Ordered a new Sony VPL-HW45ES projector, despite the fact I said no more projectors.

[Eug]

I have a 90" projector image. I'd be satisfied replacing that with a 75"-80" TV, only if it's a good TV though.

Both TVs and projectors have advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage for TVs is cost vs screen size, which is why for a TV, I'd have to comproise on screen size. At this time, a 90"-120" TV screen is just not practical.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I guess you never watch TV then? Or have guests over that don't like stumbling around in the dark?

I assume you don't ever play video games either?

This is nonsense.

TV is watched on a television, which is usually a product designed to overcome ambient light. A theater is designed for the utmost in light and sound control so that you see and hear exactly what was intended.

If a guest needs to take a break that is what the pause button is for on the remote, which then means you can turn the lights on. If you wanted something in the 75" size range that can handle ambient light they do make televisions for that application.

Otherwise you could have just bought a five year old project and not noticed you were not going to get the black levels that light controlled rooms afford.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

My HT room is completely light controlled but I have a couple of sconces on a side wall I will leave dimmed sometimes if I have company over. Image quality takes a hit of course, but the projector is still perfectly usable, and if there needs to be ambient light in the room then the projector isn't taking 100% of everyone's attention anyway.

And yeah, your dollar definitely goes way further with a PJ vs. trying to approach what that can deliver with a normal set even with the hurdles and concessions.

 

[RearAdmiral]

Excellent. I have a 50ES and have been in love with it for almost 3 years now.

 

[Eug]

Excellent. I have a 50ES and have been in love with it for almost 3 years now.

As you probably know, yours is a higher end model. I think the corresponding model is the 65ES now.

The 45 ES probably won't have as good dynamic contrast/black levels as yours, since the 45 ES has no iris like yours does. Still it should be a nice improvement overall over my existing Panasonic PT-AX200U.

How is the iris BTW? I'm not hugely enamoured with irises in other projectors due to the slight lag between the scene showing up and the iris kicking in, but it's one thing that saves the picture of my old Panasonic.

 

[RearAdmiral]

As you probably know, yours is a higher end model. I think the corresponding model is the 65ES now.

The 45 ES probably won't have as good dynamic contrast/black levels as yours, since the 45 ES has no iris like yours does. Still it should be a nice improvement overall over my existing Panasonic PT-AX200U.

How is the iris BTW? I'm not hugely enamoured with irises in other projectors due to the slight lag between the scene showing up and the iris kicking in, but it's one thing that saves the picture of my old Panasonic.

I probably would have gotten a 40ES had they been out when I purchased the 50. the 45 should be quite a bit ahead of mine by now except for the iris.

I haven't paid attention to the iris once I set my initial settings. I'll have to take another look to see if I even have it turned on. I may have turned it off due to noticing the fluctuations. While I don't have superb light control, I do have lower lumens as a result of settings for reference style color and such.

I've never really loved a purchase so much as that projector. 120" of freaking awesome.

It should be a big upgrade over the Pany 200 I would think. That lamp life is amazing too!

 

[Eug]

Tech Data, a huge US based IT distribution company, now has the 45ES on their system with a listed US MSRP of $1999.99.

https://shop.techdata.com/products/category/category?cs=80000501&refinements=80000501

If this turns out to be true, then there are going to be a lot of annoyed new 40ES owners. Sony has been clearing out stock of the the 40ES for, you guessed it, $1999.99. So people have been buying the old model in droves, partially because they were thinking the new 45ES would launch at US$2499.99, which was the original launch MSRP of the 40ES.

 

[Chapbass]

Tech Data, a huge US based IT distribution company, now has the 45ES on their system with a listed US MSRP of $1999.99.

https://shop.techdata.com/products/category/category?cs=80000501&refinements=80000501

If this turns out to be true, then there are going to be a lot of annoyed new 40ES owners. Sony has been clearing out stock of the the 40ES for, you guessed it, $1999.99. So people have been buying the old model in droves, partially because they were thinking the new 45ES would launch at US$2499.99, which was the original launch MSRP of the 40ES.

Yup, quick google search pulled this up too:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051678642,&Q=&A=details

 

[Eug]

Yup, quick google search pulled this up too:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051678642,&Q=&A=details

That's the older 40ES. It's been on sale for $500 off the $2499.99 MSRP for months now actually. I guess Sony had been planning for a $1999.99 MSRP for the 45ES early on, and just dropped the pricing on the 40ES to match.

However, the new 45ES has now shown up on Amazon.com. Free shipping, in 2-4 weeks, for US$1917. Seller is Amazon, which is an authorized reseller of Sony products.

So, that means there are at least two authorized Sony US resellers who already have this on their websites for (pre-)sale, but Sony USA hasn't actually officially announced the 45ES yet.

Furthermore, TechData, the distributor I mentioned in my last post, states that they expect stock in 1-2 weeks, according to info from Sony.

 

[destrekor]

This is nonsense.

TV is watched on a television, which is usually a product designed to overcome ambient light. A theater is designed for the utmost in light and sound control so that you see and hear exactly what was intended.

If a guest needs to take a break that is what the pause button is for on the remote, which then means you can turn the lights on. If you wanted something in the 75" size range that can handle ambient light they do make televisions for that application.

Otherwise you could have just bought a five year old project and not noticed you were not going to get the black levels that light controlled rooms afford.

Dedicated home theater. No, we watch TV in the living room. If we do watch TV on the big screen, we do so in the dark or knowing that there is a compromise in watching with light. Not sure why guest would be stumbling around in the dark? You can use floor lighting or just pause movie if someone needs to get up. My lights are run by my remote. No stumbling around.

What I do is a bit different. I run a plasma behind the screen. Its a motorized screen that drops down in front of speakers and plasma.

Yes, I'm reviving a thread - it's not THAT old.
[oddly enough I stumbled upon this while googling, and as you can see, I didn't make an account just for this post! lol]

With that out of the way, I just have to find this attitude remarkably annoying. Why? Sometimes the magic of a freaking huge projection screen is being able to host sports parties with a massive freaking screen. Who wouldn't want to watch, say, the Super Bowl, on a 100" screen? I'm personally considering a projector in the not so distant future (couple years most likely, could be within 12 months, who knows...), and the option would be my 50" Plasma likely behind a drop-down projection screen, or said projection screen. A room full of 10 or so people, of various distance from TV, I'd personally vote to have the projector up and running in such a scenario. But that kind of scenario is also decidedly NOT one fit for a dark room. And sure you could pause but the idea is to keep watching live.

It's not so much complaining about the limitations you fully understand, it's more just griping and moaning that there isn't something perfect out there yet. That's my take at least.


Eug, how's that projector working out for you anyway? That's a model series I've been eyeing, along with JVC's D-ILA line.


[Mods, please don't hit me. At least, not too hard!]

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I've actually held superbowl gatherings in which the game was watched in my theater. 110 inches of glory.

 

[destrekor]

I've actually held superbowl gatherings in which the game was watched in my theater. 110 inches of glory.

Pitch-black theater?

 

[purbeast0]

I have Super Bowl parties pretty much every year. In my basement it's pitch black at night time. During the day there is light due to window well, but at night it's pitch black.

While watching something though, you can see just fine and walk around as if a light was turned on. A 10 foot screen with a projected image on it is bright, especially a football game where it's a green field the whole time. It's not like movies where there can be really dark scenes, it's always bright. It's easy to eat down there and see what you're doing or just get up and walk upstairs to use the bathroom if you have to, without having to turn on any lights or tripping over stuff.

 

[destrekor]

I have Super Bowl parties pretty much every year. In my basement it's pitch black at night time. During the day there is light due to window well, but at night it's pitch black.

While watching something though, you can see just fine and walk around as if a light was turned on. A 10 foot screen with a projected image on it is bright, especially a football game where it's a green field the whole time. It's not like movies where there can be really dark scenes, it's always bright. It's easy to eat down there and see what you're doing or just get up and walk upstairs to use the bathroom if you have to, without having to turn on any lights or tripping over stuff.

Hmm, I guess I could see that working out. But still darker than any super bowl gathering I've been to and would seem sort of weird.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I have a dedicated home theater room as well. It is blacked out and perfectly dark day or night. I can use the projector with the lights on but the picture quality just isn't as nice. When I have company we just keep the lights off since the picture looks amazing in the dark. It has never been an issue though. Sports games (I have a cable box hooked up to mine) look fantastic on a 120 inch screen. Sure it's really dark but the projector itself puts off enough light to see around you so it has always been a non issue.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Pitch-black theater?

Yeah, except for the fact that a blazing image of a football game tend to light things up a bit. Its otherwise a bat cave with complete ambient light control.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Pitch-black theater?

No, the wife wouldn't let me use black paint, unlike the temp theater upstairs. So, the darkest brick red paint I could get made was used instead on the walls, ceiling and all trim. The floor is concrete, which I had acid stained a dark color. I would love to take the screen half of the room and apply a blacker-than-black material to it, but between expense and wife approval factor that ain't going to happen. The windows in that room are sealed shut, covered over with MDF, foam seals and then fabric followed by light-blocking heavy drapes. The furniture is a dark chocolate brown.

Again, if money were not a consideration and the wife didn't care I would cover the room in black material to absorb as much light as I can. Right now I am using an RS20, which isn't as great in the On/Off contrast as my former CRT projector so the black surround of the screen is actually darker and shows the digital projector's limitation in the black level department. It makes the screen appear to hover in a black void. I cover up the equipment rack so no LED illumination comes from it and no lights, ceiling, sconces, etc., are permitted during viewing.

But otherwise it is a nice DIY setup for the money.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I used a very dark grey on my walls and ceiling. I have one window and one door (which is filled with little windows) and I use black out curtains on both the door and window. These things let zero light through.

 

[shimon]

hello, i have Powerlite Home Cinema 3020 projector for 5 years.
i had light problem (very poor light come from the lens) and the warning blue light continue blinking.
i replaced new lamp, the same, replaced new ballast- the same.
any idea what could be the problem?