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Best HOME 1080p Porjector, thoughts?

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casey warren

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Does anyone have any reccomendations on what the best, moderately priced ($1200-5000 range) 1080p home theater projector system would be.

I have heard good stuff about the Epson Powerlite 1080p porjector, but I was wondering if there any that are substantially better, etc.

Any thoughts? I am planning on setting up a home theater once new year sets in.
 
The JVC DILAs are excellent choices. I think the prices have dropped quite a lot, but I don't know if they are already under $5000. Maybe the DLA-HD1 is in your price range.
You should have a look at these.
http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/english/pro/dila/projectors_lineup.html
I have the HX2, it's fantastic (resolution is between 720P and 1080P).

Also, don't forget to buy a good screen, that's just as important as the projector...
Take a look at "screen research", these are amazing !
http://www.screenresearch.com/
 
I just got the Panasonic AE2000... it's an excellent choice, probably the best for your money, especially considering the fact that you can tweak exposure and colour settings (there's even a waveform monitor). This is definitely an advantage for those who will want to project well calibrated images of RED footage for instance.
 
Do any of these "affordable" LCD projectors display perfectly smooth gradients? I have been checking my displays with a little gradient test pattern I made (bottom of this page: http://www.bealecorner.org/red/test-patterns/ ) and some are better than others, but none is really perfect.

EDIT: Well, my smooth gradient video isn't as smooth as I thought. I found both Photoshop and Vegas will add +/-1 lsb dither when converting higher bit depths to 8-bit output, so the 8-bit color ramp isn't even monotonic. Encoding to H.264 apparently adds another 1 lsb dither (or ringing artifacts) so you get 2 counts of non-monotonicity. So much for my smooth gradient!

PS-8bit-dither.png
 
jdcineaste said:
I just got the Panasonic AE2000... it's an excellent choice, probably the best for your money, especially considering the fact that you can tweak exposure and colour settings (there's even a waveform monitor). This is definitely an advantage for those who will want to project well calibrated images of RED footage for instance.
Click to expand...


Thats what im looking for. I think the Panasonic looks like it might be the one. The Epson, in comparison seems to be lacking some professional calibration features.
 
Slinnn said:
The JVC DILAs are excellent choices. I think the prices have dropped quite a lot, but I don't know if they are already under $5000. Maybe the DLA-HD1 is in your price range.
You should have a look at these.
http://www.jvc-victor.co.jp/english/pro/dila/projectors_lineup.html
I have the HX2, it's fantastic (resolution is between 720P and 1080P).

Also, don't forget to buy a good screen, that's just as important as the projector...
Take a look at "screen research", these are amazing !
http://www.screenresearch.com/
Click to expand...


Do you have the 1080p model? Whats the price of the one that you have?

Thanks for the link to the screens, Ive been trying to find info about screens for some time now.
 
casey warren said:
Do you have the 1080p model? Whats the price of the one that you have?

Thanks for the link to the screens, Ive been trying to find info about screens for some time now.
Click to expand...

I have the HX2, wihich has a weird resolution, more than 720P, less than 1080P.

The good thing with the DILA technology that JVC uses is that it feels more natural than DLP chips, more filmic. You nearly can't see the pixels, even if you're looking very closely.
I don't remember exactly how muxh I paid, it was like 3 years ago. Something around 5-6000 € I think.
The DLA-HD1 (which is 1080P) seems to cost less than that now... I saw it around 4500 € excl. VAT.

Regarding screens, the "screen research" are really great, and are THX certified. It has a special fabric (much much better than microperfored screens), so you can put your central speaker behind it witout any sound quality loss.

Nils.
 
Slinnn said:
I have the HX2, wihich has a weird resolution, more than 720P, less than 1080P.

The good thing with the DILA technology that JVC uses is that it feels more natural than DLP chips, more filmic. You nearly can't see the pixels, even if you're looking very closely.
I don't remember exactly how muxh I paid, it was like 3 years ago. Something around 5-6000 € I think.
The DLA-HD1 (which is 1080P) seems to cost less than that now... I saw it around 4500 € excl. VAT.

Regarding screens, the "screen research" are really great, and are THX certified. It has a special fabric (much much better than microperfored screens), so you can put your central speaker behind it witout any sound quality loss.

Nils.
Click to expand...

Yeah the DLA-HD1 looks really nice.

I also checked out the Panasonic PT-2000U online and it seems to fit into the price range a bit better with out a quality comprimise.

Screen research is awesome. I like the idea of putting a speaker behind the screen. I never knew home theater systems were capable.
 
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ has dedicated forums of true home cinema enthusiasts who talk about all different price ranges. Newer, better and cheaper projectors are ariving quite often so it will definitely pay off to look carefully I think.

There's also the question of which display technology you want (can you see the rainbows in DLP projection for example) and what you want in terms of black levels, contrast ratio and how much you can tweak the image.

Don't forget to take things into account like throw distance & the resulting screen size, how high or low the projector needs to be (vertical offset), noise, available inputs (if you want to play high-def dvd you'll need dhcp + hdmi/dvi input), how long does the bulb last and how expensive is it to replace.

Lastly it might be a very good idea to try and actually see the projectors before you buy, if at all possible in your area.
 
Look seriously at the Sony VPL-VW60 and JVC RS1 (if you are buying now), or the RS2 if in the future.

And I second AVS as an excellent resource.

FWIW: I have the previous model Sony (VW50), and love it.
 
We have a new Panasonic AE2000 being fed by HDSDI - HDMI adapter. Very impressive so far. Jim's Drag racing footage played at 4K downconverted to 1080 looks great.

I would thoroughly recommend the projector as th best we have tested so far in that price range.

Michael
 
Mark Crabtree said:
Sony VPL-VW100 is 1080p and has the xenon bulb for truer white which is important for color reference.
Click to expand...

You can calibrate for accurate whites, greyscales, and colors with bulbs other than Xenon, provided the projector has proper filtering and service menu controls.

The the VW100, is a nice projector, however it's several generations behind when it comes to dynamic range. And the lamp replaclement costs are a bit steep.
 
To those who have the Panasonic AE2000, What is your opinion of the black levels? Previously DLP projectors have scored better in that regard but has LCD caught up?
 
We run a Sanyo PLV-Z3 in our screening room. When new it got great reviews for the price. The latest model I believe is the PLV-Z5. It's only 720p though. Feeding it HDMI and projecting on a Da-Lite Acoustical Imager Projector Screen which has built in JBL speakers. XBOX 360 HD plays killer on it - according to my 2 sons of course :).
 
Optoma HD 8000

Optoma HD8000 Highlights

One of the lower cost 1080p projectors
Good black level performance for an entry level 1080p projector, but definitely not in the same class as most more expensive projectors
Slightly more expensive than the HD80 which is available online.
Limited placement flexibility, and significant lens offset, as is typical of most lower cost DLP projectors
Three year warranty
Will accept an anamorphic lens for working with Cinemascope (2.35:1) shaped screens
Reasonably bright - 561 lumens in best mode after adjustments, 1004 lumens in brightest mode
Rich color saturation, and lots of depth to the image
$3199!
 
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