Just wondering how many AVS'ers are using their projectors for daily / nightly viewing as their primary display.
As a long time projector owner/user I remember a few years ago using only my projector for everything.
Im debating going that route again, selling my 60" Pio plasma and just using my AX200 full time.
Just wondering how many others out there in AVS land are doing the same these days.


Cheers
Davyo

my pj is my main display for computer,tv, gaming.
it is on 12 hours a day, and still on the original bulb, with over 9000 hours on it.

optoma ep739
home made h/c screen

Our HD80 is our only display so it's on all the time, on average of 10+ hours a day. "Only" does not include computers and/or kitchen LCD.

Interesting, the first two replys to my post from full time PJ users and both replys being "pro" full time use.

Perhaps Im not as crazy as I thunk for considering going PJ full time.

Please keep the input coming.

Cheers
Davyo

my pj is my main display for computer,tv, gaming.
it is on 12 hours a day, and still on the original bulb, with over 9000 hours on it.


Which projector do you have? I too use mine alot--average of 9-10 hours/day to the tune of 6500 hours on the first bulb with my Sanyo Z4.

4 projectors 4 years approx 1000 hrs a year..I usually sell the projectors in under a year but with the hrs you guys are getting maybe i will get a more top of the line and hang in a little longer

I use my FP as my main 'tv'. My 'old' 32" tube TV is now in the bedroom

Waiting on my HD70 now. It will be the sole display in my living room, replacing a 37" Toshiba CRT. I plan on using it quite a bit!

I ran my Z2 a LOT for the first year and a half that I owned it, probably around 10-12 hrs per day. I got to over 5k hours on the bulb when I started to notice some dimming. I read on this forum back in 2005, just prior to buying the Z2, that the key to long bulb life wasn't so much how many hours in a day that you used your pj, but how many times you cycled it on and off. If I'm running my pj and need to leave home for an hour or two, and I know I'll want to watch again a bit later, I'll just leave it on. I try not to turn it on/off more than once in a day.

I had a dust blob issue in the Fall of '06 and sent the unit back to Sanyo for cleaning. During that time I picked up a Sammy LCD 32" that I still use for casual viewing today. So to answer your question, I'm not a "projector all the time" guy anymore, but I spent a while in that mode and loved every minute :D

HD70...Used as primarry TV in the house.

Wife works from home, kid is 1 and is home all day. TV is ON from sun-up to bed time, usually 12-15 hours a day.

PJ is 95% of my viewing. It's the only TV and gaming screen in the Living Room. 4 to 12 hours a day. Probably one day a week, it isn't turned on.
Laptop is used for internet.
27 inch CRT's in the two guest bedrooms have cable boxes and older gaming systems, but rarely see use.

Damn you guys watch a lot of "tv"!!!
I love my display but on 10-12 hrs a day, wow.
I need to show my wife this so she can stop bitching at me!

PJ is 95% of my viewing. It's the only TV and gaming screen in the Living Room. 4 to 12 hours a day. Probably one day a week, it isn't turned on.
Laptop is used for internet.
27 inch CRT's in the two guest bedrooms have cable boxes and older gaming systems, but rarely see use.

Pretty much the same as me. My TW700 does everything in my living room, PC monitor/laptop for internet and a 27" CRT in the bedroom for old consoles/SD Cable. I think I was just under the 1000 hour mark after 7 months when I had to pack it away due to renovations.

Sometimes during the week my projector doesn't get used, but the average is 2-4 hours. On the weekend it can be as much as 10-12 per day.

My projector is the only display in my living room. Barring out of the home activities during the weekdays it is on pretty much from the time I get home from work until I go to bed and on weekends it is on all day.

Pretty much the same here. Although we have an ancient 27" CRT in the livingroom it's only very rarely used. Pretty much all TV / Gaming is done on the projector, and used pretty much daily. Mits HD1000 for most occasions. Epson 400 if we decide to watch a movie ( we have a dedicated CRT theatre that we usually watch movies in ), or for daytime viewing on really bright days, as it can out-lumen the Mits.

Jonathan

Running the Infocus SP50000 at 106", I use it like a TV. Original bulb, now up to around 6000 hours. I try to avoid power cycling it more than once a day so I will tend to leave it on even if I'm not watching it but plan to do so within a few hours. I have an HTPC but really only use it for movies and occassional gaming. Just got a Wii so my PJ hours will probably go up a little.

I just jumped on the Mits HC4900 bandwagon (ordered it yesterday), but I doubt my viewing preferences will change much.

Projector is used primarily for HDTV, movies, our smaller 34" HD tube is used for 1/2 hour reruns/sitcoms, SD television stuff. Been that way for past 5 years, I don't see it changing.

PT-AX100 almost a year old at 1700 hrs. About 4-5 hours a day average - more on weekends, less during the week, skip some nights.

That's pretty much our primary display. There's an old 27" CRT that the kids watch cartoons on during breakfast, and sometimes it's for background news at dinner, but it gets much less use than the projector does.

Impressive!

I am buying a Optoma HD 65 to use all the time, replacing the TV.

Now I am sure that is possible.

A hug,
Peter.

HD1000 - use it as my primary display. Watch TV, movies and video game on it and put over 2500 hours on it last year. I have an old CRT that my son watches his TV on occasionally and might get turned on an hour or less a day.

The Mits HD1000u is the only device in our home. :) Once you go big....nothing else will do. :D

PJ is 95% of my viewing. It's the only TV and gaming screen in the Living Room. 4 to 12 hours a day. Probably one day a week, it isn't turned on....
Thats pretty much me in a nutshell. I do have a 27 HDTV LCD in the bedroom and that I use occasionally, however the PJ is my primary display. It's been this way now for about 1.5 yrs.

I hung a fixed panel screen in front of my 35" CRT TV about 4 years ago and haven't turned on the CRT since (well, maybe once or twice).

Even if I have to buy a new bulb every 18-24 months, it's well worth it.

Projo is my main display; I use it from 4 to 12 hours a day. I also have a pt-ax200u. Once I got my projector I gave my 50" dlp to my parents.

Which projector do you have?

optoma ep739, always on eco and high altitude mode.
hasnt dimmed much, using abnormal home made screen, so i still get good contrast with a fair amount of light the room. the key too long bulb life is the on off cycles. if i go out for 1 hour or less, i leave pj running.

We only watch movies, so yeah. No TV in the house at all. There was a while when there was one good TV show we'd catch as well - being drama, well shot, well acted, and broadcast in high-def, that was a no-brainer on the projector either.

C

Mits HC3000 as my primary display (movies and HDTV) and Panny 50" plasma for daytime viewing. We don't have absolute light control so viewing is restricted to the evening. I always like winters as it gets dark by 5pm local and therefore more projector viewing opportunities! :)

My HD 70 is the primary display. 3-4 hours a night of HDTV/DVD

I use my Panny PT-AE900U blasting on a 125.5" DIY screen for about 95% of my viewing (have an old 36" CRT in the bedroom for those weekend mornings when I feel like just lying in bed for a while). I use the projector 8 - 10 hours a day for PC usage, watching movies and downloaded British TV stuff, but very little live TV.

I use my PT-AE300 as my only display as well. I don't watch a lot of TV, .. correction, I don't watch a lot of live TV.. mainly captured shows in HD. The bedroom have an ancient 27" TV that doesn't even have S-input!!!

My 4 yr. old PT-L500U has over 7000 hrs. on it. It's been in use constantly since day one but has developed some serious burn in/color uniformity issues, so out it goes. New PT-AX100U goes into service in two days. It will get the same treatment - 4 to 8+ hrs per day. I agree with an above poster about powering on/off. Leaving it on constantly is better than repeated cycling.

Our only other TV is a 13 in. Sony

Geeze,, Im really shocked at how many folks have chimed in on my little thread talking about their heavy all day projector use.
Very cool.

When I posted this thread question I was thinkin I would get a bunch of replys of "dont do it" as a primary display.

I was also a bit concerned as I tend to turn on my plasma and leave it on all night long, 8 to 10 hours a night.
Knowing others are doing this makes me feel much better about selling the plasma and going PJ only.

Thanks very much to everyone for all the input so far !!!!!!!!!

Cheers
Davyo

For those who use your PJ as the primary display, what does you do about ambient light? Do you just sit in a dark room all day, turn up the brightness, or live with a washed out picture?

For those who use your PJ as the primary display, what does you do about ambient light? Do you just sit in a dark room all day, turn up the brightness, or live with a washed out picture?

my room is quite bright, i can read a book while projector still gets decent contrast. i have a 9sqft tinted window that is always uncovered. my pj has 200watt bulb always in eco mode. the secret to this setup is my home-made screen, which enhances blacks under moderate light.

For those who use your PJ as the primary display, what does you do about ambient light? Do you just sit in a dark room all day, turn up the brightness, or live with a washed out picture?

The room the projector is in is painted a nice dark brown, and the windows are covered with 99% light blocking shades. I usually watch/listen to television from another room while using the computer. The lights are on in the computer room but I leave the lights off in the living room.

If I am watching a movie or a favorite television show I try to keep it as dark as possible.

If I am watching sports I turn on a couple lights. The crazy thing is once you paint your room a darker color the light from your lamps don't illuminate the area nearly as much.

I have a wall of windows perpendicular to the screen with no blinds at all. The combination of a retro-reflective screen, a bright projector that's mounted close to eye level, and dark-ish walls makes for a very watchable pic for tv/sports/gaming during the day. No movies though in the daylight hours.

Jonathan

For those who use your PJ as the primary display, what does you do about ambient light? Do you just sit in a dark room all day, turn up the brightness, or live with a washed out picture?

In my theater room I've got 9 can lights in the ceiling, 65w bulbs in each, and the image is quite bright with them all on, although I usually just have the 6 in the rear portion on when watching TV or playing games. When watching actual movies I usually turn them down or off, but the picture is anything but washed out with all the lights on.

This is with the PT-AX100 in any of the "Living Room" modes. When I actually want a dark movie experience with the lights off I move it to one of the "Theater" modes.

The only time I'd consider the image "washed out" is when I turn on all of the 7 stage lights, which point directly to the screen. :)

Might just be my particular projector though. The only other projector I've seen in someone's house was an old used AE700, and that was definitely "washed out" when a few lights were on.

I was until my lamp died yesterday.

Mine is on all the time, it's my only display for everything. I put 4000 hours on my bulb in 9 months.

It's in my living room and everything is black, completely dedicated environment.

I've tried it and I don't like it. Sitting in a dark room for too long drives me nuts and hurts my eyes. Also I don't like watching t.v shows on a really large screen. The t.v format doesn't work well on a big projection screen, imo. Watching a 120inch head shot of David Letterman every night was disconcerting. For me a front projector and a direct view t.v combo is the way to go.

I have a living room with windows. The windows have sheers that still let in a ton of sunlight. A couple of things I did to improve the picture with ambient (sunlight) light is the following: The room is painted a flat darker yellowish (I think my wife calls it wheat), the ceiling is a textured sandstone dark green paint, the screen is mounted close to the ceiling, and finally the screen is small only 80" 16:9.

The picture does have less contrast during the day compared to complete darkness. Normal TV and football are great in the daylight with the certains wide open, its the dark movies that the PQ decreases. So, I just pull the shades and watch the movie during the day.

Even the brightest plasmas are washed out with direct sunlight.

It's all I use...

45% movies (Blu-ray and HD DVD)
45% gaming (xbox 360 mostly, some ps3)
10% HDTV shows... maybe even less

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 projector (previously used a Z4)

I have a living room with windows. The windows have sheers that still let in a ton of sunlight. A couple of things I did to improve the picture with ambient (sunlight) light is the following: The room is painted a flat darker yellowish (I think my wife calls it wheat), the ceiling is a textured sandstone dark green paint, the screen is mounted close to the ceiling, and finally the screen is small only 80" 16:9.

The picture does have less contrast during the day compared to complete darkness. Normal TV and football are great in the daylight with the certains wide open, its the dark movies that the PQ decreases. So, I just pull the shades and watch the movie during the day.

Even the brightest plasmas are washed out with direct sunlight.

What he said.

In the world outside of AVS, I'm constantly battling to dispel the myth that you need a batcave to use a projector. Mine's in my living room with huge windows perpendicular to the screen, and the open concept of my house lets ambient light in from adjacent rooms.

During the day, I lower honeycomb-type blinds on the windows and fire up the PJ. More than enough contrast to watch most things. Would I watch Lord of the Rings this way? No, but it's fine for sports, talk shows, or anything else that doesn't have dark scenes.

Front projector - it's not just for batcaves anymore. :)

I use my Sharp DT500 as my primary display - movies, HDTV, Xbox 360, sports and so on. By the time I get home from work, there aren't any issues with sunlight, so it's not a big deal. On weekends, and especially for football games, I'll draw the curtains to take the direct sunlight out of the picture. The DT500 on a Da-Lite HP seems to do pretty well with the remaining ambient light. It's not as good as Night time viewing, contrast isn't quite what it should be, but I still prefer the bigness of it over my 42" plasma.

My first-gen CRT HDTV broke a few months ago. After being TV-less for a while, I installed my HC4900 + 92" HCCV yesterday. It is my only display.

For those who use your PJ as the primary display, what does you do about ambient light? Do you just sit in a dark room all day, turn up the brightness, or live with a washed out picture?

I have ambient light which I can moderately control via window blinds. If I am watching during daylight hours, it tends to be cable TV ... most of which just seems to end up being brighter/higher contrast scenes, so I may even watch with lights on. Sometimes it is a little more washed out than I'd like, but it's generally acceptable (especially when I watch hockey :cool:).

I tend to watch movies more often after sundown, so I turn off the lights and BAM!, total darkness ... perfect since I care more about PQ when watching movies than with TV.

I am (and it dates back some five years now...)

I was using a SP 4805 as my primary display and besides the time that I got a new bulb it was on everyday and with a gf and child at home during the day was on quite a bit of the day. I put 5000 hours on it in about 2.5 years maybe 3. One of the concerns I have going forward was getting a projector that could handle this kind of time on it, and one that could handle less then perfect lighting conditions. I am glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't use a projector only for watching movies from time to time. I don't even own a tv to watch now that my 4805 is dead.

Interesting thread and thanks to everyone for their comments. I'm mulling over the same thing and ambient light is my big concern. I mostly watch movies at night anyways so that's not an issue and so long as it's going to be watchable during the day I don't really care what the "purists" may think. Is it really that much worse than a RPTV? I mean, I already have issues with light being reflected off the screen. The blinds in my living room are pretty good but I do have some light leaking in from other rooms (most of which I could remedy with darker blinds in the dining room if need be).

I've never owned a front projector before; I'm looking to upgrade my current RPTV and not too happy about the options in the 70+" RPTV range. Seems like with FP I can get a much larger screen (probably ~100" in my room) for substantially less money. Aside from the ambient light issue (and the installation) it seems like pretty much a no-brainer...

Interesting thread and thanks to everyone for their comments. I'm mulling over the same thing and ambient light is my big concern. I mostly watch movies at night anyways so that's not an issue and so long as it's going to be watchable during the day I don't really care what the "purists" may think. Is it really that much worse than a RPTV? I mean, I already have issues with light being reflected off the screen. The blinds in my living room are pretty good but I do have some light leaking in from other rooms (most of which I could remedy with darker blinds in the dining room if need be).

I've never owned a front projector before; I'm looking to upgrade my current RPTV and not too happy about the options in the 70+" RPTV range. Seems like with FP I can get a much larger screen (probably ~100" in my room) for substantially less money. Aside from the ambient light issue (and the installation) it seems like pretty much a no-brainer...

I'm going through the same questions as you. Right now, I only have a 10-year old 32" tube TV, but I got permission from my boss (wife) to replace it with an HDTV. She likes the idea of having only 1 TV for the family, so I need to choose between a flat panel or a projector.

You mentioned ambient light as an issue - a closely-related tradeoff issue is bulb life. The brighter you run your PJ, the more frequently you'll have to replace your bulbs, which can be expensive. If you use the projector as the primary display, not only will it put on a lot of hours in a short amount of time, but it will also probably be running brighter during the day.

This is my understanding of how the math works. Assuming a bulb life of 2000 hours (guess - I think I missed what PJ you're thinking of getting, but that seems to be a common average) and 10 hours/day (like some of the people on this thread :eek: -- I guess I'm in the minority with my 3-4 hours/day), you'll need to replace your bulb every 200 days. Assuming $400/pop (another guess), that comes out to $2/day, or $60/month, however you'd like to look at it. That adds up! Since you mention that you mostly watch at night, you may be able to assume 3000 hours bulb life (again, SWAG), and 4 hours/day of use. That would then come out to changing the bulb every 750 days, at a cost of about 53 cents/day, or $15/month.

Of course, as was stated elsewhere in the thread, bulb life is a function not only of hours-in-use, but frequency of powering on. For the 10 hours/day crowd, their hours : power up ratio will be very high (greater efficiency), whereas it sounds like you (and I) will have a much lower ratio (lower efficiency.) I have no idea how to calculate the impact of that though.

Anyway, this is all my n00b understanding from reading these forums, not from any real world experience (yet.) People who actually know what the hell they're talking about should probably comment on my logic. :)

HD72+u80 on a 120" 2.35 carada screen. CIH and my main display for two years. It's on everyday 6-8 hours and host SD-HD cable,SD DVD,x-box.

60 inch DILA in the den does ps2 only and is quite lonely.

30 inch Tosh CRT for a back up display.

Movies only for me. However ,why would I want to see the news in hd....will it change the fact that they are not easy on the eyes. Don't mine me....I'm just upset about watching OSU lose in HD! :(

True, bulb life can be a bitch. My first bulb on my DILA went bad just after a year(unknown hours) And in the HD72 at 980 hours. I use good bulb management(1 cycle per day) but sometimes you get whimpy bulbs. I knew it going in but consider the price of bulbs the price you pay to play big.

Non-CRT RPTVs have similar bulb lifetimes and costs right? Things I've read suggest that but I just want to make sure the bulb issue is basically a wash between front and rear projection and not something to base a decision on.

I know RPs have LEDs and now lasers and that technology will make it to FPs someday. Before this discussion I was aware of the bulb life issue but kind of ignoring it, but yeah it is a rather significant recurring expense. So, back to the age-old dilemma of wait or buy now. Would be easier to resolve if my old 61HS10 didn't still look pretty good...

Non-CRT RPTVs have similar bulb lifetimes and costs right? Things I've read suggest that but I just want to make sure the bulb issue is basically a wash between front and rear projection and not something to base a decision on.

I know RPs have LEDs and now lasers and that technology will make it to FPs someday. Before this discussion I was aware of the bulb life issue but kind of ignoring it, but yeah it is a rather significant recurring expense. So, back to the age-old dilemma of wait or buy now. Would be easier to resolve if my old 61HS10 didn't still look pretty good...


You can mitigate the bulb life/expense issue somewhat. Paying attention to the number of on-off cycles will help. If it's on and you're not going to be watching for a couple hours, leave it on. Ours is on 8-10 hours a day and in that timeframe we may be doing other things away from the PJ or even out of the house. But if we're going to be watching it within a couple hours and we know that, we leave it on. Another thing, which many of us on this forum have discussed in other threads, is to buy a lamp-replacement insurance policy when you get the projector. Two replacement lamps during the policy's three-year life (policy cost is between $99 and $129) just makes sense. And finally, you could put a small amount of money away each month in a dedicated savings account so that when you do need to buy a new lamp, you've got the cash and very little pain. Nothing like planning ahead.

The bottom line for us, and I think many of us on AVS, is that a huge 1080p image is a wonderous thing to behold. Movies, TV shows, my own video productions, gaming - there is just nothing to compare it against. If you have the space for the projector and a big enough wall to shine it on, why would you even want to consider a tiny 60" or 70" screen? As for the cave-deweller issue, there are lots of creative ways to work out lighting control although I think I may have been a bat in another life.:)

I use my JVC 52 inch for everyday tv, and I use my 110 inch for movies only.

Hm, I had a look at the bulb replacement warranty and it seems too good to be true for that price (even at $149, which is what it was at the store I'm looking at)... which makes me wonder what the catch is, but otherwise is close to pushing me "over the edge".

So, lookiing at the projectorcentral calculator, with the Mits 4900, it looks like from 10' 3" at 1.6x zoom (which is really "wide angle", right? i.e. kind of backwards from camera terminology?) I get 100" and 17fL which is right where it ought to be, correct? Sorry if I'm turning this thread into a bit of "help the newb" but I hate to start a new thread at this point...

Todd, you are correct, at it's shortest throw the 4900 will do about 100" from 10.5 feet. Depending on lamp mode and image settings, you could get from 13 - 30 fL on a 1.0 gain screen when the lamp is new. This should be fine as long as you watch with no or very low ambient light. You should be able to maintain a bright enough image throughout the life of the lamp.

If you want to watch with more ambient light, consider going slightly smaller to around 92" ( 20 square feet of screen vs nearly 30 square feet ), and / or using a higher gain screen.

Jonathan

I made the switch 6 months ago and haven't looked back. Replaced a JVC 32" CRT with an Acer PH530 on a 100" screen in my very dark basement.

I don't have any other tv in the house besides two computers and a laptop. The PJ is my main unit. Its been great, really, because I don't watch TV anymore. The ads and quality suck anyway, so now I just watch downloaded episodes or dvd sets, movies, etc. Also play PS2,Xbox 360, Wii on it constantly. I would never go back. I just sold my JVC a month ago for $200 :)

This is truly great news, as I've been longing to make the jump for years, and the main deterrents are bulb life as well as ambient light. Now Ambient Light I don't have to worry about, and after seeing how bulb life isn't as bad as I previously thought...well, that makes the decision much easier! With the cost of large LCDs/Plasmas, Front Projection is really the way to go.

Welcome to the forums MixxMaster. You are so right, amigo. Just don't blame anyone here when you can't get rid of your friends who want to have marathon gaming sessions on the big screen every weekend. My solution for that: 1) screen your calls and don't pickup when they call; 2) install a peephole and don't answer the door when they come over; and 3) have a wife that turns on the frost when they come over.
:D

Thanks! I've actually been lurking for a couple years, this topic is what brought me out of the woodwork. Now with my old Rear Projection TV about to be replaced(it's a nice 61" RCA, but the screen has a nice crack on it that is irritating the hell out of me, and it's not High Def).
I have been looking at LCD's, but having to go to a smaller screen even if it's HD seems like a downgrade. So, I plan on going with a decent 720p projector to start, hopefully upgrading to 1080p within a couple of years.
I plan up beefing up the doors and muzzling the dog to prevent people from hogging up my future HT!

Just wondering how many AVS'ers are using their projectors for daily / nightly viewing as their primary display.
As a long time projector owner/user I remember a few years ago using only my projector for everything.
Im debating going that route again, selling my 60" Pio plasma and just using my AX200 full time.
Just wondering how many others out there in AVS land are doing the same these days.


Cheers
Davyo

my pan ptl500 hd pj is my main display but i actually use it very little and only evenings.
it's for movies/concerts only. about 20-25 hours/month, ~790 hours in 4 years.
i have 2 lcd flat panels for 'just' watching tv.

An update from my original post in January. I have put ~700 hours on my HD70 since then and have had an awesome exp. I generally watch during the late afternoon/night hours, but it works great on the weekends with lots of ambient light.

Hello All,

Hope you are all well.

The past 9 months I have used a MovieMate 30s as the primary TV in the household, racked up over 1000 hours, got some dust. Epson replaced it, and now I am ready for another year.

Hopefully in September I will be picking up a MovieMate 72 when the prices drop, then will use the 30 for Wii and kids tv, and the 72 for HDTV and Movies. Great thing about MovieMates is the inexpensive $199 lamps from Epson with free overnight shipping, makes it more economical as a primary display.

Later,

Tony

projectors are....cool!:D

A couple questions I have:

1. Would an 80" diagonal be too big from a viewing distance of 14'. Even that seems to big to me for just regular TV watching.

2. Does the light ever bother you if you look directly into the projector? If it is on all the time, it would seem that you are going to be looking into the projector sometimes (even if it is by accident). That would seemingly bug my eyes. I tried this at work and it is quite bright.

A couple questions I have:

1. Would an 80" diagonal be too big from a viewing distance of 14'. Even that seems to big to me for just regular TV watching. No, because that is my seating distance from my 106" diagonal screen, and I sometimes scoot the recliner up another foot or so. Also, remember a lot of "TV" is still 4:3 format which makes it a bit smaller compared to 16:9.

2. Does the light ever bother you if you look directly into the projector? If it is on all the time, it would seem that you are going to be looking into the projector sometimes (even if it is by accident). That would seemingly bug my eyes. I tried this at work and it is quite bright.My projector is ceiling mounted, so this is not an issue. I would recommend this, as looking directly into the projector is quite painful!
.

I have considered ceiling mounted, but I have 12' ceilings. If I then project down to a height of about 4' (lower edge from floor), wouldnt it skew the image?

Projectors are designed to either be table or ceiling-mounted. I have about a 12' ceiling and a ceiling-mounted venerable X1. Projected onto a 106" screen. No skewed image. I would suggest studying the specs of your targeted projectors carefully to see their throw distance, lens shift, etc. Try out the projector calculator at Projectorcentral.com to get a better feel.

Happy hunting, I'm sure you'll end up with a great choice!

"...Does the light ever bother you if you look directly into the projector?"

No, it's about the same IMO as being in a commercial theater and having to walk around during a movie...

A couple questions I have:

1. Would an 80" diagonal be too big from a viewing distance of 14'. Even that seems to big to me for just regular TV watching.

2. Does the light ever bother you if you look directly into the projector? If it is on all the time, it would seem that you are going to be looking into the projector sometimes (even if it is by accident). That would seemingly bug my eyes. I tried this at work and it is quite bright.

80" is a bit too SMALL from 14ft. I watch a 92" from 14 and I could go much bigger.

Use my plasma for regular tv and gaming most of the time. HC1500 usually just for movies...Mainly because when I watch my projector I like the room completely dark, and I cant sit it total darkness all the time!!!

A couple questions I have:

1. Would an 80" diagonal be too big from a viewing distance of 14'. Even that seems to big to me for just regular TV watching.

2. Does the light ever bother you if you look directly into the projector? If it is on all the time, it would seem that you are going to be looking into the projector sometimes (even if it is by accident). That would seemingly bug my eyes. I tried this at work and it is quite bright.

Try this very nice calculator, it does its job quite well:

myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

Sorry, I don't have 3 posts yet...

Oh, and by the way, I have a Sharp Z2000 and we intend to use it as our main display for HDTV, movies, gaming with PS3.

We do not watch as much TV as other folks here (maybe 3-4 hours a day on average) though. I still pay close attention to on/off cycles.

my xr-10x is the only screen in the house. at least 8 hours a day if not more. everything but computer use, have a laptop.
the bigger the better for me. can wait in a few months will be going to 120".

The projector is my only display. I only watch a regular flat panel display when I am forced to watch my wifes soap's.:(

80" is a bit too SMALL from 14ft. I watch a 92" from 14 and I could go much bigger.

I know what you mean. I watch my Epson 1080UB at about 120" from 13-14 feet and its GREAT! My Optoma HD72 was at about 100" and I mostly LOVE the bigger picture from the Epson! Especially on 2:35 to1 hi-def movies, 16:9 TV and good scaled 720 or 1080 SD DVDs. 480i 4:3 scaled TV is the only thing I wish was smaller.

x1, then ae900 has been my only main tv (lcd in the bedroom) for 6 years now. Have a 24inch lcd hooked up to the htpc when i need to check on the dvr or otherwise don't want to turn on the pj - never use it for regular viewing.

We used to be projector-only before we had kids. Once we had a baby, someone was up in the daytime all the time and the X1 bulb was getting pretty weak (replaced with HD72 later). The 27" CRT came back out with the baby around but wiring the projector for HD and the 27" for SD was aggravating. Almost picked up a 32" Sony HD CRT at one point but it didn't happen somehow.

Later ended up picking up an Olevia 37" LCD for $600 January 2007. I've got it on a mechanical HDMI splitter with the projector.

It spends its time running during the day for Oprah and Sesame Street and Baby Einstein and whatever SD stuff we've got on the Tivo.

Projector normally doesn't come on until at least 7-8pm. The HD72 has proven to have iffy bulbs so far, so I'm glad to save the wear and tear. The toddler and baby don't need 106" of Sesame Street. It's much better having a display to use for menus and streaming music via TVersity and kid's shows instead of burning projector hours.