Projector Choice

[alxltd]

I am in the final stages of contruction of a dedicated home theater as part of a second floor addition to our home. The room is totally light controlled and measures 14' wide by 21' long with an 8' ceiling. I used very valuable information from the other forums here to finalize my selection of speakers, subs, receiver, dvd player, wiring, UPS, and power center. Now it is time to pick the front projector and screen.

I originally had conviced myself that DLP was the only way to go and had chosen the Optoma H79 as my first choice. After reading a slew of reviews and forum comments I then thought that the Optoma H78 would be a budget friendly alternative (still DLP). Now along comes the Sanyo PLV-Z4 and my reasoning may be faltering.

Given the rave reviews of this latest LCD wonder boy should I rethink my selection. The Z4 would definitely be more budget friendly, but is it as good as it seems? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

As for a little more background: I plan to watch primarily movies. The budget for projector was originally set at $6000, but I would not complain if I could lower it without compromising to much visual quality.

Any recommendation on screens would be helpful as well. I have been looking at Carada as my choice of vendor.

Thanks guys.

 

[BMXTRIX]

If you've gone through the slew of information over at www.projectorcentral.com then you already have a good deal of quality info at your hands.

IMO - I would be hard pressed to get any DLP priced over $1K more than the Z4 or AE900. The benefit simply isn't there with DLP anymore. It used to be plain and simple - DLP was much better than LCD and LCD didn't compete.

Now, LCD competes, costs half as much, includes lens shift and zoom that blows DLP away, and still has the great color that LCD is known for. Is the H78 perhaps a bit better? Yes, I think it is, maybe, a bit better.

I might go so far as to spend... maybe... $1,000 more for it. But, not one penny more. Really - it is not THAT much better.

In 1-2 years we will also be looking at 1080p resolution I believe on a lot of front projectors. Those may very well be at the $4K -> $6K level that the H78/79 are at right now. We will either see the 720p projectors disappear altogether or they will drop to $2K and actually, finally, go head-to-head with LCD.

Right now though? When price is included in the overall value, LCD is kicking the big ol' turds out of DLP and DLP is being way to slow to throw a counterpunch.

As for your screen? I think Carada is a very excellent value for the money and everything I have heard from users seems to be favorable. I strongly recommend them as a great value for your cash.

 

[majorloser]

Optoma H78 Owner

I own a Optoma H78-DC3. The picture is awesome! It's the EXACT same projector as the H79. The only difference is Optoma took the one year advance replacement off the warranty which give you a two year warranty instead of three. Paid $3,799 through Projector Solutions back in August. I'm sure the price has dropped since then.

 

[alxltd]

Can you tell me what type of screen and gain you are using. Thanks.

 

[majorloser]

I am using a 100" 16x9 Stewart Luxus Delux Screenwall with Firehawk material. Firehawk has a gain of 1.25 It's a grey screen to increase black levels.

http://www.stewartfilmscreen.com/index.htm

Stewart is not cheap by any means. I originally bought the screen with my old projector, a Yamaha DPX-1. That projector needed help with black levels.

The change to the Optoma was HUGE.

 

[jcPanny]

Projectors and screens

Projector central did a comparision review of the Optima H79 and Sanyo Z4 which should answer your question. They also compared the Sanyo to the new Panasonic AE900U. Both of the new LCD projectors are hightly rated and priced under $2K from Visualapex.com, an authorized dealer. The panasonic also has a rebate running. I would recommend a demo of one of the new LCDs before making your purchase.

Concerning screens, in addition to Crada and Stewart Filmscreen, many people like DaLites Cinema Vision and Hight Contrast Cinema Vision screen. With your totally light controlled room, I would use a white screen with little or no gain for best color reproduction and uniformity.