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480 vs 720 - Help a Newbie

1458 Views 15 Replies 11 Participants Last post by reconlabtech, May 23, 2007

TimSaupe

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2007

I'm due to start construction on my HT soon, and thought to go with an Infocus IN72. My family and I have been watching dvds on a standard 32" tv with 3.1 sound for years and it has been just fine.

But now we have the space in a new home and I'm looking to upgrade.

Obviously, the Infocus would be an upgrade; but I hear about SDE and RBE and it scares me to be honest. The depth of the room is only 20' and I'm not sure I could sit far enough back with two rows of seats to eliminate those two problems. And I guarantee I'd notice them . . .

So I read reviews on 720 machines (the Optoma HD70 and the Mitsubishi HD1000) and I don't see any mention of things like seating distance to avoid RBE and SDE. I don't see mention of these things at all.

So will investing another $300-$350 avoid or drastically reduce the chance for those two problems?

Any and all thoughts appreciated -

Tim

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gwlaw99

· #2 · May 21, 2007

The In72 is $420 and the others are in the $850 range so is more like $430 difference.

For a person with good eye sight the rule of thumb is to sit 2x screen widths for 480p and 1.5 for 720p to avoid screen door. This of course varies depending on how good your eyesight is, what kind of screen you use (grey screens usually help with screen door), etc...

cavu

· #3 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimSaupe /forum/post/0

The depth of the room is only 20' and I'm not sure I could sit far enough back with two rows of seats to eliminate those two problems.

Check out this SMPTE/THX screen calculator for some general guidelines.

Also, the InFocus screen calculators provide the minimum distances you are looking for but gwlaw99 has already provided the correct ratios for you. (Note it is width, not diagonal, that he is referring to!)

Just try and balance those ratios against the info from SMPTE/THX for the best results.

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TrickMcKaha

· #4 · May 21, 2007

720p is worth it.

MTyson

· #5 · May 22, 2007

Not everyone is very sensitive to SDE even with good eyes. I find that with movies you can lose the SDE pretty easily when watching something, but with a stationary desktop it's much more noticeable. I have some people that have no problem sitting 1.2x the width of my 4805 who have better eyes than me and they aren't bothered one bit by SDE. It's varies from person to person.

reconlabtech

· #6 · May 22, 2007

Let me second the vote for a 720p PJ. Your room is a good size for a copule of rows of seats and a 720p PJ would give you more flexibility for the first row of seats. 480p PJs do a great job with dvds and HD signals - 720p looks even better. I'd start there and then get yourself a good solid sound system with a great sub like an SVS.

MAZMAN808

· #7 · May 22, 2007

just recently i bought a 720p projector, before that ive been looking at them in stores.

At one store, there was a in72, and with my eyesight(wich isnt that good), i was able to see the SDE at anything under

d_osborn

· #8 · May 22, 2007

No one has brought up RBE.... I picked up an HD70 several months ago... returned it within one week due to RBE. Either you can see it or you don't. Most people aren't effected by it. Seating distance doesn't matter with RBE...

phatsua

· #9 · May 22, 2007

here are some shots of the benq w100 (the best buy 480p u can find, INHO) http://picasaweb.google.com/phatsua/Proiector

really the pics dont do the projector justice.. but keep in mind that after 500 hours on this baby i found a change (i am not in the US) to upgrade to a mits HD1000U and I will take it. In my oppinion you should directly get 720p if u use it for x360 or PS3, the most important issue is the sharper detail that 720p offers + less SDE !

cavu

· #10 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by phatsua /forum/post/0

here are some shots of the benq w100 (the best buy 480p u can find, INHO)

Hmmm....

OK. Check out this 480p projector ... an InFocus SP4805 (click on pic for full size image)

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2

bud16415

· #11 · May 22, 2007

Then there is the option of going half way between 480 and 720 .1024x576

With the added bonus of having 1024x768 for computer feed or classic movies or even SD.

And you can click on this image to see a larger picture or more screen shots.

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reconlabtech

· #12 · May 22, 2007

Arwen says 720p

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2

my65ffrcobra

· #13 · May 22, 2007

Get the 720p once you see some HD it will be hard to go back. HD material will only get more and more afordable. We just have an OTA tuner and HD is awesome. Below 30 inches or so it doesn't make a diffrence but the bigger you go the more diffrence it makes, 137 inches here and loving it!

TimSaupe

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 23, 2007

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I think, based upon them, that it should be noted that I'm not into HD yet (and may not be for quite some time) and this will not be used for gaming. I'm not a 'gamer' and my kids play infrequently.

This will be used exclusively for SD DVD.

bud16415

· #15 · May 23, 2007

Total HD is a long way off on my horizon also Tim. That's part of the reason I ended up with the Sharp XR10X. The jump up from 480 to 576 allows a bigger image and then when watching regular SDTV or SDDVD's in 4:3 I get the advantage of the full projector. When viewing 16:9 SD I have the ability to shift the image with the extra pixels.

It's really a pretty hard call to make because the 3 different technologies are all over lapping and the prices are becoming compressed also. Just roughly looking at it 480 @ $500, XGA like I have @ $700, or 720 @ $900

They all have their pros and cons and it depends a lot on what is in your DVD collection, what size screen your room can accommodate, budget etc

reconlabtech

· #16 · May 23, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by TimSaupe /forum/post/0

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I think, based upon them, that it should be noted that I'm not into HD yet (and may not be for quite some time) and this will not be used for gaming. I'm not a 'gamer' and my kids play infrequently.

This will be used exclusively for SD DVD.

It sounds like you can easily get by with a 480p PJ, BUT, a 720p PJ will give you more options for seating placement in your theater room due to the much finer pixel size.

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