Moving from audio madness into the world of video insanity

I have now moved on from the world of audio madness into the world of video madness. Eileen and I are building a home theater in the basement. After weeks of research and auditioning, we have decided on Energy Veritas speakers and B&W separates.

That was the easy part, now comes the madness of picking a front projector. If you think that the audio world is nuts, wait until you delve into the video world----total insanity!!!! A whole new lingo needs to be mastered---screen door effect, rainbows, dimples, throw distance, HD-1, HD-2, screen gain, Firehawk, Greyhawk, native 16:1 or native 4:3, DLP, LCD, DILA, etc., etc. The worst thing about this situation is that these projectors cost between $5,000 and $10,000 and it is difficult to demo them. Plus, I have found that I know more about these things than the dealers. A lot of botique audio stores are getting into home theater, but most don't have the proper knowledge base. Plus, once you buy a projector, you are stuck with it because restocking fees range between 15% and 25% which equates into HUGE SUMS OF MONEY!

I have until the end of this week to make a decision.

 

Projector Central is a good resource for LCD and DLP projectors; another one is the Home Theater Forum.

Video Essentials DVD may come in handy for demos and testing.

 

SVL,

Thanks for the info, those are really good web sites. A really great web site is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/. They have a very active message board with 49,000 registered members. It is not unusual for them to have over 1,000 members on-line. They also sell electronics at a good price.

 

Hi Johnny,

Given the large amount of money, does a decision have to be made this week? I always make better decisions when I take my time. Being rushed never works for me.

-Jeffrey

 

Re: Re: Moving from audio madness into the world of video insanity

Jeffrey,

I agree with you that something like this should not be rushed. I have been researching projectors and looking at demos for close to six months. It's time for me to make a decision and buy one. I just need to come to terms with, "There will be something better coming out in 6 months". If I wait for "something better", I'll never have a projector. You know how that is.

 

Re: Re: Re: Moving from audio madness into the world of video insanity

At least you have that part right in your head, that is the something better is coming along and if I keep waiting I will never get anything. Selling this kind of technology to the normal customer, which I state you are not as you have knowledge and information, which helps you a lot, is a total nightmare. My friend said, I read in consumer reports, I saw something on MSNBC about a new technology, TV, projector, etc. always seems to derail the customer from the true focus which should be obtaining whatever technology within their budget that lets them get the best picture quality that is currently easily accessible and available. That means not worrying about something that might be coming out in six months, or is only sold overseas, or might drop in price in a three months. Within your given budget and factoring in that accessibility there is going to be one or more then one technology and projector(s) that gives you the best picture for that budget. That being said all the technologies, unless your budget runs to the high end end of the spectrum, have some kind of imperfections or deficiencies compared to each other. What imperfections bother your exact eyes and if you can live with them is of course totally subjective. Based on those imperfections and if you can live with them will help steer you in the right direction. The other thing of course you have found out is how hard it is to demo these things in a properly set up environment. Does it have an ISF calibration? Is it tweaked with the latest add on lens? Is it using XYZ screen to help it in some way? etc. etc... Most likely the picture you see in some type of in store demo is not nearly as good as it could be in your own tweaked and tuned set up. How to deal with that is a hard question. The best advice I can offer is that you can take your Video Essentials or like and make sure the settings are accurate to that, and then at least all the comparisons are accurate to that known factor. At that point, you should be able to get some idea of the basic picture quality and imperfections that the given technologies have. That should steer you into at least the preferred technology to your eyes.

The few things I will make specific comments on that I personally think are important and once pointed out and explained and demonstrated to my clients seem to be important to them are the following areas. Of course, these are my opinion and may mean nothing in relation to your personal preferences. Black level is very important to the illusion of film in these projectors regardless of the technology. Deep blacks and all the shades around it exist even in dvd with a good transfer and really help to show the subtleties of picture and help convince your looking as something closer to film. I also believe that without a deep black your eyes really never get the reference they need to see the other colors that may exist in the transfer accurately.

Next would be the size issue of the picture. Depending on how bright you like the picture, how much of the line/pixel structure bothers you and the distance you can install the projector at will effect the maximum size you can obtain. I personally think the larger size picture you can get, within those above caveats, that you should. I know there are set calculations to the size vs the distance away from the picture you are, etc. but I really feel that the larger the picture the better. The more the picture can fill your field of vision and immerse you itself the more like movie theater experience it will feel.

Next you have to be able to control background light to the maximum degree possible. Nothing washes a picture out and makes you loose that black level and "snap" like background light. It's pretty simple in my mind, would you ever have windows spilling sunlight in a real movie theater? Would they leave on the overheard lighting in a movie theater? No way would that happen. If your are making your own version of a movie theater you should expect to follow those lines of thinking also.

Finally don't get to hung up on what the picture looks like with less perfect sources, that is cable, sat, or vcr. You may use the system to watch those things and there will be compromises in how they handle those less perfect sources. The sources you should be concerned about are of course DVD and hi-defintion movies/sources. These are the sources that are going to help you obtain your most movie/theater like experience. How the technology of the projector happens to handle the other sources is just something you will have to live with, if that technology is what you like for dvd and hi-def sources.

Good luck and even though you have to make a decision soon, don't rush yourself. Finally once you make your decision, don't let naysayers mess with your head after the fact. Just get the picture looking the best you can for whatever it is bought and finally enjoy the theater experience at home and watch some movies...because that is what it is about.

Of course your mileage may vary..

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Moving from audio madness into the world of video insanity

NoTinEar,

Thanks for the information and words of encourgment. I have pretty much decided upon a NEC HT1000 projector with a Stewert screen. The screen will be 8' wide and the viewing distance will be between 14' and 16'. The room is 15'x21' and it is a dedicated audio/video room with controlled lighting. I am having a big family Christmas party so I am planning on having the HT working by then. I need to keep my fingers crossed.

John

 

The PIANO projector is considered an unbelievable value at 3,299$$ list. It outperforms projectors at double the price. check it out.

Only 4 pounds also....its all DLP chip!!!!

 

Last week I saw The Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" DVD on a friend's home theater on a 10' wide screen!!!! He was using a $18,000 JVC DILA projector. During the beginning of Hotel California I got so excited that I almost lost control of my bladder!

My HT should be up and running before Christmas---I can't wait.

 

John,
It seems like you've made up you're mind? Have you seen the NEC? I know what a pain it is to demo some of the projectors. I drove 2 hrs. for my Marantz demo and found a dealer that arranged an in-home demo for the Hitachi 5500 at no cost. I would be very hesitant to plunk down that kind of dough for something I've never seen. The other thing is you can't go by what people say on the AVS forum. I like that forum a lot but you must understand that everyone who spends big bucks on their projector thinks its the best and in many of those cases they have not personally demoed the competition. I've run into this too many times where people dismiss projectors they have not seen. The one thing that I believe is universal is to go with the Firehawk unles the projector puts out over 1500 lumens. That screen material is stunning as I know from my own experience. Good luck!

John Moschella

 

John,

Thanks for the reply. I did demo the NEC H1000. NIce and bright with great contrast. I did not notice any rainbows even when I moved my eyes rapidly from side ti side. The dealer told me that if i am dissatisfied with the NEC, i can return it and I will get a store credit towards a different type of projector.

John