1080p front projector reviews
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 LG 50PW350 50 Inch 720p TV 3D Ready Plasma HD TV 600Hz  US $614.95
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 Toshiba 40UX600U 40 Inch Full HD 1080p 120Hz LED LCD HDTV Television Net TV US $449.00
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 Mitsubishi WD 82837 82 Inch 3D Full HD 1080p DLP HDTV Home Cinema Television US $1,249.00
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 Samsung PN51D550 51 Inch Full HD 1080p 3D Plasma TV US $824.99
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 Panasonic VIERA TC P55ST30 55 1080p 3D Plasma HDTV US $949.99
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 Samsung PN51E450 51 Inch Ultraslim 720p 600Hz Plasma HDTV Television US $584.99
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 Sony NSX 40GT1 40 Inch Full HD 1080p 60Hz LED LCD TV US $649.99
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 LG 50PZ550 50 Inch Full HD 1080p Active 3D Plasma TV US $799.99
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 LG 42LK450 42 Inch FULL HD 1080p 60Hz LCD HD TV US $424.99
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 Sony BRAVIA KDL 60EX500 60 Inch 120Hz Full HD 1080p LCD HDTV Television US $1,049.00
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 LG 42LV3500 42 Inch Full HD 1080p 60Hz LED Backlit LCD HDTV Television US $415.00
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Sharp HE XVZ17000 300-Inch 1080p Front Projector Review
Setting Up a Home Theater With Movie Projector
These days, many people are setting up a home theater system with a projector instead of a TV because the quality you get is at a bargain price. If you buy a projector, it will give you a diagonal screen size of at-least over 84 inches at a price of $800-$2000 if not more. If you go for a plasma tv of 60-70 inches, it will cost you not less than $7000-$8000. And projectors are portable, don't weigh much (5-10 pounds) and are easy to use and install. You just need a big room dedicated to your home theater.
Choose between LCD and DLP projectors. DLP gives a better picture quality but it is more expensive than LCD. These days, the quality gap between the two has reduced quite a bit. LCD projectors are great too, so don't worry. Go for a projector with at least 1600 lumens. This is the brightness of the bulb. If you watch a movie in a completely dark room, 1200 lumens will also work fine. But in case you watch it with some amount of light/brightness, you need at least 1600-2000 lumens, more the better. Go for a resolution of at least 720p. A resolution of 1080p will be great, but these projectors are really expensive. But if you have the bucks, don't think twice. For XGA resolutions, at least 1024x768 is a must.
Look at the lamp life. Make sure that is at least 2000 hours in normal mode and 3000 hours in power-saving or quiet mode. The lamps are the only replacement parts you will need every 2 years or so. And these are expensive. So if you have to choose between two projectors in which one offers 1000 lamp life hours more, go for that one. Contrast ratio: this decides how black will be the black color compared to the whites. For a contrast ratio of 600:1, it means that black will be 600 times blacker than the white levels. It decides how deep the black will look on your screen. The darker, the better. So, higher the contrast ratio, better the output on screen. Aspect ratio: Go for an aspect ratio of 16:9 because it is the de facto standard of games, movie dvds these days. You can view your TV and old tapes which are in 4:3 format via most projectors because settings are present to adjust the screen size accordingly.
Go for higher optical zoom. Digital zoom does not matter. Calculate how much distance you can keep between the screen and the projector and that will decide what type of lens you will need. For a shorter distance, go for the short throw lens and if the projector is at a distance from the screen, choose a long throw lens. In any case, ask the projector dealer to give you a demo in your home. That will give you the best idea. Make sure that your projector has an HDMI input, so that you can connect a blu ray player or your PS3 or such gaming console to it. Most latest projectors in the higher range have the HDMI input even if they are not full-HD. Such are called as HD-ready projectors.
Choosing your screen: Watching on a white screen is always better than watching on a plain white wall. Screens are of 2 types these days - motorized screens which operate via a remote control (they go up and down with a button click) and insta lock screens, which have to operated with your hand. The picture quality is equally good. The only difference is of operation. And yes, the motorized is priced more. Where do I get the sound from? You need to connect your speakers to your dvd player which connects to the projector and that will give you optimum results.
Which company's projector should I buy? These days, many companies are selling home multimedia specific projectors just for home theater use. Check those out. Good companies include panasonic, optoma, sony, nec, canon, dell, acer, epson, etc. Read reviews by searching for company name followed by model name on any search engine. There are sites where you can compare two models feature by feature. Try those two. We hope these two articles will help you set up your home theater projector system. Buy some good recliners and enjoy a movie at home.
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For a front end projector, am I better getting a 480p for now or spend 4X more money for 1080p?
I am projecting onto an 80" screen. I am going to get either a Optomo, benq w100 or infocus n72 16:9 home theater projector.
I am leaning toward the infocus as it has great reviews, better dark levels and... well looks cool. I am hooking up a HTPC, DVD (480p) and a Wii (480p). $500-600 range. I am planning to get a screen too.
I know that the standard is heading toward 1080p, but I don't have any content that will really utilize it at this point except my htpc, but this will most likely be playing non hd divx content anyway.
I think I am better off saving my money for now and upgrading to a 1080p when my bulb burns out in 2-3 years as they will cost less. They may even something better by then as well.
I must have over 400 DVDs in 480p widescreen.
I hate when people say regular dvds look better on HD. Most of these people were comparing it to their old 480i standard tvs. Actually, I would think a 854x480 would be the ideal for dvd as it wont have to stretch it.
I think your already made your mind and you look at everything already. But if you need someone to agree, I do agree with you that 480p will be good enough. Some people like scaled images, I personally hate them, I seen DVD played using a ($15,000) FOLSOM scaler projected on a 15K lumens 1080p capable projector and I trully hate it how they looked. IMO, the 480p look the best. But for some weird reason everyone else liked the 1080i over all the other images (go figure) and we ended up using that. I say you have a good plan. Just remember that the bulbs do last only 2000 hours at best and the last 20% of the life of the bulb is about 50% dimmer than the first 10% (ie the bulb does not stay as bright all the time). Also, do not move the projector ever until the fan stops unless you want to gamble on buying a new bulb. In addition, many projectors can do 720p for not much more money so you may want to consider those if you plan to watch some TV.
