Resolution or Brightness???

[ktaillon]

I'm hoping for any suggestions that could help me narrow down a projector. I will be using it in a controlled lighting room but would like to have some light on at times (the wife). I would be happy with a screen size of 50" to 75". I'm trying to stay under $1500.00 and I've been looking at the Sanyo z2 because of the 16:9(1280X720) format and the component + DVI inputs. But I'm worried about the brightness of the unit.
I'm also looking at the Optoma ezpro 739, this unit is a 4:3(1024X768) but has much brighter lumen and contrast specs and still has DVI and component inputs.

I would be playing DVD's and HDTV and also reg. TV. Part of me says to stay with the brighter of the two but I also worry about the resolution of the XGA(Optoma). Will I be disapointed with the resolution?

Or maybe you guys know of a better projector for my settings.

None of the audio/video stores near me have projectors on display to see. Well Tweeter's did have a Yamaha setup(looked great ) but was $5000.00

Any help would be great..... Thanks, Ken

[aud19]

You should be able to get the Yamaha (LPX 510 I'm guessing?) for much closer to $4000 but that's still out of your budget. (It is a nice FP though! :P )

Personally I'd go for resolution. Here's why:

The lower the light output, the better black levels you should have. Very important IMO.

Pretty much any of the chip based (LCD, DLP, LCOS etc) FP's will be bright enough for non-critical viewing with some ambient light. Plus you can always install task light(s) for reading etc that will have a minimal effect on light hitting the screen. Also I believe it was Sony that recently showed a FP screen that rejects ambient light very well while showing projected light very well. In other words there's many solutions for dealing with light. Once you've lost resolution, it's gone.

With more and more 480p, 720p, 1080i and even upcoming 1080p software, media and broadcasts becoming prevalent, you'll want as much resolution as you can get down the line to take advantage of them. Also as I mentioned, you can use various solutions to combat light, once you've projected a lower resolution image, there's no way to get that detail back.

[ktaillon]

Thank you very much!! It does make sense about the resolution.

Also in my budget is there a projector that I shoud be looking at besides the Sanyo Z2?

I did get to borrow an NEC M1055(1024X768) unit last night. It looked very good and like you said with the lighting in the correct places I was able to view the movie without a problem.

Thanks again

[austriacus]

Be aware of YELLOW

I am in a similar situation. You get a lot of varying info: Some count on this, others on that brand or technology.

I personally count on DLP. With regard to "business" or "home-theater" things are converging. Optoma has brought the home-theater version of the 758 the H57. Heard good news about it. But it might be beyond your budget.

A quite useful link: http://www.cine4home.de/news.htm (german language, but very good test-results)

As you want to stay below 1.500$: Still one of the best DLP-Options: The H30 from Optoma (...a littly bit noisy, SVGA, but light weight), or Panasonics 700 (banding is reported to be high, but the only problem).

Regards

austriacus

[Dean McManis]

Generally I'd pick resolution over brightness, unless you do a lot of daytime viewing and have no light control (big windows).

HD-DVD will be out later this year, and even though the XGA displays to visibly better than SVGA ones with HDTV, 720P native displays are better still.

And there is a run of quality, low cost 720P projectors for around $2000, from the Sanyo Z3 to the Panasonic PT-AE700U to the Infocus SP5000.

I just sold my NEC LT150 (XGA DLP) and got a SP5700, so that shows clearly what I think about the issue. My LT150 was great, but the SP5700 is clearly better in all respects (with the exception of pixel gap).

-Dean.