Having trouble finding a projector that will do what I want - Anyone help?

stevegreen

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Hopefully someone can help me out here.

I am looking to buy a PJ within the next week or so that will give me a 200cm across image. I was looking seriously at a 2nd hand PTAE700 but, according to ProjectorCentral it won't do what i want from the distance that I can project from, well, it can but the calculator is saying to reduce brightness or increase image size :( It also has no option to switch between low lamp mode and normal lamp mode to adjust the calculations :(

The room I have is 14' long. Would the AE700 in practice do what I need it to?

I have also looked at the Infocus 4805 which seems to fit the bill perfectly, however, the rainbow effect is a concern so would prefer an LCD unit.

What else could I consider?
 
You really need to view a dlp projector to see about the rainbow effect. I'm not sure what some people are "doing" while watching a movie but the rainbow affect is caused by the fact the RGB is draw 1 after the other thus if you move your eyes very quickly the RGB frames do no land on each other on your retina.

I have DLP, yes I can see some rainbow but only when I flick my eyes from a point abot 2ft right of the screen to 2ft on the left of the screen. While just sitting and watching a movie there is no issue.

Rainbows are really down to a matter of physics rather than brain, we all have the residual image effect on the retina, its how our eyes work, so everyone should be affected the same.
 
Don't let potential issues with Rainbow Effect put you off buying the 4805. However, do let the fact that it's not HD ready put you off. If you are not bothered about HD though, the 4805 will do fine I'm sure. I am surprised the 4805 can accomodate your needs throw-wise and not the AE700. The 700 does have a very flexible zoom range IIRC...PJ
 
I will probably have to have a look at a DLP display and see if i'm affected or not. The 4805 seems to be a fairly highly regarded projector so it could be a contender.

The main point about the AE700 is that there may be a few coming up soon as the AE900 comes out, thats why I fancied one, plus it has recent technology that the receiver I bought will fit with.

If the calculator suggests that where i am siting it and projecting to is out of the recommended range is it actually that much of an issue?
 
I'd be surprised if the AE700 won't throw a 2m image at 14ft.

If your concern is just the brightness indication on Projector Central's calculator, you can take it with a pinch of salt - it will be fine.
 
Neil in Bristol said:
I'd be surprised if the AE700 won't throw a 2m image at 14ft.

If your concern is just the brightness indication on Projector Central's calculator, you can take it with a pinch of salt - it will be fine.

The room I have will be fairly dark so the brightness will be a bit of a concern. There is no mention of a low lamp mode on PJCentral which maybe will bring it into the recommended range. If, as you say, it's not really an issuse then I would prefer the AE700, should one come up at the right price.
 
Don't worry about predictions of it being too bright.

If it is a problem for you, your best solution is to increase ambient light levels in the room. You can use the Avia calibration DVDs to determine the level of ambient light you should have.

Low lamp mode AFAIK doesn't really make all that much difference to the image brightness.
 
Bepin Solanki said:
what about ths sony hs50?

Funnily enough, a Sony been suggested as well by someone else.

It all depends what comes up in the classifieds really.
 
How about a Sanyo Z3? I've got one for sale in the classifieds at the moment - link in my sig.

Steve
 
stevelup said:
How about a Sanyo Z3? I've got one for sale in the classifieds at the moment - link in my sig.

Steve

Interesting indeed, but the price seems a little high :(
 
I shouldn't discuss my sale anywhere other than the thread in question, but I will respond with this:-

Find one cheaper elsewhere and I'll reconsider my price.

I think it is a fair price - just because dealers were dumping them at stupid prices a few weeks ago doesn't inherently devalue the unit. It is a superb projector and insanely good value at £700.

Regards,

Steve
 
I take your point Steve. I will have a word with Adrenochrome who I know has one.

Now that the issue of brightness has been settled in my mind my options should be opened up a bit more. I'll have a tink about it :)
 
stevegreen said:
Hopefully someone can help me out here.

I am looking to buy a PJ within the next week or so that will give me a 200cm across image. I was looking seriously at a 2nd hand PTAE700 but, according to ProjectorCentral it won't do what i want from the distance that I can project from, well, it can but the calculator is saying to reduce brightness or increase image size :( It also has no option to switch between low lamp mode and normal lamp mode to adjust the calculations :(

The room I have is 14' long. Would the AE700 in practice do what I need it to?

This is about the same as my room and I have an AE700. My screen size is just over 200cm across and can go a lot smaller and a lot bigger, so no problem there. As to brightness, it's not a problem - even if I go up to 2.5m wide (in a dark room). It's plenty bright!

I also run in video mode (which is a lot brighter than the natural or cinema modes) with the gamma/contrast/brightness tweaked - settings are below. These settings have given me the best picture so far (I have yet to try using a filter). I futher tweaked the contrast and brightness settings using the Window Media Centre Edition test videos.

Video mode settings - from:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5754527#post5754527

Hi all!

After lots been said and tried I decided to try something myself. As I said a while ago I don't own PTAE700, but my company services and installs hundreds of them. any, many people are not 100% happy with the picture "straight out of the box". I tried all of the filters mentioned quite a bit on this forum. In my opinion filters are waste of time and money. I did my own testing whith help of Meridian 800 DVD player and on a 110" Stewart Firehawk 1:1 widescreen, THX test disc and with lots of help from 3 guys who work with me.

We managed to get this PJ quite well into past 95% of THX standards, which not even some PJ's 3 times the price can't come even close. And yes... we didn't use any filters. If anybody cares to try and especialy if you use 1:1 and around 100" screen and with (recommended) component connection here are results:

PICTURE MODE : VIDEO
CONTRAST : +2
BRIGHT : -2
COLOUR : -11
TINT : -3
SHARPNESS : -1
COLOUR TEMP. : 0
DYNAMIC IRIS : ON

ADVANCE MENU
GAMMA HIGH : -1
GAMMA MID : 0
GAMMA LOW : 0
CONTRAST R : +2
CONTRAST G : -6
CONTRAST B : -6
BRIGHT R : +2
BRIGHT G : -6
BRIGHT B : -6

OPTION
OSD : ON
NR : ON (highly recommended)
CINEMA REALITY : OFF (highly recommended)
LAMP POWER : LOW (highly recommended)
 
monopole said:
This is about the same as my room and I have an AE700. My screen size is just over 200cm across and can go a lot smaller and a lot bigger, so no problem there. As to brightness, it's not a problem - even if I go up to 2.5m wide (in a dark room). It's plenty bright!

Mind suitably assured.

Cheers
 
put yourself in debt, get a 7205.....i love mine :)

heh
sorry, had to stick me oar in....

btw, found out something fun yesterday, separate your fingers by a half cm between each of them, the wave your hand up and down very quickly with your palm facing the lens (altho your fingers in front of the lens itself) a few inches away......cool rainbows man!!!...lol (im not going loopy, just try it...lol...)

but seriously, check to see if you suffer RBE a lot, if not then take a look at DLP's....oh and as for HD, are you likely to use HD a lot in the next 2 years? if not then i wouldnt worry, there wont be all that much HD for a while, on Sky some movies and sports. Films on disc released wont be very much for a while either and will probably cost a bomb to begin with....so unless u wanna HD game, getting a HD PJ if you on the cheaper scale may not be worth worrying about...
 
Things like HD won't particularly bother me. I won't have Sky, just a DVD player and maybe in the future a HTPC, oh and the Xbox360.

I've just got my hands on a Yamaha RX-V2500 and will be outputting everything from that via what method I have no idea at the moment.
 
XBox 360 will be the dogs proverbials with a HDTV projector!
 

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