Posts Tagged ‘versus’

Q&A: “business” projector versus home theater DLP projector for movies, games and an htpc?

Question by bjmarchini: “business” projector versus home theater DLP projector for movies, games and an htpc?
I am going to get a front end projector. I am nearly decided that I need a “home theater” projector as opposed to a standard “business” projector.

At first, I dismissed the home theater ones because of their much lower lumens compared to their business counterparts. Of course, the business ones tend to be much cheaper though.

These are the drawbacks of a business projector from what I have research

o white spaces in color wheel to increase lumens makes it too bright
o poor handling of motion in video
o less inputs for multiple devices
o generally not 16:9 native so you have to deal with gray bars
o poor handling of black levels

I wonder how real these issues or concerns are and if anyone uses a business one for their home theater.

I will be using it with our dvd player, home theater pc and an nintendo Wii.

Best answer:

Answer by weeder
I saw your previous questions and saw the poster commenting on the Epson not being any good because it’s a “business” projector. I can tell you from experience that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the S4 as a movie pj since it was the first one I owned and looked spectacular. I even used it outside on my outdoor 24′ theater and it was plenty bright enough to throw the 45′ required to get the larger image.

In my opinion as long as you get a good brand pj with decent lumens, contrast ratio and resolution you won’t be disappointed and forget all this business vs movie pj nonsense. I’ve never found a “business” pj that did not perform as well as a “movie” pj assuming the specs are good.

weeder

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business projector versus a home theater projector? Is there that much of a difference in black levels?

I am budgeting about 500-600 for the project and about 100 for the screen. I can afford a 2000 projector.

A ViewSonic PJ506D SVGA (800×600) 4:3/16:9 2000 lumens business projector is going for 500 with a mail free screen and mount offer.

An InFocus In72 WVGA (852×480) 900 lumens home theater projector is going for about the same refurbished with no extras.

I have read that I really should get a home theater projector rather than a business projector like the 506D, but the lumens scares me.

I am projecting on an 80″screen with blinds and curtains closed. no lights. still some ambient light.

Which will be better. I am going to use it the a really nice DVD player, Wii and Home theater PC. No interest in HD DVDs for atleast 3-4 years when I will prob upgrade this anyway.