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Advice on digital projector....

1042 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Dave T, Oct 19, 2001

dweekly

Discussion Starter · Oct 17, 2001

Hello, kind peoples. I've been reading these boards and scouring the Internet voraciously for information on the best projector for my needs. I'm looking to watch DVD movies and play video games on a projected screen, so it seems using a PC (which I'll already have around) with DVI makes sense. There don't seem to be very many DVI->LCD projectors (and those that there are tend to be expensive!), so I'll probably end up with a DLP projector. I'd like to spend in the ballpark of $3000, but I'm pretty flexible. I'd like something that's nice and bright and sharp.

The contenders? The Toshiba TLP-710, Proxima Ultralight X350, NEC MultiSync LT150, InFocus LP350, Mitsubishi X30, and the Viewsonic PJ350. All are relatively well-rated projectors that can throw a good digital image. All are $2500-$4000.

What is your take? Is there another I should be considering? What would work well for DVDs over DVI? How many lumens do I need for entertaining 20-40 guests comfortably/enjoyably?

Yours,

-david

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Huey

· #2 · Oct 17, 2001

The only PJ with DVI in that price range that I can think of is the new SVGA DLP (with special 16:9 mode) called the "Piano" at 4# for $2999 MSRP (street should be slightly cheaper). If you don't care about DVI, LT150 is a good buy at $2300 (XGA DLP). Business PJ can do 16:9 too but has letterbox bars on top and bottom. LT150 via HTPC VGA looks beautiful to my eyes

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jamin

· #3 · Oct 17, 2001

dweekly,

I believe the infocus 130 (DLP) and the nec lt156 (lcd) both have DVI.

lt156 - xga - $3800 street

lp130 - xga - $5000 street

can't speak to pix quality.

edit - I realize the lp130 is not in the range you stated and the lt156 is a bit above as well. The prices of these things seem to be dropping all the time. Since I did not know your time frame, I thought to just throw it out there.

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jhill32

· #4 · Oct 17, 2001

dweekly,

Is there a reason you need to stick with DVI? I know there are many debates about which is better, VGA, RGB, DVI, blah, blah, blah, ... It just seems like you may be unfairly limiting your options by NOT considering VGA.

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ssj2

· #5 · Oct 17, 2001

compaq makes the mp2800 -- I believe that has DVI.

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Angeli662

· #6 · Oct 18, 2001

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dweekly

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 18, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by jhill32
dweekly,

Is there a reason you need to stick with DVI? I know there are many debates about which is better, VGA, RGB, DVI, blah, blah, blah, ... It just seems like you may be unfairly limiting your options by NOT considering VGA.

Actually, yes - the direct digital transfer seems to make the most sense. When a PC is decoding the DVD signal to, say, 1024x768 and then outputting, byte by byte the precisely correct digital values to a projector which will simply display the correct pixels...well, any other process would, almost by definition, introduce all sorts of artifacts. There's no need to worry about gold-plated composite cables, line doublers, or any of that nonesense for a perfect picture, it seems. I'd also like to be able to play video games on it and give sharp presentations. Can a VGA interface really give me that kind of quality and simplicity?

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Dave T

· #8 · Oct 19, 2001

I think you should see some projectors before you decide that you need DVI. VGA can produce incredibly sharp images. For DVD playback, the limiting factor is the resolution of the source material, and artifacts introduced by deinterlacing, not the fact that there's an A/D conversion in the process. Your computer monitor, for example, is VGA. Do you see any artifacts there?

Just my 2 cents.

- Dave

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dweekly

Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 19, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by Dave T
Your computer monitor, for example, is VGA. Do you see any artifacts there?

Just my 2 cents.

- Dave

Dave,

Actually, if we're talking about LCD screens over VGA cables, I *do* see artifacts, and frequently. They don't show up on CRT screens because of the less discretized nature of the medium. But on a DLP or LCD projector, I'm guessing it would be an issue, given how clearly I've seen this sort of thing crop up just on display devices.

All the same, you're absolutely right -- I should see some of these projectors in person. Any ideas as to where a good place to do that would be? I'm in Palo Alto, CA.

Yours,

-david

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Dave T

· #10 · Oct 19, 2001

David:

Sorry, I'm on the east coast - no idea where you can see devices in Palo Alto. Maybe someone else here can pipe in? You could also try starting a new thread "Where to see projectors near Palo Alto" - people will frequently reply to such threads - you might even get an offer of a home demo.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about the display quality of vga-based projectors.

Also, I'm confused about what kind of artifacts you see on LCD displays, and what you're viewing when you see them. Are you talking about running a laptop screen at a resolution other than the native resolution? Blocky text, etc? If it's that, that's a non-issue for projectors - you'll always want to run the projector at the native resolution of the display. Your HTPC or scaler will do an excellent job of upconverting DVD's to that resolution. And, again, any artifacts you do see are unlikely to be caused by the A/D step in the VGA. Don't get me wrong - having a digital connection to the projector is a good thing, but I think the visible difference would be small. It's probably more important (I could be wrong on this) to have a digital connection between your source and whatever's doing your scaling.

- Dave

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