Question Looking for recommendations on a first projector please

[elrao]

Hi All

Looking to spice up movie night in the lockdown period with a reasonably priced projector setup. Key considerations:

• Max screen size is 120" (stand mounted and able to pack away)
• Projector could either be about 2-3m away from the screen, or 6m away from the screen.
• Content would either by Plex / Netflix / Disney + etc.
• Audio needs to feed into a Samsung Q950T sound bar (Atmos capable)
• Soundbar would sit below the screen (screen would be on a stand in front of the existing TV)

I have an Nvidia Shield 4k Pro which I could use to stream films etc. if necessary, and was thinking possibly:

Shield TV --> HDMI --> Q950T --> HDMI --> Projector

Would mean I get the best quality video / audio, but would mean swapping HDMI cables out and running a long HDMI cable to the projector, but a small faff compared to the faff of putting up a projector screen etc.

Other option here would be to use a "smart projector":

Projector Smart APP --> HDMI / Optical / WiFi / Bluetooth --> Q950T

This would still likely need an HDMI cable from the projector to the soundbar, but would use the vacant HDMI in slot I have at the moment, so slightly less faff to roll out the cable and plug it in! However it is not always clear from some of the "smart projectors" I have seen whether they support audio out, and if they do what connections they would support and what audio formats. Would be a shame to lose Atmos etc if the projector can't pass that through over HDMI back to the soundbar.

 

[DB9S]

Hi All

Looking to spice up movie night in the lockdown period with a reasonably priced projector setup. Key considerations:

• Max screen size is 150" (stand mounted and able to pack away)
• Projector could either be about 2-3m away from the screen, or 6m away from the screen.
• Content would either by Plex / Netflix / Disney + etc.
• Audio needs to feed into a Samsung Q950T sound bar (Atmos capable)
• Soundbar would sit below the screen (screen would be on a stand in front of the existing TV)

I have an Nvidia Shield 4k Pro which I could use to stream films etc. if necessary, and was thinking possibly:

Shield TV --> HDMI --> Q950T --> HDMI --> Projector

Would mean I get the best quality video / audio, but would mean swapping HDMI cables out and running a long HDMI cable to the projector, but a small faff compared to the faff of putting up a projector screen etc.

Other option here would be to use a "smart projector":

Projector Smart APP --> HDMI / Optical / WiFi / Bluetooth --> Q950T

This would still likely need an HDMI cable from the projector to the soundbar, but would use the vacant HDMI in slot I have at the moment, so slightly less faff to roll out the cable and plug it in! However it is not always clear from some of the "smart projectors" I have seen whether they support audio out, and if they do what connections they would support and what audio formats. Would be a shame to lose Atmos etc if the projector can't pass that through over HDMI back to the soundbar.

First thing; I am not aware that any projectors have ARC, but that doesn't mean none have.
Projectors do not always have provision for sound you see. Especially top models.
Some Epson's (for example) have speakers in them and so it might be different in cases such as that, but generally you will need to connect your source to your soundbar and then the video output to the projector.
Source/s ---> Soundbar ---> Projector.

 

[elrao]

Thanks, doesn't necessarily need ARC if it has an audio out, but I get your point. I am leaning towards the Source > Soundbar > Projector as that would get me the best audio, with no loss etc.

Just liked the idea of a smart projector, in case we ever wanted to take it out in the garden etc

 

[elrao]

Decided to go down the route of using the Nvidia Shield via Soundbar to the projector. Having looked at various projectors, I think I'm looking at anywhere between 2m and 4m throw for a 100 to 120" pictures, nothing would appear to work at 6m for that screen size.

Projector has to be worth the effort to setup to watch a movie, so out perform a 55" Samsung q95t tv for experience. I appreciate I won't get the same picture quality, but I'd like a decent picture - where doubling the size will make up for it.

Room is quite light, but projector would be used in the evenings more often than not.

Is it better to get a quality 1080p or a budget 4k?

 

[Joe Fernand]

Projector - ‘resolution’ is only one of many factors when selecting a projector, poor motion handling is far more of an issue with budget models.

Soundbar - tend not to be ideal in terms of positioning when using a projected image, a decent stereo system is often a better option.

Joe

 

[Aaryal]

Epson projectors are worth the money. Id say get a 1080p projector minimum.