Need advice on which PJ is best for my needs.

all,

I'm looking for a projector for playing Xbox360 and watching the odd film on.
I'll be using it a lot for gaming and will need to use it during the day with a small amount of light in the room, but no sunlight or anything too intruding.

Obviously I need a bright projector but I also want decent picture quality and i need it to be high def too.

I've tried to make a spec sheet of all the projectors in my price range so i can see the pros & cons of each. Some are very bright but I don't know if the picture quality will suffer. Others have very high contrast ratio and a great picture but require almost total darkness to be seen.

What do I do?

I'm not really really fussy about amazing picture quality and I'm not too bothered about the tiny details but I do need the projector to be able to handle fast moving images, have a nice bright picture and have decent enough picture quality.
Also need:
720p
HD Component
16:9 ratio

Here's my list so far:

InFocus X3 Projector DLP
1024x768(XGA)
1600 Lumens
2000:1
HDTV Compatible
4:3 aspect standard ratio
39 db
Interface: Audio - Headphone Out (1/8" Mini), Audio - RCA Jack, M1-DA, Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - RCA Composite
No component???
£729.99
Comments: Very bright, not sure about resolution? No component for Xbox!?!? No 16:9, contrast ratio decent enough.


Panasonic PT-AE700E LCD Projector
1280x720
1000 Lumens
2000:1
16:9 (Widescreen)
HD Component Video, HDMI, Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - RCA Composite
£959.00
Comments: Good res for Xbox360, contrast good and good picture quality. Not very bright though. Under £1000. Has component for Xbox.

Panasonic PT-AE900E LCD Projector
1.280 x 720
1100 Lumens
5500:1
16:9 (Widescreen)
Interfaces: HDMI input, D-SUB PC input, RCA component input, RCA Video input, S-Video mini-din input, Scart input, RS-232C serial input
£1231.00
Comments: Obviously good pic quality and very high contrast ratio. 1100 lumens, is that bright enough, I don't know? Expensive!!

Sanyo PLV-Z3 LCD Projector
1280x720
800 lumens
2000:1
16:9 (Widescreen), 4:3 (Standard)
Interface: HDMI, Serial RS-232C - 8 PIN mini-DIN, Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - Component, Video - RCA Composite
£868.00
Comments: Has everything but the brightness. Good price, good pic quality, component, good resolution.

Sanyo PLV-Z4 LCD Projector
1280x720
1000 Lumens
7000:1
16:9 (Widescreen)
22 dBA
Interface: HDMI, Serial - RS-232, Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - Component, Video - RCA Composite
£1,284.28
Comments: Similar to the Panny AE900. Very good pic quality but pricey and not sure how bright this will be?

BenQ PB7230 DLP Projector
1024x768
2500 Lumens
2000:1
16:9 (Widescreen), 4:3 (Standard)
Interface: Audio - RCA Jack, Audio Line In (1/8" Mini), Serial - RS-232, USB - Universal Serial Bus "B", Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - Component, Video - RCA Composite, Video - TV Out (S-Video)
£912.00
Comments: Will the res be OK? Very very bright!! Pic quality seems ok, price good. Has component. Looks like one of my favs but is the picture quality any good and how will it handle 720p from the Xbox?

Hitachi PJTX100 LCD Projector
1280x720
1200 Lumens
1200:1
16:9 (Widescreen)
25 dB
Interface: Serial - RS-232, Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - Component, Video - DVI-D (24 pin), Video - RCA Composite
£813.10
Comments: Another fav but will it be bright enough?

BenQ PE7700 DLP Projector
1280x720
1100 Lumens
2500:1
16:9 (Widescreen)
29 dB
Interface: HDMI, Serial - RS-232, Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video), Video - BNC Component Video, Video - Component, Video - RCA Composite
£1,480.00
Comments: Awesome pic quailty but very expensive and is it bright enough?

Any comments welcome... cheers!

 

Wow, didn't expect so many replies, where shall I start!!

I just found another thread that answers some of my questions, thanks.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256557

 

You've probably not recieved any replies because it sounds like you know what you are doing.

Do you have any specific questions?

 

If the Xbox360 is producing 720p and 16:9 and the projector's resolution is 1024x768. How will it handle the picture?

All the projectors with the brightest bulbs (2000-3000 lumens) seem to have crappy resolutions, why is this?

The BenQ PB7230 says it supports 16:9 aspect ratio but has a resolution of 1024x768. If I knew this projector could display 720p properly then I would have my answer me thinks.

 

Dont know much about that model, but i can tell you normally the higher lumens are data projectors not home projectors.

Ideally sounds like you need a native 1280x720 projector.

What is your budget?

 

BenQ PE7700 DLP Projector is a good pick as it is fully equipped for HD and if you want to be playing Xbox 360 you want a projector that can do 720p 1:1 pixel rather than a projector that is 768 as it will have to scale the image so best avoid that and get a 720 projector so you get the best possible picture so put an X beside all the projectors that are 768. There thats a start

 

My budget is around £1200 but I would go higher if the difference was significant enough.

So I need a native 1280x720 with the highest amount of Lumens possible.

I'll get searching...

 

Lumens should not be that important to you if you can control ambient light. I watch my z3.5 with a bit of ambient light no problems during the day but it is best with controlled (no) light.

You have a sensible budget. Buying from EU eg Germany (see another forum thread) may also save you money. Within your budget are a number of projectors:

Sanyo Z3
Sanyo Z4
Panasonic AE700, AE900 (beware - Panasonic warranty service is poor well on the basis of a few members experiences on here)
Hitachi PJ-TX100 and 200
Epson TW600

Hope this has been helpful

 

You may be better served asking this on the Gaming forum. They'll have their favourites for other reasons than this forum - video delay being the obvious example.

 

if you want to play in a lit room then the TW600 would be more suitable as it has the highest lumen output at 1600 which is plenty bright. Of course you can turn this brightness down when watching films at night for better blacks having the best of both worlds.

Take a look at my FAQ to see a side by side of these projectors.

Also note that the AE900 TX200, Z4 and TW600 are all very new and reviews havent really started coming out yet. Not from the average user anyway as most reviews currently are from video experts who can't help but look for the tinest imperfection.

If you can control the light levels in your room then any of these 4 models should be considered as they are all cutting edge.

DLP projectors are geared for film. Home Cinema LCD projectors try to fill both Film and Gaming needs.

Good luck
Anim

 

I think I'm going to go for the Hitachi PJTX200. I found a website that's selling it for £1119.99 with free delivery and 12 months interest free too!

There's very little info on this projector at the moment. I've been looking for reviews but can't find many.

Looking at the spec though it seems to have the lot. It's very bright, massive contrast ratio, WXGA res and it's got just about every feature you can think of.

I'll be purchasing very soon.

 

WOW thats a great price where did you see that.

 

24 months warranty on hitachi projectors bought from germany

 

terrysharp, check your pm mate.

 

Quite agree, observing our demo model today it seems to have true giant killing potential, it really did look good. The fact it's almost 200GBP cheaper than AE900/Z3 does not alter the fact it is quite a match for either in my opinion.

 

you would its your web site thats selling it at that price

might have to think about a upgrade if its that good.

 

hehe

I spend half an hour pumping HD stuff through a TX200 this afternoon and I was mighty impressed, reminded me of an HS50 with, kind of 'clean' look.

My AE100 is now looking at me like the old sheepdog sitting in the corner, knowing it's days are numbered and the new pup is coming! So yes, it's that good I might even buy one.

 

how much better is it than the 100?

only used about 250 hours on my pjtx 100 since i got it from you last year. (o the shame)(been in it's box for what seems like a life time as we have had the whole house replastered)

Andrew

 

benji_m,

How does the TX200 compare to the Z4 and AE900 in terms of brightness? Can you still get a good picture with some light in the room?

 

I'm a bit stumped about my setup, can anyone help?

So I'll have an Xbox 360 with a component out and I'll have a projector with a compontent in, but how does the sound system fit into all this?

I'm going to need to buy a home cinema all in on job but don't know what to look for and how it will fit in between the projector and Xbox.

How do you guys have your systems setup? Does a component signal carry the sound?

 

The XBox 360 will also have digital audio out as a separate lead (not sure if it'll be coaxial or optical digital), so you'll route the component leads (video) to the PJ, and the digital audio lead to your surround amp.

 

So simple now I know, thanks gingercat!

 

I'm very interesting in getting a TX200 for my xbox 360 too. I'd be very interested to hear what you think of yours. Assuming you got one of course.

Cheers.