Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Boy, I couldn't be happier. For the price, this in my mind is a no-brainer, by far the best way to go. Here are 8 reasons why you should, too:

http://worldcinemaparadise.com/2014/...-hd-projector/

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Even though I'm not yet ready for such a set up I keep coming back to this as a possible option. The cost is good for such a large viewing area and it is smaller which is a huge plus. Imagine 4K would cost quite a bit however I only really want 4K for a computer monitor for work space as there is not currently nor will there be all that much content anytime soon.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Well, half the reasons given are simply, "the screen is a lot bigger!" No kidding! But it is dramatic, and various reasons come to mind when you first jump to an actually-large screen, like the author shows.

I certainly agree. Just helped a coworker move to a PJ, on an even smaller budget than in the article ($350 PJ). And helped a friend who had more or less an unlimited budget (within reason), which was lots of fun. He spent close to $10k, about 1/4 of that on the PJ.

I went to Best But recently and I didn't see much LCD, it seems like LED has become more prominent. That being said, the projector display they had their, while impressive, didn't knock me out, but maybe it was a cheap brand or was badly calibrated or something. I wonder what'll come down the pipe next? Plasma seems to be in its way out, and it looks like it'll be a while before OLED is ready for commercial consumption. I don't even have a place for surround sound speakers (and the SRS on my HDTV is kind of wonky), much less a wall to dedicate to a projector in my bedroom.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

LED is still LCD, with an LED backlight instead of fluorescent.

And SRS is always a little wonky. If you like stereo better, you wouldn't be alone.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Why does it have to be either/or? I have both & it's perfectly fine to watch most TV shows on the LED and movies on the projector. Plus I don't have a dedicated home theater room with light blocking curtains so I wouldn't be able to watch TV until after sunset using only a projector.

I do love being able to watch movies blown up in a darkened room. The latest episode of Modern Family, not so much.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

I've recently dumped my LCD projector for a 65-inch panasonic plasma TV. I miss the larger picture my projector provided, but the visual quality of the plasma cannot be beaten.

Is plasma on its way out? I assumed that the fact that their premier maker, Panasonic, leaving the business meant that something else was in the pipeline. I was at Best Buy recently and didn't see one. There were lots of LEDs, a few OLEDs, and even some 4K LED UHDs. I naively hoped that the prices for plasma would dip a bit at end of its lifespan. I'm not smart. They had a pretty good price on an Epson 1080p projector though. Wonder what the next thing coming is? OLED seems to be what I've been hearing the most about.

Perhaps one day I will read the instructions and find out what all of the technical stuff means. That might help. I'm just guessing that maybe being informed would help me make better decisions :p.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Plasma is on the way out only because of economic issues in the display market. LCDs continue to get driven down in cost due to Moore's Law and the massive economies of scale from being the main display technology for almost all smaller screens in the world. It was also looking difficult to get plasma's production costs down for the next wave of 4K displays. The technology doesn't scale well enough to 4K unless you want $15,000 displays on the market.

Everyone thought OLED was the next great solution but that is also looking like a market impossibility.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

I would love to get a projector someday. But do they have as good a color saturation or black levels as an LED LCD would?

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

my projector has much better black levels than my LCD (non-LED). I get tons of banding (if that's the right term) on the LCD. Projector is so much better in low-light scenes or gaming.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

I haven't noticed any banding on my LCD which is an LED one. But the blacks aren't always as dark as I'd like. But I am much more satisfied with it than I've been with any of my CRT tvs. Well, other than I can't play Duck Hunt anymore, I'm satisfied. Even normal 4x3 content looks a lot better than it ever has.

Compared to tvs, are projecters that expensive?

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

The lower-end projectors are relatively affordable and provide a decent bang for your buck, so to say. However, you do have to factor in the cost of replacement bulbs, which are roughly about $300. A ceiling mount and a screen are additional expenses (although you can get a decent picture projecting onto a white wall).

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

How often do you have to replace a bulb? Hopefully not too much. 300 dollars is a lot to spend on a single bulb.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

They are all stated in the projector specs, usually 2000-5000 hours. So, it depends on how much you use it. I just replaced my lamp at 3700 hours, which took me 2 years, roughly.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

I had odd an experience with bulb life for my Sanyo projector. First bulb died after 30 days (replaced under warranty), the second lasted six months, the third lasted two years and the fourth one is still going strong.

And I think the projector specs have to be taken with a grain of salt. The maximum life stated is likely under ideal temperature, humidity and usage conditions. It all comes down to luck of the draw, I guess.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

That's not too bad, then, I guess.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Rough experience! I agree it is highly variable. To add:

The life has been pretty accurate for me in one sense (across 3 companies, 3 display technologies), although I've always used lamps for hundreds of hours past the life. What you would see is an overall dimming of the picture. This is usually very gradual, so it is not obvious. But sometime around the stated life, you should begin realizing that your picture isn't as good. If you have been using the Low/Econ setting (which you should for longest life), you may notice it begin to flicker, and this should be temporarily "solved" by switching to the High setting. That can also help the dimming situation for awhile. But eventually you'll want to replace the lamp.

I seem to remember a couple people around here stating they've had lamps in for twice the stated life or more. I've wondered what that looks like, mine have become very dim well before that. I wouldn't want it to be so dim. I made a post recently about changing my lamp and the dramatic effect it had on the picture, not just the brightness, but the overall color quality. I could also add that the old lamp had a pretty major crack in the bulb glass. If I had gone too much longer, that could easily have led to it shattering. You don't want that!

And every projector I've seen has a simple to find "hours used" in the menu, so you can always keep track of how long it's been.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

I just replaced the bulb on my Epson 6500 after 10,370 hours. And it was still working! I have had a spare on hand for over three years, so figured I might as well stick it in. But I think that thing may have lasted forever.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Looking on Amazon it seems like Espon makes good projectors and screens. Was thinking of this set:

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-80-Inch-...ojector+screen

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-VS230-Pr...d_bxgy_e_img_y

All combined comes to $491.61
Also can you hook up the Projector to a receiver to get sound? Is that Easy to set up?

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Projectors mainly have no (or really useless) audio capabilities. So, you definitely need a receiver or something to get audio. PJs are basically dumb monitors, the receiver is the central component of a home theater, not the PJ.

Whether or not it's easy depends on a great many variables. With a modern receiver, it's hopefully as easy as hooking up an HDMI from receiver out to PJ in, just like with a TV.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

So I would need a PJ that has two HDMIs'? One for the Blu Ray player and the other for the receiver? I do have a modern receiver that goes to my HDTV.

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Okay I think I understand your reply now. Sorry I'm a noob at all this stuff :lol:

So I would just need to plug an HDMI cable from the PJ to my Receiver and whatever is hooked into my reveiver i can switch off to?

Re: Eight Reasons Why You Should Dump That LCD Television and Buy an HD Projector
 

Yes, all your sources go into the receiver so it does the switching, and it handles the audio, obviously. Then run HDMI to the PJ for video. It can be more complicated if you have older sources that are not HDMI.

I'm guessing you would replace the current HDTV with the PJ? Then all you would do, after installing the PJ, is run one HDMI to it. Now, installation can be a lot more work than any regular TV. Now, installation is one of the 2 big caveats for a PJ, the 2nd is the price of lamps. We had some good discussion in this thread about installation issues, starting around post 25.