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Any users of PROJECTORS as a primary display?

G

Gog

Senior member
I've recently started dabling in the area of HTPC (home theatre pc) and I see that use of projectors is popular in this area.

To users a few questions:

What are the advantages/disadvantages of using traditional projectors as opposed to the newer LCD versions (picture quality, bulb life, etc.)?
How do you connect the projector to your pc?
Is it possible to have Nview with such as a setup, ie. Projector being your primary and a small 15in LCD as a secondary or visa versa?
What card are you using/which cards are prefered and why?

Thanks in advance🙂
 
I'm no expert, but have worked with these a bit (not at home, since I can't afford one, but rather, at church where I run the A/V equipment).

First of all, I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional" projectors. I know of only three kinds of projectors that are commonly (more or less) seen: CRT, LCD, and DLP. CRT projectors seem to be awfully expensive and limited to more special applications, while LCD and DLP projectors are the more affordable of the bunch. You might want to check out sites like ProjectorCentral for more information.

Usually, the projector connects to your PC with a HD15 or DVI connector (most older projectors use the former, while some new ones use the latter). Of course, since many projectors also have S-Video inputs, you could use that, if your video card supports it, but the quality would be much lower than using HD15 or DVI. Some really expensive projectors also have BNC inputs. You probably don't want to bother with those. 🙂

And yes, it is definitely possible to use NView (for nvidia) or Hydravision (for ATI) in setups like that, with your projector being the primary display, and a regular computer monitor being the secondary.

Finally, as for your video card, anything with dual outputs in the form that you need them (preferrably two DVI outputs, if both your projector and your LCD can take those) should work fine. ATI Radeon 7500/8500/9700, Nvidia Geforce 2/4 MX, Matrox G550 or Parhelia - any of those would work great.
 
By traditional projectors I meant the CRT variant versus the newer LCD and DLP types. Since the bulbs are expensive to replace how long they last is important... I've heard that the CRT bulbs need to be replaced much less often, is this true? what kind of lifespan can they be expected to have?
How is quality compared between the different types and what are their price ranges?

I definitely don't plan on currently buying one of these (poor student🙂) but have just been curious about it, thanks for the very informative responce Jliechty.
 
On CRT projectors, I found this with a quick search on google...
"Front screen CRT projectors have been quite common for some time. They are often used at clubs to show music video and sports events. They are easy to spot because they have three lenses protruding from the front, each emitting a different color of light -- one red, one green, and one blue. These were the first "projector" TVs, and are still competitive with newer technologies in brightness and sharpness, but are much bulkier and heavier, and are really only suitable for permanent installation."

As to the difference in quality between LCD and DLP projectors, try reading the article on that subject at ProjectorCentral - that should give you a good deal of useful information on the subject.

When you get to the questions about the quality of CRT projectors and their bulb life, you've gone beyond the extent of my [very limited] knowledge of this subject. Sorry that I can't help you more, but I'm still in the learning process about this stuff, too. 🙂

Edited to add link to the article mentioned above.
 
Originally posted by: Jmmsbnd007
Bulbs burn out fast and they are expensive.
Click to expand...

That is exactly why no one uses them as a main monitor. Most bulbs last on the order of a few thousand hours. At 8 hours a day usage, that would give you less than a year's worth of display time before needing to replace the bulb. I guess if someone wanted to spend upwards of $1000/year replacing bulbs then more power to them.
 
Bulbs run from $250 to $500, and last from 1000 hours to 6000 hours, depending on model. The Panasonic PT-AE100u has a 5000 hour bulb that costs about $250, giving you a cost of 5 cents per hour.

I have a projector I'm using as my TV, but I have used it for my computer display to game on. This is the one I'm currently using:

Proxima DP8000

It's a 3000 ANSI lumen model with 800:1 contrast, XGA native resolution, and DVI input (which I run directly to the DVI output of my GF3). The bulb runs 1500 hours and currently costs about $400. By the time I need to replace it, it should be closer to $300. The biggest image I've ever used is about 200", but it's good upwards of 300" with a normal screen.
 
this is the experince I have with projectors:
I went to a freinds house to join a LAN party. I walk into the living room and there is homer simpson '4 tall on the wall. It was great. they had an old cely400 system, with a TV card(with remote), and a projector..thats it. They shone the image right onto the living room wall. It worked great, and the badass speakers they had with it made it awsome.
 
I'm using a Panasonic XGA LCD projector as my main and only display for my HTPC. By traditional I assume you mean CRT projectors? Basically there are 4 types of projectors, CRT, LCD, DLP and DILA. They each have their pros and cons.
CRT projectors are the dimmest, so don't expect them to work well in a lit room. However, they present the most natural and filmlike pictures. They also deliver the blackest blacks, which is a plus when watching movies. They are also the bulkiest, and hence will also often be the most expensive ones.
LCD projectors are generally brighter but have a relatively low contrast ratio. Because of this, blacks are usually dark grays, but with tweaking and calibration this can be reduced. LCD projectors also suffer from what's called the "screendoor" effect, where you can see the actual pixels on the screen. This is alleviated by projectors with MLP technology, and can also be manually reduced by reducing the focus slightly(but comprimising sharpness and clarity) or sitting further away. They are often small too, and relatively cheaper.
DLP projectors generally have a higher contrast ratio, allowing them to deliver blacker blacks than LCD projectors, but still not at the same level as CRT projectors. They are often small too, and hence relatively cheaper.
DILA projectors are high end digital projectors that are really expensive. I don't really know much about them except JVC makes some really good and expensive ones, and they're often pretty large too.

For more information, hit Projector Central or AVS Forum, especially the 3 Projector forums.
 
Originally posted by: Goi
DLP projectors generally have a higher contrast ratio, allowing them to deliver blacker blacks than LCD projectors, but still not at the same level as CRT projectors. They are often small too, and hence relatively cheaper.
Click to expand...
One small issue with consumer level DLP projectors though - instead of using three separate "DLP chips" (or whatever they're called), they only use one, and then have a rotating color wheel to make the reds, greens, and blues. This can lead to some interesting "rainbow" effects in certain situations, and also makes the individual channels of color pretty much unadjustable (unlike LCD projectors, which can vary the amounts of red, green, and blue separately).

 
Yeah, how could I forget about DLP's notorious "rainbow" effect? Its DLP's most infamous flaw, much like LCD's "screendoor" effect.
 
Goi, how has your experience been using the projector as a primary display? How do you like it?
What do you primarily use your htpc for? How large do you have theimage at? if you want hdtv, does the projector have to be hdtv compliant?
Thanks
 
Well, its called HTPC for a reason 🙂 I use it mainly to watch DVDs, and play CDs as well as my mp3 collection. Other things I use it for it general internet browsing and playing games. I have a screen that's about 100" diagonal, and I run the projector at its native XGA resolution. As a primary display for its purpose I like it, pretty much coz its the only way to go. A HTPC wouldn't be much good connected to even a 21" computer monitor now would it? If you want HDTV, yes, your projector would have to be HDTV compliant, meaning it would have to accept 1080i signals, and preferably 720p and even 1080p signals.
 
all you are talking about "crt" projectors...
CRT?!?!?!?!? you mean cathode ray tube?!?! what?!?!
how does this work as a projector? and why are you talking about "crt bulbs"?
 
Because CRT projectors use 3 bulbs for each of the primary colors.

There is also D-ILA, developed by JVC, I think.
 
but how does a crt projector work? does this "crt" really mean cathode ray tube? how can they use a crt to project something?
 
Doh, CRT projectors have been around for ages. What did you think projectors were made of before digital projectors arrived? Decades ago there weren't LCD, DLP or DILA projectors, how did you think people project stuff? Why, with CRT projectors of course.
 
but I mean how can the phosphor on a crt be bright enough to project something?
Click to expand...

The drive level is quite high compared to CRT "picture tube" type displays used in TV and computer monitor screens. This also greatly increases the risk of image burn in. Some projector tubes are liquid cooled!

LCD projects have great advantage over their CRT cousins. Bulb brightness deteriorates over time as well. You can also have stuck pixels which can be annoying.

Overall, LCD's are better and the new ones are quite good for video applications. Use a good projection surface and they have very good display characteristics needed for text even beyond 1024x768. (unlike expensive plasma displays)

Cheers!
 
wow that's really hard for me to believe a crt being that bright! how much power do these things use?! also, does the fact that they're so bright have something to do with each tube being monochrome?
 
dpopiz, you're right about the brightness. Of all the projector technologies, CRT is traditionally the dimmest. Of course there are super bright ones for projection in large venues, but those run in the tens of thousands. If you wanna find out more about all sorts of projectors, check out Projector Central
 
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