Projector upgrade worth it?

[Trezl]

Hi all, I'm new to this site, but I have been trying to bring myself up to speed on some of the basics.

I have a custom home theater (built by the previous owner of my house about 5 years ago; I've been in it about 2 of those years).

The equipment is now 5+ years old, and I'm wondering if upgrading some of the components is worth it.

The first is my projector: Sony VPL-HS51 (Audioholics review of the 51a: I can't post link yet, but it's on the site)

It's a nice projector, but it is only 720p and I do not think it is HDMI 1.3a, though I do use its HDMI with my PS3 without issues.


My question is then, would upgraded to 1080p be worth it? My screen is 96" I believe (and fancy... some $2000 screen, can't remember the brand off the top of my head).

My budget is a little fixed, but would the Epson Home Cinema 1080 be a better projector? Should I be saving for it? (review: can't post link yet, but it's on the site)

Thanks for any help!

 

[BMXTRIX]

Would it be an upgrade?

Absolutely!

Would it be worth it?

This is entirely in your own personal arena. Don't get me wrong, but asking others to justify your purchase isn't the way to go. There's no question that the older Sony doesn't hold up against the 1080, or the 1080UB, but the $3,000 outlay for a projector, and likely a mount, is not something I could just say 'Go for it!' to if you really can't afford it.

This is a luxury item, and you have soemthing that works nicely currently, so you really are going to realize what may be a 20% or so jump in overall, visual, performance. That will be a resolution and contrast jump.

HDMI 1.3 really matters very little in video, but matters far more for audio, which might be a better thing to upgrade.

But, if you have the cash, and it is disposable money, and you are ready to make the upgrade, then you certainly will get one with this projector.

Whether it is worth it or not is entirely up to you though.

 

[Trezl]

Thanks for the data. It would definitely be a luxury purchase, and I understand that. I've just found it so hard to justify luxury purchases like that with the wife

I understand sound is yet another issue, and something I was going to post in the AVR forum. I currently have one of Denon's nicer AVRs that is also about 5 years old. It works great, but lacks HDMI and decoding of the HD audio formats (Does dolby digital, DTS, etc, just not the new HD versions). I also plan on upgrading this (and since it looks like something like the Yamaha 663 is less expensive than I thought these might run, it's something I'll be looking into.)

If I can tell the wife I can upgrade some of these components to the latest technology, they'll last us, and I can do it for under $5k, it becomes a possibility. I just assumed it was going to cost significantly more than that and had given up on the idea of going to the latest HD tech. I'm really glad I finally found this site and can get advice and opinion from those here!

 

[acacia987]

knowing a complete breakdown of components/speakers(with model numbers) may help in deciding what area to upgrade. this way you dont have a weak link in your system.

 

[Trezl]

I'll take some time to collect all that data in the next couple days. Is that something to post in this thread, or is there a better forum for it?

 

[acacia987]

probably general AV discussion would be better and get more views.

 

[Trezl]

Cool, thanks again for the advice.