digital projectors

[roycruse]

Yes - most dedicated home cinema projectors are in the 700 - 800 lumens range and are designed for use in very low light conditions.

Just looked up that projector - very nice.

One last thing to check is that your screen size matches the size of your room from the point of view that the zoom on these things is only sufficient for fine tuning - you have to work out in advance where your going to put the screen and projector and measure the distance between them - then use this table to work out what screen you will need.

(this table is only for the H31 - don't use for other projectors)

[Squirrel]

Good point roycruse. Don't underestimate the planning needed to get it right!

I assumed that I could put teh projector on a shelf at one end of the room with the screen on teh opposite side, but the image was waaaay too big and the throw not sufficient to get a clear picture form that distance. Also, think about how to route the cables to the thing, when its on the ceiling. The shorter the distance between teh DVD player and the projector the better.Long scart cables can be very expensive.

When looking at the spec of the projector, also look at the contrast ratio. My projector is 1200 lumens and 800:1 and you wouldn't want it any less sharp, but you could live with it being dimmer (eg circa 800 lumens and say 2500:1). A brighter projector in a light room doesn't need such a high contrast because you can't se the difference in quality, but in lower light levels with less glare, you can really see the difference.

BTW Roycruse, do you live in a seventies gentlemans club?

[roycruse]

Originally Posted by Squirrel

BTW Roycruse, do you live in a seventies gentlemans club?

No which part of my fantastic decor gave you that impression - or was it the a combination of everything...

[Jimbo]

I just watched my housemates new DVD Batman Begins on the projector. 13 of us crammed into a room barely big enough for 4, cosy....

I was expecting after reading all the learned wisdom on this to not enjoy the experiece as much as I hoped, but all I can say is WOW! It's only a little Benq projector, really small and light, with a res of 1024x768. We had it on max zoom, so about a 6foot wide screen, and detail was amazing.

It was super quick, and handled the fast action etc with very little blurring. I thought colours were ace, and I was only projecting onto a matt white wall.

It's 2200 Lumens, and for some of the daylight scenes lit up the whole room, but there is an economy power mode which would have been better had I known how to activate it at the time.

All in all, having been worried that a projector designed for Powerpoint in bright rooms would prove disappointing for movies, I was dead impressed. No basis for comparison, but I'd have to say my little Benq wins every time in terms of size, weight, and visual quality.

It wasn't the cheapest projector around, but it also wasn't anything even close to the most expensive. More versatile than a plasma too.