I have an Optoma HD65 projector that I use as my main screen. My couch is about 10-12’ away (probably too close…but the geography of my basement limits the options.)
The image as projected is 100" diagonal and I have a ceiling mount. This projector is 720p. If I were to upgrade to a 1080p, would there be a noticeable difference?
I guess it would also depend on throw ratio of the putative new projector.
The other issue is source material - thus far the only Blu Ray I have is on my laptop which isn’t practical. I have an XBox 360 which can do 1080p, but the cable box is only 720p or 1080i (I believe the latter?)
BTW for those who are considering a set-up like this, I heartily recommend it. The image is great quality - I have a 1/8" 4x8 sheet of birch, painted with Black Widow PFG (google it).
Here is a handy chart for HD viewing distances. According to the chart, on a 100" screen 1080p will start to make a difference at 20’. So at 12’ I would think you should definitely be able to see a difference.
But yeah, the projector quality and the source image are very important. If you’re not going to be watching blu-rays or maybe streaming a 1080p image, then I’m not sure it would be worth it. Though if the new projector also has a higher lumen output too, then maybe it would be. I’m not a gamer, so I can’t comment on whether it would be better for that.
Thank you Tangent - that is exactly the type of info I need to help justify the expense of a 1080p projector.
This will require a lot of comparison shopping though - there’s a bewildering array of them out there at widely differing price points. I got this one for free from a friend who was leaving the country so I’m a bit spoiled on price!
@Fluffybob: we looked at various options, and the birch was the cheapest, smoothest one we could find at the lumber yard. We might try stretched canvas to see if it’s better, or paint the screen directly on the drywall even.
I don’t see this thread at all in Google results - I’d be surprised if it got indexed that quickly. Could be Google “helpfully” personalizing the results for you, and since you’d previously visited this thread it shows up - for you.
What your cable box outputs is something worthwhile to know. If your cable box has “pass thru” wheras it outputs whatever signal it gets, that’s what you want to set it at. With your present setup watching a 1080i channel wouldn’t be so bad because it has to be converted to 720P anyway, but if you’re watching a 720p channel the box converts it to 1080i and then your projector converts it back to 720P. New comcast boxes for example have pass through, but I find it somewhat finicky for my setup. If I’m watching a 1080i channel and switch to a 720p channel the box won’t switch the output on the fly, I have to unplug the cable and let it resync in order to have the output switched. If Comcast doesn’t fix this with the next update I’m going to get an “A-B” switch to because I’m worried about eventually breaking the HDMI connector.
It depends on what distance you can see the pixels at, IMO. I sit 11’ from my HD-65 at 100" and I cannot see the pixels. My friend with an HD20 had his couch about the same distance and the screen is the same size. I can’t tell a difference in image quality. I can, however, see the pixels a lot quicker as I approach the screen on mine than I can on his.
That’s not to say there’s not a difference in the pictures of the 2 though. We both have completely blacked out rooms and his image is quite a bit brighter. I assume it puts out more light, but calibration also probably has something to do with it.
With that said, I don’t think you would be happy with the upgrade from just an image standpoint. If you need more features like more than 1 HDMI input or you want to do a constant image height setup, you might find upgrading the projector to be useful. I plan to see how long my bulb lasts and then I’ll compare the cost of a new bulb vs. the cost of a new projector and make a decision at that point. I don’t know if you’re interested, but there’s a firmware update you can download for the HD65 that allows for 120hz and 3d.
Have you checked the settings? (press menu when the box is off)
Maybe something in there is messed up.
Sadly, mine’s old and doesn’t do pass thru at all, so to change resolutions I have to go in there and change manually. Can’t do it at all if the DVR is recording two shows and I want to watch a third… Not to mention while it’s easy to figure out what resolution Fox, NBC, etc use by tuning in directly on the TV’s tuner, I have no clue what to set the thing for to watch shows on, say BBCA or AMC.