Which projector?

Posted by: blythe on 02 December 2006

I am seriously thinking of changing my projector which is currently a cheap Panasonic PT-AE200 - bought a few years ago as I wasn't sure I'd actually use a beamer.... Well, I did and I do!

I have recently seen a friends' ScreenPlay 7210 by InFocus which impressed me and was noticably better than my old Panny.
I am also considering a Themescene something or other at about £1500.

However, I seem to remember at Bristol Show a year or two ago, each time I saw a really impressive picture, it always seemed to be a SIM2.

Should I just bite the bullet and accept that the visual equivalent of Naim is likely to be the £3000 SIM2 D35 ?

Or should I check out something that you guys can reccomend that will blow me away for £1000 ?

Do you guys have any tips for me??

Thanks, Martin.

Posted on: 02 December 2006 by neil w

infocus 7205

neil

Posted on: 02 December 2006 by Allan Probin

If your budget will stretch to £3k then I'd say take a look at the Sony Pearl. It's a 1080p projector with fabulous contrast ratio and it pretty much owns this section of the market.

1080 is the way to go now and will be the standard for home cinema for quite a few years to come.

Allan

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by blythe

Thanks Allan and Neil, I'll have a look into both!
Where does the InFocus 7205 sit compared to the 7210 which I have seen in action?

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by Fozz

Second vote for the Infocus 7205. I upgraded from the X1 and found the colour accuracy to be phenominal, contrast is excellent. The inbuilt de-interlacer does a fab job of even the crap sky tv broadcast and with a hi-def picture from a Humax hi-def box the picture is amazing.

From what I read at the time the 7210 replaces the 7205 and squeezes a tad more contrast and better blacks. Colour is slightly improved too. Hey I dont care I got mine for £1500 verus £4000 at the time for the 7210.

One thing to check in a shop. go and ask to look at a DLP projector in action and see if your eyes are senstive to the so called rainbow effect. A single colour wheel DLP will go thougth the colours in the scene one by one in quick succession and rely on the latency of human vision to see the resultant colour as one. On scenes with highest contrast and fast moving action, usually white on black some people are upset by seeing a rainbow effect. Not me.

All the best

Gary

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by blythe

Thanks Gary,

As far as I have ever witnessed, I am not sensitive to the rainbow effect.

£4000 for a 7210 puts it in the same ball park as a SIM2, so I will check them both out (SIM2 currently around £3000 for the D35) and hopefully get something before Christmas

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by Blueknowz

I was getting the Infocus IN76 ,but at approx £500 more I'm now getting the IN78 INFOCUS

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by Fozz

that was a while ago Blythe so I would check current pricing because they move very quickly! some price search engines may help they appear to be £3.5k now for the 7210. I looked at many but as I have a small room I needed a short throw lens or the picture would be way bigger than my chimney breast. G

Posted on: 03 December 2006 by Fozz

Just realised I got the termninology wrong, short throw means bigger picture at short distance! grrr. anyhow you know what i mean.

Posted on: 04 December 2006 by Adrian F.

I second Allan! The Sony VPL-VW 50 alias Pearl is the one to beat, at his price range and quite a bit beond.

At the demo it had clearly the better blacks, better colors and more 3D like image (against the Mitsubishi HC5000, which is a bit "cheaper" and the first full-HD LCD). But it is important, that you'll have it calibrated by a dealer who knows. It made a big difference - bigger than most other beamers that I saw.

The SXRD panels do a wonderful filmlike picture without the artifacts most 1-chip DLP or LCD bring along. Both of this contenders take in 1080p at 60/50/24Hz. Especially the last is important for the coming HD formats, because you don't need the nasty pulldown anymore. 24 images from the movie-camera strait through to the screen

happy watching
Adrian

Posted on: 21 December 2006 by Frank Abela

blythe

If you look around you should find the SIM D30 available at knockdown prices. This would give you a fine projector for quite a lot under the original asking price which is a nice buffer against future developments.

Posted on: 21 December 2006 by Adrian F.

The king is dead, long live the king...

JVC is coming out with the DLA-HD1. It is rumored to be even better than the Pearl. Like Sony's SXRD, JVC's D-ILA is a LCOS based technology. But JVC has found options to to it physically better, without having to "cheat" with an adaptive iris and active gamma correction to get good contrast.

Keep an eye on www.cine4home.de, better and more in-deep tests than in most mag's and for free. When your german is not good enough, there is also an english www.cine4home.com, but it's always lagging behind because of the needed translations. No DLA-HD1 preview there yet, but the Pearl is there.

happy watching
Adrian

Posted on: 21 December 2006 by blythe

Thanks for all your input guys!
After much deliberation and viewing, I have decided to buy the SIM2 D35, which in my opinion, has the best picture and ticks all the right boxes. It won't be here in time for Christmas as I originally hoped, but I do hope to take delivery early in the new year

I'll try and let you know if I encounter any problems or discover any short comings!!