1080p projector. DLP or LCD? and some other questions.

[OVerLoRDI]

I have been considering replacing my aging 720p Panasonic projector. The unit works fine, but it has a red hue on the top of the screen and the wall it has to focus on is just barely outside of its ability to focus. The red hue doesn't interfere much with movies, or only material that is purely 16:9 and has a lot of light colors.

Anyways, I was curious about the prices and options for a good 1080p projector and noticed most of the cheaper ones are DLP. Now my only experience is with a early single chip DLP tv, and I hated that thing. I noticed the rainbow blur, and imagine on a bigger screen I would notice it more (due to your eyes moving around more). I HATED the input lag of the thing, basically made it impossible to play games.

I have not had much interaction with DLP technology since. Has it improved?

Also, the room in which I have the projector is quite long, and the screen I am projecting it on is not immense, still big, but my panasonic can't quite shrink the image down and keep it in focus at the distance we are talking about. I'll get measurements of the screen and room later, but do projector manufacturers provide some sort of metric/units for describing the focusing and sizing ability of their units?

Also black levels are important to me. My Panasonic really shows its weakness with dark scenes. I understand the limitations of projectors in this area, but I would like better than what I have.

 

[queequeg99]

You'll get more information than you ever wanted to know on this topic at avsforum.com. What is your definition of "cheaper?"

projectorcentral.com, in addition to having reviews of tons of projectors, also has a nifty little calculator that allows you to determine what kind of screen size you can get from a specific projector, what your foot lamberts will be given the screen size, distance, and screen gain, etc. Really cool stuff. Checking this out is a must before buying a new unit.

Having said that, I can offer a few general comments:

Rainbow problems with DLPs have been reduced greatly in newer DLPs but some really sensitive people can still see them. The speed of the color wheel has increased in most new DLPs, as has the number of color segments on the wheel. Both improvements tend to reduce the effect. But since I don't know which projectors you've seen RBE on, I can't say if things have improved enough for you. You'll have to look at a projector in person to see (preferably viewing an action movie that is black and white, like Sin City).

DLPs tend to be brighter than LCDs. So if you have ambient light issues, they can show a better picture (i.e. not as washed out). They also are not susceptible to convergence problems like LCDs can be. And they don't have dust blob issues.

LCDs generally offer better black levels. But if you have ambient light issues, this relative advantage may be lost. And LCDs generally offer much more flexibility in placement because very very few cheap DLPs have adjustable lens shift.

I recently bought a Benq W6000. I got it because, for a cheaper DLP, it's black levels are considered acceptable by many on the avsforum site, it does have adjustable lens shift, and I don't want to have to turn my viewing room into a bat cave every time I watch something. I was able to greatly improve black levels by painting a screen customized to the projectors strengths and weaknesses.

I had gone back and forth between the Benq and the Panasonic AE4000 (an LCD unit) and had actually initially placed an order for the Panny. However, no one had it in stock at the time (b/c of the earthquake in Japan). I liked the Panny because everyone raved about its black levels (I watch a lot of sci-fi and fantasy), cleaning dust blobs seemed like a reasonably easy process (although I was always wary about the dust issue), and it has a pretty cool lens memory feature that can be useful if you view a mix of 2.35:1 and 1.78:1 material. Additionally, the Panny units appear to not be as prone to convergence problems as some other LCD units (like the Mitsubishi 8500UB).

 

[bearxor]

I agree. This probably isn't the best place for PJ talk.

I would also think that any PJ now will give you better black levels than what you have. I really wanted a DLP but went with an LCD (Epson HC8100) because of the lens shift and short throw distance. Its only about 10' away and projects a 100" screen.

But definitely use the calculator.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Thanks for the input, especially queequeg99. I won't immediately discount DLP then because of my experience from a 5-6+ year old DLP unit. However, I wouldn't drop 1080p projector money for a DLP unit until I saw a more recent one. Not sure how I can make that happen though :hmm:

I'll look into avsforums. I keep checking this forum either early in the morning or way too late a night at which point I can't provide model numbers of measure distances, or the size of the screen I currently have. I'll try and change that 😛

 

[queequeg99]

The increase in color wheel speed and color segments really helped me. A neighbor of mine had an older DLP projector that drove me nuts. I saw rainbows all over the place. But I see no RBE at all with the Benq. It's a very subjective thing.

Also, I don't do any gaming with my projector so I cannot comment on any input lag (for either DLP or LCD units).

As for seeing a unit, your best bet is to either go to a store or a home of an avsforum member (many like to audition their setups). One cool thing about the RBE (there is actually a cool thing about it) is that you shouldn't have to see the specific model you're looking it to see if you're still affected. You just need to see a model with the same DLP chip, color wheel speed, and number of color segments on the wheel. That won't give you an accurate idea as to overall picture quality of the unit you are really wanting to buy, but it should give you an idea if you will see RBE on the unit you want to buy.