In looking to get an High-Def projector, mostly for gaming.?

jeht_black

I will be playing games a majority if the time but it will be used to watch tv and movies every now and then.

The room itâs going in is my living room and itâs fairly dark. (I blocked off the windows to cut on the electric bill)
The size if the room is 19 feet X16 feet. I plan to project onto the 19 foot wall.

There is a garden window thatâs about 85 inches across diagonally, I covered with wood and I plan to make a screen into it.

I already have a sound system from the TV I had in there. Wiring is no problem to me. (I install cable for a living)

I would like to get the best I can for gaming at around $1200. I am open to suggestions for a TV if that would work better, but I have my heart set on a projector.
here is a rough drawing if the roon i plan to use.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y64/JehtBlack/scan0001.jpg

Answer
A projector is the ONLY way to go for a really big picture. That said, there are a couple of issues you should consider before deciding between a TV and projector.

First ... do you really want/need a big picture (>50") for gaming? If you plan to sit more than 10 ft back so you can share the experience with others the answer is probably yes.

Second ... the cost of lamps may be a concern. Lifetime on lamps varies somewhat but is typically 2-3000 hrs @ $400/lamp. This is Ok for movies, or even HDTV watching, but can get expensive for a hard core gamer putting on 8-10 hrs/day!

Unless you have quite a dark room you will need a >1000 lumens projector to prevent a washed out picture. Luckily this is not too difficult with business projectors ... although not that common for a home theatre projector (which is preferable for movies to give a higher contrast ratio). You would be advised to read a bit about projectors and the inevitable tradeoffs between different models so that you can be sure to choose one that meets YOUR needs.

The first link below is to a listing of recommended home theatre projectors (other listings are available on the same site for other primary uses (upper left corner of the home page).

A projector that may meet your needs (Epson Cinema 400) is reviewed at the second link.

My recommendation is to read lost, see some demos and then decide. Cheers.

Projector SONY VPL-VW50 or PANASONIC PT-AE1000, which is better for new Projector user? Where to buy cheaper?

Leung

I'm a new projector user. I'm considering to buy either SONY VPL-VW50 (HK$36000/US$4615) or PANASONIC PT-AE1000 (HK$21000/US$2692). Any recommendation to me as first projector user?

I'm also considering to buy GRANDVIEW 100" electronic screen at HK$10,000/US$1282. Is it good choice? Where could I buy cheaper?

Distance between sofa and the screen is 13.5 feet. Do you think 100" screen is too large or good?

What do I need to be careful when selecting the projector and screen?

I'm also moving to a new flat and therefore I could decorate and install the projector and screen. What should I pay attention.

I'm living in HK. Any merchant in HK would you recommend (pls provide phone number if you have)?

Answer
Both your suggested models are good projectors, but each has advantages and disadvantages, and since choice often comes down to factors that are important to you I recommend reading the reviews at the first three links (and see comments at the fourth). They will also give you a good idea of issues to consider. For example, you have identified the distance to the screen, but you must also consider resolution, brightness, contrast ratio, whether lens shift is important to you (this will depend on how you plan to mount the projector (ceiling, shelf, table)), technology (DLP, LCD, LCOS), lens zoom ratio, fan noise, bulb lifetime, types and number of inputs, etc.

I highly recommend reading as much as you can, get opinions, but ... finally, make your own decision based on knowing what is important (and not important) to you. The four sites I have suggested will provide (almost) all the information you need to make a good choice. But also go and see projectors if possible.

As to size of screen, see the 5th link, but basically the screen when viewed from your preferred location should subtend an angle (left to right) of about 36-40 degrees. I am using a 110" screen (diagonal) and sit 12 feet from the screen, so 100" at 13.5 feet is certainly not too large.

As to the type of screen, again this is somewhat personal. You are considering an electric screen, but unless you need to be able to retract it a fixed screen would be cheaper. And it lends itself to building your own for a lot less $$. See the fourth link and the DIY screen forum for details ... but you can paint your own screen on the wall for $50 (US) that will rival a $1000 commercial screen.

Sorry, but I can't suggest HK stores.

I hope this helps. Good Luck ... you will love having a projector!

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Anything you know about home theater surround sound?

best projector electric screen image

Abdou arra

Yep, im designing a home theater and I need to know everything, from speaker placement to why should I get it really? EVERYTHING YOU KNOW.

Answer
There are really a lot of considerations to think about. I would start by looking at examples of what others have done. The AVS forum is the place for that... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=19

I'll list a few things and leave it to you to do some research...

1. Consider doing a "CIH" system, that is Constant Image Height. For this you need a 2.4:1 or greater aspect screen, video scaling, and an anamorphic lens. I like Prismasonic lenses because they are adjustable. http://www.prismasonic.com/account/order_form.php Movie aspect ratios vary quite a bit so this lens allows you to adjust for this.

2. Consider a curved screen. This can correct for distortions in the lens and can improve brightness uniformity just a little by slightly reducing the maximum off axis viewing angle. Btw, you can build your own screen relatively easily using DaLite material from http://store.cousinsvideo.com/cut-to-size.html

3. Draw the layout of your room, from that determine viewing distances, off axis angles etc. You will need to know all these things for choosing a projector, screen material etc. I used a 1.3 gain material, it's a good solution for most typical dedicated home theatre applications but you need your room drawing to determine if it's right for you.

4. Think about equipment location. You may want to build a control closet attached to the room.

5. Paint the ceiling flat black, you won't be sorry. Also a neutral gray is good for the walls but it needs to be very flat. Also don't hang glass covered movie posters on the walls in your theatre, these belong outside in your theater lobby area.

6. You can use a Receiver if you go with a high end one but I would suggest using external amplification for the main LCR channels. A lot of people argue this isn't necessary but I've always found it to sound better. Your best approach is not to use a receiver but a preamp processor. The advantage of the receiver is that it eliminates the need for external amplification of the surround channels. Usually the receivers built in amps are good enough for surrounds so it's a convenient package to have all that built in. It is still a compromise over going with a preamp processor however.

7. I don't know what to tell you on speakers. I've been building my own since the mid 1970's, actually early mid 1960's if you count mounting old TV speakers in card board boxes when I was about 6 years old. After so many years experience and the good fortune of influence by many speaker designers far smarter than me, I simply can't get excited about any of the commercially available speaker systems out there. I can only say don't go too small. If a speaker is operating in a range where it becomes stressed at typical play levels then it's not going to perform very well. Get something capable of far more output than you need and then at least it will have a more "effortless" or "easy of delivery" sound. Some people use commercial cinema speakers in their home theatre. While these don't produce the most refined or musical sound in my opinion they can certainly be a lot better than a lot of the mass market non sense out there.

When I was developing my theatre I did a lot of googling. I would just type in "Home Theatre" and click "Images" or sometimes just a normal web search. I looked at every example I could find! I had never head of an anamorphic lens before at that time. Before any ground was broken for the house the theater evolved from a combination game room/theatre with a 100" 16:9 screen to a totally dedicated theatre with stadium seating using Berkline electric recliners, a 144" 2.4:1 42' radius curved screen with anamorphic lens... So google away and find every example you can!

Edit: Grumpy Mac, I think you have Abdou wrong. His previous questions do not suggest he is a troll. His answers are short an to the point... too short in fact usually 2 or 3 words. I think just not a man of many words! Abdou, it really would help if you told us more of your plans. Of course when I started dreaming up my system I could not place a fixed budget on it. I didn't know enough about what I wanted to know what budget to put on it. I ended up spending almost $50K and I'm still going.
If I had put that number on it up front I wouldn't have let myself start. So I can understand if you don't know what budget to place on it but we really do need to know at least some idea. Also not just budget but more about room size plans, dedicated room or not... etc etc etc...
mk

How does this 3D Glasses mirror trick work?

Mike S

Using one of those RealD glasses from the movie theaters look into a mirror while wearing them. Then alternating closing one eye than another. The side of the open eye will be black and you can't see your eye in the reflection, while the side of the closed eye will be clear and you can see your closed eye in the reflection. (Oddly, even though you can't see your open eye - as it appears black in the reflection - you can see through the "black" lens to see your closed eye in the reflection)

How does that work?

Thanks!

Answer
To understand this, you need to know a bit about light polarizers, as that is what those glasses are. So, very briefly, the are multiple types of polarization. The most common types are vertical and horizontal polarized light, which means the electric portion of the wave is oscillating in the vertical or horizontal direction. A polarizer is a piece of glass or plastic that has tiny parallel lines on it (or at least something that acts as tiny parallel lines) and these lines only allow light that is aligned with the lines to pass. So a vertical polarizer will have vertical lines, and it will let light that is vertically polarized pass, while it will block horizontally polarized light. If you rotate that polarizer by 90 degrees, so that the lines are horizontal, it will become a horizontal polarizer.

Now there are also two types of diagonal polarization, where the electric field oscillates in either the +45 or -45 degree. As it turns out, +45 degree light is just vertical + horizontal light, and -45 degree light is just vertical - horizontal. So both of these diagonal polarizations will pass through the vertical or horizontal polarizers, but will lose half their intensity when doing so, because the polarizer will block half that light.

Now, here's the tricky part. There is also circular polarized light. Circular polarized light is a lot like diagonal light, except that the phase of the vertical and horizontal components is not the same. So it looks like the e-field is spinning. There are two types of circular light, left-handed and right-handed polarizations, where one spins one way and the other spins the other way. Like diagonal light, half of circular-polarized light will pass through a vertical or a horizontal polarizer.

These 3D glasses work using circular polarizers. So one eye-piece has a left-handed polarizer, the other has a right-handed polarizer. When you look at yourself in the mirror, you are looking at light that hits your face, bounces off to the mirror, reflects from the mirror, and goes into your eye. When you have these glasses on, it changes a bit. Now the light hits your open eye, bounces off that towards the mirror. But before it hits the mirror, it must pass through the circular polarizer. That light, before the polarizer is an equal mixture of left and right circular light. But only the right circular will pass through the lens. So the light that hits the mirror is 100% right circular light. When it hits the mirror, a mirror will turn right-circular into left-circular (it's just what mirrors do). Then this light will come back to your eyes. But now the light coming from your open eye is left-circular and it gets 100% blocked by the right-circular polarizer in front of your open eye. On the other hand, light that started near your closed eye will pass through a left-circular polarizer and will hit the mirror, become right-circular, and will come back to your open eye, where it will pass that lens and enter your open eye. So the mirror acts to flip the circular polarization of the light and allows the light from your closed eye to be seen but not the light from your open eye.

The 3D movie uses this as well. It uses fancy projectors that project a left-circular image for one eye and a right-circular image for the other, giving two different images for you two different eyes. When your brain puts the two images together, it makes a 3D image out of it.

Now, I would like to point out that there aren't any good circular polarizers in real life. So the lenses in your 3D glasses aren't real circular polarizers. What they actually are is a quarter-wave plate, which rotates the polarization of light from circular to linear, and then a horizontal or vertical polarizer on the side of the lens closer to your eye. These two components behaves the same way as a circular polarizer would for light coming one way (from the screen to your eye), but differently for light going the other way (from your eye to the screen). So if you turn those glasses backwards, you will not get the same results for your little experiment.

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