great 720p vs an good 1080p projector

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by ditch-digger

i went for the hd20 (one of the many sub 1k 1080p's out) WOW was i not impressed.

What exactly was it about the HD20 that you didn't like? I have one and I think it's fantastic. I have never had a projector before so I have no comparison between 720P and 1080P but I was just curious what your impressions were

[ditch-digger]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

What exactly was it about the HD20 that you didn't like? I have one and I think it's fantastic. I have never had a projector before so I have no comparison between 720P and 1080P but I was just curious what your impressions were

to be honest just was not as good a pic as i thought it would be (i was pretty stunned that the 720 to 1080 diff was not greater) then i tried the 6100 and it gave me a sharper/crisper image that provided the same quality image as my 42" lcd 1080p tv but at monster size.. if that helps any..

basically the hd20 gave me a big dlp/crt image

the 6100 took my 42" lcd and gave it roids...

[Hoser59]

Originally Posted by ditch-digger

to be honest just was not as good a pic as i thought it would be (i was pretty stunned that the 720 to 1080 diff was not greater) then i tried the 6100 and it gave me a sharper/crisper image that provided the same quality image as my 42" lcd 1080p tv but at monster size.. if that helps any..

basically the hd20 gave me a big dlp/crt image

the 6100 took my 42" lcd and gave it roids...

It might just be my inexperience with projectors but I was floored that my 92" screen now looks like a giant LCD and everyone who has seen it agrees. Ignorance is bliss in my case though, I'm sure the 6100 or equivalent would outdo my HD20.

[ditch-digger]

Originally Posted by Hoser59

It might just be my inexperience with projectors but I was floored that my 92" screen now looks like a giant LCD and everyone who has seen it agrees. Ignorance is bliss in my case though, I'm sure the 6100 or equivalent would outdo my HD20.

as long as your happy, thats all that matters... opinions are like.....you get it...

[Nathan Arizona]

I don't own a 1080p, but I can tell you about my experience with my 720p.

I bought the EPSON Powerlite 720 over a year ago and for the most part I have been very happy with it. This fit my budget of less than $1000 at the time -- it came with a mail in rebate of $100 and a free bulb ($250.00 value), so the buy was even better.

I researched it and it rated very high with great black values.

This being my first projector and first blu ray player I was very impressed with it; however, about 6 month after buying I became far more critical.

Firstly, I sit rather close to the 100” screen, about 8 feet away and yes I can see the pixel structure when watching -- it's not that distracting, but a 1080p would make this a non issue.

Secondly is the black level; this is a projector that rated very high with a very good black level but too me it is not dark enough -- I would say it's about 92% black -- I guess this is considered good as early LCD projectors looked gray.

I don't regret buying this projector, but I do know that I will be replacing it sooner than I would have liked -- I'll probably replace it in a year and half, just when the second bulb goes. Now I usually keep electronics way longer than 2.5 years; I still use a CRT TV from the mid 90s for everyday TV watching.

If you do buy a 720p you will eventually start thinking about how much better it would look in 1080p and you may be replacing it sooner than you hoped.

[DKHK]

Originally Posted by Nathan Arizona

If you do buy a 720p you will eventually start thinking about how much better it would look in 1080p and you may be replacing it sooner than you hoped.

Can't agree with it any more.

[Blaumann]

I'm still using my 720p DLP (Marantz VP12S4), which was one of the "better" 720p pj's back then. I bought it used for cheap. HD sources are two BD players, one HD DVD player and my htpc (with BD ROM).

I also have a 1080p Dell monitor connected to the htpc and the receiver, so i can also watch media in 1080p resolution. Though i can see a noticeable difference in resolution between the 720p pj and the 1080p monitor, the overall pq on the 720p pj setup it much better. The pj beats the monitor esp. regarding contrast, colors and overall non-digital like image. PQ is simply not only about resolution, and how high you rate resolution is subjective.

However, pj's have come a long way since the VP12S4 was released and the prices for great 1080p sets have also come down nicely. Right now i am thinking about either getting a new lamp for the Marantz or getting one of the "cheap" 1080p pj like a Panasonic 4000 as an interim, until the 3D stuff gets sorted out and is affordable. Depends on how the planned demo session with the current crop of 1080p pj's works out.

I probably wouldn't buy a 720p model at this time any more. As others said, you'll likely keep wondering about how much better a 1080p would be, until you finally buy one....

[HyperRealist]

Originally Posted by dajaga

ok guys, im just wondering whats your opinion on this.
i dont know much about front projection, i think im gonna hold out till a 3-d projections are available and more mainstream, but i was wondering what would you guys prefer a really good quality 720p for under 1000, or an ok 1080p for the same price

Get a Panasonic PT-AX200U until they get 3D worked out.
2000 lumens
lens shift
game mode
light harmonizer 2
2.0 X zoom
accepts 1080p/24

The compression into 720p sacrifices surprisingly little detail. Quite honestly, the image at first glace looks as if it were coming from a 1080p projector

But the typical consumer would have no problem believing the AX200U was a 1080p projector if they didn't know differently.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/pana..._projector.htm

[BarkingGhost]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

there is some great 720p PJ's . As fors said he can barely tell the difference between 720P & 1080P . I have been told by A Mod here that the human eye cannot tell the difference .

It really depends. The human eye can resolve 1100 line pairs, but if you sit too far back then the distance threshold moves away from the screen and you lose resolution that you can resolve.

Conversely, if you sit too close not only can you make out the resolution, but you will start to see the pixel structure that you don't really want to see. To blindly say the human eye cannot tell the difference between 720 and 1080 lines is 100% USDA BS.

Here is a good rule of thumb ... if the display is 16:9 in aspect with 1080 progressive lines then the viewer with 20/20 vision has a distance threshold of 1.5X the screen's width.

Applying this to a real world example if the common 50" 16:9 display. The 50" is diagonal, and it works out to 43.6". So, if the viewer is 1.5 x 43.6" (5.45') from then they are in the sweet spot. If they were sitting farther then they will not resolve all of the resolution. If they sit close they will resolve all of the resolution and start to make out the pixels.