Projector

[BeeJ]

OT ? But you tech guys probably have some good suggestions.
I don't need some biased sales person telling me anything.

I want to set up a projector to view Blu-Ray DVDs.
Room is of sufficient size.

So I need one that:
Very Bright
High Resolution
Very Reliable
Costs less than $5K

Other considertions?

Is there one per above that is LED or laser driven rather than lamp.

Will get a proper screen: suggestions there too please.

Are there links to pertinent recent reviews.

 

[Bob Myers]

On Friday, January 27, 2012 6:44:53 PM UTC-7, BeeJ wrote:

OT ? But you tech guys probably have some good suggestions.
I don't need some biased sales person telling me anything.

I want to set up a projector to view Blu-Ray DVDs.
Room is of sufficient size.

So I need one that:
Very Bright

The "brightness" figure for a projector is given in lumens, but that's a measure
of the light energy leaving the lens; it's one factor in determining the perceived brightness of the image, the others being the screen size, the screen "gain," and the ambient light level in the viewing room. Without knowing those, the only advice someone could give you would be to get the projector with the biggest output spec in lumens that you could afford, but there's a significant chance that you'd wind up buying excessive brightness at the expense of other features.

High Resolution

Not much choice here, really. You're going to want 1920 x 1080 pixels, and that's pretty much all you'd find anyway. Lower resolution projectors won't do Blu-ray discs justice, at least not on a larger screen.

Very Reliable
Costs less than $5K

Other considertions?

Absolutely. First - how far will the projector be located from the screen? You need to make sure the optics of the projector (the projection lens system) are capable of producing the desired image size at that distance. Also, unless the projector can be mounted such that it is facing the screen "squarely" (i.e., a line from the projector lens to the screen is perpendicular to both), you will wind up with a distorted image (look up "keystone distortion" for an example). Some projectors can correct for this, if such correction is needed.

You should also look into the basic imaging technology used by the projector. Lots of projectors today use Texas Instrument's "Digital Light Processing" (DLP) technology, in which the image is formed on a chip carrying literally a couple of million tiny little square mirrors. But this technology doesn't inherently provide a color image, so to get full color images you either need to show the red, green, and blue images on a single chip in rapid succession (called "field-sequential color") or use three of these imaging chips, one for each color. The three-chip types are obviously going to be more expensive, but provide the best image and avoid a problem that's inherent in the single-chip designs known as "color breakup" or the "rainbow effect." Some people are very sensitive to this effect, in which you will perceive colored fringes around moving objects within the image, or if you move your head rapidly such that the image moves across your field of vision. If you're not overly sensitive to the problem (I'm not, personally), single-chip projectors will be fine choices; if you are, you may need to look for a three-chip design or use some other imaging technology. LCDs are the other major imaging device common found in consumer projection. They typically don't provide the high contrast of the DLP imagers, and have an overall different "look" to the image. Shop and compare.)

Finally, you'll need to consider other features that may be of concern to you. Top of that list is likely what inputs you need: HDMI is the de-facto standard digital interface for HDTV today, but you may also need the projector to be able to handle the older analog TV connections standards (composite or component video, typically using "RCA" jacks, or "S-Video" which is typically on a DIN connector) or to accept video from personal computers (which may provide HDMI, but which might also use VGA, DVI, or DisplayPort outputs; of those, only DVI is directly compatible with HDMI).

Bob M.

Is there one per above that is LED or laser driven rather than lamp.

Will get a proper screen: suggestions there too please.

Are there links to pertinent recent reviews.

 

[BeeJ]

Bob Myers pretended :

On Friday, January 27, 2012 6:44:53 PM UTC-7, BeeJ wrote:
OT ? But you tech guys probably have some good suggestions.
I don't need some biased sales person telling me anything.

I want to set up a projector to view Blu-Ray DVDs.
Room is of sufficient size.

So I need one that:
Very Bright

The "brightness" figure for a projector is given in lumens, but that's a
measure of the light energy leaving the lens; it's one factor in determining
the perceived brightness of the image, the others being the screen size, the
screen "gain," and the ambient light level in the viewing room. Without
knowing those, the only advice someone could give you would be to get the
projector with the biggest output spec in lumens that you could afford, but
there's a significant chance that you'd wind up buying excessive brightness
at the expense of other features.

High Resolution

Not much choice here, really. You're going to want 1920 x 1080 pixels, and
that's pretty much all you'd find anyway. Lower resolution projectors won't
do Blu-ray discs justice, at least not on a larger screen.

Very Reliable
Costs less than $5K

Other considertions?

Absolutely. First - how far will the projector be located from the screen?
You need to make sure the optics of the projector (the projection lens
system) are capable of producing the desired image size at that distance.
Also, unless the projector can be mounted such that it is facing the screen
"squarely" (i.e., a line from the projector lens to the screen is
perpendicular to both), you will wind up with a distorted image (look up
"keystone distortion" for an example). Some projectors can correct for this,
if such correction is needed.

You should also look into the basic imaging technology used by the projector.
Lots of projectors today use Texas Instrument's "Digital Light Processing"
(DLP) technology, in which the image is formed on a chip carrying literally a
couple of million tiny little square mirrors. But this technology doesn't
inherently provide a color image, so to get full color images you either need
to show the red, green, and blue images on a single chip in rapid succession
(called "field-sequential color") or use three of these imaging chips, one
for each color. The three-chip types are obviously going to be more
expensive, but provide the best image and avoid a problem that's inherent in
the single-chip designs known as "color breakup" or the "rainbow effect."
Some people are very sensitive to this effect, in which you will perceive
colored fringes around moving objects within the image, or if you move your
head rapidly such that the image moves across your field of vision. If
you're not overly sensitive to the problem (I'm not, personally), single-chip
projectors will be fine choices; if you are, you may need to look for a
three-chip design or use some other imaging technology. LCDs are the other
major imaging device common found in consumer projection. They typically
don't provide the high contrast of the DLP imagers, and have an overall
different "look" to the image. Shop and compare.)

Finally, you'll need to consider other features that may be of concern to
you. Top of that list is likely what inputs you need: HDMI is the de-facto
standard digital interface for HDTV today, but you may also need the
projector to be able to handle the older analog TV connections standards
(composite or component video, typically using "RCA" jacks, or "S-Video"
which is typically on a DIN connector) or to accept video from personal
computers (which may provide HDMI, but which might also use VGA, DVI, or
DisplayPort outputs; of those, only DVI is directly compatible with HDMI).

Bob M.

Is there one per above that is LED or laser driven rather than lamp.

Will get a proper screen: suggestions there too please.

Are there links to pertinent recent reviews.

Thanks for all of that.
The one missing piece in my limited knowledge bank was the one vs three
chip DLP. So that is where I will begin my search.

Anyone suggest brands or models? A place for me to start informed
looking!

Thanks

 

[scsisys]

"BeeJ" <nospam@spamnot.com> wrote in message
news:jg2ajl$l5b$1@speranza.aioe.org...

Bob Myers pretended :
On Friday, January 27, 2012 6:44:53 PM UTC-7, BeeJ wrote:
OT ? But you tech guys probably have some good suggestions.
I don't need some biased sales person telling me anything.

I want to set up a projector to view Blu-Ray DVDs.
Room is of sufficient size.

So I need one that:
Very Bright

The "brightness" figure for a projector is given in lumens, but that's a
measure of the light energy leaving the lens; it's one factor in
determining the perceived brightness of the image, the others being the
screen size, the screen "gain," and the ambient light level in the
viewing room. Without knowing those, the only advice someone could give
you would be to get the projector with the biggest output spec in lumens
that you could afford, but there's a significant chance that you'd wind
up buying excessive brightness at the expense of other features.

High Resolution

Not much choice here, really. You're going to want 1920 x 1080 pixels,
and that's pretty much all you'd find anyway. Lower resolution
projectors won't do Blu-ray discs justice, at least not on a larger
screen.

Very Reliable
Costs less than $5K

Other considertions?

Absolutely. First - how far will the projector be located from the
screen? You need to make sure the optics of the projector (the
projection lens system) are capable of producing the desired image size
at that distance. Also, unless the projector can be mounted such that it
is facing the screen "squarely" (i.e., a line from the projector lens to
the screen is perpendicular to both), you will wind up with a distorted
image (look up "keystone distortion" for an example). Some projectors
can correct for this, if such correction is needed.

You should also look into the basic imaging technology used by the
projector. Lots of projectors today use Texas Instrument's "Digital Light
Processing" (DLP) technology, in which the image is formed on a chip
carrying literally a couple of million tiny little square mirrors. But
this technology doesn't inherently provide a color image, so to get full
color images you either need to show the red, green, and blue images on a
single chip in rapid succession (called "field-sequential color") or use
three of these imaging chips, one for each color. The three-chip types
are obviously going to be more expensive, but provide the best image and
avoid a problem that's inherent in the single-chip designs known as
"color breakup" or the "rainbow effect." Some people are very sensitive
to this effect, in which you will perceive colored fringes around moving
objects within the image, or if you move your head rapidly such that the
image moves across your field of vision. If you're not overly sensitive
to the problem (I'm not, personally), single-chip projectors will be fine
choices; if you are, you may need to look for a three-chip design or use
some other imaging technology. LCDs are the other major imaging device
common found in consumer projection. They typically don't provide the
high contrast of the DLP imagers, and have an overall different "look" to
the image. Shop and compare.)

Finally, you'll need to consider other features that may be of concern to
you. Top of that list is likely what inputs you need: HDMI is the
de-facto standard digital interface for HDTV today, but you may also need
the projector to be able to handle the older analog TV connections
standards (composite or component video, typically using "RCA" jacks, or
"S-Video" which is typically on a DIN connector) or to accept video from
personal computers (which may provide HDMI, but which might also use VGA,
DVI, or DisplayPort outputs; of those, only DVI is directly compatible
with HDMI).

Bob M.

Is there one per above that is LED or laser driven rather than lamp.

Will get a proper screen: suggestions there too please.

Are there links to pertinent recent reviews.

Thanks for all of that.
The one missing piece in my limited knowledge bank was the one vs three
chip DLP. So that is where I will begin my search.

Anyone suggest brands or models? A place for me to start informed
looking!

Thanks

The link below is to a well respected audio/video forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=9/