BuckNaked2k

Although I have garnered a large amount of knowledge over the years regarding plasma and LCD flat panels, I am a veritable babe-in-the-woods when it comes to projectors.

Now that I am considering taking the plunge into the world of projectors, can anyone recommend a good way to begin my acquisition project?

Thanks.

[P.S. - please don't respond with "the Internet!".....or, "Google!"....thaaaaanks]

parrotheads4

projectorcentral.com

projectorreviews.com

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/

Brian Shannon

There are several things to consider, not the least of which is budget.

Is the room light controlled? Do you have a way to run cables and mount the projector? What is the throw distance to the wall? What kind of screen do you want? What kind of source material will you be using?

Claytonian

I was in your shoes last winter when I was deciding what to do as well. I planned on remodeling our smallish family room into more of an entertainment room. I mulled over large plasma screens and got turned onto the idea of a projector.

First I narrowed down my idea of a floor plan for the room to determine my throw distance. This is going to be one of the biggest limitations you could have that will determine which PJ you can get. Since my throw was very short, I needed something that could throw short and whose lens shifting was easy to adjust. This is where projectorcentral.com and projectorreviews.com would come in handy. You can view PJs and use the calculator to determine if the throw distance works for your room and if it will be bright enough at that throw distance. Sounds like a lot to think about, but the calculator will really help you narrow your PJ choices.

Then it's just a case of narrowing choices by other factors like price, fan noise, reviews, and a myriad of other factors that are more personal preference. Oh and you have to decide if you are going to go 720P or 1080P. I chose 1080P mostly because the PJ I needed for my space was 1080P and had a great rebate and reviews at the time.

I am 100% happy with my decision and I'm glad I spent so much time planning everything and reading reviews and specs on the above two sites. In the process of mulling over the above things, you'll learn more about screens and what size/type you will need/want.

I hope that gets you started. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I am certainly no expert. But I enjoyed putting together a fantastic theater PJ setup on a fairly low budget.

BuckNaked2k

Thanks for the responses.

My budget is around $3K - $4K.

The room is not light controlled, but tends to be dark.

I plan to have the PJ ceiling mounted and run the cables through the ceiling.

The throw distance is about 13 feet.

What kind of screen? Ummmmmmm.........

I think I want to go with a 1080p projector, because most source material will be HD DVD or Blu-ray.

Brian Shannon

Ok, good start.

Now, are there any stores in your area that sell projectors that you can go and view? The throw sounds good, the cable access sounds good, what about power?

This is a new lcd Panasonic

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/03/p...ema-projector/

I can tell you that my theater has a Sharp 10000K projector that I love. I am going to wait awhile longer before I consider upgrading.

As for the screen, it is my opinion that a quality projector needs a quality screen. I know that some make their own and some project onto a flat matte wall. I suggest you look at some screens from DaLite or Draper

http://www.projectorscreenstore.com/

parrotheads4

I don't know if it matters to you, but I think 3-D projectors are soon to be available. I know more movies will be going 3-D. I don't know much about it, but maybe some one here can elaborate.

RockyMtnBri

BuckNaked2k...

My two cents. I was fortunate to have a new home constructed in late 2006 while I planned my theater so I was able to control many of the things you brought up:

*Light - I created 3 blackout square frames for 22 inch windows at $4 a pop, and the ceiling is painted a flat black and the walls are a flat grey
*Room dimensions - my room is 12 feet wide by 16 feet deep with a five foot long, half-inch tall, 12 foot wide riser for my second row of seats
*Wiring - all in-wall for speakers and a conduit was built to accommodate the 40 foot HDMI cable running from my receiver to the projector mounted on the ceiling
*Lights - only two recessed lights are in the room, and they can be dimmed via remote control

My projector was finally purchased in March 2008 - I have a Sony VW60 1080/24p LCOS. My 92 inch diagonal screen was provided by a local Austin company called Screen Innovations that I bought through Best Buy. Take a look at my screen shots to see how it turned out!

Also follow parrotheads4's links - research those things! The end product is really worth it - -even standard def stuff looks great on a projector because of the increased depth of field. There have been many shows and movies I've watched that tend to lose their "flatness" and really come off the screen!