Newbie question: Projectors and Cable TV

L

lalaw

Guest
Hi Everyone,

Apologize for the newbie question--I've been reading through the forum and searching for an answer to no avail..

I noticed most people use projectors strictly for Home Theatre use--DVD players, PCs etc. Can they be used to project regular TV signals? Why/why not? Is it a bad idea (because of bulb life, etc?)

Thanks
 
actually, quite a few of the people here use their projectors to watch TV. But you have to bear in mind the quality isn't as good as DVD (depends on how good your projector is at scaling/deinterlacing the image), and do you really want Pat Butcher's face 4ft high?!

Plus you get the best results with the lights out, which isn't always handy for casual viewing.

But for some TV its probably great (F1, footy, movies, drama etc)
 
Thanks for the response! I've been very interested in getting a projector, and I was afraid people avoided them for regular TV use.

Perhaps now someone can recommend a product for me--I am moving into a very small apartment, and the reason I am looking into projectors/lcds etc. is because I want to minimize the space taken up by the TV. Can anyone recommend a good entry level projector as a TV replacement?
 
bearing in mind my previous comment on lighting, try looking at the panasonic PT-AE100, which is widescreen, or the sanyo PLV30, which isn't.

Both are highly regarded in this forum. I've got an AE100.

I think both are short throw as well, which means you get a big picture with the projector a short distance from the screen/wall, so you don't need a huge room.
 
Of course you can watch TV on it!!! That's what pubs do!!!

You need some device with a TV tuner to watch TV though so that means feeding it a signal from a VCR, Sky digibox, Cable Box or Pro-V.

Connection you can use composite (cables cost £10), S-Video ( £60) or VGA (£200).
 
OK then I can choose between projectors but I can't change the room.

What if the pj must be rear-mounted where the throw needed is 4.5m, and the audience will sit somewhere in between? The Ae100 won't be much good here.

Does anyone have any recommendations based on personal experience of projecting across this distance to a reasonable sized screen for people 3m or so back ?

Getting a shortlist of candidate projectors is where I am currently at. If anyone has got this kind of configuration I'd love to hear your recommendations, don't care how subjective.
 
Make sure you get a projector thats bright. Brightness is measured in ANSI lumens. Look for 1000 lumens and above.

The further away you put the projector from the screen, the more brightness it needs to put out. The brightness drops off the futher away you put it, resulting in a lifeless picture.

That's reason why the AE100 has a short throw so it can have a lower brightness.
 
Thanks Jonny

Looks like the data projectors tend to have the brighter ratings but will probably be noisier. What's your pj to screen distance and is the screen dimension you quote horizontal or diagonal ?

I see I have the same amp as you, got it 2nd hand. Seems to perform well through my hotch potch of speakers. Did you bother to set the EQ stuff on it ? Pretty daunting I thought.
 
Projector screens tend to be measured in width. My 80" wide 16:9 screen has a diagonal of 92".

With the AE100,the projector is around 11 feet (approx) away to give an 80" image.

Data projectors are brighter but have a worse contrast ratio and are not usually 16:9 panels.
 
Originally posted by gul


I see I have the same amp as you, got it 2nd hand. Seems to perform well through my hotch potch of speakers. Did you bother to set the EQ stuff on it ? Pretty daunting I thought.

I pretty much leave the settings on the Amp at the default levels. I have the Sony Pascal 705 speakers to match.

I could tweak the settings on the amp all day but my speakers are the problem. They lack in the mid-range like all sub-sat systems. They sound OK. I didn't want big speakers.
 
If you intend to use a projector for watching TV, I'd very strongly recommend getting a ProV - also called TV4000 XGA Theater -

see here http://www.scancom.ltd.uk/

This little box will make a dramatic improvement in the quality of TV image thru a projector provided you feed ot a good quality signal - my cable feed is good, reading others posts it thrives on a Sky Digital feed. also does a fairly decent job of improving dvd - search threads here for ProV.

Have a thing about the noise level of whatever projector you choose - I know that the Sony Cineza and Philips Monroe are both quieter than my Panasonic AE100, but I'd say that the throw distances would not be right for you.


Sean G
 
The further away you put the projector from the screen, the more brightness it needs to put out. The brightness drops off the futher away you put it, resulting in a lifeless picture.

That's reason why the AE100 has a short throw so it can have a lower brightness

That doesn't sound right somehow. Surely its all about how much surface area you are lighting up? If you have two projectors at 1000lumens, projecting onto a 8ft wide screen, one from 10ft away, and one from 20ft away, surely they'll both provide the same image brightness? Unless you have a very smoky room?
 

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