I've just moved into an apartment and space is limited so my superb idea for saving space is going out and buying a projector which would free up a load of space taken up by a 32" widescreen TV.

So which projector and screen should I be looking for. Since the idea to save space and attaching i tto the ceiling is out then it's going to be an DLP or LCD, with me currently favouring DLP although I will need to do some demo's. My requirements:

• DLP or LCD
• vertical and horizontal keystone correction (will be going at the side of the room)
• approx 2m wide screen (possibly electric roll up one.
• £4000 absolute max, more probable £2000 to £2500 (not including screen)
• hooked up to my Arcam DV89 DVD player and HD cable box

One local dealer stocks inFocus and Sim2, I have head good things about the inFocus 4805 as a budget projector so wondered if anyone had experience of thier higher end stuff.

DLP is better IMO, more light, more contrast, even if LCD has more pixels.
horizontal keystone correction doesn't exist.
the only projectors able to be located at the side of the screen are the Runco VX5000 at about 40K $can. This is an optical correction, not an electronic one. The keystone correction is not a panacea, the more correction you do, the less resolution remains. Never correct more than 1 or 2 pixel.
Roll-up sceen are very expensive if they are good, they must have tensors on the side. Otherwise, you'll end with bent screen. Find a way to use a regular framed screen.

Emmanuel
Euphonie

I understand keystone correction isn't ideal, but in this case I'm going to have to do it horizontal at least since the projector is going to have to go at the side of the room. The inFocus 7205 lists that it can do horizontal +/-9 degrees and vertical +/- 20 degrees. If I'm very lucky with throw distances etc. I may be able to put it at the back of the room. I'll have to do some measurements this week to get the dimensions of the room, the exact desired screen dimensions.

Unfortunately the screen is going to have to be roll up as well. The only 2 places I can put the screen is over a large hatch to the kitchen and blocking some sliding doors, so I'm going to need it to slide up when not in use. I could use a regular frane if I make it hinged on the ceiling maybe.

Is it possible for you to 'black out' the room, if so why spend more on a brighter beamer when the 4805 will do the job nicely....??
We demo'd one late last year and it's a cracker!
It's on our shopping list......along with a few other bits and bobs.....

Cheers,
Ali

Maybe a little Epson at well under a grand might be good?

I use an infocus 5700 and very happy with it.
True widescreen, well calibrated, loads of inputs.

However not suitable for use at the side of the room as digital keystone correction.

I have a Sim2 20H (HDMI) and I belive it cannot be beat on pure picture quality (for the price of course !!)
I paired it with the Arcam DV79.
It still thrills me with every DVD I watch.
I use a foldway widescreen from DRH, also very, very good.
Phil

I also have the Sim2 20H and cant fault it it any way,but i am not shore if you can use it on the side.
Trevor

i saw a 7205 last night on a 2mtr screen being fed by hdmi from a top pioneer 868?
the picture was stunning , so much so im thinking of taking the plunge

neil

Two-Sheds,
horizontal +/-9 degrees and vertical +/- 20 degrees won`t do it in the corner!!!
It means the projector can be +/- 9 degrees off center of the screen: that`s 0.15 time the distance from projector to screen:
for a 10' distance, you can move the projector +/-1.5' from the center of the screen, that`s not very ''at the side of the room''.

Emmanuel
Euphonie

The Sanyo Z2 and Z3 have optical lens shift correction (horizontal and vertical) which allows you to move the image across by almost a screen width (7 feet in my case) and up or down by about a screen height. That might enable you to put the projector well off-centre without using ANY keystoning.

Andrew

Yes, i had forgotten the Sanyo.

It is very cheap too - just £1,000. Almost disposable compared to the Sim2 range.

I like the Sanyo very much and I only have the Z2 (not the Z3). Running it through a component feed from a cheap prog scan DVD player. Audio goes into a reasonable Denon AV amp (3802) and then using preouts into a really good hifi system (using an EAR864 valve preamp and large active ATC speakers - which replaced my Naim 52/active SBL setup).

Andrew

I finally measured the room the projector will be going in and it is (approx):
3.55m wide
6.05m long
2.35m high

The wall that will have the screen against it (3.55m wide side) has a large hole through to the kitchen in it to the kitchen which is:
1.95m wide
0.97m high
1m off the floor

I'm planning to put a curtain in front of it and have the screen come down in front of it and have a screen that's approx 2m wide (by calcs that would make it 1.12m wide).

Just spoke to one store and thay have the inFocus 5700 in my price range (just under £2000, or $3900 CAD), then there is a big jump to the 7205 ($6900 CAD, £2800) and even more before the sim2 range starts.

And he also agreed with Manu in that I'm not going to be able to put those on the side of the room so i'm going to have to start looking at a ceiling mounting then.

Have a look at the Sharp and Epson projectors. They're very good indeed. I think you'd be looking at the Epson EMP-TW500 which is HD capable. I played with the one down from th 500 (the 200) and that was already excellent and you can get the 500 for around £2000. The Epson is LCD so no worries abut rainbow effects here.

For DLP, the Sharps are also very good. The Sharp XV-Z2000 is the one you'd be looking at, using an HD2+ chip (same as the £6000 Sim2), with a 1.5 powered zoom and focus (so excellent for ceiling mounts). Lovely machine.

Today I got to play with a Themescene H78 fed from a DVD5. Nicely built, very quiet and an Impressive picture for the money. Even has the full set of 5 BNCs too...

Most impressive was the lack of any rainbow effect. I'm very susceptible and it almost put me off a DLP projector. The Screenplay I use at home is pretty good but on this Themescene one it's almost entirely absent (OK, I admit it cost 3 and a half times as much as the 4805). Very easy to watch with low fatigue.

However.... comparison with a SIM2 HT300 showed the SIM2 to have a marginally more natural picture on DVI/HDMI... But then the SIM is much more money...

quote:

Most impressive was the lack of any rainbow effect. I'm very susceptible and it almost put me off a DLP projector.

The rainbow effect is a concern for me too, I've heard lots about it, but never sat down and watched a DLP so I don't know if I can see them or not.

Are there any particular types of scenes that will show them up. Just wondering when I go and demo some projectors if there are any DVD's that I can take to see if I can see the rainbow. I'm guessing moving objects against a black background?

I went and bought a inFocus screenplay 5700. I have the projector now, but no screen. They should have the screen I want next week (approx 2.3m wide).

I'm hoping to get some time to myself tomorrow afternoon to set it up using a wall to check it all works and figure out the set up of it.

Does anyone on here have set up discs for displays? if so where do you get them from?

quote:

Originally posted by Two-Sheds:
I went and bought a inFocus screenplay 5700.....

.....Does anyone on here have set up discs for displays? if so where do you get them from?

The Infocus 5700 should come ready calibrated (if your talking projector setup) but Digital Video Essentials DVD (PAL or NTSC) should give you what you need to get the video side of things setup.

Best projector for $3000:

http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet...&surfModel=PT-AE700U

Two-Sheds,

here's a simple test for Rainbows... Put on a Black & White film on the DVD player and feed it to your projector. Any suggestion of colour means that you are susceptible to "the rainbow effect". Generally projectors with 4 speed colour wheels or better are the best option to minimise the effect.

As I mentioned earlier the Infocus 4805 is very good here and having spent time with the 5700 as well, I know it's similarly fine. Of course, a 3 chip DLP completely removes the problem... but at a cost! Roll on a 3 chip unit for under £10k....

And LCD projectors don't have the problem...

True, Frank, true... But you well know that LCD projectors have their own issues too. Even the best of them have poor blacks and I have yet to see one with colours that approach the naturalness of a good DLP. Bright and vibrant? - yes. Natural? - er.. no. Just my opinion, yours may vary, after all they're your eyes...

Infocus claim there are age related issues with LCD projectors leading to image degradation after only a few hundred hours. I cannot possibly confirm or deny this and I am conscious that it serves them well to highlight this but still, it does leave an element of doubt there... For me, these issues were enough to swing it DLP's way in spite of Rainbows....

Interesting. The latest LCD projectors are really very good indeed, much better than LCDs of yore. Let's just say that a modern £1000 Epson stands up against the Sony VW-10 which ruled the roost at £5k for a year or two just 4 or 5 years ago. They're worth a look, though I hadn't heard the longevity argument. That would certainly put a dampener on things!

Richard

The new Infocus 7210 is a three chip dlp projector , at around £4.5k.

It has some very good reviews

Nice to speak to you again


Regards

Trevor Impett

£4.5k for a three chip DLP projector ? Incredible, they were about £20k twelve months ago.

About 18 months ago I replaced my LCD projector with a DLP projector of roughly the same value and actually lower resolution. The vertical banding, muddy colours and lack of contrast finally got to me with LCD.

I don't suffer from rainbow problems with DLP but I have noticed occasionaly that the DLP image can be a bit fatiguing if I'm feeling a bit tired, leaving me with slightly sore eyes by the end of a film. I think it's probably down to the subliminal flickering of alternating red, green and blue images. I'm slightly aware of it even when looking at DLP rear projection TV's. In that respect LCD has a more relaxing image.

Another problem I've noticed with both LCD and DLP projectors is false contouring. My DLP projector cured most problems I had with projected images but for me, now, this is easily the most objectionable artifact I have. It's starting to drive me potty. You can spot this most obviously on a persons face when the image of the face is moving across the screen. Its not just confined to projectors, I see this clearly in plasmas and if I look closely at a CRT TV image I can see it there as well so its probably related to digital image processing at any point in the signal path. I do think that DLP projectors suffer from this problem most of all though due to the method of image generation that DLP uses. I've not seen a three-chip DLP yet but I'm sure this problem will be there although somewhat reduced compared to single chip.

Allan

Allan/Richard

I do apologise but the Infocus 7210 is not a three chip machine, but it uses the new dark chip, to enhance black levels

Regards

Trevor

The new BenQ PE7700 is attracting a great deal of attention, as it's an HD capable DLP proj for around £1400. Most of the early reviews are encouraging. For rainbow sufferers the Sony HS50 is LCD but with a 6000:1 contrat ratio!