Projector does NOT require dark room!

michaelab

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Have been thinking about getting a PJ to replace my TV and have posted a couple of questions here and read a lot of stuff. Everywhere I heard that you really need a dark room to get a decent picture. Opinions varied from "it has to be pitch black" to "reasonably dark".

Well today I saw a Sony VPL HS1 being demo'd at my local FNAC (big AV chain in France and Portugal) in a bright showroom and the picture looked fine, perfectly adequate for day to day viewing and then you can always draw the curtains for movies and 'special events'. I don't know what all the fuss with darkness is about! As the PJ I have been considering is the VPL HS1 this was particularly pleasing to me.

Apart from brightness the image did have some problems - some weird rainbow interference patterns on diagonals and slightly over-saturated colors but I'm sure that was just a setup problem. It didn't look like they'd gone to much effort to get the demo right. Also, they're flogging it for €3000 (about £2000) so I think I'll get mine on one of my frequent trips to the UK.

Michael.
 
Of course you can watch it during the day, it's just most people want the ultimate picture and hence will wait anxiously till the sun has set (or if you have a fully blacked out room your set). Bear in mind the black levels will only be as black as you ambient l light and for daytime viewing a high lumens PJ will help push up your whites, the Sony is pretty flakey in this regard, I'm not sure but I believe it's 700 Lumens, which is lower than many similarly priced projectors in their econ mode! I'd go for something that can whip out 1000+, the Sony isn't the best PJ for the money.
 
I can watch my crt in daylight too but the reality is that you will NEVER get the best performance until the room is blacked out and preferably painted dark colours. You may get an image you find acceptable without going to this extreme and that's good, it's just not as great as it could be.

Gordon

p.s Let us know which model you end up with.
 
The problem with ambient light is that it kills contrast. High contrast images will be fine, dark stuff will be unwatchable.

Jeff
 

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