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If you had $8,000(ish) for a projector, what would you get?

post #1 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:32pm
Thread Starter 
I am in the middle of my home theater room project, and am getting close to deciding on projector. I was thinking JVC RS55, and then maybe a Panamorph lens down the road. But, I figured I'd ask you guys what you would get for a projector if you had about 8 grand to spend on it. I'm going to do a 133" 2.4:1 screen, and 11.2 surround. The room is about 24 long x 17 across, with 9'3" ceilings for the first row of seats. I definitely want 3D capability as well.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:37pm
Have you perused the "Digital High-End Projectors-$3,000 and up" forum? Lots of good info there.

I'd offer a recommendation, except my pj came from the $3,000 and less forum.wink.gif
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post #3 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:41pm
I have an RS45, but have seen an RS55 and RS65. If it were me, I'd get an RS45 with a Lumagen Radiance Mini3D and the lens, hands down. The image on the RS45 compared to the 55 and closer than you'd think, and I think I would prefer the CMS and features of the Lumagen over the Rs55. The RS65 is just too much of a premium price for the diminished margin of black level you get.

As for 3D, I pretty picky with my image. The ghosting on my RS45 was pretty apparent when I watched Avatar. It's good enough for novelty's sake, but if you want great 3D, you may want to go with another PJ. You are kind of stuck choosing between black levels and features on the RS45 vs. 3D and low lag on the others which have great pictures, but not as great.

There's a lot to this decision!

Also, you may have better luck in the Projector forum. smile.gif
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post #4 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:41pm
Sony 95 or JVC 55 AND Benq 7000 for 3d.

Sony if you really value motion handling. The JVC for best blacks and/or if you will be sitting very close to your 133" screen and utilize the e-shift. Benq gives you the brightest 3d pic with ZERO crosstalk.

My room is about as deep as yours and my screen is 133" as well. 1st row is about 11' and no Screen Door or anything from that distance on my old JVC RS10. The e-shift is pretty cool how close you can get to it before seeing any pixels.
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post #5 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:42pm
JVC DLA-RS55 (as you mentioned)
Sony VPL-VW95ES
Runco LS-5

The bottom two have exceptional dynamic irises and will give roughly equal black level performance. If you are concerned with motion handling I would avoid the JVC. If you value sharpness (and motion) go for the Runco. The top two are 3D but don't fare well in that department. Both of them have some ghosting issues and aren't the brightest either in 3D. If you want 3D, and it sounds like you have the money to do so, I would get a separate projector for 3D only. Right now the best bang for the buck that does 3D VERY well is the BenQ W7000. The ones listed are probably the nicest at the moment for 2D in your price range.

I would expect this thread to get a lot more posts if it got moved to the right part of the forum.
Edited by Seegs108 - 8/1/12 at 2:48pm
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post #6 of 15
8/1/12 at 2:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevegravley View Post

I have an RS45, but have seen an RS55 and RS65. If it were me, I'd get an RS45 with a Lumagen Radiance Mini3D and the lens, hands down. The image on the RS45 compared to the 55 and closer than you'd think, and I think I would prefer the CMS and features of the Lumagen over the Rs55. The RS65 is just too much of a premium price for the diminished margin of black level you get.
As for 3D, I pretty picky with my image. The ghosting on my RS45 was pretty apparent when I watched Avatar. It's good enough for novelty's sake, but if you want great 3D, you may want to go with another PJ. You are kind of stuck choosing between black levels and features on the RS45 vs. 3D and low lag on the others which have great pictures, but not as great.
There's a lot to this decision!
Also, you may have better luck in the Projector forum. smile.gif

+1
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post #7 of 15
8/1/12 at 3:26pm
Thread Starter 
Oops on the wrong forum. I'm just in the habit of reading this one the most. My bad. Hopefully an Admin can move it?

Regarding the Lumagen Radiance Mini3D, that's very interesting. If I did have an RS45/55, that doesn't mess up anything? I am not sure if I really want to get two projectors, lol.

Also, any thoughts on powered anamorphic lenses? I was looking Panamorph, but is there other alternatives that are better for the $ spent?
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post #8 of 15
8/1/12 at 3:33pm
Another nice thing about the min3d is that with the latest firmware, you can auto-calibrate. You just need to invest in about $700 worth of calibration equipment. With bulbs changing brightness and colors during their lives much faster than TV's, that's a nice thing to have! You can run it on either the 45 or the 55. It just sits inline on your HDMI cable.
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post #9 of 15
8/1/12 at 5:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by x33z View Post

Oops on the wrong forum. I'm just in the habit of reading this one the most. My bad. Hopefully an Admin can move it?
Regarding the Lumagen Radiance Mini3D, that's very interesting. If I did have an RS45/55, that doesn't mess up anything? I am not sure if I really want to get two projectors, lol.
Also, any thoughts on powered anamorphic lenses? I was looking Panamorph, but is there other alternatives that are better for the $ spent?

The next step up from a panamorph lens is one that is fully cylindrical. Panamorph uses a hybrid type lens. AVScience is having a deal on the HD-6000 cylindrical lens:

It's had some really positive reviews from people that have purchased it. You can check it out here:

http://shop.avscience.com/HD-6000F-Anamorphic-Cylinder-Lens-_p_102.html
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post #10 of 15
8/1/12 at 5:16pm
What is the screen size? How far away is the PJ from the screen? Are you using an AT screen? Have you calculated the lumens you will need?
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post #11 of 15
8/1/12 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SierraMikeBravo View Post

What is the screen size? How far away is the PJ from the screen? Are you using an AT screen? Have you calculated the lumens you will need?

133" 2.4:1. PJ is around 18-19 ft but can be adjusted a little. I figure first row of seats is somewhere around 14-16" from screen. No AT screen - decided against that. Probably going with a Screen Innovations Black Diamond 4K .8 screen - I like it's all black, which works great for when watching 16x9 content since it's basically black. We don't really have a light issue in the room itself - it's in a basement with one 3x4 window (for the window well) that doesn't have a ton of light in it anyways, and it will be covered with a black-out honeycomb blind.
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post #12 of 15
8/2/12 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevegravley View Post

I have an RS45, but have seen an RS55 and RS65. If it were me, I'd get an RS45 with a Lumagen Radiance Mini3D and the lens, hands down. The image on the RS45 compared to the 55 and closer than you'd think, and I think I would prefer the CMS and features of the Lumagen over the Rs55. The RS65 is just too much of a premium price

The more I read about the RS45, the more I hear about the ghosting issues. Anyone have experience with the Radiance Mini3D - does this really essentially eliminate the problem?
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post #13 of 15
8/2/12 at 10:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by x33z View Post

The more I read about the RS45, the more I hear about the ghosting issues. Anyone have experience with the Radiance Mini3D - does this really essentially eliminate the problem?

According to Josh Z on this thread:

Lumagen processors will not adjust the parallax offset between the left and right 3D eye views. I asked Lumagen about the possiblity of adding this feature, and they responded that it was unlikely. To do properly, this would require more than a simple linear pixel shift of one image or the other. It would require independent scaling of different depth layers in the image.

Based on my testing of the 3D adjustment settings in a Panasonic Blu-ray player, it appears they are correct that a simple linear shift will not fix crosstalk. On a problem disc like Monsters vs. Aliens, I could get the foreground of an image to converge correctly, only at the expense of increasing crosstalk in the background, or vice versa. There was no perfect setting at which all depth layers were properly converged.
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post #14 of 15
8/2/12 at 1:01pm
Thread Starter 
Interesting. Guess it's maybe the JVC RS45U and BenQ W7000. I'm going to wait on the anamorphic lens, and see how the lens memory plays out for the JVC.

Anyone have any pics or links to a setup for how to setup multiple projectors? We were going to hang the JVC at the optimal distance (I forget, somewhere around 17-19 ft) which is not the back of the room. I'm guessing we'll need to build a hanging shelf to support both, one of top of the other?
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post #15 of 15
8/7/12 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 
Figured I'd post what I decided on... ended up going over budget and going JVC RS55U for 2d, BenQ W7000 for 3d, 133" 2.4:1 Black Diamond 4k .8. May opt for Lumagen Radiance Mini3D down the road as well, and we'll see, may add the anamorphic lens but I am going to guess that with the JVC blacks.
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