Poll: Plasma or Front Projection for home theatre

[alexmst]

If you needed a new TV for your home entertainment system, would you go plasma HDTV or front projection on a screen?

I don't like LCD displays, so that isn't an option for this poll.

Say you had a budget limit of C$9,000 for the monitor/projector (so no saying a $40k unit made in Denmark is better - yes, it is, but stick to a $9k budget). Also, saying "I can get a Samsung for $1k on boxing week special at TVcity and it is not great but only costs $1K" isn't relevant - assume for the puropse of this that you are being given the unit for free up to a $9k ceiling by the ghost of Howard Hughes, so you don't need to save him money but are limited by the $9k ceiling he has imposed.

I'm mainly interested in the advantages/disadvantages of good quality Plasma vs good quality front projection. While you can suggest any brand/make up to $9k, here are two units from Pioneer, one plasma, one front projection.

Front Projection Pioneer Elite PRO-FP J1:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/PO...+&+Monitors/Elite+Projectors/ci.PRO-FPJ1.Kuro

Plasma 60" Pioneer Elite PRO-151FD:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.ca/PO...ma+TVs+&+Monitors/Elite+TVs/ci.PRO-151FD.Kuro

 

[tarkovsky]

I wasn't a believer in projectors until I went to a friend's place in which he had an awesome home theatre setup. He played some hd televsion for me as well as a blueray disk and I was floored. It was as good quality as any lcd/ plasma screen I have seen and he's got it covering the entire wall; so what was it- 200 inches plus??

The down side is it has to be completely dark to be effective so I think that's what you're going to have to decide. The size advantage versus having to watch in a dark room all the time.

 

[5hummer]

The down side is it has to be completely dark to be effective so I think that's what you're going to have to decide. The size advantage versus having to watch in a dark room all the time.

Agree. It really depends what the room is.
Then you can factor in display, speakers, etc.

 

[HOUND_DOG]

agreed 3. I have the Pioneer Plasma you listed. Love it, is the right choice for my size room. Went to see a friend, was blown away by his front projector. He quoted me much higher price for everything though. Assume maybe cost of building suitable room for the darkness.

So to sum up, size of screen needed, cost of room a factor in your decision.

 

[alexmst]

I wasn't a believer in projectors until I went to a friend's place in which he had an awesome home theatre setup. He played some hd televsion for me as well as a blueray disk and I was floored. It was as good quality as any lcd/ plasma screen I have seen and he's got it covering the entire wall; so what was it- 200 inches plus??

The down side is it has to be completely dark to be effective so I think that's what you're going to have to decide. The size advantage versus having to watch in a dark room all the time.

Yes, I see your point.

The room I use for TV viewing is 20ft x 20ft with 10 ft ceiling and has windows on the north wall. I currently have the Pioneer Pro-620 HD unit there (circa 2002) with a home theatre surround sound system. The new unit would be going in there - no seperate 'dark room'. If I went front projection I would get one of those electric lowering screens that rolls up and sits nearly flush with the ceiling when not in use and comes down to cover one wall when activated. Since I have the 10' ceiling, I would mount the projector on the ceiling. During daylight hours the room is not dark. There are curtains I can close on the windows, but they are not blackout type and a fair bit of soft northern light will come in the room even with the curtains drawn.

 

[LAS0023]

Check out some of the newer screens. You can watch them in daylight and still get a great picture.

 

[blackrock13]

You might also want to check out the life expectancy and price of the projector light bulbs. Their very expensive and have a short life. if you and your family/friends watch a lot of tele, the bulb can be history in two years. The colour wheels/guns can also be a problem. It's not just a matter of money, but also the fact that bulbs will always burn out at the worst time.

 

[kcal]

As for the debate as to which is the best LCD TV or best plasma right now, there's no doubt that the Pioneer Elite KURO PRO-151FD 60" Plasma TV is the best right now compared to other brands. It has a very high expert rating of 90 which is tops among the plasmas.

 

[Garrett]

I prefer front projection by a huge margin. Screen size does matter. It is much easier to manage from a room aesthetics point of view. If you ever need to repair, much easier to ship and manage a projector than a huge plasma display. As for the bulbs, they are expensive but I believe they have a much better degradation curve than plasma. When I last looked, brightness degradation on plasma was pretty significant.

 

[tboy]

Check out some of the newer screens. You can watch them in daylight and still get a great picture.

Not with front projection. The room has to be at least twilight or sunset dark. Any brightness in the room and the image will be ghostly.

Sorry, I was never a fan of front projection except for business or trade show use. I have yet to see one produce a quality image in a normally lit room. Their ONLY advantage is size and I'd rather have a normal sized screen with an amazing picture than a BIG mediocre one....

Just curious: what's your beef with LCD????

Edit: Since Kuros are being discontinued you'd better make up your mind soon or you might not get one.......

The big disadvantage plasma has over projection is the energy consumption. A 60" plasma will suck up a lot more electricity than a projector.....

 

[tboy]

I prefer front projection by a huge margin. Screen size does matter. It is much easier to manage from a room aesthetics point of view. If you ever need to repair, much easier to ship and manage a projector than a huge plasma display. As for the bulbs, they are expensive but I believe they have a much better degradation curve than plasma. When I last looked, brightness degradation on plasma was pretty significant.

You don't know what you're talking about. For the past 10 yrs plasmas have had an average lifespan of 60,000 hrs. That's about 20 yrs of normal watching. Rear or Front projection bulbs have what, 3 yrs 5 yrs? and yeah, they're costly to replace.

Sorry, anyone who says size is more important over quality shouldn't even bother with HD.

 

[Mister K]

If you give me $18,000 I will happily conduct a 90 day side-by-side trial for you and provide a professional report detailing all the pros and cons of both units along with a buy recommendation that you can take to the bank!

LMFAO

 

[onthebottom]

I just outfitted a home theater in my basement. When I bought the house it had a 119" screen and was wired for surround speakers. There was also a media closet in the back of the room.

I bought a Sony 1080p projector (less than 4k) and a replacement screen (250). Picture is fantastic.

I think the two deciding factors will be: how big is your room (thus how big a screen do you want) and how much light control do you have.

I have complete light control - I watched the weekend football games with the lights on but with a dark movie I dim the lights quite a bit. If you don't have good light control I'd consider a more expensive screen with a higher gain AND a very bright projector.

My room is about 12' wide and 20' long, I have two couches set up in the room and the 119" screen is a fantastic size. If you don't want a screen much larger than the 60" plasma screen then buy the plasma, if you're looking for something over 80" then go projector.

I bought all my stuff at: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ fantastic prices and customer service, and they have the best camera store I've ever been in.....

I'm assuming if you're spending this kind of money you're buying a surround sound system. I would also suggest a PS3 as the DVD/BR player (also, games on the above systems will be fantastic)

Have fun.

OTB

 

[blackrock13]

If you give me $18,000 I will happily conduct a 90 day side-by-side trial for you and provide a professional report detailing all the pros and cons of both units along with a buy recommendation that you can take to the bank!

LMFAO

I'll do it for only 10 G's, being in the Xmas mood and all.

 

[thewheelman]

Theater released movies have a much lower light output than TV viewing, because they are shown in a light controlled environment. If you are a movie buff, then you will need to resolve your lighting issues or you will be forced to use a brighter setting on the projector. Using the brighter settings on the projector will reduce the quality of the picture. In movie mode your projector will put out generally 400-600 lumens...even though the projector may be rated for 1500 lumens.

If you are a sports buff, the lighting issue is not so much a problem as the picture is much brighter, and you can use a brighter setting on the projector.

For 9K you could have both a drop down screen/ front projector, and a good plasma/lcd

 

[Kilgore Trout]

For some reason the market at street level has turned against plasmas in past year. Probably because prices have come down a lot quicker on LCD's relative to plasma.

I was reading a report back in the summer that said in the U.S. for 2009 LCD's are expected to outsell plasmas by a ratio of 5: 1 or 6:1.
Ratio was a lot closer in 2007 and 2008 and some manufacturers have stopped making plasmas alltogether.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/163954/plasma_sales_slip_in_early_2009.html

 

[blaze69]

new LEDs are better than plasma's? LED last longer and images don't get 'burned' into the screen.

 

[Anynym]

Yes, I see your point.

The room I use for TV viewing is 20ft x 20ft with 10 ft ceiling and has windows on the north wall. I currently have the Pioneer Pro-620 HD unit there (circa 2002) with a home theatre surround sound system. The new unit would be going in there - no seperate 'dark room'. If I went front projection I would get one of those electric lowering screens that rolls up and sits nearly flush with the ceiling when not in use and comes down to cover one wall when activated. Since I have the 10' ceiling, I would mount the projector on the ceiling. During daylight hours the room is not dark. There are curtains I can close on the windows, but they are not blackout type and a fair bit of soft northern light will come in the room even with the curtains drawn.

Hmm.

Which direction do your studs run in that part of the ceiling? If you don't have studs running through it, you could open the ceiling above where you want the projection screen mounted, and have it flush with the ceiling when not in use. (You might even be able to place a center speaker in the ceiling.)

But you've only touched on a few of the more important questions: how much light and glare will you have to deal with when you're in the room to enjoy the system? If you have a lot of ambient light to deal with you'd need a stronger bulb in the projector and you'll lose some of the blacks in the images (contrast ratios suffer). If you have a lot of glare, you may have annoying images reflecting off a plasma screen.

With a 10-foot ceiling, how low would the screen sit when lowered? How high up do viewers have to look to watch the show? You might want to mark off the screen area on a wall (e.g. removable painters tape), and sit in a chair for an hour to see how comfortable that is. And how bright is the ceiling? If the picture is against the ceiling, how much light will reflect off of it and strain your eyes?

Your room acoustics should define where your speakers are placed, and in turn where your screen needs to be located. You've already indicated that you plan to put the screen flush along a wall. If you had wanted to put it in a corner, that too would play into the choice between projector and plasma.

Have you checked out these sites:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/home.cfm
http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/

 

[Kenwoody]

There are always factors that you have to consider:
-is this your primary TV? If yes then the plasma would be your best bet.
- is there a lot of light from outside? If so plasma is the way to go, but not by much cause of the highly reflective glass screens.
- wiring projectors can be costly since most of your equipment will be some distance away from the projector in most cases.

My question. How is the fan noise in today's projectors??

Fact: Plasmas still offer superior pictures to LCD's and always will. LED's are closer to the quality of Plasmas but are quite expensive right now. The reason there is so much contradictory chatter about this is cause 25 manufacturers make LCD's and 3 make Plasma because of the costs. Remember Beta was better then VHS, but the VHS contingent had better marketing.

My advice is to buy whatever you want, but don't break the bank. Because in 4 years you will want an OLED.

 

[chuckparker]

I have both. In my bedroom I have a Samsung 42" plasma and the picture is perfect. Doesn't matter how much light is in the room the picture is stunning. I have the Bell Expressview as a signal on both units.

In my " tv room " which still has above ground windows I have a Toshiba ET1 projector shooting onto a 106 " Da-Lite screen. The projector shoots out 1080i and looks pretty good at night with all the lights in the house out. I would say it is only about 80% - 85% as good a picture as the Plasma but it is almost 3 times the size. Keep in mind that I have ahad the projector for 5 years now and it was under $2000 when I bought it. Replacement bulbs are $ 300 and I am on my second bulb, I think I got about 3500 hours out of the first one.

I am sure if you bought a better projector your picture would be better but the outside light will always be an issue.


feel free to PM me if you have any questions