new, is this projector any good ?

[Psico]

HI there, sorry if these questions are stupid, but im i real newbie in this area, and just started reading about all this home theater 3 days ago.
Reason is i got a good offer on a projector, and wanted to find out if this is good at showing movies, or just for powerpoint presentations.
I want to build a little home theater, and i stumpled over this site, and it seems you guys know alot ! more than i do so i could use your assistance.

The projector i want to hear your opinion about is this : Canon LV-7545
Specifications here : http://www.canonprojectors.com/lv7545/index.html

As mentioned i dont know anything about these wonders, and would like to know what in those specifications i should look for regarding movie / TV viewing, and also what of those things is good or not so good with this projector. I dont have alot of room, so it will just be in my living room, size is aprox 30m/2 and i will be sitting aprox 4meters from the screen.


Another thing is, i have been wondering alot about how to connect all this, and havent found a solution yet. Problem is that i would like to see regular TV on this as well as movies from both VCR, DVD player and laptop. But as there is no TV tuner in a projector, how can this be done, so i can see a channel on TV, while recording another, and when done, watch the recording...without having to change wires and plugs...
Hope you have a good suggestion, cause i cant find out.

oops, forgot to mention, i would ofcourse want to see movies in 16:9 or widescreen. But dont want to have 4:3 TV signals blown out in 16:9 format, so i guess i need the option to switch between the formats ?
And is this projector the socalled native 4:3 or 16:9 ? where can i see that ?

Thank you all very much in advance.
Dennis

[George Bellefontaine]

This looks to be an XGA (4:3) lcd projector geared toward the business presentation market. Very bright, according to specs. It says it supports HDTV, but no where in the specs does it mention the availability of a 16:9 aspect ratio setting. It also looks to be a very expensive PJ with an msrp more than $8000. US. You can get projectors from Sanyo, Panasonic, and others that are true widescreen, hometheater projectors for $2000 or less.

As for tuners, well most people use their vcr as a tv tuner when connected to their pj.

Unless you are getting the Canon dirt cheap, I wouldn't go that route. I just don't feel this would be a good hometheater projector.




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[Andrew Pratt]

I have to agree with george that unless you're getting this for well under $1500 there are better choices available to suit your needs...esp if DVD's are important given the native aspect ratio of this unit. What's your budget?

[Lex]

Welcome to the forum Psico!

First, you need a dual mode projector. That will come in either a native 4:3 or native 16:9 resolution. there is a benefit and cost associated with which format is native.

4:3 native projector will produce the largest 4:3 image for TV. 16:9 will create the most lines of resolution for 16:9 widescreen movies. 4:3 material on a 16:9 native projector will have bars on the sides without stretch mode. But it must have the 4:3 mode.

16:9 material on a 4:3 native projector will have bars top and bottom. Depending upon whether it's LCD or DLP, the bars may be more visible. that and screen choice also comes into play. (darker screens mask blacks better for bars than whiter screens).

As far as your TV tuner and cabling issues: One would need to know the programming options in your country to determine the best way to go.

Generally, a good home theater processor, allowing multiple component and S-video inputs will allow the most flexibility of having only 2 connections to your projector. Then funnel all input devices through the processor. Myself, I use a Samsung DirecTV HDTV receiver for TV tuning. This box has the advantage of providing all directv signal, both HD and non-HD, as well as allowing cable TV input for processing.

So, a single box, provides all TV material via component video. So, if my processor allows 2 inputs for component and has a single output, you can feed 1 component video signal to the projector from the audio/video processor which will have the DVD player and the TV receiver ran through it. Make sense?

Lex




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[Psico]

Hi there.
thank you for the answers.
reading through the specifications on the page i gave you i see it isnt put the same way as on my home country canon page... here it says :

Projektorobjective f=48,2 - 62,6 mm.
1.3x Zoom
1:1.7 - 2.0

Isnt the 1:7 - 2.0 line something to do with the 16:9 format , 16 divided with 9 is around 1.77 or so... or am i reaching in the dark ? hehe.

on the page i gave you..there is 3 colums, 2 of em has the word wide angle in it, could this be something to do with 16:9 ?

I got this projector offered to me, for a price of 1000$. but i really want a projector who can show movies in wideformat... anyone able to find out if this one can show such ?
and opinions how this one would do as a TV/movie projector is still welcome

thank you once again.

Dennis

[Andrew Pratt]

Dennis how much does the Sanyo Z1 retail in Denmark? It should be about the same price from what I gather from other posters in Europe and its a true widescreen projector. (For example here's some prices from Europe on it)

The wide angle reference is just a reference to the lens type not the screen format. It may very well strech the image sideways but that's not what you want for a widescreen lens which actually compresses the image vertically (at least for 4:3 PJs).

[Psico]

it is around 1500$ for the projector you suggested here. but because i am living in an apartment where 2 of the walls in my living room is almost entirely windows that projector, being only 800 or so lumens, is not nearly enough bright for what i need. Especially when i also want to watch regular television on it on a daily basis.

After reading this great article : http://www.projectorcentral.com/formats.htm

i havde decided that a native 4:3 is not at all that bad.

my question is though, that if the canon 7545 gets fed with a 16:9 image, will it project it so its width fits on the 4:3 screen, and just puts black bars on top and bottom ?

Dennis

[Brandon B]

See what you can find a Sanyo XP21 for pricewise. It is 2500 lumens 4:3 XGA LCD. Was considered a good PJ for HT about 3 years ago, and has the output power for your room. I know they sell in the U.S. for pretty low prices now (<$3K), maybe there too.

[Psico]

as mentioned i can get this cannon for 1000$, i dont have 3000$

[Brandon B]

I don't know if it will be $3000, I am guessing. You should check, it will perform better picture wise than the model you have put forth, and it is very bright.

BB

[George Bellefontaine]

Psico, if you go with the Canon you will be watching widescreen material as you would on a normal 4:3 tv. DVD anamorphic widescreen would be downconverted to letterbox on the Canon's lcd panels. Resolution will suffer as you lose the benefit of anamorphic material where no resolution is lost. Again, I do not recommend this model for home theater. If it supported 16:9 material it would say so in the specifications.




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[Dean McManis]

I'd look at curtains to solve your problem.
For me, I almost always watch movies at night, so daylight through windows would not be a problem. And if at all possible, I'd always choose picture quality over brightness (with cost being equal). 8)

Often times pure business projectors are louder, have shorter life bulbs, have poor built-in scalers, and middling contrast and blacks.

-Dean.

[Psico]

hello again.
Ive been using the day to toy around with this machine, as the friend who has it, borrowed it to me so i could try it.

At first i was dissapointed. Not because of the picture, cause i was happily surprised with that, and it was just on my bare wall. (ofcourse i havent seen alot of other projector images). The reason i was dissapointed, was because of the fact that it was only the 7345 model, and not the 7545. What this means is that it has "only" 2000 lumens, and only a contrast of 300:1 instead of 800:1, and the last thing i am concerned about is that it has a lens shift of 9:1, which cannot be altered at all, where the 7545 could change lens shift greatly from 10:0 to 1:1. so what this means is i have to have a ceil mount, so i can turn it upside down, and even if i do, the picture will be very far up close to the ceiling. If i try to grade it downwards the keystone distortion will paint the trapez formed square.
siiiiiggghhh

the good thing though, is that it does support widescreen format.

seeing at the prices on projectors, i know i will not be able to afford another (very limited budget). and because it wasnt the model he said, i can now have it for $800.

Are there any way around some of these problems i mentioned ? because either i take this projector, or none at all it seems.... but dont want to blow money on something i will regret.

regarding the curtains. Neither my girlfriend or me, wants to be forced to pull 8 curtains everytime either of us want to watch TV for a short time during the day. That would be a step down from our regular widescreen TV.

[Dean McManis]

$800 is hard to argue with, being the cost of a big tube TV.
And with high light output and 16:9 capability, it doesn't sound too bad.

As far as the keystone distortion goes, almost all projectors (business or otherwise) have some adjustment for keystone control. Either optical, or electronic, or both.

A ceiling installation is harder to run the wires, but it's quieter and more unobtrusive when installed. If the unit can be ceiling installed then it can usually also be set on the floor/coffee table. With the only big downside being that people can block the image when walking in front of the projector.

One thing to check into (especially since you are planning on using the projector as a regular TV) is the bulb-life, and replacement cost.

If you are watching TV day-and-night, surfing the internet, and playing games, then the bulb hour usage can quickly add up.

Another consideration is to keep your current rear projection TV for daytime and ordinary TV viewing, and get a better quality (but lower brightness) projector for special events and watching movies at night.

-Dean.

[Andrew Pratt]

Honestly if you can I'd save up a little more and go with the Z1 instead. If you found that PJ bright enough the Z1 will do you fine and its a true native 16:9 machine. You might also find some used ones around now that the Z2 is about to be released (or might already be released in Europe)