[Tangram]

First of all, let me tell you I've just discovered AVS Forum and I'm blown away by the high quality of information on this site.


I am working with a dealer (whom I personally like very much) to put together a dedicated HT in the basement of our new home. Although the home is 1920's vintage, I am forunate that the HT will be in the unfinished basement part of a largish addition that was completed four years ago. The HT will not be huge - about 16' long X 14' wide by 6.5' tall. The ceiling height is a challenge but it is what it is.


The dealer carries Infocus and Sim. At first I was himming and hawing about the SP 5700 vs. the 7205 but I ultimately decided that I wanted full HD resolution, plus he is giving me a good price on the 7205 because he wants to show Infocus that he has the ability to move their higher-end models.


Now of course I am nashing my teeth wondering if the 7205 is the right projector for my needs. This will be a dedicated HT with no ambient light whatsoever. I will be using a 103" (diagonal) screen and sitting 12 feet from the screen. Due to the low ceiling, I need to use an acoustically transparent screen (Vutec Vu-Easy Soundscreen 0.95 gain).


My main concern is that the 7205 will be too bright for the room, given the complete control of lighting that I have and the size of the projected image. We are going with a low-gain screen (I am worried about Moire effect because of the cloth) and I will utilize an ND filter to tame the light a bit more but reading extensively about this projector, most reviewers say that it is best suited for rooms with some ambient light or when a very large screen is desired.


Often times in shootouts reviewers will not come clean with a clear favourite. They will say Projector A is best if you want, say the best optics, Projector B best for colour, C for its brightness etc. But here is my question: Are the aspects of the 7205 other than brightness on par or better with comparably priced DLP projectors? That is, if its brightness was not as good as it is, would the reviewers say "amazing HD image" or "gorgeous, natural colors" or "complete lack of screen artifacts".


As a humble enthusiast, I find the choices and considerations overwhelming. I really want work with this guy because he's a good guy and has been very helpful. However, he does only carry the two projector lines, which doesn't give me too much flexibility. Thanks in advance

 

[krasmuzik]

The ND2 filter makes all the difference in the world, but with a smaller screen you may even need a ND3 or ND4. Have your dealer do the ftL calculations with the projector and screen (I could do it for you - but make your dealer earn his money!)


All projectors when installed properly should end up being the same brightness - either 12ftL for night movie viewing or 3x that for day TV viewing.


Brightness differences between projectors just means they have a different maximum size screen they can drive.


Oh what the heck - I always help everybody anyways. I just did the calcs - your dealer knows what he is doing. That screen gain/size is perfect for the ND2 SP7205 - which means it will be just perfect without the filter when the lamp dims.


As far as comparisons go -


The SP7205 has the most accurate greyscale out of the box of any competitiors.


The SP7205 is the brightest of any competitor - but the tradeoff is others have better contrast.


The blues/reds are perfect - greens are lighter (again due to brightness)


However with your seating distance - you would not notice the difference with HDTV on the SP5700 - you would need to be several feet closer to see a difference.


The consideration there is that SP5700 lacks the DarkChip2 for better contrast, less screen door, and the HD2+ color wheel for less dark dithering and more detail. It also has a more offset - which is a problem for your low ceiling.


Sim2 is also a nice projector - but I would doubt that it could drive that screen as it is optimized for contrast not brightness. You would need a more expensive high gain screen.

 

[Greg Young]

Did your dealer demo any of the Sim2 models for you? Did you ever consider one of them? Thanks Greg

 

[paulgas]

go with the 7205. try without the filter first.

 

[baja]

With a ceiling of only 6.5' I would pay particular attention to the offset's of each PJ. You don't want your screen to end up to low to the floor. I would be looking at which PJ is going to keep my screen the highest.

 

[Tangram]

baja, good point. We will be using a flush ceiling mount. The calcs. show that if the top of the screen (including border) is 15" from the ceiling we should be okay. That would be with zero keystone correction and no tilt. The downside is that we only have 77" vertical to work with in total. The total vertical dimension of the screen will be 54.5" so the bottom of the screen will only be about 8" from the floor. Hence the acoustically transparent screen. The plus side is that the center of the screen should be pretty much at eye level. Seating will be tricky though if we don't want to block the beam with our heads.

 

[glenned]

You should look into a dimmer PJ with a higher gain screen that allows the PJ to be mounted even with the top of the screen, before you make your decision. The SP7205 is a fine PJ, just as krasmuzik says, but it appears you are trying to shoe horn it in to your HT instead of finding a PJ that really fits.


The Sim and a higher gain screen would be a better fit. Sharp and Optoma also make HD2+ PJs that would fit your needs. So does Marantz, but at a higher price.


One option among many would be a Sharp 12000, which can be found for prices close to the SP7205. Pair it with a white screen with a gain between 1.7 and 2.2. This should give you 11-15 fL (actual lumens, not manufacturers specs) with the the 12000 set to HighContrast/LowLamp mode. The bulb will dim noticeably in the first 500 hours of use as with all PJ bulbs. The 12000 still has HighLamp and two brighter Iris modes held in reserve to give a brighter image when the bulb dims further or in case you want to turn the lights on (like for a Superbowl party for instance).

The 12000 has an actual 4000:1 on/off CR in D65 calibrated state. It is larger and a little louder than the SP7205. It has a better lens, better brightness uniformity, less chromatic aberation, similarly good video processing. It's factory calibrated state is not as accurate as the SP7205, but is still good.


This combo would allow you to mount your screen as high as you want. You might be able to fore go the perfed screen. You decrease the chances of peoples heads being in the light path. You could move the first row of seats a little closer to the screen because of this. (Their eyes should be no closer than 11' from this size screen, anyways.)


I am very happy with my Infocus SP7200. In addition to the advantages listed by Kras, the 7205 has the best connectivity options and is second-to-none in video processing and customer service. However, its large offset makes it ill suited for your HT.


Happy Hunting

Glenn

 

[Tangram]

Thanks everybody for your responses. Glenn, to make sure that somebody a bit closer up won't be blocking the screen. Used a very high tech tool, a piece of string, and to my surprise, a child for example sitting on the floor could sit way too close to the screen for comfort without blocking the beam.