Front Projector or Rear Projector

[NHT]

hello again fellas. Ive been shopping around for a new tv for the last 2 months and cannot come to a decision. Choices choices! There are so many to choose from that Im going zonkers and just want to pull all my hair out! To top it all off, my wife and I went to a Home Show today and there was a home theater vendor that was showcasing a 92 inch front projector system. ANd you know what happened? She made my life that much harder and told me thats what she wants. Arghhhhhh!!!

So, now the WAF is at full force. I have always been curious and considered front projectors but I didnt think she would ever go for it. So thats why Im turning to you guys for help again.

First of all my budget is about 4-5 grand for a new tv. Can I get a decent setup for this price or would performance be mediocre with this budget? Any suggestions for a specific projector and screen for this price? I have pretty much ruled LCD and DLP out(except the Loewe DLP, its amazing). So the runners up are front projector and rear projector.

The one concern that I have with fptv is that the picture might not be as clear as rptvs. Is this true? Could I get a good fptv and a screen with my budget? WOuld the picture even compete with, lets say, a Mitsubishi Diamond or Toshiba HX93?

What are the downsides if any with fptvs? This is my first forray into this technology and I am ridiculously clueless. There is a huge "wow" factor with them but how do they compare with raw performance? Picture quality? THe room that its going into will be a light controlled environment and its app 14x12.

I do appreciate your time and any comments and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[Bam!]

NHT!
I answered you on Front Projectors.....the other thread....




Bam!

[aud19]

Well you've got a capable budget. The only other concern I would have is light control and the room's ability to properly mount a projector. (without using keystone correction etc.) Light control apparently isn't a problem for you either. I'd say go for it. It's the best way to get that "at the movies" feeling.

There are definately a few options for good 1280x720 LCD FP's in the $2500-$4000 range and for less than $1000 you should be able to get a nice 92" screen (as long as you don't need a motorized or perforated one). Check out Carada's link at the bottom of the page.

Jason




Need a new display? Questions about new display technologies? Visit RPTVs, plasmas, and other monitors (http://www.htguide.com/CFBoards/index.cfm?fuseaction=Threads.listings&forum=41&CFB=1) @ HTguide

[JonMarsh]

There's definitly a LOT for you to chose from in that price range; considering you need to reserve some money for a good screen system, cables, etc, I'd be considering projectors in the $3000 range. Don't forget looking at the Sony HS20 while you're drooling over the Sanyo Z2.

If you're really considering spending close to 4-5K just on the projector, other options like the Studio Experience HD30 may be very worth investigating; it depends on whether you have more issues with temporal dithering and rainbows than the slightly poorer blacks of a Z2 or HS20. I seem to be a bit sensitive to the issues with DLP, so my preference might be for the Sony or Sanyo. YMMV, so take a gander and check them out.

I'm in a quandry still about picking out my ideal digital projector; I like a lot of things about them, including ease of setup. But the visual artifacts bug me at times, compared with a good CRT rig. ThomasW is geting a used NEC 85G the end of the month (8" guns), and I'm actually pondering getting a CRT RPTV to hold me over until 1080 digital projectors are available at reasonable cost. It will probably go in the bedroom, though, not the living room. I know that sounds weired, but I' fussy about screwing up the imaging on the speakers.

Now, the really SICK part of these considerations, is that if I got a CRT RPTV, I would want it to be really cheap, have good multi-point convergences (I'm experienced doing factory setup on RPTV and FPTV), and have an DVI-HDCP input, in addition to wideband component. Screen size isn't too important, within reason. Of course, we know such sets don't exist, do they.... well, at my local CostCo, they have Panasonic PT-47WX54, a 47" widescreen monitor (no HD tuner), with DVI, two component inputs, 3:2 pulldown doubler, and a pretty fine pitch screen, for a measely $999. Oh, has their wideband component inputs, 10 bit video processing, and digital 165 point convergence setup. Hmmmm. How is that possible? Also has adjustable color matrix (user controls for color decoding setup?), and defeatable "edge enhancement blah blah blah".

Seems too good to be true, but the demo picture on it actually looked quite decent, and the usual issues with RPTV vertical light window and off axis consistency were fairly decent- better than some $3K sets I've seen.

As a stop gap measure, it could be just the ticket. Black level and screen bounce were minimal, and I could always tweak up the power supply a bit, anyway.

Gonna have to think about this one a bit. Panny's bigger sets aren't bad, but the bang for the buck factor isn't any where near as huge.

~Jon