School me On Video Projectors

[vliberatore]

Hi all,

So in the house I moved in to in September, we have a basement with a large wall. Currently I have a 32" Vizio down there and it's just too small for the space. I'd like to mount a projector and screen to have a nice how theater setup but don't really know where to start in terms of price, options, etc.

I'll be connecting a Blu-Ray player, cable box, and X Box 360 to it, so it needs to have at least 2 HDMI ports and a component HDMI imput. Other than that, I'd like it to have good enough clarity to watch with the lights on (if possible).

Any recommendations? Suggestions on what to look for? Brand/models to look at or avoid?

If there is anything on Amazon that I should look at that would be preferred since I have gift cards, but I'm not limiting myself there.

Thanks in advance!

[billofrights]

I spec out this stuff every year for classrooms, so I'll tell you one thing: do NOT buy anything with a traditional bulb. They last a couple thousand hours and are 3-500 to replace. You're better off buying a large flat screen unless you want to be showing something on an eight foot tall screen.

Find a good projector with LED bulbs. There's only a couple of companies that manufacture them, and they last forever. They say they run for 18,000 hours or so, but I've talked to engineers that build them and they all tell me "well we have ones in the office that have been on 24/7 for the past few years."

Your biggest challenge is going to be finding one with high resolution enough to make blu-ray worth putting on there. Most are still 1080p/i unless you want to spend a couple of grand.

[crufflers]

Hi all,

So in the house I moved in to in September, we have a basement with a large wall. Currently I have a 32" Vizio down there and it's just too small for the space. I'd like to mount a projector and screen to have a nice how theater setup but don't really know where to start in terms of price, options, etc.

I'll be connecting a Blu-Ray player, cable box, and X Box 360 to it, so it needs to have at least 2 HDMI ports and a component HDMI imput. Other than that, I'd like it to have good enough clarity to watch with the lights on (if possible).

Any recommendations? Suggestions on what to look for? Brand/models to look at or avoid?

If there is anything on Amazon that I should look at that would be preferred since I have gift cards, but I'm not limiting myself there.

Thanks in advance!

If you have a huge room, it might take a 70" plus screen to fill the space, but even TV's that size have bargain models and start at under two grand now. I'd just get a TV rather than hassle with mounting a projector and paying a ton for decent quality. Read some reviews, buy a obscenely HUGE TV and use the saved energy for picking your sound system.

[pitbull30]

How big of a wall do you have? You need to calculate the throw distance.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator-pro.cfm

Amazon cards. Some ambient light to dark room. On a budget.

http://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-PRO8200-1080p-Theater-Projector/dp/B00465W7EC

Then go here and get your free 100inch screen and projector mount.

http://www.elitescreens.com/index.php/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=154&lang=en

[Catch]

You could probably get away with 800-5k lumens (brightness).

I haven’t seen many projectors with 2 hdmi inputs, so you might need an hdmi switcher. (or run the xbox360 through its VGA cable.)

The coaxial (cable box) could be converted to component, DVI, VGA. (not many projectors have a coaxial input either.)

You’ll also need speakers…

[pitbull30]

The viewsonic I linked above has a built in speaker. It will get you by in a pinch until you can upgrade. Optimally though you should hook up an AVR to it. That would give you more HDMI port options as well.

Warning though. Everyone will want to come to your house for sporting events and PPV.

[vliberatore]

So much good info in here. I was at Nebraska Furniture Mart today and looking at projectors vs. TVs. The fiance appropriated funds towards a new bed, and not the basement, so I guess this is on hold for a while


Thanks to all that helped.

[Rivers]

Use an HDMI switcher so you only need to run a single cable to the projector. If the HDMI cable is going to be over 65' or run inside the walls or ceiling, consider using CAT-6 wiring with balams to convert from Ethernet to HDMI. This setup can handle up to 330' with the right balams. Plus handle tight corners as it's far easier to pull the network wiring.

Willy's Electronics is a good parts source or plenty of mail order sources. I've used the double-CAT-6 balams with excellent performance.