I own a 50" plasma and want a bigger screen. I'm looking at the 60" Pioneer plasma, but want to look at what projectors offer. If I get a projector, I want it to be a big screen with a picture that is alive like a plasma. I want deep full colors and a BRIGHT screen. I know the bigger the screen the less bright it gets. Is there any projector that can fill 144 inches with a BRIGHT picture with deep colors and good picture quality? There will be some light on in the room at all times. I don't want a completely dark room.

Yeah, their are some that can do it pretty good, but it depends on how much ambient light you're talking about too. It won't be blindingly bright or anything, but more than good enough for most. Nothing out there delivers a pic close to as bright as a plasma on any normal large screen if you were to measure the brightness, but don't think that means it won't look bright, because the human eyes are adaptable with built in dynamic irises. Plasmas are just insanely bright. Mine is plasma bright, but it's because of my screen.

The Sharp DT-500 will do the trick; the iris for higher contrast will be useless with light so might as well take advantage of "bright mode". The Panasonic AX100U will do it better probably and probably in ambient light.

Are you talking 12' diagonal or wide? I'm planning on going to 11.5' wide with my Sharp DT-500. If you can make a light gray screen or get a high gain high contrast screen the pic will be much improved with a little ambient light.

Shade your light and keep it to a minimum. Get rid of as much sunlight as you can; Sunlight is the ultimate enemy of fronr projection, especially direct sunlight. A great ambient light picture can be had, but you must be smart about it. Direct hard light is the worst, especially with a pure white screen.

No. There is NO way you are going to get a plasma like picture at 144inches. No way, no how...especially with light in the room. You can get very nice PQ...but not with the pop and vividness of a 50" plasma.

Pair up a high lumens projector with a Dalite High Power screen.

The questions remaining are:

What lights are you leaving on?
How big is the room?
Where did you get 144" from?
How tall is your ceiling?
What resolution content will you be viewing?

Depending on your answers, a Panasonic AX100 projected on a Dalite High Power screen will give you all the pop you need. I'd rather have a real picture than the artificial oversaturated pop picture a lot of plasma owners are used to.

And at 120" or 135" or even 144", that real picture will be hard to beat!

I've got a 133" and a HiPower with a ceiling mount (i.e. less than full gain from the screen) Pearl projector rated at 900 lumens. I run it in low mode to maximize bulb life.

It's pretty punchy. Plasma bright? No. But a full white scene will make me squint.

A Hi Power and a similarly rated projector mounted low would give you greater gain. And with careful design, you can have ambient room lighting. (I do)

As the others have mentioned, if you use a Hi-Power you'll get about 3x gain in the sweet spot ( basically anywhere between the edges of the screen ) if your projector is shelf mounted behid you as close to eye level as possible.

Most modern bright projectors will put out about 650 lumens in their higher brightness calibrated modes. This would give you about 31 foot Lamberts on a 144" screen ( when the lamp is new ). A plasma is typically in the high 40's or low 50's. The standard for a dark theatre is 12-15 foot Lamberts. This is fine for movie watching in subdued ambient light that's directed away from the screen, and even better for lights out 'dark' movie watching.

The AX100 and Epson 400 can put out about 2000 lumens in their brightest mode. The colour accuracy isn't great in this mode, but fine for sports / gaming, and even HDTV if you aren't too critical. This will give you about 96 foot lamberts in the sweet spot ... around the same brigtness of an LCD flat panel. ( again, when the lamp is new )

I have a 400 and Hi Power, and for the aformentioned sports / gaming, I get a vibrant pic even with 40' of un-shaded floor to ceiliing windows.

Although the Hi Power is retro-reflective, and thus helps reject ambient light from the sides, it really helps if you walls are a darker colour .. especially on the screen side of the room. You also can't have any light coming from behind, as that will defeat the advantage of a retro screen.

What you can't expect is to watch a dark movie with all the lights on in broad daylight. However, even flat panels have problems with this too.

Jonathan

The Mitsubishi HD1500 can also output almost 2000 lumens in brightest mode.

Big is not everything....look to PQ over size.

Big is not everything....look to PQ over size.

Everything, no.

But they aren't mutually exclusive.

Don't over look the dramatic impact a 135" has over a 92".

Here's my Sharp DT-500 on my Silver Torus at 9' diagonal at minimum zoom (lowest brightness) with the iris on in low lamp mode.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1319/d41nw6.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7546/d101tx6.jpg

Not the best screenshot (I don't think I need to say that the image was way better in person).
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/841594/FF400.gif

Here's my 4805 (picture was way better in person) with one shaded light on in the room on my pale gray wall. The room is not nearly as dark as it appears:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-9/841594/spidermanbig11op3-12.jpg

Getting a good and large ambient light picture can be done, but it takes creatiivity with lighting and a high contrast screen surface helps a lot, especially one with some gain. You won't get Plasma bright, but your eyes will adjust to the brightness of the projector which will make the difference seem not nearly as extreme as viewing side by side. There is a reason why you're not supposed to view two screen type simulataneously. The human eye will adjust for the brighter image makeing the dimmer one appear dimmer than it would if you were viewing it by itself.

What makes a picture to have the kinda punch we like is not lumen alone.
144" screen is not going to offer the same saturation and density of a flat panel that is only 60" no matter what you do.

If you really need to have a screen that large regardless, a hi lumen hi contrast 1080 dlp with its hi fill factor would be a better solution than 720 lcd or dlp if budget allows. And hi power screen of that size becomes axtra directional with its super narrow cone unles you are seating two chairs row given the PJ is mounted well behind and close to eye level.

What makes a picture to have the kinda punch we like is not lumen alone.
144" screen is not going to offer the same saturation and density of a flat panel that is only 60" no matter what you do.

If you really need to have a screen that large regardless, a hi lumen hi contrast 1080 dlp with its hi fill factor would be a better solution than 720 lcd or dlp if budget allows. And hi power screen of that size becomes axtra directional with its super narrow cone unles you are seating two chairs row given the PJ is mounted well behind and close to eye level.

What price range are we talking about?

I love plasma except it is small. I purchased a 50" and am about to buy a 60". I'd rather buy a projector for movies. I want the big screen feeling and I want deep colors with a bright picture.

What price range are we talking about?

I love plasma except it is small. I purchased a 50" and am about to buy a 60". I'd rather buy a projector for movies. I want the big screen feeling and I want deep colors with a bright picture.

It will cost you more than two 60" Plasmas.. Depending of manu. though.

How far from the screen are you going to sit? 17 feet away or more?

If its far enough away that 720p is enough, you should consider a bright projector with lens shift and long throw combined with a Da-Lite high power or other very high gain screen.

High gain screens can only "use" the high gain to the max when the projector is mounted in the ideal position, and the ideal position is not very short throw and fixed offsets. Ideal position for a high power is far away from the screen, usually behind you and slightly above head level - so rear shelf mounted or ceiling mounted with a drop pole.

Without a high gain screen you will need an expensive high lumen HT projector. You can get one with 2000+ lumens, but again, its not cheap.

It will cost you more than two 60" Plasmas.. Depending of manu. though.


What are basing that on? A Runco or a Christie? You are talking 10 to 12K.

I think this thread has lost it's ability to help the OP. He just needs a Panny AX100 and a DaLite High Power, but he'll never be able to pull the trigger now.

What price range are we talking about?

I love plasma except it is small. I purchased a 50" and am about to buy a 60". I'd rather buy a projector for movies. I want the big screen feeling and I want deep colors with a bright picture.

Get yourself the new Optoma 1080 in low two grand. Or least a higher end 720 DLP or LCD that are rated hi in lumen.
But again I am against your size criteria. Not that I don't like it but you will not have the punch you are after. I say 9' wide preferrebly 8' wide.

What are basing that on? A Runco or a Christie? You are talking 10 to 12K.

I think this thread has lost it's ability to help the OP. He just needs a Panny AX100 and a DaLite High Power, but he'll never be able to pull the trigger now.

Maybe this from the thread and above my post.

What makes a picture to have the kinda punch we like is not lumen alone.
144" screen is not going to offer the same saturation and density of a flat panel that is only 60" no matter what you do.

If you really need to have a screen that large regardless, a hi lumen hi contrast 1080 dlp with its hi fill factor would be a better solution than 720 lcd or dlp if budget allows. And hi power screen of that size becomes axtra directional with its super narrow cone unles you are seating two chairs row given the PJ is mounted well behind and close to eye level.

What price range are we talking about?

I love plasma except it is small. I purchased a 50" and am about to buy a 60". I'd rather buy a projector for movies. I want the big screen feeling and I want deep colors with a bright picture.

Do you know of a sub 4k 1080p projector that has Hi lumen and Hi contrast?

144? that's gross ;)

Optoma HD80 and the PS3 Bluray player over hdmi cable is what I can recommend. You'll need a big room to get 144"... I'm doing 110" with a throw of about 16'