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Author Topic: Looking for Home Theater Projector Suggestions
Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted April 05, 2013 03:28 PM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Everybody, So I've put together a pretty nice man cave for my Super 8 and 16mm projectors/films and I'd like to do more, like use the screen to watch my DVDs and Blu-rays on. I don't want to go crazy, so I'm looking at spending between $200-300 on a HD movie projector either with a built in DVD player with output for my speakers or a projector that will have HDMI and other inputs. I've been overwhelmed with options, brightness, name brands, generic models, etc. Any suggestions on a good fit? Thanks!

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Scott

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Lee Mannering
Film God

Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006


 - posted April 06, 2013 08:11 AM      Profile for Lee Mannering     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Always going to be a very personal choice but I have always liked the BenQ which are good value and very good performance.
www.benq.com/

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Christian Bjorgen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 996
From: Kvinnherad, Norway
Registered: Oct 2009


 - posted April 06, 2013 08:48 AM      Profile for Christian Bjorgen   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I would steer clear of the ones with built-in features, they tend to have poor picture quality. LG, BenQ, Samsung and Dell are all good brands for projectors, but make sure that you get one with native resolution of 1920x1080 (HD). Many projectors claim to have full HD output, but when you read into them they have low native resolutions, which means that while they will accept the HD signal, they will downscale it to the native resolution.

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Well who’s on first? Yeah. Go ahead and tell me. Who. The guy on first. Who. The guy playin’ first base. Who. The guy on first. Who is on first! What are you askin’ me for? I’m askin’ you!

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Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted April 06, 2013 03:45 PM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks guys!

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Scott

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Roger Shunk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 604
From: Phoenix, AZ
Registered: Nov 2011


 - posted April 06, 2013 06:31 PM      Profile for Roger Shunk   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hey Scott,

Can you let me know what you end up getting and how you like it because I too want to add a rear projector to my present film set-up and there seems to be a lot of choices out there. I too have done lots of research on the subject and it gets confusing
and overwhelming!

Thanks,
Roger

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Matt McBride
Film Handler

Posts: 62
From: Starkville, MS USA
Registered: Oct 2012


 - posted April 06, 2013 07:07 PM      Profile for Matt McBride     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It will all come down to how much money you want to spend. Like Christian said you'll want to make sure that it has at least 1080p resolution, though I want to add it may help to get ones that can run 1080p at 24fps. They are usually marked as 1080p/24fps. The reason being, it adds a little edge to making the DVD or blu-ray you are watching see slightly more film like. Also there is a whole debate on LCD vs. DLP. Personally I would go with a DLP as you won't have to worry about aging on the crystals like LCDs, however LCDs are getting better with how to control the aging element. DLPs are known for giving richer blacks and lighter whites, that LCDs in general can't reproduce as well. However they are getting better in that technology but you may have to shell a little more out for a higher end projector.

The $200-300 dollar range will be a tight budget, and I am not even sure if you can buy a projector with 1080p that is worth while. I would try to shop for a used one. You can find them at projectorcentral.com. They are dedicated to digital projectors and reviews, mostly for home, but they talk about some large venues. I don't think they discuss DCI compliant projectors other than they exist.

There are a variety of brands to select from. I personally have owned Optomas and Panasonics, in fact my current one is Panasonic PT-AE4000, which I bought brand new 3 yrs ago for 2K, now since it's not even in production as they are on the 8000 model, you can probably get mine around your price range. One little feature that may be nice to have, one that's actually in my model, is called lens memory. You can save your lens zoom positions, so you can mimick the constant height for scope formats. Ideally a scalar with lens changes is ideal but that's a different story.

Other than Optoma and Panasonic there are other good brands out there such as runco and christie. I would browse through projector central. They have a nice tutorial about home theater projectors if you have never bought one, plus they have section to buy used projectors. Good luck and let us know what you decide on. BTW this excellent step towards being able to show movies of various formats, not just film, on the bigger screen. [Big Grin]

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Roger Shunk
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 604
From: Phoenix, AZ
Registered: Nov 2011


 - posted April 06, 2013 07:19 PM      Profile for Roger Shunk   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Matt for your great advise & insight on the subject as well as everyone's else's too! I was looking to spend between $400-500

RS

[Smile]

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Rob Young.
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1633
From: Cheshire, U.K.
Registered: Dec 2003


 - posted April 07, 2013 07:03 AM      Profile for Rob Young.     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Or D-ILA technology from JVC.

Best black levels and shadow detail available; especially important for movie watching.

New ones start at about £3000.00, but I bet you could find a used bargain if you looked around.

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Mark Todd
Film God

Posts: 3846
From: UK
Registered: Aug 2003


 - posted April 08, 2013 11:48 PM      Profile for Mark Todd     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
If anyone in the UK is interested I have a very nice LCD machine with little use, superb picture in the £120-£150 range. Only selling as the peugeot has a bloomin dual mass clutch !!! needs doing soon.

Virtually unused origional lamp and brilliant starter machine.

Best Mark.

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Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted April 11, 2013 12:44 PM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Wow, tons of helpful information. Thanks!

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Scott

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Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted May 07, 2013 12:09 AM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Everyone,
So I think I’m closer to getting my digital projector. Here’s what I want and have to work with: a basement theater, 8ft tall screen, Bose speaker with a quarter inch jack, distance of 10-15ft to the screen, AV cart to put the projector and hopefully 3D bluray/DVD player on. Here are my possibilities: a refurbished Optoma HD20 or BenQ W710ST Short Throw DPL. The Optoma has the native resolution of 1920x1080 but no quarter inch sound out for my Bose speaker. Also it got a lot of great reviews but also complaints of lines, flickering and possible bad boards that can only be serviced in Singapore. The BenQ gets great ratings and has a quarter inch sound out, but has a lower 720 resolution and there are a couple of reviews saying the single/internal 10watt speaker isn’t very loud. I’m not sure, but I imagine that I can run a player into the projector and then run sound out from the projector to my Bose speaker?! Also it’s a short throw, so can I put it behind everyone on my AV cart or do I need to have the mess of a set up low and in front of everyone? I don’t have the option of mounting it from my ceiling. Both are just under $600 and I think I’m leaning towards the BenQ. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Scott

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Matt McBride
Film Handler

Posts: 62
From: Starkville, MS USA
Registered: Oct 2012


 - posted May 07, 2013 09:00 AM      Profile for Matt McBride     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
You can always send your sound signal to the speakers. You will just hook the sound cables(rca, digital, etc) to the receiver that powers the speakers and the video cables will go to the projector. I have owned optomas in the past I was happy with it. I never had any problems. I would lean towards that to have the native 1080p resolution, otherwise there really is no point in having a blu-ray player if you can't run it at full resolution especially in the case of projecting it. Storing everything on the cart is a great idea. That will limit the number of long cables you need to just speaker wire.

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted May 07, 2013 10:20 AM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I strongly recommend buying a digital projector with a minimum of 2X zoom range so that you can put the projector where it belongs - at the back of the room. Having the projector in the middle of the audience is not the ideal solution.

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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Elyas Tesfaye
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 520
From: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Registered: Nov 2012


 - posted May 07, 2013 01:48 PM      Profile for Elyas Tesfaye     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Scott,

I have a very small room n got extremely lucky with this short throw projector locally for which I only paid $60 (With 3.5 meters of throw, I get a screen about 1.5 to 2 meters wide by 1.25 to 1.5 meters tall). It is a portable Dell M109S DLP projector. I am happy with it and just thought I'd pitch in my 2 cents worth [Smile] !!!

 -

Best,
ET

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Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted May 10, 2013 03:49 PM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks again Guys! I ended up getting a BenQ W1070 which will cover my needs and is 3D ready. I did tons of research, read product reviews, watched demos on YouTube and picked your brains. I found what I needed in my NEW price range on Amazon and a digital projector site. The price and factory warranty were the same but I was really pleased with the smaller company's customer service which answered my many questions along the way. You can check them out here: www.consignia.ca
Don't worry I'm not about to abandon film though, lol. I just got some stuff for my Super 8 and 16mm projectors too. Thanks!

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Scott

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Thomas Murin, Jr.
Master Film Handler

Posts: 260
From: Lanoka Harbor, NJ, USA
Registered: Sep 2009


 - posted May 10, 2013 03:59 PM      Profile for Thomas Murin, Jr.   Author's Homepage   Email Thomas Murin, Jr.   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Congrats, Scott!

I got the W1070 a few months ago and am really loving it! The PQ is really outstanding as is the 3D!

I'm sure you will be very happy with your purchase! If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer them!

Tom

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My crummy Deviant Art account. Read my poetic tribute to the internet comic strip Ozy & Millie and view my crappy attempts at art.

http://cougartiger.deviantart.com/

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Scott Mallory
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 146
From: Montreal, QC
Registered: Jan 2011


 - posted May 13, 2013 09:57 AM      Profile for Scott Mallory   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Tom!

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Scott

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