View Single Post
Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2006-05-03, 22:18

So, since this thread in AO has started to head off on a tangent about projectors (my fault actually), I'm starting this one over here.

Right now, in 1080p projectors, Sony has released the VPL VW100, which is a great projector, but still high priced. Optoma has announced the H81, which should be available in a few weeks. I believe projectordesign has something announced as well. I'm sure that BenQ and Sim2 have units coming down the pipeline, but no one else has said anything about 1080p front projection.

Also, there isn't any 1080p content, except for movie trailers from Apple, IIRC. HDDVD can handle 1080p, as can Blu-Ray, but the current Toshiba players still only output 1080i/720p at the most. Part of this has to do with there only being a handful of 1080p units out there, rear or front projection. Even most current 1080p rear projection televisions won't accept 1080p on any inputs! The only 1080p RP that does is the HP, I believe.

Fortunately, 720p is still *very* good, and a huge improvement over NTSC. I've decided for forget about 1080p, as I'll be getting an Optoma H79 in a few months. That decision may change as I get closer to the purchase date, but that one's the current forerunner. My only concern is that is doesn't have the lumens to power a large enough screen, since I'm currently looking at a 125" wide constant height setup for movies. Can you imagine Lord of the Rings on a screen that size!

On another HD note, the only way to get HD content right now is over the air and through the cable companies. Until the satellite providers stop compressing the hell out of their HD offerings, few home theater enthusiasts are even going to consider them. I'd like to go with DirecTV, but right now it looks like I'll get TWC just because of picture quality. Either way, it isn't a critical decision, since most TV I watch isn't in HD, and never will be.

So, I guess this is just an open thread on high definition, home theaters, television, whatever.
  quote