[Nightanole]

Hello Im about to spend around 3k for a lcd or dlp projector. My room is 19 foot by 12-13. I have my hdpc sort of running at 540p using a ati aiw 8500dv. I was looking more twards a dlp because of the dvi port, then i could have strait digital from the video card to the pixels without any analog conversion other then my eyes. I was leaning twards a infocus 530 or a toshiba TDP MT5. I will not be able to test any of these so im having trouble picking one. dvd playback will be the main point. Does any one know how these projectors do 16:9? do they do like the dvd aniramic ( god my sp) and fill all their pix and then streitch the screen or do they just turn off the top and bottom pix?


other ideas are the toshiba TLP MT7 and mt3. They're lcd but ive heard good things about them and im a dealer so i can get these for new $3200( well cant get the mt7 for that price but could get reconditioned).


Another thought is the boxlight Cinema 12-SF / infocus LS 110. They retail for the same as the above projectors but i havent looked at prices for the real world.


Right now i had a toshiba Cinema Series 55" ( model before they tryed that rigged 540p fixed freq thing) and a zenith d62w25. Both where nice but they cant do pc rez that good and i hate converging them. I also have the pansonic 56 progessive scan dvd player.


My requirements are less then $4k out the door shipped. Does atlease 1024/768 pc 4;3. and does a good job at dvd, either from dvd or from the panasonic( frankly i dont care which, just which ever looks the best with not to much hassle). as far as 16:9 goes im not sure how it works yet, if it just shuts off pix then i can just do a 4:3 screen with black bars when watching dvds( lcd and dlp dont get burn in right? just dead pix).

 

[Carl Brinkman]

In my opinion you seriously need to get out and spend a weekend actually viewing at least a representative sample of the projectors around $3k. There are numerous threads you ought to read about "whats the best pj for $3k" so almost every key point has been made many many times.


But reading is no substitute for actually seeing and determining your individual needs. For example the majority of folks aren't bothered by DLP rainbows with the newer color wheels. But for those who do still see rainbows even on the very best technology available its a serious issue. You will find numerous posts from those who are seriously bothered by the screen door appearance of every LCD (I'm in this camp) BUT you will also find many posts from happy LCD owners who can put up with the screen door image in favor of higher brightness and lower price.


In Akron you are close enough to Cleveland that you ought to be able to see at least 2-3 projectors before forking out your cash. Remember you will have your projector a long time.

 

[Nightanole]

Im in the camp that cant stand converging crts ( i never get it right or it changes to slowly to catch). My lcd viewing has been college lcds costing more then 7-8k and do more then 1024/768. I couldnt tell the screen door effect on these. The only dlp ive seen is at a home theater shop but it was the 3 chip versions costing over 70k. Im not sure where to demo the ones im looking for in the akron/canto area. Frankly if i dont have to converge it, the dark scenes in dvds dont look like everything is the same shade of black and you cant pick out any details, and there arnt rings around bright white lines and other high contrast scenes, im a happy camper.

 

[Tino D'Voe]

Personally, I was always worried about the raibow deal. I could see it when I demoed projectors, and was certain that I would never buy a DLP. I went the LCD route and found it very dissapointing. Now I have a Boxlight 12SF and I can honestly say that the rainbows are way overblown. I can see it occasionally but in no way does it bother anyone in my family or myself. There have been no reports of headaches or even noticed by any guests. If I were to point it out, I'm sure some people will notice, but again, it's not such a big deal. Although webforums like this are excellent places to learn about every detail on hometheatres, they can create what I believe to be false assumptions on certain things, in this example the DLP rainbow. I was lucky Boxlight let me exchange to the 12SF, or I would be still dealing with the LCD projector instead of enjoying the movies. That's just my experience, others may have other opinions.

 

[rlindo]

My advice is to demo a bunch of projectors (if possible) that are both dlp and lcd.


I saw my first dlp projector yesterday. An entry level one. It looked horrible. Bad picture (mortion artifacts all over the place) and I saw rainbows every 30 seconds when I would move my eyes or when a light object moved on a dark background. The price of this projector was 4000(cdn) and I can't imagine anyone buying it over say the Panasonic AE100 which sells here for less. The AE100 blew this thing away.

 

[Huey]

HP XB31, NEC LT150z are 2 nice XGA 4:3 DLPs with XB31 having much more impressive specs. I own LT150 and love mine but YMMV.

 

[Shawn O]

Nightanole,


You may be better off asking your question in the sub 5k forum.