Projectors

GTM, I agree, but we're talking upwards of £10K for a decent CRT projector and their practical drawbacks are not insignificant. Only worth going for in a dedicated home cinema room IMO.

Michael.

 

Blimey! I send half you lot tickets for the Northern HiFi & AV show where I'm exhibiting Philips home cinema projectors (both DLP & LCD btw) and I don't get one flippin' mention

Devil, the X1 is popular cause it's inexpensive and boasts some good contrast numbers. However, take the advice of others here and don't buy blind.

If you need any more indepth info just post your questions here and I'll help all I can.

Regards

Hex Spurt

 

Thanks for the help. This is a hell of a lot more complicated than I first imagined. 16:9 or 4:3? LCD or wotsit? I have no idea at all.

If you settle on a particular Proj. can you specify 16:9 or 4:3???

Arrrrgh!

 

You'll definitely want 16:9 so you have an LCD (or DLP) panel that's "natively" widescreen. With a 4:3 panel you can still get widescreen of course but you're losing a lot of resolution because, like the black letterbox bars on a 4:3 TV, those parts of the panel are not being used.

Projectors are either 4:3 or 16:9 so once you settle on one that's it.

Personally, I would go with LCD, not least because it tends to be cheaper. DLP projectors can exhibit the notorious "rainbow effect" which some people are more susceptible to than others. Definitely need to demo before buying a DLP projector.

Michael.

 

And then buy the demo model. DLP projectors are notorious for sample variations. If you find one you like, get that specific unit.

Personally, I'd wait a couple of years before going down the plasma/projector/LCD route. Prices will come down massively.

Right now, I'd go for a good normal 32" set.

 

Hi again,

Well I had a shop demo of a 'Domino' something or other DLP jobbie, and the picture was great. I couldn't detect any problem with it. The price: £3500. Rather steep.

The trouble with waiting for prices to come down is that you have to wait!

More research.....

 

DLP "rainbow effect" can be largely eliminated by choosing a projector with a six segment colour wheel and a 4x spin speed. Projectors like the Domino have this. The Infocus X1 does not.

Have a look at the Philips Bogart Matchline. It has a Domino type colour wheel and is very small and quiet. Shopping around you should find it for about half the cost of the Domino.

Regards

Hex

 

Michael..

In Portugal maybe, the two i linked to are £4k and £6k. The 6K being a Barco. A very well respected make in the CRT field. However, I accept.. thats still a lot of money. But James is a Doc.. and has spent half as much just on his stands.. so I thought he may be willing to consider such an outlay.


James ..

Have a look at this model.. It's very cheap at £1,500 and is apparently comparable with £3-4k models.

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/testbench/VideoProjectors/Panasonic/PanasonicPT-AE100E_2.php


or this.. even cheaper £1k

http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=3683

GTM

 

That's the Panasonic PT-AE100 - it's a budget projector that took the AV world by storm a year or two ago (an eternity in projector terms...) Today it's been superseded twice by Panasonic, and if you can still find it it should'nt be more than about £500 new.

Another option is importing. www.pricejapan.com has an excellent reputation and make it very easy (and usually very cheap!) to import. The projectors are classed as computer display devices so you don't pay import duty - only VAT.

Dunc