A 4k projector matching a 4k TV
Posted by: Consciousmess on 14 October 2017
This is a question no review has revealed.
Would it need to be a very expensive projector I.e. £8000 up? Or is it not possible?
Like others here, I have a 4k TV but that’s on a bare wall 6m x 2.5m. I look at the TV and imagine the screen 4 times the size or more.
I have awesome Naim sound now in a room suited for stereo and AV. It’s only worth dreaming if its eventually possible- hence the question!
Save cost and hassle and the need for a darkened room - sit a quarter of the distance from the TV!
I have a screen with a display area of 3.6m x 1.6m: i.ee a 155" screen. Projecting HD gives a very watchable image - undoubtedly 4k would be sharper, but I suspect that watching good films the improved sharpness would not improve enjoyment of the movie, so is a nice to have, but not pressing need. (In my case, viewing distance is anout 3.7m - sharpness would obviously be more significant with a smaller ratio of viewing distance to screen size)
Personally I think 4k is not worth the extra cost at present - for TVs or projectors - if only because there isn't sufficient source material available to justify the cost. No point in being an early adopter with little to watch on it, especially while prices are still falling quite steeply. Given that I expect a TV or projector to last 10 years or more before considering replacement, If I were buying for the first time or had to replace a TV now I would consider a 4k if i could afford it (depends on size - but then, with a projector for film viewing I am not interested in the largest sizes of TVs), simply because I am sure it will not be many years before more content is available. But a 4k projector is so much more expensive while HD ones quite inexpensive, i would be tempted to go for HD now and accept that I may change to 4K still within the life of the projector.
Regarding screen, you can get much more expensive ones, but I found a very good deal on the big river site, motorised, fully opaque so it doubles as a blind over a large picture window, and cost no more than I was quoted locally for a manual nlackout blind to fit the window!
Great advice Innocent Bystander. I think I agree to your wisdom.
I am mistaken. If one has a budget of £3k, there is a well rated 4k fixed screen up to 200” diagonally and a well rated 4k projector.
Im just awaiting for a Naim user to post about their use of 4k projectors!
Personally (and for now I’m comparing HD rather thank 4K) I think there is a head vs heart equation between projector and fixed screen.
Technically the plasma gives a better picture, however at 55” it’s not a patch on the immersive feeling of the 100”+ of the projector. I not even sure that sitting closer to a screeen gives the same feeling - the backlit nature of a LCD / OLED is very different from the front lit / reflective nature of a projector in a darkened room (caveat I’ve never seen a massive LCD / OLED).
Given the cost of 100” LCD screens (Panasonic 98” is £38k) ... I’ll be sticking with a projector.
I watched a few minutes of Planet Earth 2 in 4K on a projector screen at Signals a few weeks ago. I've no idea of the cost of that projector, but that blew every other TV image out of the water. Stunning, and so relaxing to watch.
Early adopter? Lol. How long has 4K been around now? We bought our first 4K telly over 18 months ago.
Tony Lockhart posted:Early adopter? Lol. How long has 4K been around now? We bought our first 4K telly over 18 months ago.
How much content is there for 4K now? i confess to not having looked specifically recently, but 2 years ago it was paltry. I had heard BBC were doing trials, so I just looked and apparently as a demo you can view 4 minutes(!) of Planet Earth. I'm under the impression that the proportion of 4k films on Netflix is still small (different, I suppose, if anyone is into watching their large number of series), while blu-ray 4k discs are still expensive.
My personal view is that Someone buying 18 months or more ago, as you say you did, was indeed an early adopter (and that is not a criticism!). Maybe not so much anyone buying now, though the prices appear still to be on the very steep downward part of the curve. As I said, if I had to buy now I would indeed consider 4k, but otherwise I would wait a bit longer.
I cannot see 4k being a fad and the industry reverting back to HD, at all. Unlike 3D TV.
I foresee 8k and 16k in the future, especially with fibre optics, but that doesn’t detract from the quality 4k presently has. I have a 60” 4k and the difference is there, certainly.