What is your percentage of watching HD television broadcast on your projector?

I only have limited access to HD TV channels (BBC HD and ITV HD in the UK), so I only tend to watch/record the films that they broadcast. I find the picture quality not quite as good as BluRay, but not far off (maybe also a limitation of my source which is a HTPC for the TV stuff).

Given that my TV is only 40" and I sit 12' back, then the benefits of watching HD on it are moot anyway. I don't worry about lamp hours as I feel it's a bit like buying a Ferrari and then worrying about putting petrol in it, plus the first three projectors I had only got to 200 hours before I sold them (AE1000/2000/3000). Now I'm happy with my HD350/Lumagen combo I might get to a stage where I need to buy a lamp eventually, but it's only at 150 hours since February.

I don't tend to watch hardly any SD on my PJ though as most films I get (or rather I rent) on BluRay.

I put about 4,000 hours on my Infocus IN72 and about another 1,000 on my Planar PD7130. I owned the Infocus for about 2 1/2 years. I owned the Planar for about 9 months. I currently own the Epson 6500UB, I use it for the following:

HDTV: 50%

PS3/Wii: 20%

Blu-ray/DVD: 30%

I don't worry aboout the bulb, I just spend the extra $100 on the 3 year bulb warranty with 2 replacements. I usually upgrade within 3 years, so as long as I am covered for 3 years, that is all that matters to me.

I watch all my TV(HD and SD), movies and gaming on the projector, probally at least 6-7hrs a day and double that when I'm off. I've only been through a bulb a year since I've had the projector now for 3yrs and going on 4yrs. I believe that the turning on and turning off is what kills a bulb. If I leave the house for less than a few hours I leave my PJ on. FWIW I don't have a dedicated home theater room. The only other screens in the house are the laptop and the 20" backup incase my bulb blows. It's more than worth it to me to replace bulbs 1-2 times a year.

later

We had a kid in school that once brought a new soccer, but he wouldn't let anyone play with it since he didn't want it to get worn....... I still remember it today 25 years later or something......

To me if I can't afford to use something then I will rather buy something cheaper and use the heck out of that. While the quality might not be as good I would get far more enjoyment out of it.

Just added the Sunday Ticket Superfan (and yes I remember when they added this years ago and some of you were grandfathered in so you didn't have to pay it) to get the full ST in HD - guess what will be on every Sunday for 10-12 hours

My room is more of an entertainment room, as much as it is a dedicated home theater room. I do have more than one display in the room so I tend to watch more television and HD broadcasts on my Sony KDL 40 inch LCD television and watch most of my blu-rays on my projector.

Still though if it's a big football game, baseball playoffs, or even an episode of 24 I will watch that on my projector. I get over 200 HD channels on DirectTV so it feels kinda bad to limit that to a 40 inch screen if you know what I mean.

I have to worry about the bulb going out in my 61" DLP too, so to me there is no difference (looking for my 1st FP now)

My viewing habits used t be about 50/50 but I picked up a 50 inch 1080p plasma and now pretty much use the projector exclusively for movies and sporting events.

I have my Plasma upstairs and my Projector (6500UB) downstairs and I'm mostly downstairs so I have the projector on 10-12 hours a day for HDTV/Blu-ray/Gaming etc. Just over 1600 hours on the bulb and have only had the projector for a little over 6 months now. Enjoying the heck out of it

My other half is a TV-holic, and she loves our 1080p PJ. Our flat panel set is a 32" model which is on 24/7 unless we use the PJ (our room is dual purpose LR/HT). When the sun goes down so does the 106" screen. We do a lot of TV watching, most of it in HD (also DirecTV). We watch about one movie per week, at most.

Once I got the 1080p PJ, it's been on for around 200 hours/month (by demand). With a 5000 hour lamp life (in the low power mode), we will still be running it for ~2 years on a single lamp. Our lamp costs are less than 6 Black Angus steak dinners for 2/year. I just consider the lamp costs to be part of our entertainment budget. I've gotten to hate movie theaters, and haven't been to one in almost 10 years.

With my RS20, it's all HDTV and a small amount of SDTV.

Long of the short...nothing wrong with it, you'll just have to replace the lamp more frequently. If you drive a car a lot, you'll need oil changes more frequently...same basic idea.

The percentage of HDTV that we watch on the big screen is quite small. One reason is that many of our favorite cable TV channels are currently SD. We watch those channels on a 37-inch flat panel. The big screen is used mainly for Blu-ray concerts and movies, and occasionally for special events broadcast in HDTV. Another reason is that much of our TV news watching occurs during the daytime, and we don't want to close the drapes/blinds/shades on 17 lol windows and doors to watch a short news program. (Gotta love that open architecture!)

I don't watch TV for the most part. My home theater is made for movies. An exception
being the UFC parties at my place where friends love the HD big screen experience. It's like having a seat at the event.

My son is a hockey fan so I suspect that once my home theater is complete he/we will be watching more HD hockey on the big screen too.

17 windows - you need to install an automated solution!!!

Make sure you get a projector that can handles fast motion well. For hockey it might be more important than a small improvement in contrast ratio.... just saying to consider it

Personally, I watch Blu-ray and play Xbox 360 on the projector. The HD television shows I watch are watched on my HD tv.

i have no light control so i only use my projector after dark.

that being said, i work during the day so the only time i need my television is during the daytime on saturday and sunday.

since i bought my projector, i don't think the television has ever been turned on once when it was dark out.

as a family we watch quite a bit of television, so i'd estimate the breakdown as follows:

KDS-R70XBR2 for SD TV, HD TV, Blu Ray/DVD 10%

VPL-VW80 SD TV 5%

HD TV 65%

Blu-Ray/DVD 20%

I do what is called "true free to air" satellite reception. Two dishes on roof, one 8 1/2 feet the other 40 inches.

Understand that I am not hacking any signal, but more and more of these free, unscrambled signals are High Definition. Over half the TV/projector time I watch HD stuff. It goes up during football season as I search for HD game feeds.

About 5% is blu ray viewing, about 15 % is (upscaled) dvd viewing and the remaining is about 25 or so percent is sd tv viewing.

I have to pay for lamps. I'm on my third for my Sony vw60. Purchased projector at AVS in Fall of 2007

0% tv
10% game
90% Bluray/DVD

0% Tv
100% Blu-ray and DVD.

My wife watchs HD sat TV about 99% of the time on her new 50"Panny plasma.I watch only movies, Blu-ray,HD-DVD and DVD, except Raiders games in the dedicated HT.JB

BluRay 70%
DirecTV (HBO/Show etc./Sports) 20 %
Vudu 5%
DVD - via Escient Vision 5%


I am addicted to BluRay

When we want to watch something on the big screen in a closed up environment without distractions, we will watch it in the theater. When we want to watch something in the livingroom setting (open windows on a nice evening, possibly while surfing the net) we watch it in the livingroom on the plasma. Doesn't really matter if it is a TV show or a movie (although movies tend to be the stuff you want to watch without distraction.)

I really think usage is something that each person has to get comfortable with after using it for a while (we are still getting comfortable with it.) Although we have only had the screen up for a week or two, and the newness is still very much a part of it (don't even have the universal remote configuration decided upon yet) there have already been a couple of nights where I didn't even want to go down to the basement and instead just wanted to watch TV in the livingroom. There's nothing wrong with it.

As for worrying about bulb life, ehh. That's what I bought it for. I'm starting to get low tread on the tires of my car (and those will cost a lot more than a new bulb,) but I'm not fretting about it each time I leave the garage.

-Suntan