[Pseudogeek]

Hi everybody,


As you may see, Im new to the forum, so I apologize in advance if i make any mistakes.


So i have been looking into the Projector thing now for a week, since my girlfriend and i decided that a projector is much better suited for or "media room" than a tv.


No my budget is limited and i stumbled over a few recommendation.

1. Benq1060 (dlp, and very good price)

2. Acer 6500 (High contrast)

3. Optoma hd300x


Benqw1200' epson tw 5900 and Optoma hd33 are a little above my budget.


Any interesting projector that i missed. I guess if really recommended i could think about the Epson TW-3200 (i just saw an offer for about $1000, worth it?)


Regarding my setup:

The room has two windows, which can be fully darkened, white walls and no dedicated screen (wall is white and even).


The lrojector will be about 4m away from the wall and probabl sit below the coffeetable (if REALLY necessary, i will consider a ceiling mount).


As media input, most if the time we will use my apple tv (1080p) and then use macbook and ipad for airplay. Sound will come from a dedicated system hooked into the apple tv. So speaker in the projector is not really important.


Whats mostly important to me are of course vibrant colors, good contrast and nice blacks (i know my set up is not perfect for that) i believe the sound level of all of them is OK.


3D is a nice have to, but i really dint need it. (stupid glasses

)


I have seen the picture of the benq in a store, but it was really close to the wall and fairly light. But it seemed nice,y sharp. The only "issue" i saw and read about was the lagging in fast paced scenes, which i heard that some projectors are taking better care of than others. So i was curious what are your thoughts on that.



Thanks so much for your help


PS: im german so i apologize if my writing/wording should be a little off.

 

[coderguy]

Lag only matters if you are a gamer. If you are a gamer and want a very bright 1080p projector, then the Viewsonic Pro8200 is the best projector for this under $1000. The Pro8200 also has a very good picture for its price in TV and movies, but Bluray sources of course are always going to look better on a projector. If you want a 3D capable projector, you'll have to go for a 720p unit like the Optoma GT750 or the Benq w710st. I think (but not sure) the GT750 is cheaper to do 3D with because it comes with more 3D amenities built-in than the Benq w710st (but again not sure). The Benq w710st is probably the best 720p projector out there right now as it has higher contrast than most DLP's anywhere near this price range.


The Benq w1200 is ONLY good if you are not going to play any multiplayer games on it. As far as the others you listed, my main concerns with the Benq 1060 and the Acer 6500 would be the slower color wheels, they can have quite a lot of RBE for people that are sensitive to it. The Viewsonic Pro8200 has very little RBE overall compared to most DLP's.


Many DLP's are going to be difficult to mount on a coffee table in front of you because of the throw distance will not be great enough to get the desired image size, so then I'm going to push you back towards the 720p shorter throw projectors like the Benq w710st, that is if you really want to mount the DLP in front of you on a coffee table (You will need a coffee table with a LOW bottom and put the PJ there). You can shelf mount a DLP that is not made for shelf mounting if you want, all you have to do is put it high enough up on a tall shelf and using rubber stoppers to balance it while it sitting on the shelf upside down (even if it is not made to be shelf mounted). I prefer shelf mounting instead of ceiling mounting. There are also other tricks, like using wire shelves in the back of the room and buying a cheap mount made for LCD TV's, affixing the projector with bungee cables to the LCD TV mount, and locking it in position. This is a cheap way of mounting a projector higher up over a shelf and keeping all your devices on the bottom of the shelf (bluray, hdmi switches, etc...). The wire shelves can be purchased at Walmart for around $70 (the black ones look fine), and the LCD mounting equipment costs about $40 total on Amazon (for bungee cables, and cheap LCD TV mount).


Do keep in mind some DLP's will only need to be mounted 5" to 8" below or above the screen due to the offset (depending on your screen size), while others like the Viewsonic will need 17+ inches (again depending on screen size), which means you need an 8+ foot ceiling depending on how low or high you mount the screen in relation to the projector.


Projectors in this price range don't do dark blacks. The Benq w710st and Epson 8350 (3200 model in europe?) are probably the ones with the darkest blacks in this price.

 

[Ron Jones]

I suggest you consider the Panasonic PT-AR100U projector. Art at projector reviews rated it the best overall in the $1K price range and it is very bright (compared to most other projectors in this price range).

 

[coderguy]

The ar100u is slightly over his budget, as the sub-$1000 was promo-pricing that is no longer valid. There are some refurbs for under $1000 on it.


The ar100u is a good projector if someone wants LCD and gets lucky on convergence. Art did note that this Panny was very sharp, but Panny does have a tendency to give reviewers cherry-picked units.

I am sure it is fairly sharp however, and it may be the best LCD in this price range, but a DLP has a much higher pixel fill ratio. I often recommend this PJ as well, but it's more expensive.

 

[Pseudogeek]

Guys,


Thank you so much for our advice.


So for watching movies/tv, i should rather go with DLP than with LCD? (i dont think that i sensitive to RBE)

The particular panasonic pj isnt available here in Germany/Switzland anyway.


So overall, if i want a smoother experience, I should rather go with the Viewsonic than with the Benq? Like i said i had seen it and already seen the benq and somewhat realized the "stutter" in fast past scenes. Thats why i got a little nervous.


Since 3D really isnt an issue for me, I'd rather go with 1080p than with 720p.


I think the mountin really wont be an issue, we might even just place it underneath the coffetable.


Woaahhh this is all so complicated !!!!!!


If i could just see the performance of those PJs somewhere, i guess this would help. But shaky phonecameras on youtube really dont do the job.

 

[coderguy]

Well, you're trying to do something projectors aren't that good at, which is fighting direct light. So I cannot really tell you what to buy without knowing how much light and the room and all that, and there really isn't a way for me to even know without seeing it.


I suggest finding the dealers with the best return policies (preferably a $0 re-stocking fee if under 4 hours). This means no Newegg. Amazon and Provantage allow this to some degree I believe (or at least used to when I did it).


I find your Benq experience probably the result of the setup. I mean the Benq shouldn't lag or look jittery on motion. The output could have been set to 60hz on a 24hz signal, or maybe even inverse telecine or some kind of FI was going on. The Benq w1200 actually has the most features to create different levels of motion smoothness. The Benq is overall better than the Viewsonic slightly (but remember MASS lag for gaming on the Benq if you are a gamer), the Mits hc4000 is even better yet (but then your brightness is the issue). Now when I say one is better than another, we're talking very minor differences overall and none of them are better in every category, there are trade-offs to each one.


If you're just absolutely going to fight ambient light and brightness is everything, then I'd say you're probably going to want to go with one of those really really bright DLP's like the Optoma th1060p or those that you named earlier. The reason our recommendations are difficult here is the setup is difficult.


To further complicate it, people see things differently. There are some people that will swear LCD has cleaner motion than DLP, but most of us (the overwhelming majority) consider DLP top notch in motion, and the reason is because the pixel response (how fast the pixels can turn on and off) is several hundred times faster than an LCD. Now as bad as that sounds, that doesn't mean LCD has bad motion, it just means some people slightly see DLP as having better motion, but again then you have people that tend to see the opposite for no real explanation. Although part of that would generally be because DLP may be often playing a signal at 48hz when many LCD's are playing it at 120hz (5:5 pulldown).


Now out of these DLP's, only the Benq w1200 can do the 120hz, so theoretically the w1200 should be #1 in motion for EVERY projector under $1500, as long as it is configured right. Anyone can very easily have a misconfiguration in the output of the Bluray player in coordination with the projector's motion mode to cause all kinds of motion side effects.