Quick qestion about projectors

Fionn101

Well , I'm thinking of buying this projector

http://www.epson.com.au/products/home_and_office/emp30.asp,

but I don't see a scart socket , can I convert my scart socket to fit into this ???

and how much would a 2nd hand one cost ???

Thanks in advance , I'm worried about buying something that won't serve as a decent home entertainment unit that can take both tv , xbox and puter


Cheers

Fionn

Batbat

I bought a projector last week for gamecube movies and ps2 its by far the best gadget i have ever bought totally awesome

Batbat

btw mine did not have scart either, many of them dont hjave scart for some reason

Fionn101

so how do you connect up your dvd etc ?? or tv, this is my big question before I buy

Cheers

Fionn

robbie1876

No projectors have scarts that I know of. Traditionally, a projector will have, in order of descending quality:

1) Component video input, either via a VGA socket, or dedicated component video input sockets (3 of them)
2) RGB video input, using the same sockets as component
3) S-Video input
4) Composite video input

You should connect your DVD up using the best quality output available in the list above. The same is true of your PS2 etc. DVDs are recorded in a native component format, so that is the recommended way to hook them to your projector for best picture quality. Any other format means the DVD player has to convert the video format, resulting in a loss of quality, which varies depending on the DVD player.

How are you planning to mount the projector? If you are planning for it to be installed on the ceiling, you need to be absolutely sure of the cables you need in advance.

Matt Simis

For Sky I use a Scart RGB to SVideo convertor, there are various makes around, of differing quality levels. Basically the answer is to use a convertor or use native component cables as suggested.


Matt

Calibos

Panasonic AE300 and AE500 have consumer RGB scarts. Thats how all my gear is connected to my AE300 (Res 940x560) that I got from Komplett. I paid €2000 last year for it. The latest model AE500 (Res 1240x 780) is available at komplett for about €1600 now.

robbie1876

Fionn, it's worth having a good look at that new Panasonic that Calibos recommends. It will be very hard to beat that projector at that price.

Also, you are right of course Calibos! The Panny's do indeed have scarts on them. I've just never used the scart, always use the VGA or RCA inputs via an external video switcher, but using the scart would be a great way to get your equipment up and running without resorting to external video switching equipment.

By the way, if any of you projector types are interested, I've got an iScan Pro line doubler for sale over here

Fionn101

Thanks for all the info all, best start saving for the komplett deal

Matt Simis

Originally posted by robbie1876
Fionn, it's worth having a good look at that new Panasonic that Calibos recommends. It will be very hard to beat that projector at that price.


By the way, if any of you projector types are interested, I've got an iScan Pro line doubler for sale over here

www.nexnix.co.uk will sell you a Hitachi TX-100 for around EUR1550. From specs and (other) users experience, a better projector.


Matt

robbie1876

That Hitachi does look sweet! Personally, I would still go with the AE500, but thats only because I've never seen the Hitachi in action. Must look out for it though.

Matt Simis

Mind you, "theritz" over on AV Forums.co.uk gave it a scathing mini-review. Afaik, hes around here too. I should have one here tomorrow.


Matt

gorm

I have several Hitachi's at work and borrowed for home use. All were XGA, latest I used was X275, but recently I bought a panny Ae500 from Komplett for home use. It beats all the hitachi's for home use. Its quieter than all of them, so much so that when I used it for the first time my wife asked me to mute the hi-fi so she could hear the fan! Never had any problem hearing the fan in the Hitachis. The resolution in the ae500 is 1280 x 720, great for widescreen. To my eyes the colours are more vibrant. Downers? well it looks like a two year old model because of non-existant styling but hey, I'm looking at what's been projected rather than the projector. The price on Komplett btw is very conpetitive. I was quoted €2k + VAt throught my work contacts for one. Most UK sites seem to be 1200-1500 STG.

The Ritz

Matt,

Mind you, "theritz" over on AV Forums.co.uk gave it a scathing mini-review. Afaik, hes around here too.

I wouldn't call it a mini-review................. more like brief impressions of a demo !!!

This was my impression:

I had a demo of the Hitachi TX100 last week and was unimpressed - the level of Fixed Panel Noise and Vertical Banding was quite marked. I was disappointed, tbh, because I had gone to see it with the intention of buying one...... Without further information on whether a firmware upgrade can solve these artifact issues (unlikely as all D4 panel projectors other than the Epson TW500 seem afflicted with the same ailment) I would not be inclined to opt for it.

I thought that the Hitachi had a good punchy image (thought the red was a little on the strong side, but that could be calibrated out of it easily. I thought it's black levels were good and was impressed by the effect of the higher resolution - 1280x720 is certainly the ideal for widescreen, and I reckon that HiDef material at 720p would look droolsome on it................ some scaling artifacts were obvious, but that wouldn't be a deciding factor for me as I would run it from a HCPC at native resolution. I would really like to see one running from a pc before making a final decision on it, but certainly there would have to be some fix or tweak available for the VB......

The Epson TW200, Sanyo Z2, Panasonic AE500 and the Hitachi TX100 all use the same 1280x720 lcd panels made by Epson, and it appears that they all have Vertical Banding to one degree or another (for the uninitiated, Vertical Banding is an artifact which presents as unifom lines of bright/dark in light colured scenes, particularly obvious in panning shots of the sky etc.

Fixed Panel Noise is an artifact which makes the picture appear as though you're looking through a dirty window, also most obvious in panning shots. This can be attributed to signal noise and interference - I've seen FPN on a mate's projector in my movie room, yet I've seen none in his own set-up.... I once had pretty bad image problems which I tracked down to a dodgey Svideo cable, so the FPN is something which might be attributable to that.

Any of the four projectors named above would certainly knock the socks off most people - they produce vibrant contrasty images (the Sanyo Z2 is probably the least desirable - it has colour problems with a red push out of the box and is not particularly amenable to calibration). The Panny or the Hitachi would be super home cinema projectors at an accessible price.

All digital projectors can have image issues of one kind or another - LCD has FPN, Vertical Banding, Screendoor effect, DLP has Posterisation, dithering and colour breakup (often referred to as Rainbows).

The practical reality is that you can have a 7ft or 8 ft wide image that will knock your socks off - I've had a couple of Boardsters (as well as others) who've seen my setup and have had to pick their jaws up off the floor.............. and that's with a two year old Panasonic AE100 with 1500 hrs clocked up. It still makes me grin and once you've watched movies this way (or PS2'd or Xbox....), you'd never watch them on the telly again. For an upgrade I'm looking for an additional quality in the image for my set-up - I'm not sure it's available in my budget yet. the Infocus 4805 seems worth investigating but I haven't had the opportunity to see one yet.


I wish you great enjoyment with the Hitachi, Matt.............. there's nothing like a new toy on that scale !!!!!


The Ritzzzzzzzzzz.

Furp

Not sure if these are good deals or Projectors but Apple Irelands Online Store (The Mac+iPOD people) sell the

Epson EMP-TW10 Home Cinema Projector for Eur 1,290.01
Which includes a free 60"Screen & Minifridge

They Also sell the Epson EMP-S1H Projector for
Eur 1,390.00

And they also sell a Nobo High Gain Wall Screen for
Eur 199.00

They have some good prices on other products I have seen, maybe someone here know a bit more about these projectors and if that is a good price.

The Link to the store is

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irl.woa/90505/wo/Kq6rp4YGLMEH3uvUtlh1NDh1Lm7/6.3.0.6.10.3.8.1.13.0

The Ritz

The Epson TW10 would be a good starter projector, but the price on the Apple site is €1590............... CLick Here .

It's also available from Elara for €1434............... with free mini fridge and screen...........Click Here

The same projector is available from the UK for about €1000 - maybe allow another €50 for delivery. I guess with buying it from Apple's IE site you might feel more comfortable about warranty issues, but afaik Epsons warranty is pan-European so there shouldn't really be an issue - worth checking out though. Thhe other projector you mentions loooks like a data display projector to me and I wouldn't chose one of those for entertainment purposes when there are lots of reasonable priced home cinema oriented projectors around for much the same money.


The Ritzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Furp

I just rechecked the apple site by clicking on the link but had to go back, and through the side menu home entertainment, and the price there is shown again as €1290.01 including vat.

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irl.woa/90505/wo/YB7Hn68jEqJm3ZfpbJI2c1UZssk/1.3.0.6.10.3.6.1.13.0

Where did you get the 1590 price from, as i even checked the basket and it was €1290.01

Attached pic of price, is the website faulty?

The Ritz

I'm not hung up on the price issue - If you're on the Irish Store min page and you look down the left side of the screen you'll see a category called "Accesories" - at the bottom of that list "display" - click on that and you'll se ethe PJ listed for 1590 ro whatever - if it's cheaper elsewnere on the same site then that's fine............... If you were determined to get that projector, the difference in the price with the UK (about €200 ??) probably isn't worth the hassle - or may be it is...... I dunno............

Just an idle thought...................a further €250 or €300 would get you a Panasonic AE500 from Komplett, or a Hitachi TX100 form the UK........................... these would be far better projectors, higher resolution, newer models etc............. but the Epson you've linked to is no disgrace for the money.

The Ritzzzzzzzzzzz.

gorm

Originally posted by The Ritz


The practical reality is that you can have a 7ft or 8 ft wide image that will knock your socks off - I've had a couple of Boardsters (as well as others) who've seen my setup and have had to pick their jaws up off the floor......

Agreed. Since installing my system we use the projector to watch films and the kids fight over rights to use it for the PS2. This dispite having a widescreen 32" TV available. Watching the euro2004 footy with it and the simulated surround sound was serious...

lifebook

Harvey Norman have a 1500 lumen DLP for 900. Benq brand. Looks f**kin fantastic
kills my sont cx5 by miles

LookingFor

Sorry to bump a reasonably old thread...but seriously?? Harvey Norman has a 900 euro Benq DLP? You don't happen to know the model?

After a good little bit of research, I was pretty much set on the Hitachi TX100, but this deal would demand some attention

Flukey

I am thinking of possibly getting one for work. I teach computer courses so I often have to do demos of whatever I am teaching. I would need a cheap and portable one, as I don't have my own transport. I have seen this Sony one which seems to be a very new model Sony VPL- ES2 Komplett have it for €999 and its sister one Sony VPL - ES1 for €1049. That would be about my price range if I am going to get one. Opinions or recommendations please and any general tips on things to look out for etc.

Capt'n Midnight

Resolution on this looks a bit low for presentation usage - included for completness sake.

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20041216.p.Beamer

LIDL special €949 Targa DLP Beamer
* Ideal for presentation or simply viewing televised channels and DVDs
* The PD-28IOW is a modern 16:9 one chip DLP
* Projector for private and commercial use
* DLP: Digital Light Processing
* Many functions: Low noise level, New colour management, New adjustment opportunities, Top quality DVD signal, correction of wall colouring, 100:1 contrast, 1000 ANSI Lumen, 848 x 480 wide VGA resolution, PC/EC compatible
DLP Technology: Technology offers seceral potential advantages over LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). In particular,DLP projectors have a much higher pixel: fill factor' than transmissive LCD,DLP-based projectors are among th most popular and well thought of models available today.
DLP-based projectors are known for their better contrast ratios, better black levels, and smoother image.

capistrano

Fionn101 wrote:

so how do you connect up your dvd etc ?? or tv, this is my big question before I buy

PowerCity sell an adapter that converts SCART to both S-Video and Composite Video, as well as stereo sound outputs. It only costs about €3.95.

I'd recomment you connect the S-Video to the projector, unless your DVD has component outputs, in which case connect these to the projector with 3 RCA cables (the projector will probably come with a combined cable).

Ciaran500

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

100:1 contrast

100:1 contrast :eek: that is far to low for watching TV/DVD on. It also doesn't say how many colour wheels it has which probably means it doesn't have many, so rainbows and eye strain would be common for alot of people.

capistrano wrote:

PowerCity sell an adapter that converts SCART to both S-Video and Composite Video, as well as stereo sound outputs. It only costs about €3.95.

The way they work is they take a composite signal (the worst available) from the scart and output it through the svideo socket, which gives a terrible picture. It doesn't not convert a scart signal to svideo.

Flukey

I was in town today and went into a couple of the Sony shops. They hadn't got their VPL-ES2 in stock but they were able to quote a price which was €1500. This is for the same projector that Komplett have for €999. What do people know about Komplett?

Ciaran500

I was quoted €2500 for a TX100, I could get it for €1200 online, the AE200 (3 years old now) is €1800 in peats, the AE700 (2 months old) is €1700 online.

Its a joke, the sooner people cop on to online shopping, the sooner these rip off merchants go out of business/lower prices.

gorm

Flukey wrote:

I was in town today and went into a couple of the Sony shops. They hadn't got their VPL-ES2 in stock but they were able to quote a price which was €1500. This is for the same projector that Komplett have for €999. What do people know about Komplett?

Bought several items from them including a AE500E projector. I've had no problems, though there are threads on the boards where people have had delivery issues.

ZENER

I agree, I saved nearly 800 euro by buying from Komplett. I bought a Panny AE500. It was 2499 in Harvey Normans and 1680 in Komplet, thats some difference !!! On what I saved I bought a Sub and 84" Screen!! It makes me almost cry when I hear the sales patter to customers in these stores - people can be so stupid and naive. If the difference was less than a hundred quid I wouldn't have bothered getting it online (postage charges etc.) but how can they justify 800 quid of a difference !!!???

IMO the Panny AE500 or it's successor are the way to go. They have just about every connector or port going including - Component - SCART - SVideo - Composite - DVI - VGA, it's VERY quiet and has an excellent picture quality.

ZEN

Flukey

I saw some of those threads about the delivery problems. It would also be nice to see exactly what you are buying. The Sony shops did not have them there, so you could only get them on order. That is the worse thing about buying online or off a catalogue in a shop when the product is not in stock.