Hello,

I'm looking for the best projector for a relatively well lit room -not bright but sometimes hard to block all the light. I'm putting in a screen of about 100 inches.

I figured I use a da-lite screen.

Any suggestions on projectors? I loved the Sony Qualia years ago. I'll definetely want 1080p. My goal of course would be crisp, bright and excellent for handling motion with vivid colors without spending $50,000 on a runco.

Hello,

I'm looking for the best projector for a relatively well lit room -not bright but sometimes hard to block all the light. I'm putting in a screen of about 100 inches.

I figured I use a da-lite screen.

Any suggestions on projectors? I loved the Sony Bravia years ago. I'll definetely want 1080p. My goal of course would be crisp, bright and excellent for handling motion with vivid colors without spending $50,000 on a runco.

From your criteria you should look at DLP. You should also look in getting a high contrast screen. As for which DLP in that price range, I really liked the Samsung by Joe Kane. Just make sure you aren't sensitive to rainbow effects as I am.

...or does spending $15K on a projector in a room with ambient light issues just not make any sense?

Seriously, please don't take this personally as this is just my opinion, but it seems to be a prevalent way of thinking for too many people. If you have ambient light, or even light colored ceiling/walls you are really compromising your CR and overall PQ. I've seen relatively cheap 720P in a good room that is more enjoyable (to me) than much more expensive 1080P in less ideal conditions. To be able to take advantage of the PQ that the really expensive stuff delivers you really want a good room. I would suggest a much cheaper cousin in the $3-4k range as most of the new 1080P stuff is at least pretty "good". Those that are discerning enough to care about the incremental (albeit important) differences the high end gear provides realize the room is a huge component of the overall projection system.

Happy hunting!!!

Triodes,

There is nothing we can do about the architecture of the house - there is a 10' wide entrance to the room from the rest of the house. We could cover the windows in the room but there is nothing we can do about the light from the rest of the house without considerable expense (probably more than the amount we'd spend on the entire home theater which we are already spending more than we should).

Chadly, thanks, I'll consider them.

Actually, you don't need to spend $10k to $15k to have the best projector in that price range. The JVC RS20 is, IMO, better than anything that is available at up to $15k and it is a lot cheaper.

most of the best options are well under your price range check out LCD and LCOS.

you need to consider if you really want front projection.

an HT3000e Sim 2 DLP would be amazing even in ambient lighting it has the lumen horsepower to cut through ambient lighting. I used one on my 9.5 ft wide HP screen in a mixed use room with a pool table and a bar and it was amazing. I could have the lights on the bar and over the pool table which were off to the side with very little visible hazing. The key is that the light sources were off to the side of the HP but it was awesome to have a big picture with comfortable lighting on. THE HP rejected the lighting from the sides with aplomb. I don't know of any dila or lcd with those kinds of lumens, but I might be wrong. The RS20 is amazing for the money but for a light controlled room IMO as it's lumens start around 6-700 and go down with bulb age.

The RS20 would be a waste of money as its primary strength (high on/off contrast) would be completely negated in a room with ambient light. You should go for a light canon and a screen with ambient light rejection capability. Depending on the room and where the light sources are located I would look into the Firehawk, the High Power or the Black Diamond screens.

Projectorwise you could look into some of the brighter LCDs (Epson 5500? I'm not to familiar with this class...) or the DLP light canon IN83.

Best of luck!