Picture resolution, general question.

M

madhatter

Guest
Hi.

Ive been researching alot about home cinemas in the past 12 months and I will soon be ready to start work on one of my very own.

Anyway, this site is just great, got most of my information from here in the end.

Ive decided on a panny pt-ae700 simply because I am a big Panasonic fan as opposed to anything else.

I use a standalone DVD player and surround sound system, I don't intend to use my PC as a source and I also will only be connecting the DVD player (no Sky). Watching in 4:3 letterbox on a TV gives a fantastic picture but I want a more cinematic experiance hence getting the PJ.

So my questions :-

1. Should I be concerned about the resolution of the PJ ?
2. Do I care if it has native 16:9 as opposed to 4:3. (4.3 letterbox can be used).
3. DLP or LCD ?????????? Seems the LCD projectors are quieter and offer higher resolution.

And one last thing, it would be absolutely fantastic if there was a forum (or post) here showing pictures of peoples screens and details of what projector was used, that would help greatly and show people what they can expect from a certain PJ.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Chris.
 
Hi Chris

A couple of articles which may help you get some ideas about the things you're asking, one about the aspect ratio and one on the LCD vs. DLP issue. Probably the biggest issue when considering DLP projectors is the 'rainbow effect'.

Resolution can become more important as the size of the screen you're using increases .. though most new machines these days are 16:9 and 1280x720 it seems.

As for photos of projectors and screens in action, while it would seem a good idea, the problem is that taking a digital still only tells a small part of the story of what it's like watching that setup, and will be very misleading into the bargain. There's really no substitute for a 'live' demo. :)
 
Thanks for pointing me to those articles. Ive looked at projector central site before but ended up just glancing as I obviously can't buy a US spec machine.

However, the articles are great. Particularly like the throw calculator.

Cheers.

Chris.

PS. Hmmmm, been looking at the Sanyo Z3 now aswell !!!
 
Browsing HT sites can put a great strain on a firm decision. :D

Glad you found those articles useful, ProjectorCental have a number of very useful generic articles about HT as you've now seen, another useful site is Projector People with other intro articles for those new to HT.
 
madhatter said:
And one last thing, it would be absolutely fantastic if there was a forum (or post) here showing pictures of peoples screens and details of what projector was used, that would help greatly and show people what they can expect from a certain PJ.

Many thanks in advance for any advice.

Chris.


check out the "show us yours" thread in this very forum. very nice look at the standard you can acheive and lots of nice piccies that make you want to drool and go on a shopping mad one

edit: found it http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=105037
 
Thanks for pointing that out. Hey, Im Liverpool aswell. What PJ have you got and where did you end up getting it ?

Cheers.

Chris.
 
madhatter said:
1. Should I be concerned about the resolution of the PJ ?
2. Do I care if it has native 16:9 as opposed to 4:3. (4.3 letterbox can be used).
3. DLP or LCD ?????????? Seems the LCD projectors are quieter and offer higher resolution.

First of all, good choice of PJ. I am very happy with mine.

Answers:
1) The Panny has a very high res, and you wont get bigger in the same price range. I think the res will probably out perform the DVD image you will be sending to it anyway. (HDTV or PC might, but you mention you are not going to be using these)

2) You said you are going to play only DVD's, so 16:9 is the way to go. The issue here is that the PJ will not project a black outline around your image, so you can match up the image edge to the "true" black edge of your screen and get a better percieved contrast. Most DVD's are widescreen, and any that are not will still play just fine through 16:9.

3) LCD was better for me. Hate the rainbows on DLP, and the noise of the DLP machines were higher. LCD technology has come on a long way, and the Panny does an amazing job, and the lens is superb. :thumbsup:

Hope the above helps out......... good luck with your build.

Mark
 
I had a feeling the res of the ptae700 was more than enough for connection to a DVD player.

Question is, does this mean I could go for a lower res (hence saving a few quid) projector, probably a 4:3, and just set up the screen correctly to display the widescreen image.

My main aim is to get a bigger screen with a clear, sharp picture. Only feeding it from a DVD player, as I mentioned.

Cheers.

Chris.
 
No. Don't go lower resolution than ??? x 720. Because if you do the pixel structure of the image (aka chicken wire or screendoor) becomes more visible. And, if your main viewing pleasure is DVD, then stick with 16x9 devices. A 4x3 projector will only use about 55% of it's available pixels (resolution) for wide widescreen (e.g. 22x9) movies. Whereas a 16x9 projector never uses less than about 75% of it's pixels for meaningful image.
 
I still think there's a good argument for a 1024x576 DLP at screen sizes below, say, 80" to avoid getting into scaling and all that involves.
 
Upscaling, done well (and I'm not claiming it always is, but it often is) does actually subjectively improve the perceived detail in an image. So upscaling isn't necessarily a Bad Thing.
 
Hmmmm, opinions really differ don't they. I'm still not sure which way to go. As always, final option will be dictated by budget, whilst I want to spend as little as possible, I really dont want to be dissapointed. £500 on a lower spec machine will not be money well spent if I am dissapointed with the results, £1000 would be a waste if I actually can't tell a big differenc ebetween the 2.

Hmmmmmmmm.

What should I do, Im still pondering.

Chris.
 
You should try to get some demos of various machines, as it's the only way to get an idea of what each technology looks like, and how good each projector might be - providing the place giving the demo knows how to set them up.

Buying blind is not recommended, though I appreciate in some cases it's not easy to get a demo.

A widescreen pj is probably the best format to get, but an xga resolution 4:3 projector (1024 x 768) will be able to produce an image just as good as a 1024 x 576 pj which is ideal for PAL. Just look at the NEC HT1000 and HT11000 for instance. I would try not go for an 848 x 480 pj as it means downscaling for PAL material, but some can give excellent colour and contrast, so if you intend on sitting further away than 2 x screen width away (i.e. sit 14ft or more from a 7ft wide screen), then they should be fine. As has been mentioned, the closer you sit, the higher the resolution needs to be so that the pixel structure of the display panel doesn not become visible.

Will you have good light control so that viewing will be done under complete darkness? Any light in the room will have a negative effect on the projected image.

Gary.
 
LV426 said:
Upscaling, done well (and I'm not claiming it always is, but it often is) does actually subjectively improve the perceived detail in an image. So upscaling isn't necessarily a Bad Thing.
Maybe I just haven't seen it done well. :) Maybe if I spend £10000 on a Lumagen I'd see it, but my big 'issue' with sacling is the inevitable softening, for me that's the biggest problem I have with projecting SD on an HD system. So even if the perceived detail is better (and I'm not convinced that added detail no matter how well done is necessarily a good thing) it's negated by the lburring caused by interpolation.
 
Well, PAL DVD format is 720 x 576. Ive posted a few posts here all related to the same issue, trying to give them meaningfull titles.

It seems that I should just go for a widescreen projector, probably the panny ptae 700 as this would give me a widescreen picture, with a high enough resolution to sit about 10 feet away from the screen.

Yes, Im gonna have to see one in action.

Chris.
 
Hi

Well, borrowed a projector from work to get a feel for home cinema. Im hooked. Results where not impressive but I can definately see its the way to go.

I used a PLUS U2-X2000, its just a WGA 1024x768 data projector, not remotely aimed at the home theatre user, but I use it in work so thought id try it at home. About 10 feet from the wall gave me a 5ft screen. I now see what the fuss about resolution is all about.

Forget picture quality in this instance, projected onto a wall, bad lighting, and its only a data projector, but I could definately see that everything was made up of blocks, is this what we mean by artifacts ? Particularly smaller, distant out of focus objects.

I then projected onto a large peice of plaster board, picture greatly improved. So, I know screen choice is going to make a big difference aswell. imaganie what a home theatre PJ on a proper screen would look like... :)

And this PJ is DLP, I now know first hand all about the rainbow effect. It was giving me a headache !! Do all DLP PJs suffer from this ? If so, Im going for LCD, so thats another lesson learnt here.

All in all, not even remotely close to being a proper demo but it was so worth while, its given me a feel for the big screen, made me think about seating distance and light, has probably put me of DLP and I think I can now see the relevance of resolution.

Cheers.

Chris.
 
Not all DLP projectors produce the same amount or rainbow or fatigue - some have a higher speed colour wheel and more segments which greatly reduce it for those that see the effect.

Glad you managed to borow a projector to try - you're on the slippery slope that is home theater!

More pjs to demo! :)

Gary.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom