Which projector for a 96inch / 8 foot screen?

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Lots of work going on at the moment! Have finally found a screen and the folks have taken the news rather well. Which is a relief as the darned thing costs a fortune. Screen Research from the States. Acoustically transparent 96inch screen. Don't ask what it costs as it's too embarrassing. Ok, here's the dilemma, I'm hoping that Andrew or Claire will have a view on this, or anyone else with projector knowledge. I was thinking of buying an Infocus IN82. But all the dealers I've spoken to say buy an Optoma Theme-Scene HD81. They both cost £3000. So there's nothing in it on price. I don't need any vertical lens shift and they both fit the screen in terms of throw ratio. But then one dealer has said that with a screen that large we should really go for the HD81 LV which stands for Large Venue. It's basically a shed load brighter and should suit an 8ft screen much better. Costs a grand more. Please can I have you views. Is it a good idea to get the LV. Is it really going to be noticeable? Is the Infocus IN82 that won this years award better than the standard Optoma Theme-Scene HD81? This is a critical time in the building work. The screen is agreed and it's the real critical element at present, but the projector will be needed very shortly, so all the advise you can give will be gratefully appreciated! All the best! Will

 

[Anonymous]

Bumpety bump 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Is this a difficult question? Don't loads of you have projectors? This is so much fun, but I really do need your help!

 

[Anonymous]

Not feeling the love here :-(

;-)

 

[Anonymous]

Which is odd really as this is a querie about something not often asked about. I would have thought the reviewers would have relished a question that isn't a carbon copy of one answered several hundred times already. Come on chaps and chapesses, Give me the benefit of your wisdom!

 

[Anonymous]

Well looks like I'll be going with the Optoma Theme-Scene HD81LV (Large Venue) it should do a good job on a large 8ft wide screen. I'm surprised at how little response this thread has raised. Home cinema is something that is so integral to a house re-build in that the opportunity to put in equipment with ease is there during the build and it's really worth getting it right.

All the dealers I've spoken to have recommended the LV. I know it only got 4 stars in WHFSV but that's still a good score and it should cope with the image size better than the standard HD81 or Infocus IN82. At least I jolly well hope so!

Any thoughts from any of you? ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

Will - think promoters are a bit niche for some. Not me though!

I have a panny ae1000 - HD but not full HD and the one the mag was recommending this time 18-24months ago.

It has an excellent throw ratio so it fully fills my 106 inch screen from about 3 metres away. I love showing it off to people. I have a grey granular panaview screen (manual pull down). Personally i don't bother moving it up and down so having a cheapo unit but good screen was the key for me.

The huge upside is the scale of pictures. I'm just waiting for Sky to get their in screen red button coverage of champs league in HD properly then it will be really like watching 8 small HD tvs in one screen.

The downsides? I have to scale down the screen for gaming as I get a sort of motion sickness on games like resistance fall of man that have a first person perspective. Feel like I'm a kid again on a long journey in the back seat of a car after only an hour of gaming!

Also, during the day I need to shut curtains and invest in better black out material to avoid washout.

Love it though. For the money you get so much more bang for your buck from a big screen projector than you do from plasma. Scale is everything!

 

[Anonymous]

Will,

Sorry, did not visit this forum before but I have the SONY VPL-VW50 which has now been replaced with the "60" and would not swap it for any you have mentioned. It is an SXRD 3 panel LCD projector with a native 1080 and P compatability, 2 x HDMI's and is now available for around £2.5 - £3k.

I did a LOT of research before purchasing it and it is my 4th projector so I am not a novice here. I believe image quality to be superior to the SIM3X at a third the price, AND its 1080 not 720.

Try and find a demo but this is not easy as it is not a generally stocked projector.

Gerry.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Gerry and Jim, legends for replying! 🙂