Projectors - anyone still use them?

[b0redom]

Hi,
I'm in the process of having a man-cave / office built. I will have an approximate 2m stretch of wall I was planning on hanging a largish telly on, but the thought has just occurred I could have a ceiling hung projector installed instead. Given that you can get MASSIVE tellys reasonably cheaply now, is anyone still using projectors? Any recommendations?

[TeePee]

I'm still using one. It's an Epson 8350 1080p that's about four years old now. I replaced the bulb once (Free replacement). It's great in a dark room, less good if you have daylight. I had it throwing at a 120" screen I made with a high quality paint. It looked great, but I've since moved.

[b0redom]

Would you buy another now? Just looking and a 4k projector seems ~ £1k. Given you can get a 65" Hisense for £899, I'm more tempted in that direction. How noisy is the Epson? Do you notice the whirr?

[cptwhite_uk]

I bought one a few months ago, went for the Optoma GT1080E (1080p).

It's a short throw gaming projector (low latency). I can put it on a coffee table ~ 1.2m from a wall, using a 20m HDMI cable, and project an image 120-125" (approx) onto the wall.

It's pretty good, but I had some initial issues getting the sound through the HDMI (it seemed a bit hit and miss / flaky). The internal speaker is okay, but really you want dedicated speakers which complicate set-up and make me less inclined to use it (since I have to pack it away / set-it-up. I do this as the room we use it in is also the children's playroom.

Here it is when set-up:



I think one day I'll just fix it to the ceiling fitted with a chromecast.

[TeePee]

I would, but I'd still get 1080p. 4K are way too expensive!

[ik9000]

Here it is when set-up:

I see you're a fan of the comedy channel.

[cptwhite_uk]

Ahh ignore

[neonplanet40]

BenQ 1080 for my home cinema. love it

I would like a 4K projector but your talking over £4000.

[Dashers]

Even when very popular, I think most only used them for films in dark rooms as the contrast is so poor for general use.

The advantage is of course, huge screen sizes. But since moving away from CRTs, large TV screens aren't such an issue. Measure up your room, and look at the THX recommended screen size, unless your room is huge you'll be fine with a TV.

[Blastuk]

I have the BenQ W1070+ projecting directly on to a wall, I hear that it's a bit loud compared to others in the same category but I wear headphones so it's not noticeable.
Very nice colour from the thing in a dark room. It's a short throw so I get about 80" diagonal from about 2.5 metres away; I can get a much bigger size at the same distance if I mounted the thing properly though.

[b0redom]

I'd sort of discounted projectors, but then I saw a mate's short throw projector which is apparently some years old. Even given it was in a brightish room the picture was OK. I suspect in a darkened room it would look very good.

What should I be looking for in a short throw projector? They seem to go from just over a hundred quid to well over £2k.

I guess I'd want 1080p as a minimum as it'll be used for telly, movies and gaming, as well as potentially as a monitor. Sound duties would be handled by an A/V system, so I don't care about built in speakers. Ideally I don't want to be bothered by a constant whirring of the fan though.

[neonplanet40]

BenQ w1070. I've been using this as a while for my home cinema. It's excellent and brilliant value.

[Lowe]

Still rocking my Epson TW9000. Cracking picture, just had a few problems over its lifespan but it's always been sorted under warranty.



And yes, we turn the lights off when the film starts.

[Lowe]

I'd sort of discounted projectors, but then I saw a mate's short throw projector which is apparently some years old. Even given it was in a brightish room the picture was OK. I suspect in a darkened room it would look very good.

What should I be looking for in a short throw projector? They seem to go from just over a hundred quid to well over £2k.

I guess I'd want 1080p as a minimum as it'll be used for telly, movies and gaming, as well as potentially as a monitor. Sound duties would be handled by an A/V system, so I don't care about built in speakers. Ideally I don't want to be bothered by a constant whirring of the fan though.

First off, how big is the room and how big a picture are you looking to get? Projectors are in a bit of a funny place at the moment since the whole 4k thing is just about becoming mainstream and 'affordable'. 1080p is easily affordable now, whereas when I bought mine it would be at least £2.5k to get on the 1080p ladder.

Projectors come in different flavours depending upon the role you're expecting them to play. The two biggest areas are home cinema and presentation. There's various differences between the two:

HC projectors are quiet, favour a lower output but more balanced colour reproduction.
Presentation projectors lean towards outright brightness to overcome ambient light and bold colours above everything else. As a result they tend to be noisier, over saturated and struggle to reproduce solid blacks. Some will also have small speakers built in.

[Zak33]

I'm on my second Optoma 1080 PJ

its used multiple times per week for films ...rarely gaming

[b0redom]

First off, how big is the room and how big a picture are you looking to get? Projectors are in a bit of a funny place at the moment since the whole 4k thing is just about becoming mainstream and 'affordable'. 1080p is easily affordable now, whereas when I bought mine it would be at least £2.5k to get on the 1080p ladder.

Projectors come in different flavours depending upon the role you're expecting them to play. The two biggest areas are home cinema and presentation. There's various differences between the two:

HC projectors are quiet, favour a lower output but more balanced colour reproduction.
Presentation projectors lean towards outright brightness to overcome ambient light and bold colours above everything else. As a result they tend to be noisier, over saturated and struggle to reproduce solid blacks. Some will also have small speakers built in.

I'll be doing HC/Gaming duties most often with the very occasional presentation job. Most of the people I visit will have their own corporate kit and the folks that don't generally won't care as long as it does the job. I popped in to Richer Sounds today and despite the fact I said that I wanted something short throw that could be moved out of the way rather than a ceiling mounted monster, they tried to flog me a 'normal' projector.