Plasma and Screen?

[Bobch53e]

I'm definitely putting in a projector and screen in a dedicated theatre room. My concern is whether I will enjoy watching daily type TV (news, etc.), on the big screen or should I also hang a plasma on the wall behind the screen for this sort of viewing?

Any comments or advice appreciated.

 

[goodman]

I've had a 720p front projector running a 106" picture for 6 years. In addition to BDs and DVDs, I watch a lot of cable-sourced TV, both SD and HD: PBS, history channel, military channel, cable news networks like MSNBC - they all look really good. Don't bother with a plasma to put behind your screen.

 

[Halon451]

The thing about many projectors is startup time, and bulb life. Replacement lamps can get pretty expensive and are generally designed to not last near as long as your typical plasma or LCD TV.

I'd say, if you can afford to do both, why wouldn't you? Sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[adk highlander]

Halon brings up good points about startup and bulb life. I am going to have both an LCD and a projector in my room. If the room is not totally light controlled and you watch during the day or if you will only be watching for a short time you will probably want the plasma.

To me it is not convenient to have to lower the screen and all that unless I am watching a movie.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I would have both.

 

[ChunkyDark]

I think your going to just have to test it out and see.
Personally I would find watching 106" Tim Russert mug a bit disconcerting

 

[wish]

I think your going to just have to test it out and see.
Personally I would find watching 106" Tim Russert mug a bit disconcerting

True but you could do worse. At least "Roseanne" is no longer in prime time!

 

[jostenmeat]

I'm definitely putting in a projector and screen in a dedicated theatre room. My concern is whether I will enjoy watching daily type TV (news, etc.), on the big screen or should I also hang a plasma on the wall behind the screen for this sort of viewing?

Any comments or advice appreciated.

Yes, do it if under consideration. You can get a 42" Panny plasma, for what, 1k at Costco? The TV is practically "free" once you hit 5-6k hours with the bulbs on a PJ.

Also, some folks re-calibrate their PJ every couple of hundred of hours, as the quickly-dying-bulb will give differing results over time. If this was for daily tv watching as well, those people would be re-calibrating every month or so!

 

[The Dukester]

I agree with most above and would do both...I did! I do watch some shows on the pj, however, like the Super Bowl, Bowl games and the like. It's great! For news and everday shows, though, it's the 50" plasma. I would suggest a tensioned screen if you are going to be moving it up and down a lot, though. A non tensioned one will become wavy on you fairly soon.

 

[jcPanny]

HT Setup

The cost of the plasma, electric screen, and HDMI splitter or high end receiver will all add to the cost of your HT room.
You can buy a lot of bulbs or upgrade the PJ or speakers with this amount of money.

If the room does not have good light control during the day, that would be a good reason for the secondary plasma display.

 

[Pyrrho]

I'm definitely putting in a projector and screen in a dedicated theatre room. My concern is whether I will enjoy watching daily type TV (news, etc.), on the big screen or should I also hang a plasma on the wall behind the screen for this sort of viewing?

Any comments or advice appreciated.

Since you are definitely going to buy a projector, why not try it and see if you like it? You can always add something else later if you decide you don't like watching regular TV on it. Personally, I would not even consider adding a plasma set, and would watch everything on a large screen, if I had the money and proper place for it. Also, if you don't put a plasma set behind the screen, you can consider using an acoustically transparent screen and put your speakers behind the screen, just like movie theaters do. That way, the sound comes from exactly the right spot, which is something people with direct view sets (LCDs, plasmas, CRTs) and rear projectors can never do. Additionally, you can do a permanently installed screen, which is supposed to be better than a retractable one.

 

[westcott]

I'm definitely putting in a projector and screen in a dedicated theatre room. My concern is whether I will enjoy watching daily type TV (news, etc.), on the big screen or should I also hang a plasma on the wall behind the screen for this sort of viewing?

Any comments or advice appreciated.

I have two displays. SD just is not very good at 100".
Lamp life is a factor.
Sometimes you just do not want to fire up the projector for SD programming. It is a bit anticlimactic.
In brighter rooms or when you just do not feel like shutting all the curtains and blinds, a good plama or lcd is just the ticket!

 

[BMXTRIX]

I strictly used a 106" display for several years. The only reason I went to a plasma was because the ambient light in the room was killing the TV experience completely. You do give up a TON when watching SDTV, but you also get used to it, and expect the loss in quality. Not a big deal really once you are used to it and accept that SDTV is truly flawed. Yet, you do start looking very intensively for HD shows that you enjoy. A lousy HD news show is far better than a good SDTV version.

After moving into a home with to much light for full time projection use, we got a cheap 50" plasma. It was something we used for a couple of years, but then went up to a 60" Pioneer plasma. No doubt, we enjoy the Pioneer immensely, and it's a better display, by a long shot, compared to the projector. But, the projector truly immerses me in the video in a way that the 60" plasma could only dream of doing.

I'm a huge fan of using both, but only because of lamp life, which is of some concern with how much the TV is on in our home, and because of the ambient light. If we had a far darker family room, like our old house, I have no doubt we would use the projector exclusively at this point.