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[hoobatech]

well the bigger you make the image it will still look sharp to a point, then you will be begin to see pixels or lines, i think they might call it the screen door effect.  as for lcd vs normal tv or plasma, you just need to check them out for yourself, some lcds look like crap and ive seen xpensive plasmas that looked great with hddvd movies but when you actually are watching simpsons on fox it looks way crappier. projectors are great because of the portability and you can change your screen size, but make sure you get a goood one, those cheap ones on ebay are really crappy the resolution isnt even 640x480. you also want to check what each projectors lumens are, this will tell you how bright the image will be. and very important, probably most important is the cost of replacement bulbs, sure you can get a good projector for $800 but once a year, maybe more depending on how often you watch it (average us family watches at least 20hrs) but the bulbs for many of these range between $200-500.    if your thinking projector, id suggest building your own. im just putting the finishing touches on mine and the quality is equal to a projector that costs thousands more than what i paid. i'll get a link for the diy projector sites and post it here in a sec.

[hoobatech]

http://www.lumenlab.com/protectedwiki/
this is by far the best diy projector site out there, i bought a membership to get the plans/tech help. but since then they have made this free to the public. doesnt take a whole lot of skill to do, in fact you can get almost everything set up for you from members if you have the cash, heres a list of what ive spent
Lcd - burned out backlight from ebay $26.50
Fresnel/triplet lens - lumenlab.com $65
S51 magnetic ballast - http://stores.ebay.c...TALIGHT-SYSTEMS $36
s400DD s51 bulb - atlantalightbulbs.com - $45
bulb socket and misc. wiring stuff - $20
Case fans - $10
Wood - $20
and i project in 1080i HD
the only downside is that i think my projector looks more washed out if you have alot of light in the room. but who watches a projector with the lights on anyways  


http://www.diyaudio.....php?forumid=12 is another good site and its totally free. lots of knowledgable people and good sources.

As for screens, regardless of which projection route you take this screen is regarded as being the best
Da-Lite Model B
High Power 2.8 gain
Manual Pull Down Screen
but are a little spendy at 250-275
a cheap route that works well is to build a frame for your screen and by BOC blackout cloth, its a heavy white material that JoAnn fabrics etc sell and its super cheap, they sell it to people who have thin curtains and this will block the light out. not much for gain with this but you cant beat the price. there are also a few companies that sell a paint that you can put on the wall thats fairly high gain.

[hoobatech]

Woo Hoo for lifesize lezbos on the wall

[hoobatech]

you must have an awsome set of three D glasses

[Mr Ed]

Um, as much as I love lesbians, back to the original question....

A 32inch TV and a large screen require very different rooms.  Do you have a blank wall to setup a projector screen?

Also, how dark can you make your room in the daylight?  I simply couldn't do a projector because my XBOX room has many windows, and even with the blinds closed it's too bright for a projector.  Projectors need a room to be quite dark.

[hoobatech]

i agree with ed, and perhaps that should be the deciding factor for you. though it is entirely possible to make any room totally dark durring the day but from what ive found the wife factor starts to come into play. Blackout cloth is designed to be used with your curtains to block out all light, a little of that and some velcro;  the neighbors wont even know your home

[TheIrishLad]

Its always nice to see a fellow DIY'er from Lumenlab.com I say definitely join the site and build one!  Not only can you get great quality, but its FUN!  And when people see it and are like wtf? Be like "yup I made that"

[eminvil_12]

I would build my own projector, i just registered to lumenlabs forums.

but i dont want to pay $20 for the access to the plans lol.

they lure you in, then bam $20 and chances are mine wont work lol

[Mr Ed]

QUOTE(hoobatech @ Dec 13 2005, 05:09 PM)

the wife factor starts to come into play.

Yes, exactly.  At least mine was willing to let me have full size floor standing surround speakers.  I have one friend who was forced by his wife to use Bose satellite speakers (blech!)

[hoobatech]

bose...eww, she must not be an audiophile.
emin, the $20 is well worth it, i didnt realize you could even join the boards without the membership? brain is/has made the plans free to the public, but the wealth of info inside the protected parts make it worth it. and if you follow the plans, even roughly there is little chance you cant make it work, the bigger likelyhood is that you will wire your ballast/bulb up wrong and burn the house down, and i say who couldnt use new home furnishings anyways

[ephesith]

interesting question.....

Has anyone ever thought of replacing the light bulb with a bundle of like 150 5mm hyper white LEDs?  They last a whole lot longer, and I would assume they would provide enough light

[hoobatech]

yeah, the question has been beaten to death on diy projector sites, leds just dont cut it. a MH light bulb lasts 10,000 hrs. and are sub $50.which still makes them cheaper than Leds, the only benifit of them if you could make them bright enough is that the run soooo much cooler than a metal halide/ sodium high pressure bulb

[ClintiePoo]

Okay, so about how many hours does it take to build one of these projectors?  Where do I get the parts?

[hoobatech]

depends on how handy i suppose, you can make a simple wooden box, throw the components in it and have it up and running in a day, probably less. its hard to say how long it will take you to fine tune it to your liking, but all and all a cool project. Lumenlab.com just turned 2 today, and membership is half off ($10) they have links to everything you need along with plans and other peoples completed pj's to help give you an idea of what you like.  

[brispet1]

I got a nice ultra-portable nec xga dlp projector for 899 after rebate it's 1500 lumens with a really good contrast ratio... it looks really good with my xbox and my satelite receiver but it really looks best at native resolution (it compresses the picture to get "hd" resolutions), I absolutely love mine but still say you might wanna wait till 720p and 1080i projectors come down in price.  The diy's are great projects, and done properly look great, but my nec is the size of a slightly shorter gamecube, and looks sexy how can you beat that. That said a 32" lcd is probably gonna look better than any projector that's in your price range, but it's not going to cover your whole wall and be portable, but you will be able to use it in a bright room (this is important if you don't wanna live like a vampire like me)