please help with family room theater for this oldtimer

[doug b]

hi,

a good friend sent me to this site. i apologize in advance for this lengthy post.

i've had a home theaters for 16 years, and have had "experts" install them for me.

i'm retired now, and can no longer afford the "top of the line Runco", nor can i afford to have the experts install it.

my theater doubles as my family room. ambient light is a bit of a problem, but with the blackout curtains, it hasn't been too bad with the old runco on the stewert screen. it's a fairly large room, and seating is between 14 and 18feet from the screen.

because it's also the family room, the folks at projectorpeople.com have suggested either the epson 800 if i don't have a budget, or either the Epson 550 or the Optoma HD7100 if i'm going to be more budget minded.

also, because it's the family room, and the boss (i mean wife) really doesn't want to see the screen 24-7, i need a new tension electronic screen in the 16:9 format. after checking out several sites, it appears i should have one at least 110", and possibly larger. again, the folks at projectorpeople.com have suggested a da-lite tension cinema vision screen. because of potential ambient light issues, they are suggesting a 119" screen for the epson 800, and a 110" screen for the other two.

now for my questions:

1. is the epson 800 worth the additional $2k over either the epson 550 or the optoma HD7100?
2. does the reccomendation that i use the "smaller" screen make sense for the two lower cost projectors?
3. what are the main differences between DLP and LCD projectors?
4. will these projectors be fairly easy to install/set-up? (i think i need a carpenter to install the inside the ceiling screen)
5. i'm open to other suggestions re: projector and screen both. should i just buy the best plasma going and be done?

i haven't even got to the components yet. am i doing this backwards? i figured to start with the screen and projector and choose the components and speakers next.

thanks in advance for any help.

doug

 

[bpape]

The smaller screen for the cheaper PJs makes perfect sense. They're not as bright so you want the light to be more concentrated. Fixed lumen output on smaller surface area = brighter picture. Also, the cheaper PJs will not have as good a picture quality in terms of resolution - which will only be made more apparent on a larger screen. Personally, for any of those PJs, I'd stick closer to 100".

DLP and LCD have differing quality of black levels. Also, some people have issues with rainbows caused by the DLP color wheels.

A plasma will give you better black levels (some of them anyway) and with a non-glare screen will be much more tolerant of the ambient lighting. The tradeoff is size. You're not going to find anything close to a 100" plasma.

Bryan

 

[df4801]

you could also check out the mitsubishi wd2000.
Very bright, and around $3500.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would start by doing some reading. Calling stores is great, and projector people is excellent, but you can't really beat the reviews you get at a lot of the online sites and the community you get with talking to other owners, vs. a salesperson. I wouldn't rush to buy ANY projector that doesn't have at least a couple of reviews under its belt as the difference between a 'bright' business class projector and one that is more home theater oriented will produce dramatic results in your viewing experience. Most often, if you have true blackout shades, it means that your room is nearly perfect for using a projector day or night. If they are just really dark shades with light flitterring through the sides, you have to be a bit more careful.

Either way, your screen size should be one of the first things you consider. As you already own a projector and screen, you should have a pretty good idea of what YOU like. The general rule is that the screen should be about .66 times the seating distance in width. So, if you sit at 12 feet, a 8 foot WIDE screen is THX recommended ideal. This is a very common seating distance and the screen size still ends up being a bit big when you are not viewing HD material.

Fortunately, with HD discs finally hitting the market, the availability of HD material and true HD movies is finally becoming a reality (with a few tweaks still necessary with HD discs and a format war to play out).

I would not think to recommend a screen size without knowing your seating distance and without knowing your now experienced, personal preference.

Next we pick a projector. The projector should be no less than 1280x720. There will be new models in upcoming months that will be 1920x1080, but pricing is likely to be over $5,000. Not sure if your budget works with that, but it is worth considering if your budget does allow for it. As I said before though, you really want to read reviews on projectors that are out there. In the past 5 years we have seen literally a dozen plus new entries into the home theater market and they are getting better and better every year at ridiculously low price points. That 7 year old $10,000 Runco is pretty easily blown away by $2,000 projectors of today, in almost every area.

The last thing to consider is what screen material that should be used. The gain will be determined by the actual calibrated brightness of the projector and the color will be more of a factor of the room's ambient light.

Besides the very good reviews here, check Projector Central (.com) and some other sites for info and decent professional projector reviews/evaluations as well as tons of user feedback.

Then, come back with questions - keep asking! Put together your real street budget, and don't forget the audio!

 

[doug b]

thanks for your help.

i've learned quite a bit over the last few days, reading reviews, news, etc.

i've also learned that the ceiling in my family room will accomodate nothing larger than a 54x96 (110") screen. that's still 60% larger than my existing screen, so i'm pretty excited even though the ideal size for the seating distance is the next size larger screen (119").

based on the screen size, i eliminated the more expensive Epson powerlite pro cinema 800. seems like overkill for the screen size. if i were to spend that kind of money, i'd probably want to wait for the next generation of
1080p projectors.

based on the reviews, as well as value relative to performance, i'm leaning toward the Sanyo Z4. it seems to have similar reviews to the epson, is supposed to be a bit easier to use (important to me), and has a better warranty. it's also $800 cheaper and comes with an extra lamp. i think i'd feel better about upgrading a $1600 unit three years from now than i would about either of the epsons.

i've also chosen the Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver and intend to buy one of the OPPO 971 dvd player to tide me over until the next generation of dvd players is better.

thoughts?

thanks again for your help,

doug

 

[jcPanny]

Projector info.

Doug,
Include the projectorcentral.com website in your reading for plenty of projector reviews and info. If your ceiling and screen geometry can accomidate it, I would take a close look at the Optima HD72 DLP projector for about $2000. It is comparable in performance to the HD7100 which adds lense shift capabilities.

For budget options, the Sanyo Z4 and Panny AE900 LCD projectors are pretty good, too.

The projectors with a large zoom range and lense shift are pretty forgiving on the installation, while those without (HD72, etc.) will have to have fairly precise projector and screen mounting.

The Yamaha and oppo are good leads, but I would suggest deciding on the speaker system fist, and select a receiver or Amp that is capable of driving it. Keep in mind that the speakers will have the most critical component in the audio performance of you HT system and budget accordingly.