Advice on LCD Projector

[Aprisa]

I quite fancy using a projector in the lounge instead of the CRT after seeing the one in my Cousins at the weekend.

Thing is I know nothing about them, there are several types listed as "Home Theatre" and apart from sometimes having a built in DVD they seem lees powerful than some office type ones?

I have a DVD system, Freeview box and VCR, how would they all link up to the Projector and would it require multiple cables? Do I need an additional TV tuner?

I would like to mount it on the ceiling and use a wall for the screen, any pitfalls I should avoid?

Cheers
Nick

[wanty1974]

If you're ever down near Caerphilly, you could come and look at mine, which has almost exactly the same set up, although I have a combined DVD/Video player...

In a nutshell, it all depends on how many SCART sockets you have out the back of your DVD and whether you want your video to be connected to the projector as well as the DVD player. Mine goes something like this -

Sky box Scart goes into DVD/Video Player
DVD/Video player has two outputs, one to the telly and one to the projector
Telly switches between DVD/Video or Sky depending on what's turned on
Projector shows DVDs from player or Sky signal, routed through DVD/Video player on TV mode

You may have RGB outputs on your DVD player which can go direct to the projector. I don't know of a set up that can input seperate DVD & Video players into one projector, without spending big bucks.

We run one of these -



Fantastic pieve of kit, but if you're spending upwards of £700, it's all a much of a muchness. This is mounted on a wall on a tv bracket (remember the cable will have to 'go round your room'!) and projected on a screen - if your wall isn't white, it will affect the colour balance on your projection. Decent screens are only £150 or so.

Really well recommended, especially with 5.1 dolby. Watch the Rugby World Cup final on it with my Dad - a truly marvellous experience!

[wanty1974]

Forgot to add, are you considering using one as your main telly? If you are, there is the consideration that you will need to replace the bulb every 300 hours of viewing (or so - depends on the make) at a cost of at least £100.

[lockstock2sb]

i'm doing this in my new flat - much cheaper than forking out for a huge plasma !! and it makes the room look cleaner IMO

Most decent projectors claim a 2000 hour upwards life on lamps so that equates to an average life of 3 years or so give or take a few hours... not bad

[Aprisa]

Thanks Wanty
Do you have to have a scart lead all the way to the projector? can you get one about 20ft long?

Cheers
Nick

[robdickinson]

If your going to replace the TV try and get a DLP projector instead, from reading the AV forums most people who've tried to replace a TV with a projector end up failing, one bloke who tried for 4 years ended up buying a new )lcd)projector every year as there just not made for that much work.

[Plotloss]

Probably the most budget sensitive area of AV.

Definately one to be led on by a friendly local retailer or local pro.

[moggsie]

We have a projector fitted to the ceiling and projects onto a painted white wall around 3 metres away. The picture is 2m by 1.3m. Viewing is fantastic. Movies, sport.. you name it its great.
The projector itself was just under £500. Bulb life is 2000 (expected) hrs and a replacement will hit you for around £200 but hey by that time you'll be able to buy another projector for that money :-)

Go for the DLP - much better image quality and sharper to boot also if you intend to use it solely for home cinema then make sure its native 16:9 and has a high lumens count (helps to see picture on bright day. You don't need scart leads to connect. Just RGB leads and piggy back them from each device into one lead which goes into the projector - you just have to switch off whichever device your not watching. We run sky, dvd player and X box through it. You can get scart to RGB adapters if you only have scart output.
But buy one - fantastic value compared to LCD TV, everyone who comes here and sees it for the first time sit with the mouths a little open in awe.

[wanty1974]

Aprisa said:

Thanks Wanty Do you have to have a scart lead all the way to the projector? can you get one about 20ft long? Cheers Nick

No - we have a SCART out the DVD player that goes into a RGB converter, and then we have a 15 metre RGB cable going round the room and straight into the projector.

I checked the stuff about bulb life and I'd missed a zero - ours says 1500 to 2000 hours. Replacement bulbs for my type are currently £159.

[Extra 300 Driver]

wanty1974 said:

Forgot to add, are you considering using one as your main telly? If you are, there is the consideration that you will need to replace the bulb every 300 hours of viewing (or so - depends on the make) at a cost of at least £100.

300! I have a BenQ DLP Projector and its 3000 hours.

My dad and I watched Downfall on it the other week and he was gob smacked.

If you are going to use it as your TV I would suggest a small 14" somewhere, just to check the weather or teletext.