we are putting in a home theatre, in our basement....?

Question

measuments aside, what are some opinions about hometheatres with tv's, or projectors....do projectors have good picture quality?

Answer 1

Being that this theater is going in a basement, I would suggest going with a DLP front projector. DLP currently offers the best possible picture for the least amount of money. A ceiling mounted projector in a basement with a drop ceiling makes the wires easy to hide and the fact that it's in a basement makes unwanted light almost a non-issue. DLP front projectors have every bit of the picture quality of flat panels without the worry of burn-in and the inevitable picture fade of plasma. The contrast ratio of DLP is far superior to either plasma or LCD and if you're worried about replacing a bulb in four or five years, remember that a flat panel LCD TV also is back-lit so you will be replacing a bulb in that TV as well...

If a front projector is out of the question, my second choice would be a DLP rear projection TV. These TVs use the same bulbs as LCD and front projectors and the viewing angle problems that these are known for have been greatly reduced. These are also the least expensive large-screen HD TVs available right now so if money IS an issue (as it is with most of us) this is where you want to go. Don't let the price fool you; these TVs are very durable and have a superior picture to both plasma and LCD.

A few problems I have with plasma: Despite what some may say, the gas inside the TV will eventually become inert, making the TV useless - it cannot be filled back up. While it may last 40,000 hours, the fact of the matter is that the gas has a half-life, which means the gas starts becoming inert the moment that the TV is manufactured. The picture will progressively become darker and darker until you have to turn the brightness up so high that all of the blacks are washed out, which leads to the other problem with plasma: It doesn't have very good contrast. The best you can ever get with a plasma is a dark gray.

A few things I don't like about LCD are: The "screen door effect.” The pixels are so far apart that you can see the spaces between them, making the screen look like you're looking at it through a screen door. Another problem is that LCD pixels are only switched once per cycle, making fast moving objects appear more blurry than they should.

DLP, on the other hand, has an excellent contrast ratio, giving it the best black level you can get. The pixels are so close together that they actually almost overlap, giving the picture a very soft, almost film-like quality. DLP pixels can switch on and off almost instantaneously, greatly reducing blurred images. They also have virtually no chance of screen burn-in making them very video game friendly.

Answer 2

There are a lot of good and bad answers here.
The real issue comes down to money.

All types of TV, LCD, Plasma, Rear-projection, Projectors are good and bad. Yes they all have the weaknesses and strengths in some degree as stated above.

An expensive projector with a good screen set up correctly can be stunning.

Plasma does have limited life

LCD's can be grainy.

Rear projection tv's can have a narrow field of view.

projectors can have narrow fields and short bulb life

don't rule any of these out, find out what fits your space, your budget the look at each type that fit's your criteria and pic the one you like the best.


at 1k is going to probably be a rear-projection or LCD

around 3k would be a high end rearproj. LCD or mid range plasma

at the 5k+ would be Plasma and this is the level where projection systems start to out pace others.

10k very definitely a projector and screen.

It all comes down to price. You get what you pay for.

Answer 3

(Lots of great answers here. Kudos guys. Let me add some more) The room is probably going to heat up with bodies more than the equipment, but local heating around your amp and projector can be a problem so plan on LOTS Of space around the equipment. You might also plan on some quiet fans with a filter to keep the equipment cool. You might want to hit AVS fourms and Home Theater Fourm for advice on dedicated HT rooms. There are issues you dont even know about yet, but could be solved if you know about things early on. Here are 2 examples: * Air Conditioning: One of the great things about a basement HT room is your sound isolation so like a movie theater, you dont have outside noises drifting in. However - once you get a nice, quiet room, the sound of air moving through the AC system becomes a constant noise during quite passages. Over-sized ducts or a baffle installed before the walls go up can solve this. * Room dimensions: 18x18 is horrible for sound because each X foot wall reflects some sounds better than others and with all 4 walls being the same size - you get a 4x increase for some sounds creating a boomy, un-natural sound. This can be solved by a heavy bookshelf bolted to a wall or pillars to break the wall into smaller sections. (Look at the movie theater the next time you go - there are pillars along the walls and they are NOT there for decoration.) * Seat locations: There are rules for where to place the seats in the room and a foot or two can make a big difference in the sound quality. Can I recommend something? Look on amazon for a book called "Sound Studio Construction on a Budget". It is a fairly easy read and contains formulas for sound studios and 2 dedicated home theater rooms. It will teach you what some of the acoustic issues are and simple ways to solve them. It's cheap to fix before you build, expensive afterwards.

Answer 4

If you are looking to build your own home theater system, you will want to get a LCD or Plasma TV depending on your budget. The only reason why I say this is that projectors can project 90" screens, but will not have the picture quality of a television, because projectors simply take the "images of the movies" and expand them to fit a large wall. Next, you have to mount a projector to the ceiling which will prevent you from putting other home entertainment systems up (stereo, gaming consoles etc...) without having to hide the wires. Also, DLP projectors say they project in 1080p. quality, but IT never looks like that, in my opinion. Yes, projectors might be cheaper, but it isn't worth it. All in all, get a LCD of Plasma TV for the REAL HD!

Good Luck!

Answer 5

There are some good, bad and plain wrong answers in here. I am an AV Professional (AMX Programmer and large system designer) so I would like to think I know a few things.
The long and the short of it is, there is no right answer. Every system has its advantages and disadvantages. But one thing is for sure, the more you time spend the better it will be. This may sound stupid but chosing the right gear can take months. My system only cost me $200 but it took me 12 months of searching high and low before I eventually pieced a few older pieces of gear (amps and speakers) to come up with a stereo system that can compete with many $4000 systems.
The best advice anyone could give you is...don't get railroaded by the sales dude. Go with what you actually like. Not what someone tells you to like.

Answer 6

A front projection system will have worse picture quality than a flat-screen tv of the same cost. However, the projection image will also be twice as wide. So it comes down to what your priorities are; size or image quality. Image quality will tend to be worse in most areas, contrast, resolution, brightness, pixelation. Even so, I love my projection system because it's wonderful to have the enormous picture like you get in a movie theatre. Actually, what's annoys me more than any issues with picture quality is the noise that the fan makes in my projector. The benefit is that the huge field-of-view is so much more immersive.

Answer 7

When designing a home theater try to select a room that has either no windows, or good shades to block out all external light. Projectors are a premium choice for home theaters, but they have their drawbacks. First, they require odd locations for mounting...like the ceiling or in a back wall or console. Second, to get a high quality picture from a projector you must spend enough money to get a HD (High Definition) projector. Plan on spending upwards of at least $2000.00 for a HD projector that has enough lumens (amount of light it can project) to be bright enough in your theater room. Projectors do not work as well as comparible TV's when they are in a room that has a lot of light coming into it. Also, if you do choose a projector, be sure to use a screen that is made out of material designed for HD projectors...there is a noticable difference that is worth the money!

If you decide to go with a TV, choose a flat panel TV. Choose either a LCD or a Plasma panel TV. Get on the internet and read up about all of the different points that go into defining a high quality picture. Decide which points matter to use most for your use and your price range. As with everything, the more features it has the higher the price. If ventilation to the theater will be an issue go with the LCD TV. The plasma TV's put off a significant amount of heat. Also, disregard advice from "friends" who say that plasma screens wear out in a few years. Today's technology offers us inexpensive plasma displays that give a good HD picture from a display that will last 40,000-60,000 hours. That's as good as many picture tubes from conventional TV's.

Last, stay away from rear-projection TV's. Their picture quality and fade-out around the edges makes them not good choices. Yes. They are cheap...but it's for a reason.

Answer 8

Yes, if you spend around $2000-$3000 you can get a projector for around 105 inches, and has pretty good clarity. If you want though, you can get a tv, but it won't get one as big in that price range. Don't get a projector like a zoombox.

Answer 9

You should get just a regular flat screen TV. Mount it p on the wall, bc projectors are not all that clear to see when you are far away.

Answer 10

With a good screen, you can get good quality HDTV video.

H a p p y
H o m e
T h e a t e r i n g !