Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater any projectors that work well in ambient light?

I recently purchased and setup an Optoma H31 in a high ambient light room. I have a huge bay window 6 feet to the right of the screen and a foyer with a large door and window 6 feet to the left of the screen. My situation is further complicated in that I have a bright white coved ceiling and light yellow walls. I talked to techs at two local big box vendors about the room and was told to forget about ever using a projector in the room. When the H31 price got below $600 I decided to buy it and if it didn't work out convince my family to do some remodeling in our basement and set it up with no ambient light. I initially set up the projector and threw the image on the yellow wall (throw distance about 11" 6" giving about a 72" diagonal picture). Out of the box the picture was adequate for Sesame Street with all the window shades up, but not too good for any High Def viewing. Calibration with Avia gave a much better picture with high ambient light. I then turned my attention to a screen. I wanted to go the DIY route so bought a 4' X 8' sheet of plastic wallboard from Menards. It gave a better image in low light but the image was pretty well washed out in high ambient light conditions. I then painted the screen with 2 coats of Behr Silverscreen and 1 coat of a blend of 2 parts Silverscreen and 1 part Behr Pearl Opulescence. I couldn't believe the difference in high ambient light. Blacks are a deep black-it's a little difficult to get the whites absolutely perfect but they are pretty close. The colors are great. Night time viewing with a reading lamp or 2 on also is great. I would think that the Panny projector should work well for you. Compare the specs on Projectorcentral and see what you think. If I'm able to do what I did with the "little" Optoma you should be able to find a projector within the Panny's price range that will serve you well.