Projector vs plasma/LCD

[admin_exported]

Just a quick question, would for example the top of the range JVC projector give better picture quality than almost any LCD or plasma.

Or if you do get a projector is the advantage just the massive picture size, rather than the picture quality?

cheers

STM

 

[kinda]

I think it all depends on what's meant by picture quality really. I demod an Optoma HD20 projector, and while the colour intensity, (in a room not fully darkened), wasn't as good as on my old (WHF award-winning) 36" CRT, there was a certain quality to the image that made films much better.

Watching the same scenes again on my TV, though I could see the more vivid colours, get deeper blacks in a lighter room, and have no chance of rainbow effect, I missed the projector. While the size was a factor, it wasn't the whole story. There was a certain natural quality to the projected image.

But for me maybe it's about a different type of experience rather than what's best as such. The projector was great for films, and sport, but would I want to apply the same experience for the news, while burning a bulb? Maybe not.

If you're talking about "tech spec" performance though, with LCDs and Plasmas still inferior to CRTs in many ways, and the way the Optoma performed, I reckon the high end projectors would definitely give the current high end TVs a run for their money, in a suitably darkened room.

WHF, any chance of shootout out between say a top 50" plasma, and a similar priced projector?

 

[Anonymous]

Viewer contrast sensitivity and colour sensitivity is determined by display brightness. The eyes remain pretty consistent down to 50ftL then sensitivity rolls off, below 10ftL sensitivity rolls off sharply. Recommended reference white levels for TVs is usually 35ftL to 50ftL. For projector screens the recommendation is 12ftL to 22ftL. In a direct side by side comparison the TV will appear to have superior picture quality due to brightness. The display also needs to be bright enough to maintain a decent dynamic range, contrast in the presence of any ambient and reflected light. For TVs this is easily done because they are direct sources of light, but projector screens are reflecting light their black level can be rapidly compromised by ambient light and reflected light bouncing off the screen, then the room and back on to the screen washing out the simultaneous contrast.

LCD flat screens are usually brightest. This brightness enables them to maintain a dynamic picture even with lots of ambient lighting in the room. Plasma flat screens are usually less bright than LCD but have superior on screen simultaneous contrast. This can give them an advantage over LCD in dimly lit rooms. JVC Lcos front projectors are less bright again, but the main limiting factor is that black on the screen is dictated by ambient and reflected light. A well setup projector in a dedicated room looks simply stunning. But a projector in a living room is usually going to give a worse picture quality than a flat panel better suited to the ambient lighting and decor. Setting up a projector to get the best picture out of it is also more hassle. It is easy to have a projector not looking its best

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[bigboss]

It also depends on the screen. Check this screen, which claims excellent results even in light.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi I took part in the Big question that was tv v projector and we thought that the £2200 panny was great for movies but of air it was not so good. I think it was in the Feb edition of whathifi.

 

[Anonymous]

A pj is only going to be as good as the room it's viewed in.....

 

[Anonymous]

The video looks extremely impressive, and it should offer massive benefits over a Matt white screen but is expensive and I would advise to demo in person. Videos and pictures of projected images are not very reliable as cameras have less simultaneous dynamic range than projected images, taking a picture of a grey scale ramp on a projector screen, either the dark greys will be underexposed and appear on the cameras picture to be pitch black or the light greys will be over exposed and appear white. So the effect might be a bit exaggerated by the limitations of the camera. Since they are comparing two screens Matt white to high gain gray, there is also the question as to which screen the projector was calibrated to.

It is a angular reflective screen with 44 degree viewing angle. It bounces the light back in that direction. So it will look its best with a table top projector in a room where the wall opposite the projector is far back and side walls are not too close to the edges of the screen, like the demo video room. With a ceiling mounted projector it will be a bit less impressive as light is reflected back over the viewers heads and ceilings are usually white. Being angular reflective it may also be vulnerable to hot spotting if the throw distance between screen and projector is too short. Hot spotting is where the center of the image looks noticeable brighter than the rest of the image, it claims to be less vulnerable to hot spotting than its competitors. Being non-white it will also be more prone to surface texture being noticeable at close viewing distances, it claims to be smoother have less screen texture than its competitors. Being high gain the surface might also have sheen which may can cause a speckling effect if projector throw distance is too short.

 

[matengawhat]

sd images are the limiting factor not the projector or tv - i watch everything on my projector now even during the day with a little ambient light - i find my projector far easier to watch than the tv and i can forgive the softer images of sd for the larger picture

swap to hd and to me the projector suddenly jumps in to its own - i have the hd20 the cheapest 1080p pro on the market and think its stunning, god know what the quality of the top of the range jvcs are like

my 1080p sony tv is never on now - they suffer from different issues - but i find the projector far more enjoyable

 

[smuggs]

my friend has the hd20 i think it was £1100 with a 84inch pull down screen unreal value.

xbox360 games looked classy, ive only seen wall-e on blu ray and it looked very clear no grain that can appear on £600-£1000 tv's. I must say i felt it lacked a touch of depth but if you want something bigger than 50inch you will be happy. The only thing that stops me from every thinking of getting one is the nosie 29db sounds ok but if you say have news on mute and are listening to music if you are anywhere near the unit it sounds as lound as my xbox360. Matt how do you find the sound of the hd20 unit

 

[matengawhat]

images taken with canon 450d straight off screen - really need a proper tripod and taken without any light flash off - not a photographer by any means but think they give a good idea

 

[matengawhat]

sound wise its a little noisy but compared to the fan heater that playing in the corner its nothing and once the whole surround setups playing i tend not to notice it

 

[Anonymous]

bigboss:It also depends on the screen. Check this screen, which claims excellent results even in light.

My next purchase is a projector and I will demo this screen as it does look amazing. My timescale is October so hopefully I will have saved enough, and may be the screen price will have fallen as it is a lot of money. Appears to be only available as a fixed screen ?

 

[matengawhat]

i tested a few and the best i found for the money was the grandview cyberscreen - 106" - think was about £260 and is a fantastic screen

that vids quite impressive - wonder what the prices are and if it has to be a fixed screen

 

[Anonymous]

As far as I can gather - in the region of £1700 and only fixed framed.

Feel free to correct me anyone ?

 

[matengawhat]

you could nearly move house for that to gain a dedicated movie room and brick up your windows!!!

 

[Anonymous]

soulton:

bigboss:It also depends on the screen. Check this screen, which claims excellent results even in light.

My next purchase is a projector and I will demo this screen as it does look amazing. My timescale is October so hopefully I will have saved enough, and may be the screen price will have fallen as it is a lot of money. Appears to be only available as a fixed screen ?

You really need to check out expensive projector screens in person or have a money back guarantee. I have not seen the Black Diamond in the flesh and as they say a truly innovative new revolutionary product hence the heavy price premium.

For a cheaper alternative you might want to look in to the DNP Supernova Flex, as in the past Screen Innovations have rebranded DNP products and sold them for a premium. Do not know if this is the case with this product or if SI have improved it.

For a inferior but cheaper alternative you might want to check older screens that boasted ambient light rejection like the once new revolutionary DNP Supernova, aka the revolutionary new Screen Innovations Mirage, aka the new revolutionary SI Visage. They are not flexible, have a gain of 2 and some problems with hot spotting depending on setup. SI claim the Black Diamond is a 9x improvement over the Visage for ambient light rejection, no comment on how the 0.8 gain version of the SI Black Diamond compares to the 0.8 gain DNP Supernova Flex, or if the 1.4 gain version of the SI Black Diamond has any hot spot issues with some setups.

 

[Anonymous]

I will audition as many as possible nearer the time, and you are right the Black Diamond would have to blow me away to justify the price tag of 3 times that which I have budgeted in my head for !

Seeing, will definitely be believing as I only wish to spend £2k to £2.5k on the actual pj.

 

[kinda]

Agree that a projector could be used as an allround display. I checked in the demo with lights on and the picture was OK, but obviously the colours do wash out a bit.

The only thing that made me wonder was if I wanted to watch certain programs on a massive screen, or if I wanted a TV.

I think what I'll do is try to assess the kind of program I watch and whether they'd be OK on a projector.