Why Change Your TV?

[Frank Harvey]

It's David

This was my point for starting the thread Alan - many people come out with reasons why they can't have a projector, but most of them are false reasons as people are given incorrect info about projectors. I think I mentioned the space aspect very early on - as you say, it doesn't take up space. It can be ceiling mounted, wall mounted on a shelf, or sit on an equipment rack, or even on a coffee table if the room/throw ratio is big enough. As for the price, people are upgrading perfectly good plasma screens for another screen that's slightly better - why, when they can have a projector instead for the same, if not less money?

Alan - things have moved on quite a bit since the Yamaha you mention - projectors are now much quieter, have better black levels and contrast ratio, are generally brighter, and have longer bulb life. Oh, and they're cheaper!!

 

[The_Lhc]

Ok then Fravid, I was round a colleague of mine's place the other night and he has a projector in the kitchen which projects out into the living room, however he's just projecting onto a bare wall, which is a light magnolia. He's quite happy with this but has to have the lights off completely to see anything, can you recommend a good projector screen paint that he can just cover the wall with to improve the picture?

 

[plastic penguin]

FrankHarveyHiFi:

It's David

This was my point for starting the thread Alan - many people come out with reasons why they can't have a projector, but most of them are false reasons as people are given incorrect info about projectors. I think I mentioned the space aspect very early on - as you say, it doesn't take up space. It can be ceiling mounted, wall mounted on a shelf, or sit on an equipment rack, or even on a coffee table if the room/throw ratio is big enough. As for the price, people are upgrading perfectly good plasma screens for another screen that's slightly better - why, when they can have a projector instead for the same, if not less money?

Alan - things have moved on quite a bit since the Yamaha you mention - projectors are now much quieter, have better black levels and contrast ratio, are generally brighter, and have longer bulb life. Oh, and they're cheaper!!

Sorry, I haven't read all the replies, and I know zilch about projectors. Do they come in one screen size? what advantages do they have over tv's for general viewing?

 

[Frank Harvey]

the_lhc:Ok then Fravid

I was round a colleague of mine's place the other night and he has a projector in the kitchen which projects out into the living room, however he's just projecting onto a bare wall, which is a light magnolia. He's quite happy with this but has to have the lights off completely to see anything, can you recommend a good projector screen paint that he can just cover the wall with to improve the picture?To be honest, I haven't any experience of paint for projection purposes - maybe someone else here has?

 

[Frank Harvey]

plastic penguin:Sorry, I haven't read all the replies, and I know zilch about projectors. Do they come in one screen size? what advantages do they have over tv's for general viewing?Projectors use a lens which can zoom in and out, like a camera's lens, so you can pretty much have whatever screen size you like, as long as the distance allows you.

Advantages over TV for general viewing? Probably none really, but if you watch a film on TV, that would be beneficial. Playing games is also a different world. Sports come across as more of an event. For soaps and the news, I'd stick to normal TV

 

[VoodooDoctor]

Any thoughts on the upcoming 3D projectors?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Undecided. I viewed a Panasonic 3D demo in Birmingham the other day, which I have mixed views about. There were three sections of the demo. The first was some swooping camera pans of a couple of Toyota Formula 1 cars round an F1 track (nice sponsorship tie in....). It looked great, but firstly, you don't see those sort of camera angles and shots in Formula 1 so I found them offputting. Second was bits and bobs frm the Beijing Olympics. This actually looked ok, as the gymnasts in the middle of the stadium stood well outfrom the slightly blurred crowd in the background, as they would do. Because of the real depth between the crowd and gymnast here, it worked well, especially when the ticker tape was flowing down, with bits seemingly falling right before your eyes. As part of this, they also showed an olympic skier. This was probably the most impressive of the lot, as you got a real sense of depth of the smowy mountains and hills. Lastly was the Avatar trailer in 3D. At first it didn't look 3D, then it kicked in full throttle. A later scene where there was a hell of a lot going on, looked a bit of a mess because of the 3D. All this was with the shutter glasses on Panasonics 103" plasma.

There needs to be technology produced that doesn't use the glasses. It's no good sitting there trying to enjoy a 3D movie when you feel like you're about to go deep sea diving.

I've mentioned before that for 3D to be effective, you have to be sitting close enough for the screen to fill your field of view, otherwise it's like looking through a window at a distance - for the best view, you need to walk up to th window to fully see out of it, if you get my drift. So as far as I'm concerned, 3D on a 42" is pointless. Projectors ae the way forward for 3D, but only if the glasses can be ditched.

As a movie fan, I see 3D working for the likes of Up, Toy Story and most CG movies, but for normal live action movies, I think there's a way to go yet. Who wants to see French Connection in 3D?

 

[shado]

My Uncle who has converted his Garage into a proper Home Cinema has always rated Epson for a projector, unfortunately as he bought his a few years ago it is only HD ready.

Are Epson still a good choice when it comes to full HD?

 

[Frank Harvey]

I promised not to mention specific projectors on this thread, but yes, Epson do make good projectors. But then, so do JVC, Mitsubishi, Runco.....