Home Projector for my apartment living room

[vinothbap]

I am staying in an east facing apartment. I was in thought of buying HDTV. But in a recent post here, I was introduced to the concept of using projector for home entertainment. I was inspired by the idea. My purpose is to watch black and white movies, animation movies and regular TV viewing. I am having a sony 5.1 home theatre. I have few questions,

1. Can i watch TV channels through projector?

2.My living room will be bright during day time ( east facing). what kind of set up i should have to use the projector during day time?

3. Is it a good idea to use projector as replacement for TV or it should be confined to use only for watching movies and sports during night/dark environment.

Experts please suggest. Thanks in advance.

 

[tuff]

Few questions first. How big is your room? How big a projection screen are you expecting? Approx budget? Will need to shell out more for a decent screen. Maybe curtains (black) on the windows. Source other than set top box. This will be helpful for members to suggest any model fit for you.

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[ItsMe]

1. Can i watch TV channels through projector?

2.My living room will be bright during day time ( east facing). what kind of set up i should have to use the projector during day time?

3. Is it a good idea to use projector as replacement for TV or it should be confined to use only for watching movies and sports during night/dark environment.

1, Yes you can, provided your PJ or AVR accepts inputs from a set top box
2, You will need thick curtains to make it dark for daytime watching + you will need a good screen
3, If you have a dedicated room, please go ahead with a projector instead of a TV. But since your plan is to use it in the living room, I will advise to go ahead with a TV instead of a projector. You need a dark room and a good screen for better experience, and hence it cannot be a replacement for your TV. However if you are so interested, you can use a projector as an additional means to watch movies/sports during night along with a TV for regular viewing.

 

[shredder]

I am staying in an east facing apartment. I was in thought of buying HDTV. But in a recent post here, I was introduced to the concept of using projector for home entertainment. I was inspired by the idea. My purpose is to watch black and white movies, animation movies and regular TV viewing. I am having a sony 5.1 home theatre. I have few questions,

1. Can i watch TV channels through projector?

2.My living room will be bright during day time ( east facing). what kind of set up i should have to use the projector during day time?

3. Is it a good idea to use projector as replacement for TV or it should be confined to use only for watching movies and sports during night/dark environment.

Experts please suggest. Thanks in advance.

Answer:

1. Yes, of course, you can watch TV channels through the projector. We are assuming that your projector and the source have all the standard connection ports like HDMI, composite, component, etc. All modern day projectors and set-top boxes should have them.

2. To use the projector during the day time, or when there is ambient light in the room, you need to be aware of two things. Depending on the amount of light in the room (please post a pic) you will need to either:
a. modify the room i.e paint the walls a darker colour, use blackout curtains, etc
b. get a good [= bright = expensive] projector
Or, depending on the amount of light in the room (of which you will have to post a pic if you want us to give concrete suggestions) you might have to do both.

3. The answer to this question is a matter of personal preference. It would depend on a number of factors, like the kind of channels you watch. If you watch NDTV then the big screen experience may be worth it because anchors like Nidhi Razdan are very pretty and deserve to be viewed on as big a screen as possible. But if you watch Republic news channel or (heaven forbid) TIMES NOW then you might want to consider as small a screen as possible since such channels only seem to show you images of angry people yelling at each other while having the temerity to call such cacophony a "debate" [= no eye candy and not worth it]. Imagine seeing a blown up imagine of General Bakshi frothing at the mouth while you are trying to eat (no disrespect to the gentleman whom I consider a fine soldier). Worse still, imagine looking into the maw of a yelling Na**ka while you are trying to unwind after a hard day's work.
BUT, here are some things to consider: Standard projectors use a lamp which has a lifetime of (depending on the model) about 3000 hours or more. If you want to use the projector for normal TV viewing, then you should keep this in mind. Replacement lamps can be sourced from the market, but there are a number of people who end up getting dud replacement lamps (they work but they are not as bright as the original, or they burn out within a matter of hours).
Because of these lamps, which are very high intensity, lamp based projectors can produce a lot of heat. Which will not be a problem if you are living in a place like Ladakh. But, if you are living in Ladakh, then I am guessing that the power supply will be quite erratic. Which brings us to the next point: The intense heat produced by the lamp also means that you need to follow the proper shut down procedure to prevent shortening the lamp's lifespan. Which means that you need to run your projector off some kind of power back-up device like a UPS or an inverter. Please factor this into your budget.
Lamp based projectors consume a LOT of electricity (on average 200 watts), which will inflate your power bills if you are going to use them for normal TV viewing.
Most of the disadvantages of lamp based projectors can be overcome by getting an LED based projector or a projector with a laser as light source. Please do note that LED projectors are not as bright as lamp based projectors. But most of them have a CLAIMED life-span of more than 20,000 hours. And they consume very little electricity.
Another problem with all projectors is placement. If you are going to use it regularly, then you are going to have to ceiling mount it, for which you would probably want to engage the services of a professional.
And... you are probably going to want to get a good quality screen which costs money.

If I were in your place, I'd just go and get a relatively cheap big screen TV. I'd save the projector for viewing movies and watching important matches.

 

[gainil]

Hi,

Recently got Egate P531, its an LED projector, so based on my experience -

1. Yes you can connect your HD set top box via HDMI (it also takes Standard connection though not sure how the quality would be ), watched IPL Matches, BBC Earth, Colors Channel, History TV18, all of them look wonderful


2. The above projector really doesn't require a very dark room, with lights on or open windows the picture becomes a bit washed out, but for me personally its ok, I am projecting it on a plain yellowish wall and the pic looks quite good, room is approx 10ftx10ft (distance from wall is around 7 feet, which give approx 6ft x 3ft image)

2a. Day time, just drawing a regular curtain works fine
2b. Night time, with one 10W LED Bulb, no issues
2c. Lights off, it looks awesome, yes even on a yellowish wall (I am yet to make permanent arrangement for screen and ceiling mount)


3. Considering the cost of this one, I would surely replace TV with this.

Just don't expect a clarity like HD TV, both are different technologies.

It takes approx 1 min 20-30 seconds to totally shutdown, so attaching to UPS/Inverter is a good idea.

Hope this helps.

 

[subbubusk]

I am staying in an east facing apartment. I was in thought of buying HDTV. But in a recent post here, I was introduced to the concept of using projector for home entertainment. I was inspired by the idea. My purpose is to watch black and white movies, animation movies and regular TV viewing. I am having a sony 5.1 home theatre. I have few questions,

1. Can i watch TV channels through projector?

2.My living room will be bright during day time ( east facing). what kind of set up i should have to use the projector during day time?

3. Is it a good idea to use projector as replacement for TV or it should be confined to use only for watching movies and sports during night/dark environment.

Experts please suggest. Thanks in advance.

Projector is mainly for movies. May be occasional cricket/football matches, some programs in tv . It is better to keep continuous watching hours for projector upto 3 - 4 hrs. Go for dlp projector which will be very good in dark room with theatre like experience. Living room also ok but it needs to be darkened with curtains for clear in depth view. dont go for cheap projectors. Try to source it from friends travelling us or buy directly from amazon.com it will be still cheaper than here. Acer 5380/5370 epson5310,550 benq all good. But needs to have 50k above budget when sourcing from abroad. Projecting on wall too good, but at least a pull down screen around 5k will do wonder in viewing exp.

 

[vinothbap]

Few questions first. How big is your room? How big a projection screen are you expecting? Approx budget? Will need to shell out more for a decent screen. Maybe curtains (black) on the windows. Source other than set top box. This will be helpful for members to suggest any model fit for you.

Sent from my SM-A910F using Tapatalk

My Living room size is 13.5 ' X 9 ' (will attach photos)

Projection screen size- 8' X 6'

Projector cost= (Based on the discussions here) 3000 lumens with Full HD can afford 50K (have to consider additional cost for projector screen and misc charges).

Other than set up box source: USB option for watching movies, Streaming from youtube.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vinothbap]

1, However if you are so interested, you can use a projector as an additional means to watch movies/sports during night along with a TV for regular viewing.

Yes bro, I am thinking to use like that. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[vinothbap]

Answer:

2. To use the projector during the day time, or when there is ambient light in the room, you need to be aware of two things. Depending on the amount of light in the room (please post a pic)
[/ATTACH]


3. The answer to this question is a matter of personal preference. It would depend on a number of factors, like the kind of channels you watch. If you watch NDTV then the big screen experience may be worth it because anchors like Nidhi Razdan are very pretty and deserve to be viewed on as big a screen as possible. But if you watch Republic news channel or (heaven forbid) TIMES NOW then you might want to consider as small a screen as possible since such channels only seem to show you images of angry people yelling at each other while having the temerity to call such cacophony a "debate" [= no eye candy and not worth it]. Imagine seeing a blown up imagine of General Bakshi frothing at the mouth while you are trying to eat (no disrespect to the gentleman whom I consider a fine soldier). Worse still, imagine looking into the maw of a yelling Na**ka while you are trying to unwind after a hard day's work.

hyeah:hyeah:



BUT, here are some things to consider: Standard projectors use a lamp which has a lifetime of (depending on the model) about 3000 hours or more. If you want to use the projector for normal TV viewing, then you should keep this in mind. Replacement lamps can be sourced from the market, but there are a number of people who end up getting dud replacement lamps (they work but they are not as bright as the original, or they burn out within a matter of hours).
Because of these lamps, which are very high intensity, lamp based projectors can produce a lot of heat. Which will not be a problem if you are living in a place like Ladakh. But, if you are living in Ladakh, then I am guessing that the power supply will be quite erratic. Which brings us to the next point: The intense heat produced by the lamp also means that you need to follow the proper shut down procedure to prevent shortening the lamp's lifespan. Which means that you need to run your projector off some kind of power back-up device like a UPS or an inverter. Please factor this into your budget.
Lamp based projectors consume a LOT of electricity (on average 200 watts), which will inflate your power bills if you are going to use them for normal TV viewing.
Most of the disadvantages of lamp based projectors can be overcome by getting an LED based projector or a projector with a laser as light source. Please do note that LED projectors are not as bright as lamp based projectors. But most of them have a CLAIMED life-span of more than 20,000 hours. And they consume very little electricity.
Another problem with all projectors is placement. If you are going to use it regularly, then you are going to have to ceiling mount it, for which you would probably want to engage the services of a professional.
And... you are probably going to want to get a good quality screen which costs money.

If I were in your place, I'd just go and get a relatively cheap big screen TV. I'd save the projector for viewing movies and watching important matches.

Thanks for the suggestion bro. Please see the pics of my apartment living room.

 

[vinothbap]

Hi,

Recently got Egate P531, its an LED projector, so based on my experience -

1. Yes you can connect your HD set top box via HDMI (it also takes Standard connection though not sure how the quality would be ), watched IPL Matches, BBC Earth, Colors Channel, History TV18, all of them look wonderful


2. The above projector really doesn't require a very dark room, with lights on or open windows the picture becomes a bit washed out, but for me personally its ok, I am projecting it on a plain yellowish wall and the pic looks quite good, room is approx 10ftx10ft (distance from wall is around 7 feet, which give approx 6ft x 3ft image)

2a. Day time, just drawing a regular curtain works fine
2b. Night time, with one 10W LED Bulb, no issues
2c. Lights off, it looks awesome, yes even on a yellowish wall (I am yet to make permanent arrangement for screen and ceiling mount)


3. Considering the cost of this one, I would surely replace TV with this.

Just don't expect a clarity like HD TV, both are different technologies.

It takes approx 1 min 20-30 seconds to totally shutdown, so attaching to UPS/Inverter is a good idea.

Hope this helps.

Thanks mate.:thumbsup:

 

[vinothbap]

Try to source it from friends travelling us or buy directly from amazon.com it will be still cheaper than here. Acer 5380/5370 epson5310,550 benq all good. But needs to have 50k above budget when sourcing from abroad. Projecting on wall too good, but at least a pull down screen around 5k will do wonder in viewing exp.

Considering to source from my friend in US. Thanks bro.

 

[tuff]

I hope you have an audio setup, as projector sounds are worse than most mobile phones.

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