Home Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

Re: projector pros and cons

My Optoma HD70 is projecting bright clear images onto a 106" Gray Wolf II screen. I am very satisfied with it. Standard DVD looks excellent at a 13ft viewing disatnce and HD programming looks even better. Why is it you can't mount a pulldown sreen on your ceiling? It should be relatively easy in a basement.

In favor of projectors, I would say the cost per square inch and the size of the image can't be beat. There is a remarkable difference between my old 65" RPTV and the 106" projector image in giving me that "you are there" theater experience. Setup is fairly easy. Heat and noise aren't a problem with the HD70's compact design. And using it is easy - it powers on and off in less than 30 seconds.

Against projectors, you really do need a darkened room. (However, you probably also noticed that all plasma TVs have glass screens and also require a darkened room to prevent distracting reflections.) You should take care to mount the projector so that you don't need to use keystone correction, which degrades the picture. Ceiling mounting is a little tricky with this projector because of the fixed offset.

I got my Optoma HD70 for around $900. Of course there are better 720p projectors. The Optoma HD72 is brighter, has a better lens for slightly sharper images and has color resolution. But it costs around $600 more. My theory is that my HD70 will be good for a couple of years while I wait for the cost of 1080p projectors to come down. The technology is improving so fast and the prices are dropping so quickly that it makes no sense to spend several thousand dollars now to get what will cost less than a grand very soon.

The HD70 is definitely in that sweet spot of price vs performance right now.


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  Kimber Kable  


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