[matthewk]

Hi
I'm looking to buy a Toshiba MT500 I just wondered if there is anything that competes with this projector in a similar price bracket.

Hope you can help!

Matt

[RTFM]

The Optoma H56 is a good unit at a similar price.

Jeff

[matthewk]

the specifications look better, but from what people are saying on h30 vs h56 thread it doesn't sound too good, opinions are so varied, it seems to go from one extreme to another. 1 person will say its amazing and another will say its the worst they've ever seen. It's hard to make a decision without demo'ing, i just wish there were some decent shops in essex for me to go to!

[RTFM]

Matthew,

I had a lot of experience with the H56 when it first came out (£3.5k )

So at the price it is now it is excellent value for money. It's in a different league to the H30.

Jeff

[matthewk]

have you compared it against the toshiba MT500?

[RTFM]

I had a rep bring a MT500 here for a dem a few months ago. Not a bad unit at all.

I'd say you wouldn't go far wrong with either. It's down to personal taste,connectivity etc at the end of the day.

Jeff

[AMc]

I recently got a Philips Bogart Matchline which is in the same ball park at £1500 (DLP, 1800:1 contrast, 1024x768 4:3/1024x576 16:9, 800ANSI lumens, but no digital input)
http://www.progressive-av.com/projec..._matchline.htm
http://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/Phil..._Matchline.htm have the brochure too.

Philips have withdrawn from the Home Cinema market so demos are not really possible. All I have to compare it with is a Compaq MP2000 data projector which it blows out of the water for movies. I love mine, but it was the only PJ with a high enough res and long enough throw to suit my room and my budget and I had to buy blind.

[foghorn]

The Benq PE7800 retails at a similiar figure to the Toshiba MT500.The Benq also has the benefit of the matterhorn chip.

Try these links to find out more

Great review http://www.projectorreviews.com/article.aspx?artid=20

Streaming video http://www.cinenow.com/us/streaming...referer=cinenow

Screenshots AVS forum http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...goto=nextoldest

The only drawback may be trying to track down a demo of the Benq. I plan to start this process myself after my summer holidays.

[matthewk]

well....yet again i'm changing my mind after reading that PE7800 review

specification-wise it looks like there is not much difference between the 2

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-H56.htm

http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-PE7800.htm

I have some questions:

what are the advantages of the matterhorn chip?

is it worth having HDTV as the PE7800 is missing that feature, it seems the uk won't have this til 2006, by then i will probably sell my projector anyway.

What is HDCP for and it it worth having as the H56 is missing that feature.

am i missing something major between these 2 projectors thats a major advantage?

[matthewk]

ok i'm convinced.
i've been reading about the benq 7800 in lots of forums and i've not heard anything bad, i've also seen some screen shots and it looks amazing!

check out this review http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...oto=nextoldest

and this post http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=400513

*Matt gets his credit card out*

[foghorn]

Hope the Benq PE7800 meets all your expectations. Let us know what you think of the projector when you get it.

Foghorn

[matthewk]

will do foghorn although i've decided to wait til i get back from my holiday
in early september, no doubt i will have to start over again as the technology will be completely different for the price! hehe, you know how quickly things change...

On another note what difference does having a matterhorn chip have, if i had a higher resolution dlp with the name amount of lumens and contrast ratio and the same speed colour wheel would it still be worth having the matterhorn chip??

[foghorn]

Hi MatthewK,

The Matterhorn is a native pal widescreen chip which has a pixel resolution of 1025 x 576.

The Optoma H56 has a native 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, however the H56 is optimised for pal which can use the 1024 x 576 portion of the chip. Which basically means that in 16 x 9 mode is does not use the remaining 192 lines.

The Toshiba MT500 also has a native 1024 x 768 pixel resolution but this is where the MT500 differs from the H56. The H56 only deactivates the additional 192 lines when in 16 X 9 mode, the MT500 on the other hand has from manufacture permanently deactivated the remaining 192 lines.

The bottom line is that the H56 and MT500 can operate just like the Matterhorn chip.

However the major disadvantage over the Matterhorn chip is that when the additional 192 lines of resolution are deactivated the projector will loss some of its brightness. In addition the area of the unused chip will project a light spill area above and below the 16 x 9 viewing area. This can also affect contrast.

Optoma has now released a H56 version which comes with a lens mask this is designed to help with the above problems.

If you are also interested in watching television or old movies in 4 x 3 you will get a much bigger image with the H56 over the MT500 or any of the Matterhorn chip projectors.

Hope this helps. But the bottom line is find yourself a demo and make up your own mind. Happy hunting.

Foghorn

[matthewk]

thanks for that foghorn, something for me to think about there.
starting to change my mind again! hehe