Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler A Projector - should I?

Hi Peter,

I don't have any first hand experience with the projector in question, but perhaps I can shed some light on the subject in general.

When a person is considering a projector for the very fist time, it more offten then not comes across as a royal pain in the a$$. Don't let that stop you or scare you off, for it's not as complicated as it all sounds, or comes across. There's just simply many, many questions that one needs to ask themselves, for there are many things that need to be considered.

For example...

1. What kind of projector do I want, 720p or 1080p?
2. What kind of screen do I want and or need (ie. high gain, low gain, white, silver, grey)?
3. What size of screen do I want?
4. What kind of setup do I want, do I want a 16.9 setup, or a Constant Imagine Height 2.35 setup?
5. How far from the screen will my seating be?
6. Is my room dark or light in color?
7. Do I have total light control, or are there windows?
8. Is your room fully enclosed, or does it open up into other rooms?
9. How much can I afford to spend?

These are all things that will play a roll in which type of projector you should go with, as well as which type of screen would be best.

Once you have answered those questions for yourself, you then move on to the second series of questions.

1. What am I after? What it is you're wanting to do.

2. Which projector will give me all or most of what I'm looking for, for the least amount of money? This is very important, because most of us are not rolling in the dough, with cash flowing out of our rear ends. It's not like we have money trees growing out in the backyard that we can just pull as much cash off of whenever we want/need to. Despite what anybody says, cost is always an issue to "some" extent.

3. Will, and or could, my decision effect other things that I'm going to want and need to pull off the setup that I want to do? Example: If I purchase the most expensive projector, would it or could it effect getting that new screen I want, or that new lens I've been eyeballing ect...ect...?

4. Do I really want to jump up to a 1080p projector now, knowing that they will only get better and cheaper as time goes on?

And......

5. Am I really going to benefit from a 1080p projector? The fact of the matter is, many people, despite what they "want" to think, will not. It all boils down to various factors, such as how far from the screen they're going to sit, how big of screen they're projecting on, is the room light controled or is it not, ect... ect...

These are all things that I feel everybody should ask themselves and take under serious consideration. Unfortunately, alot of people fail to do so.

Once you've answered these questions for yourself, you'll be better prepared to make a logical and sound decision based upon what is best for you, your setup, and of course, your wallet.

The reason that I recommend these steps, is because in this hobby it's simply far to easy to get sucked into what I call the bandwagon game. There's constantly new products that are always coming out. With these new products comes a lot of hype, some justifed, some not. We all hear this hype and by nature we get excited. These feelings of excitement often causes us to make irrational decisions, without throughly thinking things through. So ask yourself these questions, and buy what's right for you, your needs, your system/setup, and ultimately your budget. By doing so, I think you'll find greater peace of mind and a system that you'll not only love, but one in which you can enjoy for years to come.

Now with all that said, before one can ask themselves questions regarding projectors and screens, they've got to know what's out there and have a basic understanding of the differenct technologies. More then likely you'll be considering either an LCD or DLP projector.

Those who have read my posts and or reviews over at AVS, would probably tell you that I favor LCD projectors; And they'd be correct.

It's not that I do not like DLP projectors. I've owned a few in the past, and they were all great projectors. I just don't favor them, for I don't find most of them to be worth their cost, if for no other reason then their lack of flexability.

Now they're fine if you don't have any setup restrictions, but a lot of guys have their theaters in basements, which usually means low ceilings. This creates a big problem with most DLP's because a good majority of them have very huge offsets, and very few of them have lens shift or a good zoom/throw range.

It's mostly do to these reason as to why I do not favor DLP projectors. That and unfortunately for me, I am sensitive to RBE (rainbows).

Moving on..... You've also got, in terms of HD projectors, 720p and 1080p. Which do you want to go with, which is better?

There's a lot of debate as to how much better a 1080p unit is, and some of the points made are valid ones at that. However, I've been in the game long enough to know that resolution isn't everything. Important, yes, but in my opinion it's the sum of the parts that equals the whole. I feel brightness, contrast, and lumen output is just as important. Some will agree, some will disagree, but it's a debatable issue though, and a debate I usually stay out of. Everybody has their own opinions regarding the matter, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion, so it's all good.

As for screens, If you don't mind putting in a little work and effort, the DIY route is a good way to go. You can make a really great screen for far less then what an equivalent one would/can cost you.

Should you decide to buy one, then I'd take a look at Carada BW, it's hard to beat for money and everyone that I know who has the Carada BW loves it.

Stepping up further, Stewart screens are excellent, and the High Power by Dalite is great, but I personally don't like it. It's a pain in a$$, but if you can set up your projector correctly in respect to the screen, the results are breath taking. Personally, I'd opt for the Vutec SilverStar if I had to choose between the Dalite High Power and Vutec SilverStar. I found the PQ a little better and it doesn't have the restrictions that comes with Dalite High Power. In other words, you can pretty much mount your projector anywhere you want, ceiling, shelf, table, ect.. ect...

Now I could go on and on, but I'll stop here for now. If you have any other questions, or I can be of further help/assistance to you or anybody else here, please feel free to ask, or fire me a PM.

I wish you the best of luck and sincerely hope that I've been of some help.