Do you play PC games using your TV/Home Theater setup?

[coolred]

Figures as tempted as I am, and then I see Circuit City has the Infocus SP4805 for 1099.99 right now, they also have a 10% off coupon valid through tomorrow, as well as the 100 dollar rebate from Infocus, and to top it all off I can put it on my Circuit City Credit Card and get 18 months no interest.

SO lets do the math 1099.99-10%(109.99)=990+tax(6.5%=64.35)=1054.35-100 rebate=954.35/18 months no interest payments=53.xx per month. Dang its gonna be hard to pass up but even harder to hide the reciept from my fiancee, LOL. What do you think? It seems like one of the highest rated entry level projectors. Will it be good to use for a PC display on occasion? Also how are these things for reliability, if I get it should I also opt for the 180.00 4 year CC advantage plan?

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: coolred
Figures as tempted as I am, and then I see Circuit City has the Infocus SP4805 for 1099.99 right now, they also have a 10% off coupon valid through tomorrow, as well as the 100 dollar rebate from Infocus, and to top it all off I can put it on my Circuit City Credit Card and get 18 months no interest.

SO lets do the math 1099.99-10%(109.99)=990+tax(6.5%=64.35)=1054.35-100 rebate=954.35/18 months no interest payments=53.xx per month. Dang its gonna be hard to pass up but even harder to hide the reciept from my fiancee, LOL. What do you think? It seems like one of the highest rated entry level projectors. Will it be good to use for a PC display on occasion? Also how are these things for reliability, if I get it should I also opt for the 180.00 4 year CC advantage plan?

4805 is not HD...it does something like 852x480, so it can only play DVDs natively at 720x480.

On one hand, it has an EXCELLENT foruja processor and the great TI DLP chip which provides GREAT scaling and processing. Sending low-quality material through it will amaze you as to what it can do. Even high-quality material, far beyond what it can dispaly, will scale very nicely as many forum members will atest to.

That said, HD is coming, and it is coming strong. $100 may not be much to some, but it defintiely is a lot to many. In my opinion, consider an HD-compatible projector that can do 720p (1280x720) as it will show you HD "the way it is meant to be seen" in full res. THe infocus 5000 and the pannyy va700[sic] are FANTASTIC choices. In addition, with a PC hookup, the higher resolution will be a lot easier on your eyes when reading text and will give you a lot more onscreen real-estate. Because of a lack of farouja processing low-quality material will not be "prettified" as much as with the infocus 4805, so that will up to you to decide....

 

[coolred]

Yeah I had heard that somewhere else while I was reading about it, others mentioned the Infocus 5000. But its like 600 bucks more. When will 720P be the standard for what HD is broadcast in, or is it already? I mean for now this will likely be used for DVD's, video games and some PC stuff. Are you saying the text at 1024x768 will still nto be the greatest?


I mean I am not toally set on upgrading to HDTV just yet. If I did it would likely be just a tuner card and antenna for my PC. Correct me if I am wrong in my thinking, but I am a bang for the buck guy, not a gotta have the latest thing kinda guy. My thinking is that the 4805 would hold me over for a year or 2 maybe 3, when HD is in full effect, maybe even 1080p by then??? Then I can upgrade to somethign that can handle that and a decent price since it won't be the newest and best thing any more. I mean like I said, I don't have issues with the looks of standard definition TV, it looks okay to me. Now when I actually see an HDTV signal on an HDTV then maybe I will never want to go back to SDTV, but I just don't think my eyes are good enough to really care.

As I said in another thread I think, I used nero digital to encode a movie, a couple actually. I set the quality to 3.5GB, so in some cases roughly half the original size. The color int he pcture was slightly off, almost a little brighter then the original movie, but other then that it look okay to me both on my monitor and on my TV. Something tells me that you watching that same movie would not be happy with the quality. I just don't think I have the eyes for picking up all the little details that high res. HDTV can provide, so I am just not sure I need something like that, at least not yet. The 4805 is a great deal right now with coupon rebate and financing. And I am not saying I am dead set on it, but I am just not sure I need to spend the extra cash for the 5000 or whatever else, at least not at this point in time. Now maybe you can change my mind, maybe I am still missing something, so feel free to keep sending your point across.

 

[Otaking]

I haven't played a PC game since Starcraft

Well no, I played a little bit of Warcraft III. I think that's it.

 

[mrrman]

I dont play PC games at all anymore since getting my Xbox,PS2,gamecube running through my DLP-all modded of course

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: mrrman
I dont play PC games at all anymore since getting my Xbox,PS2,gamecube running through my DLP-all modded of course

Which DLP you got?

 

[coolred]

So I am confused about something I think, the 4805 can display a computer resolution of 1024x768(which first of all is a 4:3 ratio not 16:9, whats up with that?)but yet it can't produce an HDTV image at 720p, why not? What about the X3, thats not really meant for home entertainment as much as office use, right? Its only 100 bucks more thne the 4805. I mean I know it has a resolution of like 854x480, but if thats its resolution, how can it display 1024x768 from a PC?

It just seems like a good deal on that 4805, I don't mind spending a little more if I get a lot better product, but it seems like to jump up to 720p costs at least 500+ bucks, which mayeb that is worth it, but I just don't know if I need it or not. Then what happens when 1080p comes around, I will have to upgrade again. It just seems to me that I should just spend the 1000 now on the 4805 and then upgrade when 1080p is more standard.

 

[LordMorpheus]

I've played IL-2 on my projector before . . . . it was crazy wicked . . . the screen was wide enough you get a little peripheral sense of motion which gives you a huge rush when you are mowing feild with your prop going 450 mph . . . traces flying over your shoulder, tree's whizzing by, your wingmen on the radio screaming in pain or victory . . . what a great game.

 

[ponyo]

Get the 4805. You can't beat cost/performance and it does good job of scaling down HD stuff too. It's optimized for DVD so movies will look awesome. Don't worry about the low resolution. You can still read text perfectly fine on it. I don't have any problem with text even with my X1 at 800x600. You're going to be sitting 10-14 feet back so it's all good.

Get the 4805 and in couple of years upgrade to 1080p projectors once it's common and price has come down. That's what I'm planning to do.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: coolred
So I am confused about something I think, the 4805 can display a computer resolution of 1024x768(which first of all is a 4:3 ratio not 16:9, whats up with that?)but yet it can't produce an HDTV image at 720p, why not? What about the X3, thats not really meant for home entertainment as much as office use, right? Its only 100 bucks more thne the 4805. I mean I know it has a resolution of like 854x480, but if thats its resolution, how can it display 1024x768 from a PC?

It just seems like a good deal on that 4805, I don't mind spending a little more if I get a lot better product, but it seems like to jump up to 720p costs at least 500+ bucks, which mayeb that is worth it, but I just don't know if I need it or not. Then what happens when 1080p comes around, I will have to upgrade again. It just seems to me that I should just spend the 1000 now on the 4805 and then upgrade when 1080p is more standard.

The 4805 scales down larger resolutions. It looks great when it's scaling down HD because it just takes 1 out of every 3 pixles out from a 720p signal and that changes it to 480p. I think that's called 3:2 pulldown, but I could be wrong.

So, it's not really showing you more detail. For example, a 1024x768 image displayed on it is just getting parts taken out of it to display on the pixles that are there. Video and games will look good for this, but text really suffers.

Text is super sharp @ 480p on the projector, but even 720p scaled down is pretty bad for text.

If you're going to be using a projector for everyday internet stuff, definately get one that's natively 1024x768 or higher or a true HD projector.

 

[coolred]

Went for the 4805, just been playing with it for a half hour or so, and so far all I can say is WOW. Which means I will probablly be blown away later, since right now its still kinda bright in here, not to mention I am sooting onto a wall and havent even adjusted it yet.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: coolred
Went for the 4805, just been playing with it for a half hour or so, and so far all I can say is WOW. Which means I will probablly be blown away later, since right now its still kinda bright in here, not to mention I am sooting onto a wall and havent even adjusted it yet.

Awesome.

How big to you have it for the screen? Seating distance?

I'm at 76" screen sitting about 10 feet away.

Did the deal you get come with a screen or anything?
If it didn't there are some great options that aren't too expensive for a screen (like blackout cloth on a wooden frame).

What are you watching on it? DVDs?

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
However, I have a 27inch Widescreen HDTV LCD at my main computer desk that I use for gaming most of the time.

ditto.

 

[coolred]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: coolred
Went for the 4805, just been playing with it for a half hour or so, and so far all I can say is WOW. Which means I will probablly be blown away later, since right now its still kinda bright in here, not to mention I am sooting onto a wall and havent even adjusted it yet.

Awesome.

How big to you have it for the screen? Seating distance?

I'm at 76" screen sitting about 10 feet away.

Did the deal you get come with a screen or anything?
If it didn't there are some great options that aren't too expensive for a screen (like blackout cloth on a wooden frame).

What are you watching on it? DVDs?

Well I didn't have much time to mess with it, and the setting weren't the best. I originally hooked it up upstairs to my PS2 via composite cables, and starte dplaying my sons Blues Clues DVD. Due to the brightness of it, with it being a cartoon, it looked just fine even though is was pretty bright in the room. I was shooting it at a white wall with a throw of about 10-12 feet, and I was just standing in front of it, so seating would have been like 8-10 feet. Not sure of the exact screen size, but I would say it was around 3.5-4 feet at least, maybe more. Then I started playing Ace Combat 5 on the PS2, this wasn't quite as bright, but still looked plenty good. Then I put in save the last dance DVD, just one I had handy, and it was the darkest of all, not very good looking, but I would expect in a darker room it would have been just fine. Then I took it downstairs and hooked it up to my PC, sweet is all I can say.

I bought the 4 year extended warranty from circuit city after I got the manager to put in writing that it did in deed cover the bulb as well. So I am half tempted to just hook it up and use it for standard TV to. But the TV doesn't look as good with all the light in the room, it would be great after dark though, still looked okay as is, but I was just watching the simpsons, so it was a bright show.

Now I just have to figure out how to set it all up. I am not sure where I should put it, and what I should hook up to it. I was just planning on shooting it onto my wall above and behind my TV. But I don't really have anywhere to put the projector then, and if I wanted a smaller picture(thus a bit brighter) then I would have to put it somewhere just in front of the couch, which there is not really a good place for it there. I will keep thinking about it though.


And to tell you all how crappy I must be and seeing details and what not, projecting a diagonal of say 5 feet maybe more, I have to be within like 3-4 feet of the image before I can noticeably see the SDE. From what I understand for the most part they say to be twice the width away to avoid seeing SDE. Not sure what the width of a 5' 16:9 diagonal is, but I imagine its around 4 feet or so, so I can get well within the 2x limit without seeing SDE.

All in all thus far I am extremely happy with my purchase, and I haven't even really got to really test it yet.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: coolred

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: coolred
Went for the 4805, just been playing with it for a half hour or so, and so far all I can say is WOW. Which means I will probablly be blown away later, since right now its still kinda bright in here, not to mention I am sooting onto a wall and havent even adjusted it yet.

Awesome.

How big to you have it for the screen? Seating distance?

I'm at 76" screen sitting about 10 feet away.

Did the deal you get come with a screen or anything?
If it didn't there are some great options that aren't too expensive for a screen (like blackout cloth on a wooden frame).

What are you watching on it? DVDs?

Well I didn't have much time to mess with it, and the setting weren't the best. I originally hooked it up upstairs to my PS2 via composite cables, and starte dplaying my sons Blues Clues DVD. Due to the brightness of it, with it being a cartoon, it looked just fine even though is was pretty bright in the room. I was shooting it at a white wall with a throw of about 10-12 feet, and I was just standing in front of it, so seating would have been like 8-10 feet. Not sure of the exact screen size, but I would say it was around 3.5-4 feet at least, maybe more. Then I started playing Ace Combat 5 on the PS2, this wasn't quite as bright, but still looked plenty good. Then I put in save the last dance DVD, just one I had handy, and it was the darkest of all, not very good looking, but I would expect in a darker room it would have been just fine. Then I took it downstairs and hooked it up to my PC, sweet is all I can say.

I bought the 4 year extended warranty from circuit city after I got the manager to put in writing that it did in deed cover the bulb as well. So I am half tempted to just hook it up and use it for standard TV to. But the TV doesn't look as good with all the light in the room, it would be great after dark though, still looked okay as is, but I was just watching the simpsons, so it was a bright show.

Now I just have to figure out how to set it all up. I am not sure where I should put it, and what I should hook up to it. I was just planning on shooting it onto my wall above and behind my TV. But I don't really have anywhere to put the projector then, and if I wanted a smaller picture(thus a bit brighter) then I would have to put it somewhere just in front of the couch, which there is not really a good place for it there. I will keep thinking about it though.


And to tell you all how crappy I must be and seeing details and what not, projecting a diagonal of say 5 feet maybe more, I have to be within like 3-4 feet of the image before I can noticeably see the SDE. From what I understand for the most part they say to be twice the width away to avoid seeing SDE. Not sure what the width of a 5' 16:9 diagonal is, but I imagine its around 4 feet or so, so I can get well within the 2x limit without seeing SDE.

All in all thus far I am extremely happy with my purchase, and I haven't even really got to really test it yet.

SDE is a problem for LCDs... you'd have to be very close to a DLP image to notice it. Rainbows are the problem with DLP projectors.

You should really try to get some decent blinds or something to get the picture to look better. It's really worth it. I've been using cardboard in my windows to get it very dark. My gf was initially against the idea, but once she saw a demo of a front projector the first time, she decided it was worth it to live in a cave sometimes (as long as she could let the light in when she wanted to )

 

[coolred]

Yeah the window wouldn't be hard to cover, my problem is, is that my living room is directly connected to my dining room, and at the back of my dining room is a sliding glass door, which also has blinds, but with that and the window, its a lot of light. It should be better after the time changes again and it gets dark earlier, that will help some.

I will figure it out.

 

[coolred]

Quick question, how hot is the 4805 supposed to run. Mine seems like it gets extremely hot. Some parts, mainly the top and sides near the front near the exhaust fan get really warm. But the bottom of the unit at the front gets so hot it could possibly burn you if you left your skin on it too long. It just seems too hot to me, and this is after only like 30 minutes, maybe less of use. Just wondering if this is the norm, or if mine is messes up.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: coolred
Quick question, how hot is the 4805 supposed to run. Mine seems like it gets extremely hot. Some parts, mainly the top and sides near the front near the exhaust fan get really warm. But the bottom of the unit at the front gets so hot it could possibly burn you if you left your skin on it too long. It just seems too hot to me, and this is after only like 30 minutes, maybe less of use. Just wondering if this is the norm, or if mine is messes up.

No, mine gets very hot too.

Keep it well ventilated.

 

[coolred]

It should be plenty well ventilated right now, it is sitting on an open bookshelf on the sop shelf. There is nothing else around it, so basically the only thing any where near it, is the shelf it is sitting on, and even then I have it heighth adjusted up an inch or so. Just seemed real hot to me, but that lamp is super bright, so I can understand it, especially with all the other stuff heating it up in there.


Another lesser important question. I am near sighted, so I have trouble seeing stuff far away. I have the 4805 hooked up to a spare computer(future HTPC I think). I was just messing around with it, the desktop looks great. I did have to up the fonts to large or extra large, I don't recall which, but they look fine. This is at 1024x768. But I was having trouble reading the suits of cards in like freecell and solitare. And also while I was playing with the resolution and whatnot, the text in those menus was way to small.

So I went to the advanced tab under display and change the DPI to a higher number, if I recall correctly, I think this solved the menu text, but nothing seems to make the suits readable. Again its not a huge deal, since I don't see me playing free cell to much on it, but I was just wodnering why it was like that. I would think uping the DPI would make the cards bigger as well. Oh well.

Now I just got to figure out how to hook other stuff up to it. MY computer is in the bookshelf with it 2 shelfs down from it. I would also like to hook up my Xbox and maybe my cable box. Also in order to get the sound from my computer to my receiver, I am gonna need a long Optical audio cable. It seems like to hook most of these items up will require extra long cables. Since I am in an apartment, I can't modify the place to much for the cabling, so I can't quite figure out how to run the cables even if I can manage to find some long enough. About the best I can come up with is to somehow secure them up the wall along the ceiling and then down the wall to the entertainment center, where the rest of the stuff is I want hooked up.

But any suggestions/ideas, or just sharing with me how you guys hook your stuff up would be great. Hopefully it will be easier, although more time consuming when I move. Since I hope to get a house with a nice basement and put my media room down there, then I can probablly run the wires up into the ceiling/floorboards, whatever is up there exactly.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I have some pics of how mine is set up in my sig.

I'm running cables along the ground with carpets over them.
I got a 50' component cable from cablesforless to hook my comptuer up to the 4805.

I used to have s-video and composite running to it also, but now that my new receiver upconverts everything to component, I only have to run component.

I tried to keep all my inputs close together so the only long things I would need are speaker wire and the connections to the projector.

 

[coolred]

Cool, I will have a look at them. Like I saide, I actually put my computer in the bookshelf a couple shelfs below the projector, and have it hooked up using the MD-1A(is that what its called) to VGA cable that came with the projector. SO its running off my PNY Verto 6600GT. I could also use the component/svideo/ or composite outputs form the card, but I assume the VGA would be the best signal, right. Although since I have to use a DVI to VGA adaptor, maybe I am mistaken.

SO mainly I need to run wires for audio into the receiver, and I wouldn't mine being able to run my xbox off of it, but I am not sure if they make component adaptors. Sicne I am running component out from my xbox, but obviously the cable that I got with the xbox is only like 6 or 10 feet long, so I would need some of those adaptor things so that I could string another component cable inlinewith the one coming from the xbox. I know they have those things for composite, so I would imagine they do for component. It would also be nice to hook up my cable box for the occasion big screen TV moment, all that would require is a long svideo cable. And I suppose I could do like you and run the cables onthe floor and cover them with rugs. I did that to run the network cables and TV cables to and from my computer and entertainment system. The network running from my router to the tivo and the TV cable going from the splitter to my modem. I would need to get a new rug though, since I don't have one right now.


Checked your pics, I love the "wiring mess" pic, mines bad, but not quite that bad. But then again my stuff is a bit more spaced out in the entertainment center, where as yours is all stacked in line with each other, so I can see how it can be like that. Quick question, I noticed you have your projector upside down, is there a reason for this? I mean I guess its rightside up if its ceiling mounted, but it appeared to be on a shelf of some sort. Just wondering. Nice screenshots though. I can't wait till I can use this thing in darkness. Unfortunately I have to be in bed before it gets dark, since I work so early in the morning. But this weekend I will get to play with it at night in the dark, that should be fun.



Also since I kinda steered my own thread off topic. I just picked up the Saitek P3000 wireless PC gamepad, but I am unsure how it works exactly. It doesn't seem to work at all in KOTOR. I thought maybe I needed to enable it in the KOTOR options, but I don't see anything relating to use of a gamepad in the options.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Hey, I have to be at work at 5:30am, getting up early is no excuse for not having it dark

Yeah, I have the projector upside down because of the offset of the image (whatever it's called).
I'm sure you've noticed that if you have the projector horizontal, the image is not centered with the projector height, but offset by quite a bit.

If you have it righside up, it shoots up and upside down it shoots down.

I don't really have anyplace to mount it to my ceiling, and I'd prefer to not have it sitting on a table in front of us (especially with my fricking huge center channel to get in the way), so I have it upside down as you'd have it if it was ceiling mounted.

I haven't tried the vga adapter cable, so I don't know how it compares to component in quality for the computer input signal. The DVI to VGA adapter on your card should have no impact on the performance of the VGA output.

Does your receiver have a couple component inputs? You could run your computer and xbox to your receiver via component and run a single component set to the projector. If your receiver does component upconversion like mine, this would also take care of your s-video problem.

The python component cables at cablesforless are working great for me and are well regarded at AVSforum and hometheaterforum.

My 4805 deal came with a 30foot s-video cable so I didn't need to worry about that with my old receiver.

 

[coolred]

Yeah I have a couple component ins on my receiver, but if I recall correctly, I don't think they upconvert, will have to check. As for the way the projector shoots th eimage, I haven't really noticed that, but I haven't had it sitting level yet, I have had to raise it up a bit each time I have used it thus far, so I guess leaving it rightside up works for me.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Basically the bottom of the image is a little bit above the level of the projector... so if I had it upright on a shelf in back of me, the bottom of the image would be about even with my ceiling.

If you turn yours upsidedown, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Oh, and I also talked a guy about projectors when I went to see some and he said that computers can have trouble driving a decent signal over a long distance so he suggested running to a receiver for the video signal to be amplified.
I'm not sure if that's the truth as I've never tried it, but it might have some merrit.

 

[shaolin95]

YOyoYOhowsDAjello,

The 4805 scales down larger resolutions. It looks great when it's scaling down HD because it just takes 1 out of every 3 pixles out from a 720p signal and that changes it to 480p. I think that's called 3:2 pulldown, but I could be wrong.

Yep, you are very wrong...3:2 pulldown has nothing to do with scaling is the process of making 24 film frames fit into 30 fps...here is a link: http://www.dvdfile.com/news/special_report/production_a_z/3_2_pulldown.htm

SDE is a problem for LCDs... you'd have to be very close to a DLP image to notice it. Rainbows are the problem with DLP projectors.

SDE is a problem of both technologies...normally it will be more visible in a LCD compared to a DLP with the same res but in the case of a Panasonic ae500 or Sanyo Z3 the screendoor will be more visible in the 4805...that to say sitting distance for the 4805 should be between 1.60-2.00 (most recommended but I like 1.75) x screen width. With the aformentioned LCDs you can probably sit 1.5 x width. Still, I too have the 4805 and it is awesome...the incredible contrast, color and detail surpasses even more expensive PJs. It even comes precalibrated at 6500K and here is for real not some bogus claims like other displays. And ISF calibration costs $300 so having it come calibrated from factory is superb.
Regards