Quote:
Originally Posted by aarmau /forum/post/16943527
I am looking for a projector for around $1000 that will give me a great picture watching sports on hdtv and video games, but one that will also allow my kids to watch tv while playing with their toys in my basement. Any suggestions for one that will still give a great picture if some lights are on for my kids to see? I am not sure what to look for in a projector. Thanks for any advice.
More importantly than just the projector would be the screen. For instance, the screen I created is much better in ambient light than a typical screen, especially coming from the sides. It's a uniquely very high gain angular reflective silver screen that is curved. Often times screens like this have ended up costing more than twice as much as great projectors themselves.
If you want a good ambient light picture you'll want a screen like the ones I build + a decently bright projector and with intelligent & VERY simple light control you can end up with great results; Often times plasma tv like.
This is my 8' wide screen (9'2" diagonal) displaying Underworld with an ECP4500+ CRT projector (about 150ansi lumens) with a 500-watt work light shined on to it from the side with a pieces of matte white material similar to most regular screens.
Now, you won't ever want to watch this with a light shined directly onto the screen, but you can see how much ambient light it rejects coming from the sides when you compare the differences in the projected image and the darkness of the black bars.
So, when it comes to having better ambient light results the screen along with some smart and easy light control are key. If you're interested in more info you can pm me anytime.
As far as projectors go. A Sharp DT-510 with the iris off or iris off plus in bright lamp mode is very bright + excellent in the dark with the iris on. The Panasonic AX200U is even a bit brighter, but inferior overall to the DT-510.