Projector - DLP or LCD; 4K or 1080P

[wittaj]

So my trusty projector died after 20 years, so I have been out of the game for a long time on that tech. It was a great unit and did 1080 and would still be using it if it didn't die.

So doing the research now and lurking in a few AV forums and wow, I feel like the NOOBs that come here and get deer in headlights look trying to research this.

One poster says DLP is better and is more quiet and better blacks, and the next person says LCD is better and more quiet and better blacks. So which is it?

Then I find out that the projectors 20 year later are still just 1080p.

The 4K that are out there (unless you spend obscene amounts of money) are not true 4K and do pixel shifting to mimic 4K. LCD pixel shifts twice while DLP pixel shifts 4 times from what I have gathered. They have a 1080 chip and I guess the thing oscillates around to fill a 4K worth of display and our minds put it together as one image.

So I wanted to see if anyone here uses a projector for that big screen image and if so, what do you have and why?

The costs have come down a lot over 20 years and I could pick up a 1080p at a decent price. The Faux 4K are double and it is worth it? And then DLP or LCD?

 

[Old Timer]

I ended up getting a LED 1090.
The price was right, and I can haul it around for presentations and not have to worry as much for breakage.

 

[user8963]

nice that you ask... i found a video which may answer your questions a few days ago...




any led model i saw was too dim for me.
i would take a look into laser projectors, there are models which are really bright...

but yes there are many decisions to be made... depends on what you are willing to pay as always
normal/short/ultra short distance
LED/LAMP/Laser
LCD/DLP
4K / 1080P
....................

 

[wittaj]

I hear he knows his cams, so maybe he knows projectors too

I wonder if reolink makes a projector

 

[Ace844]

My $0.01

For UST
The budget choice JMGO u2 fixed at 100in RGB tri-laser with full BT.2020 coverage
The middle of the road: The new VAVA Chroma also triple RGB laser engine with ALPD 4.0 on top to help the contrast
The high end is tied between the Hisense 120L9G and the Samsung LSP9T choice depending on needs for your environment and personal preference on specs and features.

traditional long throw has a number of good options if you want a great laser engine the HU/AU810P is a great choice.

Like security cams the road is littered with personal subjective preferences, objective spec performance differences, and marketing schtick. YMMV

 

[bp2008]

I've been using projectors since about 2004, and personally only ever owned DLP models. Though I have seen LCD models too and I would have trouble telling them apart from DLP without testing specifically for it.

Some years ago my dad got a 4K DLP model from Optoma. It is one of those that actually only has half-4K resolution and does pixel shifting, but it could have fooled me. A 4K Windows desktop looks absolutely fine, as if it was native 4K. That said, at a reasonable viewing distance, 4K vs 1080p does not matter for most video content. So unless you use the projector as a PC display, you probably won't miss anything if you stick with 1080p. Any recent 1080p model can downscale a 4K input so you can still benefit from the better quality encode.

Just last year I decided to put a projector in my bedroom and chose Optoma HZ39HDR. It is 1080p 120hz and uses a very bright laser light source. Fan noise is pretty much equivalent to every other home theater projector I've had. It is too bright for a 100 inch screen. I was kind of unhappy with its picture until I moved to a bigger house and upgraded to a 150 inch screen, and now it doesn't have nearly as bad of bloom around high-contrast text (like subtitles). The projector only has a 1080p DLP chip but I have no complaints about detail or sharpness even on this 150 inch screen because I use a reasonable viewing distance. The only real issue I have with it now is that the projector doesn't notice when the source changes from SDR to HDR, so it doesn't change modes and the image looks bad. I have to push the re-sync button on the remote to fix it.

We also got a 77" OLED TV from LG this year, and in terms of HDR performance it makes projectors look like a joke. With consumer projectors, the most you can hope for is that they render HDR correctly so it doesn't look worse than SDR.

 

[user8963]

We also got a 77" OLED TV from LG this year, and in terms of HDR performance it makes projectors look like a joke.

^^++++1

yeah... any high end TV will blow a projector away.
if you are going to a real cinema after watching too many movies on tv/projector .... in my opinion even cinema is a joke. dark and no sharpness at all. there are some cinemas who owns new projectors which have better resolution on screen, but not as good as any tv.

 

[bp2008]

Yup. Some TVs are even ahead of computer monitors now in terms of backlighting technology, with mini-LEDs for local dimming. To my knowledge, nobody has built a projector with anything resembling local dimming. It wasn't that long ago (20-25 years) that computer monitors had vastly superior image quality compared to TVs. And now TVs have surpassed just about everything. Maybe not surpassed a high-end phone yet though.

 

[ljw2k]

I use to own the LG 65" OLED but always worried about screenburn and leaving static images on the TV for an extended period of time so changed to a 9 series Philips Ambilight with a Mva screen which produces deep blacks and rich colours and a 10 bit panel. I have owned many PJ's in my time and always found Optoma 1080 DLP excellent for the price.

Of course you would need a good sund system to suit the Large screen so make sure you have a good bank balance.

Here was my set up till last month until I sold it all and purchased a Samsung 5.1.4 soundbar which TBH I am more than happy with. If I was looking at a large screen setup now I would go Epson EH-LS1200B 4k laser or the Optoma UHZ65UST combined with a ARL screen.



I did a little window display a few years ago with my Old Optoma projector and a cheap £5 Shower screen ( Rear Projection ) which looked fantastic from outside and I extended it to the side bay windows a year later.

 

[wittaj]

Dang @ljw2k - you got all the cool toys!

Speaking of cool toys LOL, I watched that video up above by our fave reolink reviewer and he shows clips of his house - the YouTube thing must pay very well!!!

A table that a motorized screen comes up out of for a short throw projector is not cheap lol.

 

[ljw2k]

Dang @ljw2k - you got all the cool toys!

Speaking of cool toys LOL, I watched that video up above by our fave reolink reviewer and he shows clips of his house - the YouTube thing must pay very well!!!

A table that a motorized screen comes up out of for a short throw projector is not cheap lol.

They are now Old toys and expect to pay as much for the screen as you do for the PJ . When I purchased our new house I had the loft converted to a Home Cinema room but now filled with junk & boxes.

The WOW you get from seeing a large screen is an addiction and will soon empty your savings for sureif you want to keep up with the latest gear.

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, I am already there LOL with the large screen going on 20 years, but the projector died, thus the need to find a replacement. And I am shocked that 1080 is still the thing. I have taken this thing apart to see if there is anything that can be fixed LOL because it seems kinda dumb to buy another 1080 projector, but I guess that is where the market it at.

Back then, when my friends bragged about their 50 inch plasma they just bought, I would say "Oh how cute, you measure yours in inches."

And of course then watching the cams on that big screen lol.

 

[gansle]

I just replaced my Epson 6020 pro which i had for 7 years with a new Epson 4010 lcd projector, paid $1700 on crutchfield. It is 1080p with 4k pixel shift. I love it. It is crystal clear on bluray discs and even on netflix 4k firestick. I have a 120” fixed screen.

 

[bp2008]

Nice theater. A bit small but damn is it ever nicer than any I have had.

 

[wittaj]

@gansle - nice setup!

That is one of the projectors I have on my list. From what I saw, it doesn't offer horizontal or vertical shift?

Mine is in my basement and the ceilings are low, so I mounted my previous projector pretty much touching the ceiling (drop ceiling with the mount coming through it - was tough to do LOL), and then I want the top of the image basically within an inch or so of the ceiling.

Your screen looks fairly tight to the ceiling. It looks like not a lot of clearance between the ceiling and your projector? What is that maybe 2 inches?

 

[bp2008]

Digital keystone correction sucks. Best to get a PJ with at least vertical lens shift I think @wittaj. projectorcentral has calculators for that sort of thing. I just don't know how accurate they are for all models.

 

[gansle]

About 2” from ceiling. This model has horizontal/ vertical shift and is motorized from remote.

 

[wittaj]

Yeah, I said vertical lens shift LOL. I am not a fan of keystone correction.

 

[wittaj]

Sweet - the write-up I saw on it said no H or V shift and I thought that was kinda odd.

 

[gansle]

I paid $2700 for my original 6020ub pro 8 years ago. This was $1700 in Jan. My brother in law has a epson 1080p he paid i think $800 and it is junk compared to this projector. Colors terrible and not bright enough. I still cant believe how killer netflix looks!