The JVC produces better black levels than the Panasonic 4000 and is brighter as well. If you have a completely dark room and calibrate the 4000 you will get exceptional results and against a calibrated 350 it is a very close match. The JVC falls down ever so slightly with motion against the Panasonic ( a real strong point ) but it is still the better projector. At £2k for a brand new sealed unit ( not used or b-grade ) the JVC is the best choice in a dark room.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the help guys. The JVC seems to be the front runner in terms of quality and I believe it also to have the best throw ratio, I'll try and get a demo and let you know the outcome...

 

[Anonymous]

Do you think it would be worth considering a second hand projector (higher model)? I've seen that you can get a second hand JVC 750 for only a couple of hundred pounds more than the new 350?

 

[AEJim]

Can be a risk as you have no idea about bulb life - if it comes with a spare then should be fine as it's still pretty new so shouldn't be in need of a service or anything. If it doesn't come with a spare bulb then you should factor the cost of one into the price.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The 750 is worth a few hundred extra