Thinking bout a projector again... got a ? or 2..

[AcuDefTechGuy]

What was THX certified about that room? When was it certified and under what conditions? Certifying such a room gets expensive and am surprised that a showroom would be so certified.

All I know is that the sales rep told me it was a THX certified room. The Pioneer receiver was THX Certified. The speakers & subs were Monster THX Certified. And, of course, there were THX Certified Symbols everywhere.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I've seen the JVC (about $6K I think) in action in a dedicated theater. Admittedly, the guy has about Stewart self masking screen that probably cost as much as the projector. It was a really really nice picture. I can't say that it was better or worse than anything else, since I couldn't directly compare, but I remember being quite stunned looking at it.

If I had a dedicated HT room with full-lighting control, I would love to get a HD projector + a 150" Fixed Widescreen.

I owned a SharpVision projector (retailed @ $10K at the time) + 100" DaLite screen. The projector was rated @ 4,000 Lumens. The picture was very bright. The contrast (black & white) was great -- none of that grey stuff.

The one thing I'm a little bit disappointed is the rated Lumen of these HD projectors.

When I saw Transformers HD DVD in this room, the blacks did not look totally black and the whites did not look totally white. There was plenty of grey. I hated that.

I don't know. Maybe they just did not set it up exactly the way I would PREFER.

Okay, I'll confess. I hate the way the picture looks when I calibrated using Video Essentials DVD. I like my contrast very high. I like my blacks to be totally black and whites to be totally white and I like my colors to be very colorful and pretty.

Perhaps when they calibrated the projectors according to THX standards, the contrast was turned way down?

That's gotta it.

So maybe if I had the projector and I turned the contrast way up, it would look exactly like my TV?

 

[itschris]

I'm with you. I like a little extra punch in my pictures. There's got to be so much variance in what each person's eye sees, so I look at these calibrations as sarting points. There's a reason stores push their tv's with blue and bright... it's more pleasing to the eye... at least at first glance.

I usually have my contrast tweaked just a bit over what would normally be "recommended" and the tones are usually a bit on cooler side. It just looks better to me.

By the way, I just ordered the Mits 65833 DLP and the BDI AVION console. So... the whining over and the stuff is on it's way.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm with you. I like a little extra punch in my pictures. There's got to be so much variance in what each person's eye sees, so I look at these calibrations as sarting points. There's a reason stores push their tv's with blue and bright... it's more pleasing to the eye... at least at first glance.

I usually have my contrast tweaked just a bit over what would normally be "recommended" and the tones are usually a bit on cooler side. It just looks better to me.

By the way, I just ordered the Mits 65833 DLP and the BDI AVION console. So... the whining over and the stuff is on it's way.

Well, congratulations!

I'm sure other TVs may match the quality, but it would hard for anything to beat the picture quality of the MIT Diamond series IMO.

It's a winner.

 

[itschris]

For the money, for the room, it about the best I was gonna do. I like the piano black finish on the Diamond Series... since it's matches the Def Techs. Those, along with the Pioneer Elite 94TXH will be ordered this week as well.

I'm going to hold off on the blu-ray player. Sony's got two new players coming out in Summer. The BD 350 which is the replacement for the 300 will be 2.0 compliant and will both decode or send via bitstream to be decoded in the receiver, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA. The MSRP on it's about $400, so I imagine it'll be around $350 or $375 in the stores. The 550 will be out as well, which is the one I want, but whichever comes out first is the one I'm getting.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I get the wish for a big TV, but realistically, you have to look at what your budget offers combined with the aesthetics which you are very determined to preserve in the space you are in.

This pushes a great deal of change in what you are allowed to do within the constraints of your budget and it seems like you are running around in circles trying to avoid those constraints.

1. You aren't going to get front projection unless you are seriously giong to do light control in the room. A Carada brilliant white screen can be awesome - as can motorized screens from Draper or Dalite, but without light control, it just isn't worth it.

2. Your best bang for the buck is going to come from a quality rear projection television, but at that size, you are going to be limited to just a few quality RPTVs. Mitsubishi is way up there in the lineup... But, if you dont' want the box in the room, you get a bit more limited. Keep in mind - for NOT a lot of money you could likely build out a false wall (drywall) and just have a nook for the TV to slide into. Not as nice as wood cabinets, but far less money and a space that fits.

3. The best option sits sqarely in the LCD and plasma domain. But, once again, this starts off with a higher price point. You either suck it up, or walk away from that price point... Or maybe make a bit of a concession. If you do a fair amount of non-HD viewing, then consider the dual format route of getting a slightly lesser HDTV and then working to mate it with a front projector for after dark viewing. The 60" Pioneer PDP-6010FD can be had for under $5,000 and is phenomenal across the board... Likewise the Panasonic TH-58PZ700U 58-inch 1080p Plasma HDTV has received high raves. This is 5" and 7" smaller than what you want, but will deliver aesthetics as well as top shelf viewing for all types of material.

Then come back in a year or so and ADD to the setup with a motorized screen and a front projection setup for after dark viewing.

I've been running both FP and plasma in my home for 4+ years now. I was just using front projection but couldn't stand the ambient light issues, then I added a 50" Sampo plasma a few years ago, and watched that almost as much as the projector... Just recently upgraded to a 60" Pioneer, and we now tend to watch that as much, or more, than the projector. It's simply a phenomenal image. Yet, the projector is always there for movies on Blu-ray or some HD sports or prime time shows. The best part, is the ability to build into what you want to do while maintaining both.

Then you get the motorized screen that fits into the space as best possible - and as biggest possible, potentially getting a full 80+ inches of screen, and because it's motorized it's up and completely out of the way when not in use.

 

[itschris]

Well the 65" Diamond Mits is on the way. There's just no way for a pj to work in my room. We have an open floor plan in that part of the house with the kitchen off to the side. I just said the heck with it and bought the BDI Avion console to go with it. It'll look good with the room we have and the stuff that'll be in it.

I gave serious consideratin to flat panels, but the problems was that I'm too concerned about burn in on the plasmas and the LCDs just didin't perform except for the ones that were in the $5k range. At the same time, size-wise, the LCD's were only in the low to mid 50" range.. just not big enough.

I'll be more than happy with the Mits DLP. When we build the new house in a few years, we'll definately have a dedicated theater/audio room.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'll be more than happy with the Mits DLP. When we build the new house in a few years, we'll definately have a dedicated theater/audio room.

I'm with you on that!

Dedicated HT/Audio room + Full Lighting Control + Acoustic Treatment + HD Projector/Screen!

 

[mtrycrafts]

And, of course, there were THX Certified Symbols everywhere.

Oh, yes, of course I forgot about the stickers and symbols