HD projectors for gaming

[tnf]

Plan on having the basement finished by the summer, and I am going to put in a project and screen as well as mount the LCD tvs down there (my horrible attention span requires me to usually have sports or something else on one of the TV's while gaming on the other). Has anyone done any gaming on HD projectors and is there an issue with shadowing or whatever kind of like what you used to get on slower LCD screens? And I'm not planning on buying one until summer, so are there any specific models I should be watching the prices on for sales?

[SIK]

No shadowing problems on most modern HD projectors. Most important things to watch out for are:-

1) Environment. Ideally you want the room to be 'batcave'. Matt black walls/floor and ceilings. Most people can't accommodate this but you need to get as dark as possible to improve your contrast ratio.

2) Projector type. DLP tends to give the most 'film-like' appearance but on single chip machines some people suffer from fatigue/headaches when viewing them and some are susceptible to RBE (the 'rainbow effect'). This effect isn't seen on 3-chip DLPs but they start at 20k+ so are a little out of budget for most. Modern LCD projectors are better with fill ratio and screendoor than their older counterparts. Also look at LCOS models (the JVC HD1 and SONY Ruby/Pearl are very highly thought of projectors).

3) Screen-size/viewing distance. Try to throw too big an image at too short a viewing distance and you will see pixels (not so bad now with 1080 machines). A viewing distance of ~1.2-1.5x screen width is fine.

I have a dedicated cinema room where I run an Infocus 7210 (DLP, DC3 chip) projector with a 100" screen for gaming/movies (Xbox360, Wii and PS3 for games, PS3 for bluray) + 5.1 surround system and once you've tried it you won't want to play/watch on anything else.

[tnf]

As far as bang for the buck goes, any thoughts on this one SIK?

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/ ... GoogleBase

[Doombrain]

rofl, sony.

try a epson tw-1000 or even better the tw-2000.

[andyman]

If you go with a DLP projector, get one that uses an LED board for light and not a colorwheel. This will eliminate any rainbow effect or headaches... plus it looks kick ass.

[xer0s]

This thread gives me the itch. Now I have to find a house with a basement when I buy a house in the next couple years...

[SIK]

As far as bang for the buck goes, any thoughts on this one SIK?

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/ ... GoogleBase

Not a machine I'm familiar with but seems to be a fairly decent basic 720p model LCD from what I can gather. In that sort of price range also have a look at the Panasonic AX200 (LCD) and Optoma HD70 (DLP).

The Epson's Doombrain mentioned would be a big step up in performance (but then they're a big step up in price too!) Although if you're planning on watching a lot of bluray movies you'd be better off with the TW2000 as the TW1000 can't handle 1080p24 natively (it converts it to 1080p60 using 3:2 pulldown which can introduce judder, particularly in smooth panning shots).

[tnf]

rofl, sony.

try a epson tw-1000 or even better the tw-2000.

Yea but I don't really want to spend 3 grand or more on a projector and I'm not quite as picky as you might be in my visual needs. 720p and no shadowing with good color and contrast and I'm happy.

[MKJ]

hitachi, bitches.

(read: it was the only one that could fulfill my demands).

[Pooinyourmouth]

You should check out how much lamp replacements are also. Under normal use they only last around 3 to 5 years, with a price tag of ranging from $100 to $600.

I got a real cheapy of a projector of off craigslist.com for only $250. It only puts out a 480p image but that's all you need for standard DVD playback. It has a lamp life timer, and the guy I bought it from only used the projector 2 times for a total of 4 hours. I checked the replacement price for a lamp and it's in the $200 range. It's a DLP also so the heat from the lamp wont damage the inner workings. These things do put out a decent amount of heat exhaust though.

Also I meant to add that if your walls are white in the room you plan on using, you may want to use a darker paint, or hang some dark material from the walls like they do in a movie theater. When the image on screen goes white, it light my whole room up like daylight, and it really detracts from what you are watching. I'm still trying to decide what to do with my walls.

[MKJ]

lampcost is indeed one to look out for

[tnf]

You should check out how much lamp replacements are also. Under normal use they only last around 3 to 5 years, with a price tag of ranging from $100 to $600.

I got a real cheapy of a projector of off craigslist.com for only $250. It only puts out a 480p image but that's all you need for standard DVD playback. It has a lamp life timer, and the guy I bought it from only used the projector 2 times for a total of 4 hours. I checked the replacement price for a lamp and it's in the $200 range. It's a DLP also so the heat from the lamp wont damage the inner workings. These things do put out a decent amount of heat exhaust though.

Also I meant to add that if your walls are white in the room you plan on using, you may want to use a darker paint, or hang some dark material from the walls like they do in a movie theater. When the image on screen goes white, it light my whole room up like daylight, and it really detracts from what you are watching. I'm still trying to decide what to do with my walls.

Any idea how many hours the lamps are rated for? I see LCD tv's saying things like "20,000 hours" or something...do they rate lamps the same way? And what is it about the lamp that makes them cost so fucking much?

[Pooinyourmouth]

Well the lamp's are brighter than anything you can fit into a small package. Not sure what goes into making them, but I do know better than to look into the eye of the projector. They even put a warning label on them that tells you not to do that. I'm sure you can google something about what makes them so costly.

As for hours, mine says 2000 to 3000 hours. For how much I use it that will be more than 3 years of use easy. When I first got it I was worried that 3000 hours was to short, but the hour counter on the projector is showing me just how slow the hours build up from my usage. I've had it for almost 2 months and only tacked up just under 80 hours. That 2000 mark seems a long ways off now, let alone 3000 hours.

Oh yes one other pretty important thing to worry about also... make sure you have a UPS to put it on. If the projector losses power and does not have time to cool the bulb after use, it can break the lamp.


Edit: after looking at google results it seems some of the bulbs that go into the lamps are hand made because the cost of tooling a factory to make them would be far to costly for such a small volume of bulbs to be produced. Plus I guess the glass has quarts in it, so it harder to melt than iron, so it's pretty tough to shape and the tools needed are very expensive.

Of coarse it could also be like the printer industry where they charge once for the printer, but really dig into your wallet with the ink cartridge refills.

[Doombrain]

Most new projectors support instant off so you won't need a UPS.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/cons ... d=63072141

I'm sure epson yank do bulb warranty, not sure though.