Sorry if this is long but there's a point to it

[Clint C]

Chaps

I went to the "Bristol Show" last weekend and it was a superb experience. As I went there for the "Visual" part of "Audio Visual" and specifically projectors I went to look at all the show had to offer. No sign of any LCD pj's unfortunately (so couldn't do any comparisons) but initially went and had a look at what Infocus had to offer. The 4800 and the 5700 were on display in 2 adjacent rooms. I had a peek at the 4800 first and did the eye wiggling trick, yuk, rainbows everywhere and the CR didn't look very good. Went next door to look at the 5700, ah much better, I sat in front of it for about half an hour watching each DVD clip the rep decided to put on. It was a tremendous improvement over the 4800 IMO and no rainbows. They were displaying onto a 6 foot screen and all the good things I'd heard about DLP finally came into being.

I had a quick look at some Runco's in operation but they were way out of my price range. All the same they looked great. Every time I went into the Sim rooms they were full up so I didn't get to see much of the demo.

I wandered into the MJ Acoustics room as I could see they had some projection going on in there and looked up at what was pushing out this fine picture, an NEC HT1100 fed from a pc onto a 9 foot wide screen and it looked gorgeous. I'm afraid I've now seen what's possible for a "reasonable" price and I can't look at LCD's the same way. I ended up giving the rep my name to put me down for the reduced 20% off price of the £3750 price tag that was being offered at the show and he said he'd call in around a week.

What am I going to do? The misses will go mental if I go ahead with it and she'll make me sell my Impreza to fund my knee jerk (even though it's over a week ) purchase. The rep hasn't rang me back yet (thankfully) and I don't know if I'll be able to resist this impending bargain.

Can somebody say something bad about the HT1100 so I'm not forced to buy it and have to drive... something undriveable?

Clint.

 

[rizla]

Ive heard 50cc scooters can be fun so whats the worry

 

[TheNightFly]

Have you checked the throw ratio to make sure it will fit-in with your intended mounting point and screen size ? Another point to watch out for is the vertical offset between the lens and the top/bottom of the screen. This is a bit larger with the NEC than most projectors and with a ceiling mount might result in the screen being too low if you have a low ceiling.

If these points are all ticks then it could be the green light unfortunately. ;-)

Allan

 

[buns]

but there is a large ability to fix with 3D reform..... or you could use a tilted screen....

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[Peter Parker]

I gave up sports car after 14 years of ownership to drive a Ka - it get's me to where I want to go just as fast - mainly because of the amount of traffic and speed cameras we have around here now.

I do miss doing over 110mph down country lanes though. You can at least watch a movie without the fear of being fined for it.

Worth the trade IMHO.

Gary.

 

[Clint C]

Guys, thanks for the input.

Allan, my room is 21' by 10.6' and it's begging to be fired along the length of the room, I figured onto an 8 ' screen allowing my front speakers to stand clear either side with the pj ceiling mounted. The room is 7.6' tall. I haven't actually done any workings out specifically for the HT1100, do you forsee a problem?

buns, the pj on demo at the show was on the ceiling and tilted backwards to allow for what Allan must be talking about. I'm pretty sure the screen there wasn't tilted. Maybe this is a feature of the iris, like the Z2 scenario?

Gary, I'm taking on board what you're saying, I really am, but I do love the drive. I guess I need to test drive some cars now that I've found my ideal pj. Jeez, I feel pulled in all directions...

Clint

 

[buns]

well the NEC would have been fixed by the 3d reform thing as opposed to the lens shift on the Z2, but the fact that it can even do that is good

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[Quatermass]

Maybe we could start the downshift car and appreciate the finer things (hc) in life forum I went from a Subaru turbo to an LPG micra – imo can have a lot of fun in speed/handling challenged vehicles as it is easier (safer) to get to the limits! Go for the projector mate (probably not what you wanted to hear).

 

[NonPayingMember]

Keep the car and buy the projector! If the wife complains, sell her

 

[Andy.T]

If you haven't got it already get Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2, complete with pedals and Force Feedback steering wheel. That way you can drive 183 cars you'd never otherwise be able to afford and feel good about the projector purchase.

 

[Clint C]

Argh, just had a phone call from the MJ Acoustics rep... I managed to put him off until next week but I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold out for.

Quatermass, you went from a Subaru to a Micra?.. This isn't looking good .

Liam, why doesn't it surprise me you've suggested that .

Andy Trump, I do actually have GT3 with the force feedback wheel and pedals... my man you have a point. Couple that together with the HT1100 projected onto the 8 foot screen and I'll be in virtual driving paradise .

Thanks for all your valid points.

The clock ticks...

 

[TheNightFly]

Clintc,

For an 8ft wide screen the projector will need to be placed at a distance of between 12' 3" and 14' 9" from the screen wall. I'd recommend a seating distance of no closer than about 14ft from the screen for this screen size.

Thats the easy bit, the difficult part is the offset.

According to my HT1100 manual, the vertical offset for that size screen would be 14" from the centre of the lens to the top of the screen. With my HT1100 I've found that the quoted offset is a bit overstated by about 30% - i.e. I get a 'square' image with less offset than quoted.

Lets say that in practice, you are likely to require a 10" offset and the centre of the lens will be 7" from the ceiling. So thats 17" from the ceiling to the top of the screen.

Because the HT1100 is a 4:3 projector that can operate in 16:9 mode, you can place your 16:9 screen anywhere within the 4:3 footprint and use the projector's image controls to slide the image up and down like a virtual lens-shift.

For an 8ft wide screen, the 4:3 footprint is 72" tall, a 16:9 screen is 54" tall. Using the offset figures above, you can place the top of a 16:9 screen anywhere between 17" and 35" inch from the ceiling and correspondingly the bottom between 19" and 1" (!!) above the floor.

So, it will work (just), but are you really sure you want a screen 8ft wide ? Personally I'd go for a smaller screen and sit a bit closer. Doing that you'll get a brighter image, more contrast ratio and greater flexibility with screen placement.

As you can see, chosing the right projector is not as simple as it first seems.

Allan

 

[Clint C]

Allan

Thanks for taking the time out to do the maths . I don't want to take up any more of your time so I'll attempt to work out what kind of screen size to expect if I fired it across the room (10' 6"). I do love the idea of the big screen though and seeing the 9 foot image at the show is egging me on in this direction. So you say the highest I could have the bottom screen image would be 19" off the floor. That sounds low but seems to be in the region of what most say is the perfect viewing height.

This is all sounding far too exciting and perfect. Looks like I best start saying my goodbye's to the Subaru .

Thanks again.

Clint.

 

[Clint C]

Ok, I thought I'd look up the 10' 6" option (going across the room) from projector central but they haven't reviewed it yet. Does anyone know if it "throws" the same as the HT1000?

Clint.

 

[TheNightFly]

Clint,

They are the same. I compared ProjectorCentral's HT1000 throw figures with HT1100 manual and got the same results.

I've got my HT1100 mounted as close to the back-wall as physically possible and I measure 15" from the back-wall to the front of the lens. You will need to deduct this figure from your room width when doing your calculations.

Allan

 

[buns]

Alan,

what is the ceiling mount on the 1100 as compared to the 1000? Any idea?

thanks

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[TheNightFly]

I believe its the same. I use a Unicol ceiling bracket here and had no problem getting a Unicol adapter plate with my projector despite getting one of the first projectors in the country. My Unicol invoice actually described it as an NEC-LT240 adapter plate so I suspect that there are limited variations when it comes to mounting geometry within the NEC projector family.

Allan

 

[buns]

Thanks Allan, hopefully a couple of weeks will have one in my hands to try it

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[Clint C]

Thanks Allan. So it looks like I'll get a 6 foot wide image across the room or go for my originally planned 8 foot along the length. Will there really be that much of a difference in picture quality if I chose the larger image? I'm prepared to install blackout blinds across all windows. The rooms length by the way is 21 foot. I just also envisaged being able to set my rear speakers further back as opposed to where they are now (around 6 inches back just facing inwards towards me).

Thanks in advance.

Clint.

 

[TheNightFly]

Clint.

When you saw the 9ft screen, I'm guessing that the exhibitors were using the high-power lamp mode on the HT1100 to get the image sufficiently bright. I'm not sure if you will need this or not with an 8ft screen but I would definitely strive to use the projector in eco-mode because it is so much quieter. For a 6ft screen you will definitely be in eco-mode territory.

The HT1100 has an iris control on the lens. This varies the light output. Fully closed down gives the least light output but maximum contrast ratio. Ideally you want maximum contrast ratio but not at the expense of too dim an image. By reducing the screen size you will be able to close the iris down further. It's all a balancing act with many variables - screen size, brightness, contrast ratio - you just have to find the right set of compromises that suit you best.

In my humble opinion, the beauty sweet-spot for this projector is with a 5 and a half foot screen size. This will give a bright punchy image with the projector in eco-mode and the iris fully shut down. Ideal viewing distance, again IMHO, would be slightly under 10ft.

Even with a screen size less than 8ft wide you could still use the projector length-wise down the room and get the better speaker arrangement. You could always buy the projector first and experiment by projecting onto the wall before deciding on the screen size to go for.

If you really liked the 9ft image you saw then you won't be dispointed with an 8ft screen. However, you aint seen nothing yet !!

Allan

 

[Clint C]

Cheers Allan, this is all lovely food for thought.

Clint.