[ Hypnos Forum ]

Quote from: APK on December 06, 2013, 02:02:43 PM

The old law of diminishing returns.
That last 5% costs you 1,000% more.
And yet for most of the music people are recording it makes no significant difference at all.

Totally agreed. I have no problem with people paying for specialized or luxury goods that make them happy -- in that sense, they are "worth it" to them, even if we don't understand the value.

Where I have a problem is with gear that makes no audible difference, as proven in blind listening tests, when people argue even subsequent to this proof that the gear is better anyway. If it's better, it should at least be discernible in blind testing. Even if it IS discernible in blind testing, there's the question of whether the difference is worth the price.

I don't dispute that a web site selling projectors is less objective about the benefits of projectors, but as I said, everything in their "Why projectors?" article seems correct in my experience, comparing the projector picture to other LED and Plasma TVs that I have owned and seen elsewhere.

Honestly I haven't shopped or compared models carefully in a while, because the projector we have is still very good despite its age. The model I purchased has been updated many times, and this is the newest:

http://www.projectorpeople.com/Panasonic-PT-AE8000U/Projector/27643

It is around $2,000 with a rebate, so not very expensive compared to a larger TV.

The place where I bought my projector has a "why buy a projector?" page that covers most of this.

http://www.projectorpeople.com/resources/projectors-vs-TVs.asp

Of course, this place is trying to sell projectors, but I don't believe anything they say is unreasonable. They're hyping 3D, and I think 3D is mostly a gimmick, but they don't say anything dishonest about it.

The simple answer about the difference is that the technology in a projector is the same as with a panel TV -- it's just projected bigger, so you're looking at the same quality but larger. The human eye can't discern individual pixels in a 50" 1080p screen from across the room, so you can blow up the 1080p image much larger than that and actually gain discernible detail.

It's not "magic" of course -- black levels are harmed by ambient room light. Of course panel TVs have problems with reflections on the screen, though panel TVs have less of a problem with this kind of thing than projectors.

Front projection is definitely the highest quality picture in most respects. It's definitely not an obsolete technology (though admittedly our projector is an older model). Most of the serious home theater enthusiasts I know use front projectors, though many of them probably also have a more ordinary TV in their living room for comfortably watching football games or whatever. That's the one and only drawback to this -- it doesn't tolerate ambient room light. But if you have a room prepared for this (blackout curtains and so on), there is no better home theater experience.

Actually, I forgot a 2nd drawback - the lamps don't last forever, so every few years, you need to replace the lamp.

You can now get a good quality 1080p projector for under $2000. Right before I bought this, the suggested retail price was something crazy like $7,995, though I didn't pay anywhere near that much.

Everyone who sees a movie in our home theater is blown away by how good it looks, and how immersive the viewing experience is with such a big picture, even people with large and expensive 1080p panels at home.

If you project this on the wall (which is what I do) you can make the "screen" as large as you want, though it will be slightly less bright at larger sizes as the lamp's light is dispersed across a broader area. I had planned to purchase a projector screen for this, but was very pleasantly surprised at the great quality of the picture projected on an ordinary wall. Our screen area is something like 140" diagonally, maybe a little more.

Sorry to strike a future blow to your bank account man, but apparently they've discovered that “triple clocking” takes this box all the way to 100% perfection!

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/product-alerts-older-than-2-months/660708-antelope-eclipse-384-converter-2.html

This is our primary TV:



It's a Panasonic PT AE1000U projector. It's getting a bit old, but it was considered quite high-end when I bought it in 2007. Back then, 1080P projectors were brand new.

A front projector setup only works in a room where ambient light is controlled. Sunlight leaking around curtains really ruins it.

Nice gear.