Just read letter to ed. in home theater mag. A guy wrote in saying how much better front projector are over plasmas and lcd panels...looking to up grade my pany 50 inch plasma with a f.projector, in all catagories except light output.....I have a completly dark room with plenty of space....went today to checkout 3 projectors in a complety dark space...in ideal viewing rooms...a hi end runco...sharp and a sony with 1080p feeds...and was not inpressed at all...they all looked washed out with colors that had no pop....I'm I to critical...my friend thought the same....I'll take my smaller plasma over the 100 inch screen any day...any thoughts would greatly be appriciated

You are probably more impressed with the plasma because you've been seduced by brightness. The plasma is usually 3-5 times brighter than an HT setup. Thus the colors pop and you basically miss much of the subtleties that actually exist in the real image.

Watch a good projector set up properly for a few weeks then go back to the plasma. It'll be like eating fine dining then going back to McDonalds. Dont get me wrong. There's a place for the bright over the top image of a plasma but it's not in a finely tuned Home Theater.

Its kind of humorous that most of america thinks home theater is a plasma above their fireplace. :) Unless you can achieve greater than 20 degree viewing angle it's not home theater...its watching TV.

Tyrg,

FWIW I agree with you and the brightness issue. Many people are WOWED by brightness over anything else but I would also ask if the projectors were properly set up and calibrated. The presentation needs to be spot on if one is to impress dark room non-withstanding.

It is similar to watching with overblown colors having the display calibrated and then going back to supersaturated (oversaturated) colors. When you get used to a "proper" display it is hard to go back to a "normal" display.

dazed

I'll beg to differ slightly with Tryg on this one. I have a 60" Pioneer plasma and a 106" screen with projector in the same room. I do love the big screen for movies, there's nothing like that big screen effect. But I actually prefer the picture quality of the plasma. It's not just about brightness to me. It's about the window effect of a direct view display that comes from the contrast, colors, and brightness. I'm not sure projection can ever achieve that effect. If I could afford the 103" Panasonic plasma, I'd buy it.

I also find it humorous that Tryg says you've been "seduced by brightness" when he's the leader of the HiPower screen cult which is all about brightness, which I personally find objectionable because it destroys the black level of my projector.

I prefer a brighter image. Over 20 ft lamberts. I too have a 50 inch plasma directly under my HT screen. But there is no question the image from the projector is much more accurate than the plasma.

I watch the plasma during the day because it's an emmissive device and is greater than 50 foot lamberts. But I always switch to the projector when the lights go down and is much more enjoyable, and not just because of the 123" image.

I'm honored to be a cult leader :) Now drink your damn koolaid and enjoy the show ;)

thanks guys!....looks like i'll keep on checking out f. projectors...I live north new jersey...I was at a place in tenafly...place called saga electronics...and 6 th ave on route 4 in paramus...do you know another place where I could look in my area?....thanks

find forum members that will let you see their setup. Usually much better than stores

reio-ta

It would be good if you read a primer on "gain" and what it is and does.

Gain doesn't really do much for me.

Then you should get an uncoated white pvc material. As close to perfect uniformity as you can get.

Draper 1300
Stewart snow white
Da-Lite (any matte white product
carada bright white
etc etc etc

I guess I was just scratching my head at your Firehawk looks like a plasma statement. Maybe a very dim failing one. The gain/brightness of the Firehawk is similar to the Studiotek.

just got back from another store by me...they a 8000.00$ sharp and a 130inch 1200.00$ screen with a blue-ray Transformer dvd...looked awsome...still a little darker than I'm use too....if they shot it at a smaller screen...for a smaller pic....would it look even better...is that how f. projectors work...the smaller size pic the better the display?...i'm thinking for my room going with a 92 inch screen and going with that new panny ae2000u projector....what do you think....

Adjustment of the eyes retinal chemistry when moving from a bright to dark enviroment can take 30mintues or longer depending on the difference, some parts of the eye(cones & rods) can take a couple of hours supposedly. The eye also cannot perceive color correctly without this adjustment. Perhaps this is a factor particularly when you consider that shop lighting is typically much brighter than living room lighting.

just got back from another store by me...they a 8000.00$ sharp and a 130inch 1200.00$ screen with a blue-ray Transformer dvd...looked awsome...still a little darker than I'm use too....if they shot it at a smaller screen...for a smaller pic....would it look even better...is that how f. projectors work...the smaller size pic the better the display?...i'm thinking for my room going with a 92 inch screen and going with that new panny ae2000u projector....what do you think....

Tranformers is not on Blu-ray.

That is how it all works. Smaller displays = a better percieved pic. Certainly the smaller you go on a projector the brighter the image becomes.

I just think it is silly to compare Plasma to Front Projection as they have so little to do with each other.