Slayer2005

I thought this spectacular deal needed its own thread. I just got mine and can now get rid of my X1 DLP that I paid $1,000 for 2 years ago. If any of you aren't aware of this deal or projector this is a great entry level home theater projector. It set a new standard for entry level digital projectors. Many people choose it over some more expensive higher resolution LCDs projectors because of its superior contrast/black level.

Many have said that the 4805 looks like a 100" Plasma TV (of course you can easily go bigger). If you have an X1 or any other projector now is your time to drop it like a bad habit and put it up for sale. Now the upgrade cost is minimal.

If you have never even considered a projector before consider it now, because once you go front projection you'll be spoiled for life. .

The Infocus 4805 is only $499 after a $100 rebate at www.staples.com (today only). It has Darkchip 2 for improved black levels over a majority of other digital projectors, upto 2200:1 Contrast ratio (unlike most projectors that state 2000:1 and can only do 800:1-1200:1 when calibrated, the 4805 actually lives upto its contrast ratio spec when calibrated). It's precalibrated to D65. So, for the most part it's good to go out of the box.

Native 16:9.
854x480p
DarkChip 2
Faroudja Processor onboard and more.

All for only $499. This is an $1,100 projector at Best Buy. You don't want to pass up this deal.

Draven

It's done - out of stock online.

I should have jumped on this earlier today, as this is the projector I'm going to get for my basement theater.

Ah well, I'll keep my eyes open.

X

I got one before midnight thanks to a 3 hour time difference with Staple's website time.

My viewing environment is so ideally situated for a projector/screen setup I just had to give it a try. I have a very wide opening between two rooms where I can put a screen and I can put the projector in the room next to the viewing room which will eliminate any noise. I suppose I'll have to find some glass that's suitable to project through.

Now I need to find a screen. I'm thinking of a motorized dropdown screen. Anyone have any suggestions that aren't too expensive? I have no light control in this room that has 20' windows but the room gets so dark at night that bright stars and planets are occasional distractions and moonlight really is my biggest problem. So I probably won't need a screen that provides gain, will I?

Sonicflood

Refurb & 90 day warranty

Sonic

X

Evidently you can purchase a 2 year warranty from Staple's for $80.

Josh Z

Anything motorized is going to be extremely expensive. The cheapest option will be to buy the screen material and frame it yourself. There is also a product called Screen Goo that you paint on the wall:

http://www.goosystems.com/

Sdallnct

Yup, build your own. I did mine in about three hours and cost a little over a hundred. To help you out, there is a guy on e-bay that sells material for screens, but what makes his so unique is the detailed instructions he sends. He takes you step by step, with material list, options, etc. You can make the screen in any size you want, trim it out how you want, and save lots of $$ for more DVD's. Here is mine:

X

There isn't any wall where the screen needs to go and the location is an opening between two rooms so I can't permanently put up a screen, even if I hung it from hooks. The hook method just doesn't seem very good. The room is not a dedicated home theater. The opening is about 14' wide so I have a lot of flexibility in screen size, but I will be sitting about 16' back so I think that limits me to about a 96" screen using the 2:1 formula.

I did a cursory search and found some motorized screens for around $800-900. Of course I'd like to find them cheaper. Is the screen you get in one of those going to be decent enough quality? Do I need to worry about gain or features such as high-contrast material or whether it's tab-tensioned? An acoustically transparent material would be ideal so I could put my center speaker behind it but that may be hoping for too much.

There's a substantial price difference so I could even go manual but I'd prefer not to.

Would these work?

http://www.lcdprojectoronline.com/116015.html
(Here's the manufacturer's page on this screen. What screen material would I want with this projector and my viewing environment?)
http://www.draperinc.com/Screen_Page...ion_screen.htm

These are really cheap. Would their screen material be ok?
http://www.projectorpackages.com/new...%20Screens.htm
http://htmarket.com/vmseelschd16.html
http://htmarket.com/hoseelschd16.html

Non-motorized:
http://www.lcdprojectoronline.com/207009.html
http://www.lcdprojectoronline.com/202047.html

Sdallnct

Ah sorry, didn't realize you couldn't go fixed.

I don't know much about the pull down screens. Some of them have bracing so they will not wrinkle or get "wavy". But one problem is the movement of the screen in use.

You might check out the Screen thread at AVS...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=23

X

Thanks, I did that.

Hard to get a consensus on the screen. It's looking like a particular type of screen might be the best to avoid wave appearance but it's less good for ceiling mounted projectors, which mine will be.

It also appears I'm going to have to get a 110" diagonal screen as it's the smallest the 4805 will fit from about 17' away.

It'll probably be much harder finding the right screen than it was finding the right projector.

Josh Z

There is much truth in that statement, unfortunately.

onabudget

It's true finding the right screen is tough since it is not only the PJ that affects the decision but also your room.

I suggest you start by obtaining screen samples from manufacturers that make pulldown screens and go from there by testing them at home

belboz

My main concern with retractable screens is that you have to get one with a good tab tensioning system to keep them from having waves. It may not be something that distracts everyone, but it's one of the things that annoys me so I've always preferred fixed screens if at all possible.

X

Yes, I've done enough research to know about the waves. It does appear a tab tensioning system is ultimately needed, especially in larger sizes.

I'm thinking of trying a manual retract for a while and then going to an electric with a tab tensioning system. Some manuals appear to have tensioning systems but I haven't found one in a 110" size yet. Just 96" max.

Sdallnct

How high is your ceiling and have your thought about a mount for the PJ? There are some inexpensive one's on eBay and I did a DIY mount for about $10 or so. I used plumbing pipes & a piece of plexiglass. Since I have an 8' ceiling, you really can't see it all. Yet it is strong, easy to adjust/fine tune.

X

I've seen various mounts and I don't think that's going to be any problem. I won't see the projector at all since it's going into an adjacent room (conveniently, my office where I can put in as many HTPC components and cables as I want).

That room has a normal 8' ceiling. I think I'll mount the projector about a foot down from there. I can't go any lower because there's an Asian screen on the other side of the wall (the viewing room) that comes just about up to that height.

The room I'll be viewing in is sunken about a foot and has a 20' ceiling. The wall the screen will come down from is 8 to 9' above the sunken floor (7-8' in relation to the room opposite it with the projector), and completely open below that with an open width of about 14'.

According to my calculations the image will be projected about 1.25' below the lens which will make it start at about 6.75 feet above the sunken floor and go down to about 2.25 feet above the floor (54" x 110" screen).

I'm going to have to test it out but it seems to be just about an ideal height for the picture. I'll be amazed if you can visualize this all from my description.

Sdallnct

Sounds like you have thought it through. Don't forget that not only will the image point "down" when the PJ is hung upside down, but the lens is also off set from center. The manual will give you the exact amount, but yes be sure and try everything before you mount permanently. Also, you may notice a slight image size difference depending on your source, so try DVD, TV, HD, etc before finding the perfect spot for everything.

X

When upside down the projector points down at about 28º so that's where the 1.25' at about 16.5' came from.

I still need to figure out the lumens that the low power setting will provide when calibrated and what kind of screen will work with it. The low setting appears to be around 350 lumens so I'd need a screen with about 1.5 gain with it. If I don't care that much about the bulb life (noise won't be a concern) I could get away with a 1.0 gain screen which I would prefer. Lower gain means wider viewing angle, right? I also have to consider the glass that I'll be projecting through. (This stuff gets complicated!)

I will only be using DVD as a source. No TV, HD or otherwise. And the HTPC will let me do whatever tweaking I'll need to do.

Draven

FYI, these seem to be back in stock, but minus the $100 rebate.

$599 is still a good deal, so I went ahead and ordered one.

Thanks again for the OP!

Sdallnct

Well it can, but to be honest I think I tried to "over think" mine. Finally I just set the PJ on a ladder about 6" from the ceiling and blasted on the wall. I then move the PJ left or right to get the right location . Then I drew the outline of the image on the wall with pencil and made sure I had some zoom left over to adjust for the thickness of the screen.

You might hang a sheet where you want to put the screen, and use a ladder and some books to put in the locations and just see what happens. It is a lot easier once you can see results (at least it was for me)

X

I'm going to do all that but it's somewhat more complicated in my situation since I'll be projecting from another room.

Because I'm going to have to cut a hole in the wall I'm going to have to see how my projector fits in with the theoretical calculations first. If having it in the next room makes the image too big and/or having the glass between the rooms negatively affects the lumens significantly I don't really want to cut a hole in the wall just to try it out.

So I'll be doing what you said at various distances in order to extrapolate what to expect before trying the projector where I ultimately want it.

Spiky

Have you tried the distance/placement calculator at projectorcentral? Helped me out when I was planning.

X

Yes, I have. It shows that I could possibly use a 106" screen on the very edge of the projector's non-zoom range and definitely a 110" within its zoom and non-zoom range. I would prefer the 106" screen because it gives me more options. Some manufacturers don't make 110" screens in the models I would like to choose from. And a smaller screen would reduce SDE.

But unfortunately each projector varies and I can't count on the 106" so I have to do some testing.

There isn't a relatively inexpensive lens that you can put on this projector, like the ND2 one that people use to reduce its brightness, that would slightly reduce the image size at a long distance, is there?

Spiky

No, I wouldn't think so. I mean, you could experiment with some photography equipment, but I have a feeling you'd damage the picture more than you'd find acceptible.

I had the same problem, and was looking at the Panny AE700 with the 2x zoom to get the distance I wanted. I eventually gave up on that and got a PJ with a shorter throw and am just dealing with the placement being less perfect. Shoulda waited for the AE900 to come out.

The ND2 is just a filter. You may want to look into filters at some point, but these are either ND for reducing brightness, or colored for adjusting for color deficiencies in the PJ.

You've got this set up to be in another room. Can't it be adjusted a bit in there? What does the setup look like? Say, how many inches from screen to wall, then how many from wall into room2 where you want to hang it. Wouldn't putting it right in the wall be a good spot to keep it out of the way? And (I'm guessing wildly, here) be within zoom range more easily?

X

I'm right at 17' all the way through the wall. As much as I'd like to save the 8" of wall thickness I don't think I want to put the projector in there, I would be worried about heat buildup. And the hole would have to be considerably larger than just the size of the lens.

The Infocus calculator shows a 110" screen has a throw length of 14.16 to 17.04. That's cutting it pretty close, depending on how "standard" my projector is. I really don't want to go any larger than that!

My proposed setup is in a post or two above.