Projector For Daily Media Needs?

[b422063]

First off a disclaimer. I can't tell the difference between a DVD or Blueray on my 1080p TV. Others claim it's like day and night. I'm also happy listening to music through my current flatscreen TV's speakers. I feel this is important as it shows how high the current standard is.

I want to move my living room around so that the TV is on the outside wall. There is no power on this wall though, so it's really inconvenient location to have it. This got me thinking: If there was only a way to somehow transmit the picture from a small box on side of the room to the other

I'm sure some here use a projector for their daily media needs. I don't watch live TV, everything comes from a computer (probably soon to be pi) running Kodi.

What's it like living with it daily? What are the annoyances? What would you struggle to go back to with a normal TV again? A lot of the reviews and guides are aimed at people who want to spend thousands and feel like they're on the movie set, which is just isn't me. I just want to keep my toddler happy watching Thomas the tank engine with the odd movie.

Thanks for any insight offered.

[Northern Monkey]

They only work in the dark, and are a massive pain in the arse.

They were the only way to get a nice big picture before the advent of sub £1000 55" screens.

Now you can get a nice big screen for a lot less than a grand, there is no reason to get one
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[UncleFester]

Noise / heat / cabling / mounting.

Screen quality matters as does lighting if you get one that doesn't have a high enough light output and if you get one with high lumens output .. noise and heat goes up ... as does replacement lamp cost.

I have one of these - Canon LV8235UST and whilst it's fine for movies etc etc I'm not sure i'd want it as my sole viewing device.
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[dydey90]

I don't think definition matters that much, I think you have to be within ten feet of a 55" screen to see a difference between SD and HD. Could be wrong, but there is a limit and if your room is big enough for a projector you're probably past that.
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[b422063]

[barrkel]

For a brief period in college, I used a projector as my main monitor screen.

Gave me a pain in the neck.
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[jowettdriver]

I ditched screens in favour of a projector about 6 years ago and have had one ever since. These are my thoughts on the subject.
I have an Optoma HD67N that I bought about 3 years ago. To buy a reasonable home quality system I would be looking to spend about £500 to replace it. Remember that the costs do not end at just the projector, if you are going to ceiling mount it you need to get power and signals to it, if you are not then you need something to put it on and in either case connecting leads long enough to reach it.

Many people will tell you that you must have a dedicated screen for it, I project onto a plain magnolia painted wall and personally think the image is perfectly acceptable. The Optoma that I have uses colour wheel technology, some people have a problem with this that when the image has strong contrasts or is very fast moving then they can get a rainbow effect which can seriously detract from the experience, I don't have this problem, neither does my other half but my sister has a real issue with it, so something to consider.

I notice above that someone said the room has to dark for it to work, it's not as simple as that. It depends on what you are watching and how bright the image is from your projector. Mine is rated at 2000 Lumens and to view bright images this is fine in the day time, if what you are watching has a lot of night time or darkness to it then yes a darker room is needed. The thing to remember is that true black is when there is no light emitting to the pixel at all, so whatever your screen (or wall) looks like with no projection to it is how black will be shown, that said when it is contrasted against a bright pixel Alongside it, it makes the black one look darker than it actually is. I find for viewing films in the day time I tend to close the curtains and this is perfectly adequate.

When I renovated my current house I went to a lot of trouble to run all the cables I needed to a ceiling mount for the projector so it could be ceiling mounted. Just before Christmas I bought a new place which I am renovating at the moment, I have already laid in all the wiring I will need to move the projector across, this obviously takes a lot of work and upheaval!!

All projectors will have cooling fans in them, this bothers some people. My attitude is that when watching a film etc then the sound from the speakers easily drowns out the sound. Which brings me on to sound, most projectors do not have speakers in them and those that do are not designed to try and listen to a film sound track through them. I have a nice Sony separates system connected to a pair of Cellestion Ditton speakers, these give a nice quality sound but do bear the neighbours in mind!!!

I'll round this up with the pro's and con's as I see it, again this is just my opinion.

FOR.

Large image for the money. My image is 72 inches across the diagonal.
No need to find a home for a large television, just need a blank wall. (Much negated now by modern flat screens)

When it is switched off there is no large unsightly black box screwed to your wall just a small box on a shelf or attached to the ceiling. (Mine is white so it really blends in)

Nice if you want to use the internet or your computer in general with several other people being able to see the image.

They offer that cinema like experience that for me no television screen can ever give.

AGAINST.

Need darker conditions to view some things.
Lamps have a life of 2000 - 3000 hours and cost hundreds of pounds to replace.

Power hungry, mine draws 255 watts where as modern LED flat screens draw a lot less.

Not suitable for short term viewing, turning them on and then back off again 10 minutes later is not good for the lamp life.

They require cleaning every 6 months or so, I find mine gets dusty inside, this can cause them to overheat. My fist projector got so dusty inside the lamp exploded and shattered some of the optics inside which scrapped it.


When my current projector gives up the ghost I will look at what is available and decide if I will have another but if it died tomorrow I would definitely buy another. You don't say in your profile where about in the country you are but if you happen to be in the vicinity of Norwich you are more than welcome to pop round and see mine in action.

Cheers Tim.
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[CaNsA]

[janner_10]

Be an option to get power put to that wall.

You can chase out the channel yourself and get an electrician to run a radial or extend the ring from a socket on an adjacent wall easily and a plasterer to skim over for change from £200.

Save £100 by doing the power yourself, its a straight forward job.

EDIT: You will then have to repaint the walls involved obviously, which to be fair is small fry compared to watching a projector.
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