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[rob_hellfire]

I want to get a projector to project on to my wall (or a screen hanging on my wall) to save space in my small room and to get a big ass picture for xbox playing and tv.

Is there any info. available on the scene about starting with all this stuff, which projectors and the quality of them, or any help on the technology behind them to help my little mind understand.

I would also find it unbeleivably useful to get some info. on prices of basic setups and upgrades to the system, eg hdtv cables, different video output methods for the box, stuff like that.

I could probably be able to reach 500 pounds on the projector without my bank manager slapping me .
I get the feeling this wouldn't be enough though so need info.

Hopefully won't peev anybody off, searched and got lots of replies about gaming areas, peoples setups and other stuff but no real useful info. on how to do it.

If anybody has a link to anything remotely useful on the subject that'd be great and thanks

Otherwise just tell me i'm lazy and cheap  

[Gelantious]

http://www.projector...00_sanyo_z3.htm

Two of the best projectors with a "normal" price lvl.
Dont know how much they would cost in pounds but if it was me I would take the Z3.

[Dolfhin]

Spend some times reading about DLP, CRT and LCD and buy a nice second hand projector from Ebay, the setup is the easy part the hard part is calibrating the image to look as good as possible.

Expect to spend a lot of time on it if this is your first one.. or hire a profesional to do it.

Start with some links like :
http://www.hometoys....iley/railey.htm
http://www.avforums....hp/t-25293.html
http://www.tomshardw...howto/20041201/ (some cool information about how it works and how you make your own)

and ofcourse :
www.google.com

[xbox_maister]

a projector rocks, if you want a good , but expensive projector then go for the panasonic pt-ae700u my dad got one of them and they just kicks ass playing xbox on

a good advice is to have a decent sound equipment going with it, for big screens you'l need BIG sound


xM

[michaelb]

I have a Infocus X1 dlp projector and it fricken rocks. I'm casting a 90" screen right now and the picture quality is terrific. You can get a refurbished one from Tigerdirect for under $600

[rob_hellfire]

Cool guys, thanx for useful info esp. dolfhin

Will spend time learning this stuff, always wanted to ask but never thought people would be so useful

Any other info. sites, suggestions or even ideas would be cool.


Also quicky, can you project onto a white emulsioned wall or am i best gettng a screen???

[rob_hellfire]

Just reading through, is bulb breakage a serious problem cos at 400pounds a pop that's a lot of money.

Anyways looking on ebay at the mo for the projectors mentioned above and some good prices seems to be popping up but need to do so more modchips before i'm ready to take the plunge so better get advertising on the uni intranet

suckers

[Dolfhin]

QUOTE(rob_hellfire @ Apr 22 2005, 10:52 AM)

Cool guys, thanx for useful info esp. dolfhin

[minnow]

Basics:

Projectors are rated in lumens. Get the highest lumens rating your budget can allow. (1200 lumens should be a minimum.)

Resolution is important. Get the highest native resolution your budget will allow. (1080 x . . . should be a minimum.)

Screens are essential, although walls will do. You can prep a wall to be ultra-flat (no gloss, no bumps), but it makes for an ugly room. Use a screen.

Big screen in a small room does not mean you have to have BIG sound. Just good sound. 5.1 surround is the best an XBOX can do. So that's what you should shoot for.

"Throw" is a factor that most people don't concern themselves with, but it determines how wide the image can get in proportion to how far the screen is from the projector. There are long-throw and short-throw projectors. Long-throws are used in auditoriums typically, while short-throws are used in close-quarters.

Finally, many do-it-yourselfers will complain that the picture quality from a projector is not exactly what they thought it'd be. The primary culprits are light polution (light sources that penetrate into the room and wash out the projected image. . . like street lights, night lights, other televisions in the room).

Darkest room + Best viewing surface + Best projector + Best image source (XBOX) = ecstasy

[rob_hellfire]

thanks for that.

Found out where i'm living next year for uni, got a decent hifi system at the mo. only 4 speakers but has a connector for adding a box so might be tempted.

Already got some blackout curtains as my old room was infront of a street lamp so needed them, probably will need a short throw as no more than 4 metres across the room so would end up with a small picture i'd guess with a long throw projector.

the problem with having the projector mounted in the wrong place effecting the picture (vertically) as gonna fabricate a stand that'l fit down the back of my bed and stick out at predesignated height to allow adjustable height and pitch to make setting up easier.

Also gonna make myself a decent stadn to put the screen onto the wall almost flush to save space and stop air flow making the screen move.

Will i need a hd-cable set for the projector and i'm guessing you can extend these to long distances seems some projectors are ceiling mounted  

Still looking for a projector that's be suitable, i thought that 800x600 would suffice but maybe i should look bigger .

Mostly been looking at models like:
this one
or this one

make comments if thy're crap, or comment if they're good, i need to get more info

[Mr Ed]

I dont' know how common it is, but I'd look for one with optical trapazoidal (keystone) adjustments.  Many projectors do keystone compensation by simply turning off a row of pixels.

[OmegaX]

u could try building one for about $300 doesn't look that hard
diy lcd

[rob_hellfire]

I would be tempted to do the diy projector if i had a spare lcd monitor but i haven't so don't think i will, its also really bulky and a can't fit that over my head on a stand (read above if confused).

thanks Mr Ed, i wasn't aware of that but i'm trying to avoid using keystone adjustment, thugh getting a projector with it won't hurt, i will be setting the projector at the ideal height hopefully and having an adjustable stand should be sufficient to allow me to direct the projector sufficiently.

Got another 3 mods to do yesterday, so will be ordering some modchips and getting some money by friday, trying to push forward the purchase date for when i can afford this, but also got to visit my sister who's moving to vancouver (from uk) so need to keep at least 800 in rexerve to go see her before xmas.

Gotta ask how much do people charge for mod installs

I've been saying 40 pounds ($73) for x2.6 on any version xbox, then extra 10 pounds ($18.22) for hdd install if supplied and £40 ($73) for 80gb maxtor or £55 ($100) for 120gb maxtor, try to avod going about 137 as my xbtools have buggered up and i can't edit any of my original bioses anymore

Are these fair do you think?

[Ickypoopy]

I have a slightly off-white bumpy wall.  I corrected for the off-whiteness off the wall with the color adjustments (looks perfectly as it should now) and the slightly bumpiness cant be seen unless you walk right up to the wall and look closely.  As for a screen, it will look best - but there is also special paint you can use that will give quality close to that of a proper screen.  Using this paint (or living with a plain wall) can save you lots of money.

Remember to have the projector perfectly in-line with the bottom of the screen (or top for ceiling mount) or you will need to use the keystone correction.  The keystone correction is a BAD thing to use, as it will cause the picture to be shown in less pixels.  This will cause a slight downsampling.  When this happens, you can sometimes see "jittering" lines, when the projector cant decide how to correctly distort the picture and one line keeps getting shifted back and forth by one pixel(Really only visible on still pictures).

The bulbs are quite costly, and will last anywhere from 2000-4000 hours (Check the specs for estimated bulb-life).  They arent too terribly breakable, but of course they can be broken if misshandled.  If it comes with a carrying case, make sure it is well padded to protect the bulb whenever you decide to travel with it.

Good luck, and it surely is worth the money

[rob_hellfire]

Will keep looking, mostly found projectors of 800*600 and 1200 lumins (moomins )

and average bulb life 3000hours

For a picture of about 1.5-2.0 metres across will the res. be high enough?


Anyways, thanks again, i'l check back later