QUOTE(blah101 @ Mar 14 2005, 12:00 PM)
what about the boxlight?
BoXLightwould you consider that a good projector.. just get a optical switch so u can use xbox/xbox2/and cable?
also anyone know how big it can get on a wall without b4 loosing quality. i looked all over but didnt see anything refering to that
The Raven is a great little projector for the price, Another good projector in that price range is the In-focus X2 (or the discontinued X1 if you can find it).
one of my projectors is a Raven and it performs well in all aspects save resolution. It supports all of the Hi-Def resolutions but for the higher resolutions it down-samples them. Still you'd be hard pressed to find a projector or rear projection that support those resolutions natively. B) As far as you question about how big it can get before lossing quality, as long as you're within the range specified by the manufacturer you'll be able to focus and as long as you can focus the pixels will be crisp. I project onto an 85"x85" screen and the picture is just as sharp as it is 30"x30"
Running a search on www.projectorcentral.com: these look like some capable projectors at under $2000 MSRP (most can be had for much less than MSRP)
http://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors...&sort=ms&trig=1Some things to keep in mind:
Contrast Ratio: you want this high 2000:1 is a fantastic ratio This is the difference between full white and full black on the screen.
Bulb Life: you want this high. this is the number of hours of use before the bulb is estimated to burn out. 2000-3000 hours is a good bulb life. Also consider the price of the bulb and the popularity of the projector. Buying a more popular projector will undoubtedly drive the bulb price down.
Brightness: you want this high, most of the time. Keep this in mind while looking at the the contrast ratio. if the ratio is low and the brightness is high then the picture will probably be washed out, for a 2000:1 contrast ratio I've found 1500-1700 lumen to be perfect, it's bright enough that I can have a desk lamp on in the room without washing out the picture but also dim enough to not wash out the picture on it's own.
Technology: CRT, LCD, DLP, CRT is my personal favorite, it has the best overall picture IMO but the projectors are huge (75+lbs) and often require frequent calibration if they aren't tied down. Also they can be noisy and overall the most expensive. Some other benefits are no worries about jaggies, lag, or bulbs to replace. LCD is a good technology, they tend to be fairly light and sometimes cheaper than DLP but they're contrast ratio is total CRAP and you can run into serious lag issues similar to your PC's LCD. DLP is the best overall Projector, weighing about the same and priced about the same as an LCD they have amazing contrast ratios and clarity of picture. One thing to watch out for with DLPs is the color wheel speed, if you get one with a slow color wheel you could see "rainbows" on the screen. I've had an in-focus X1 and the Raven. the X1 has a 2X color wheel and I see the rainbows all the time the Raven has a 4X color wheel and I usually only ever see them when watching stark white on black (credits of movies, or a dark scene in a black and white film). Some people just can't see them at all (lucky bastards :lol: ) Also DLPs don't suffer from any lag problems AFAIK.
Some features to consider:
Digital Inputs: IMO unless your projector supports native HD resolutions this is completely useless as it will be down-sampling it anyway, the only benefit is if your device is outputting in digital and you don't want to bother converting it to VGA, RGB, or Component.
Picture Geometry Features like Zoom, Keystone and how they effect throw distance and picture size. Obviously you need to look at where you plan on putting your projector in relation to where you want the picture to be and picking a projector that can be adjusted accordingly.
