Projector

07-19-09: Mantaraydesign
How about saving some money on the screen by using a white bed sheet and glue the sheet to the wall. Next, go to home depot and buy some cheap wood to make the frame around the white sheet. Last, paint the wood frame to black.

Estimating cost: $30.00

I agree with what you say, except your efforts should be more rewarded if you pay the extra money (about $5/sq ft) for real projector screen material.

For example, here is a screen material page from an AV supplier.

I believe you can also get rolls of projector screen material on eBay for even less (like $30 to do the entire screen).

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DB,.........he is well in the range of a projector that will throw an image that big. I have a projector that I paid only $1,200 new and it throws a beautiful high definition picture. It throws a 240 inch diagonal picture in 4:3 aspect ratio for television and a 220 inch diagonal picture in Blu Ray. It is very bright at 3,000 lumens. But, the room has to be theater dark.

I have 73 inch Mitsubishi 1080p television. It has a beautiful picture. Still, it is no contest with my projector and screen for sheer movie enjoyment. When Shaq comes to LA at the Staples Center to play the Lakers, he's only 7 ft tall in person if I'm lucky enough to be sitting courtside. At home on my screen, Shaq is 12 feet tall in high definition and I'm courtside for every game at home. You won't get that effect on a 73 inch screen television.

If OP does his homework, he can get there.

I believe ProjectorPeople allow you to return the projector if you don't like it. Projector Central has the specs for every projector and screen known to man.

If OP does his homework, he can get there.

Big is where its at. Why do you think televisions sets have gotten bigger over the last 25 years? I remember when a 25 inch set was all the rage.....then, 32 inches, then 40 inches. The televisisons got bigger because people want it bigger.

Go big young man.
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InFocus offers a 1080p projector, the X10, which is the current price leader in 1080p projectors. Reviews generally say that although its black levels aren't as good as the more expensive ones, it's nevertheless an excellent projector for the money and actually beats many more expensive competitors on color accuracy (esp skin tone) and shadow detail.

If you google for reviews on this unit, you will find some pretty comprehensive evaluations, including high-res demo screen captures. Example.

At about $1200, currently that InFocus X10 is about half the price of the next 16:9 1080p HDMI-connectable projector.

I was using an older InFocus projector with a 480p DVD player for a while. The image was very good - and HUGE. When the bulb died (and we determined it was not cost effective to replace the bulb on this unit), the projector vs flat screen debate arose. I was personally for the projector, but the flat screen won out for a number of reasons - mainly we could install a flat screen much easier in the the desired location than a projection set up (prior projector had been in the bedroom).

The biggest difference I notice is black levels. With a high quality LCD or Plasma display and a Blu-Ray source the shadow detail is much better than the projectors I've seen. Now I haven't seen the $4-5k projectors, so I can't say all projectors are inferior in this area.

That said, I wound up with a 47" LCD display. It was all my budget would allow. The display is wonderful - top notch quality, amazing image, etc. But I've already decided I'll go bigger once the funds allow. Projector or 60" flat panel will be decided based on what's available at that time.