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I am looking for some opinions and suggestions on what I should do about my G70 and theater room.
I have a G70 in a bat cave in the basement projecting onto very smooth sanded wall board painted bright white. The image is 84" wide and is sufficiently bright but I could stand to go brighter. My wife suggested that we should consider getting a smaller digital projector because she doesn't like that giant beast hanging over our heads and she doesn't want to move it, not that we are moving any time soon.
The first thought and attempt was to sell the G70 and replace it with a JVC RS25 or RS35 but it appears that selling it is not a viable option and it wouldn't do much to defray the cost anyway. I am going to feel bad if/when I ever have to junk the projector because it is a damn fine one and still works. If it died then I wouldn't feel so bad about it because I have had it for about 8 years and gotten my money's worth.
The advantages of the JVC would be:
1. Quiet. The G70 is pretty loud and while I can live with it, I would definitely prefer less noise.
2. Fully resolve 1080p. Clearly the G70 cannot resolve full 1080p but it doesn't stink either.
3. Convenience. I am stuck at the moment using component cables to the G70 unless I get an HDMI card. That means I cannot play my DVDs upscaled in the HD players so I have to use my HTPC, which requires changing the connection to RGB and then back for HD.
4. Progressive format. Without the HDMI card, I can only watch 1080i for HD at the moment and I do see the scan lines but I can ignore them most of the time.
5. Larger and brighter. I definitely would like a larger screen and I think I could get both bigger and brighter with a new digital projector.
The cons of the JVC are:
1. 3D coming soon? Not that I care that much but if waiting a year gets the feature at no additional cost, maybe I should wait.
2. It isn't cheap and the economy is a bit rocky.
3. LED coming soon? If the advantages of LED are realized (low power, low heat, and no significant drop in brightness over a huge lifetime) and can come in at a price point close to current lamp projectors, lamp projectors are going to become nearly obsolete over night.
So I have many options from doing nothing at this time to just buying a new projector.
1. Do nothing. I watch plenty of movies now and it is still a great picture so just wait until it dies or an advance in projector technology becomes too compelling.
2. Buy the JVC and enjoy all of its advantages. Not my first choice as this isn't the best economy to lay out that kind of money and 3D/LED might be coming in a year or two.
3. Do the fan replacement to quiet the G70. Under $100 and pretty easy swap.
4. By an HDMI card for the G70 to at least gain the convenience of not swapping cables and progressive output, not that it can fully resolve it. Tough call to spend money on a projector that will be replaced at some point.
5. By a screen to improve the brightness of the G70. I have done much research on screens and I see many people say "Oh you can get near Stewart StudioTek 1.3 performance at much lower cost". What I read is "I can spend $1000 on a budget screen and wind up with effectively what I have now using my wall". It seems like if I want a real improvement I need to go all out for the StudioTek 1.3 and buy it in a larger size that will work for the future digital projector. However, that would run nearly half the cost of a new JVC and if I added the HDMI card I would be at half the cost.
6. Buy a video processor to compliment the HDMI card to improve the image quality for scope movies by using custom timings to eliminate wasted bandwidth on black bars. Might even improve 1.85 movies by using 720p over 1080p, maybe. Even used VPs seem to run around $500 plus the cost of the HDMI card so I'm back to spending money on a relatively soon to be replaced projector.
7. Buy a Panasonic 4000 or an Epson 8500 (if they ever get the bug fixed) to tide me over for about two years waiting to see what shakes out for 3D and LED to get nearly all of the advantages of the JVC. I just have to give up my black levels, possibly some color accuracy and/or deal with a greenish tinge, and might prefer the G70 image overall but this option would be cheaper than a new StudioTek screen.
Anyone have an opinions or experience on my dilemma?
I have a G70 in a bat cave in the basement projecting onto very smooth sanded wall board painted bright white. The image is 84" wide and is sufficiently bright but I could stand to go brighter. My wife suggested that we should consider getting a smaller digital projector because she doesn't like that giant beast hanging over our heads and she doesn't want to move it, not that we are moving any time soon.
The first thought and attempt was to sell the G70 and replace it with a JVC RS25 or RS35 but it appears that selling it is not a viable option and it wouldn't do much to defray the cost anyway. I am going to feel bad if/when I ever have to junk the projector because it is a damn fine one and still works. If it died then I wouldn't feel so bad about it because I have had it for about 8 years and gotten my money's worth.
The advantages of the JVC would be:
1. Quiet. The G70 is pretty loud and while I can live with it, I would definitely prefer less noise.
2. Fully resolve 1080p. Clearly the G70 cannot resolve full 1080p but it doesn't stink either.
3. Convenience. I am stuck at the moment using component cables to the G70 unless I get an HDMI card. That means I cannot play my DVDs upscaled in the HD players so I have to use my HTPC, which requires changing the connection to RGB and then back for HD.
4. Progressive format. Without the HDMI card, I can only watch 1080i for HD at the moment and I do see the scan lines but I can ignore them most of the time.
5. Larger and brighter. I definitely would like a larger screen and I think I could get both bigger and brighter with a new digital projector.
The cons of the JVC are:
1. 3D coming soon? Not that I care that much but if waiting a year gets the feature at no additional cost, maybe I should wait.
2. It isn't cheap and the economy is a bit rocky.
3. LED coming soon? If the advantages of LED are realized (low power, low heat, and no significant drop in brightness over a huge lifetime) and can come in at a price point close to current lamp projectors, lamp projectors are going to become nearly obsolete over night.
So I have many options from doing nothing at this time to just buying a new projector.
1. Do nothing. I watch plenty of movies now and it is still a great picture so just wait until it dies or an advance in projector technology becomes too compelling.
2. Buy the JVC and enjoy all of its advantages. Not my first choice as this isn't the best economy to lay out that kind of money and 3D/LED might be coming in a year or two.
3. Do the fan replacement to quiet the G70. Under $100 and pretty easy swap.
4. By an HDMI card for the G70 to at least gain the convenience of not swapping cables and progressive output, not that it can fully resolve it. Tough call to spend money on a projector that will be replaced at some point.
5. By a screen to improve the brightness of the G70. I have done much research on screens and I see many people say "Oh you can get near Stewart StudioTek 1.3 performance at much lower cost". What I read is "I can spend $1000 on a budget screen and wind up with effectively what I have now using my wall". It seems like if I want a real improvement I need to go all out for the StudioTek 1.3 and buy it in a larger size that will work for the future digital projector. However, that would run nearly half the cost of a new JVC and if I added the HDMI card I would be at half the cost.
6. Buy a video processor to compliment the HDMI card to improve the image quality for scope movies by using custom timings to eliminate wasted bandwidth on black bars. Might even improve 1.85 movies by using 720p over 1080p, maybe. Even used VPs seem to run around $500 plus the cost of the HDMI card so I'm back to spending money on a relatively soon to be replaced projector.
7. Buy a Panasonic 4000 or an Epson 8500 (if they ever get the bug fixed) to tide me over for about two years waiting to see what shakes out for 3D and LED to get nearly all of the advantages of the JVC. I just have to give up my black levels, possibly some color accuracy and/or deal with a greenish tinge, and might prefer the G70 image overall but this option would be cheaper than a new StudioTek screen.
Anyone have an opinions or experience on my dilemma?