Looking for a projector

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Which wall are you projecting the image on ? The wall opposite our sofa has a TV stuck in front of it. If we project it onto a different wall, the speakers are all in the wrong place. And how far away does the project have to be from the screen (placing a screen infront of the TV might be the best idea) to get a decent sized picture ?
Mrs Fluffy saw an ad was asking about the difference between plasma and LCD, so she might be feeling rich enough to buy me a toy.[/quote]

One of the best pictures I’ve seen has been on the Hitachi CMP4212E 42 Inch TV. It’s also PAL NTSC so that means you can use it for different systems.

This is pretty good high definition and has great freatures for asdjusting tint colour ambience etc. These are around NT$130,000 dependng on the store.

The difference is mainly the technology (obviously :wink: ). Plasmas have been around a while but LCD screens in bigger sizes have been difficult to produce (high failure rate), so they are fairly new.
Plasmas can be had up to 60" and LCD screens are now available up to 45". Bigger models have been shown/announced for both types but may not be commercially available yet, at least not here in Taiwan.

Personally I find the colors of a LCD screen are more vibrant but some displays show lot’s of noise/fizzing (in particular the lower end models) and motion artefacts.
Plasmas make a pretty decent picture but on some models you may notice that they can’t reprodude shadings properly, i.e. what should look like a smooth gradient turns out to be a “16 color” picture (being a bit hyperbolic here). In comparision to LCD I find the colors muted, most obvious if you see a plasma and LCD side-by-side.

It should also be noted that most LCD screens have higher resolutions than plasmas, or often higher resolutions for plasma screens are reserved for professional models that you often won’t find in your typical 3C store (and needless to say they are more expensive than the consumer models).

It should be noted that both are very unforgiving of poor sources, i.e. if the input isn’t that great neither will be the picture. Unfortunately this applies to your normal TV broadcast which is mediocre at best.

Personally I favour Panasonic plasmas and LCDs from Sharp, but neither is cheap in comparision to the wealth of non-branded models found here.

Anyhow, my suggestion would be that you take a look at different displays, preferrably in a shop where you can see several models and each type, plasma & LCD. I recommend Sogo (@ Zhongxiao/Fuxing) and Daiich in Guting - they both have a pretty good selection. Then you can decide which technology you prefer and what size.

Coming back to the projectors. I actually went out and looked for that PrimeAV magazine. Great suggestion Hobart. I found the recent issue in Breeze Center’s bookstore, and suprise, they actually had a article “Hot Projectors” mentioning the Panasonic PT AE700 as one of their 3 hot items. It is right after the JVC (US$ 30,000). So seems to be a good device. I also saw a different magazine with another test of the PT AE700, also editor’s choice or something like that. Unfortunately, I am not able to read the articles, but my roommate did not find any negative things mentioned about the Panasonic, except that it has a bad case of featuritis.

edit

I would get a SANYO LP-Z4 (=PLV-Z4) or a Panasonic TH-AE900
from pricejapan.com for about $1500 US. They are 720p native.
They also have more expensive models. Well worth a look.

You may have to pay some customs duty, and if its made in PRC,
they won’t let it in at all (must be some protectionist tariff).

avsforum.com/ is the forumosa of video.

I would also consider a 42" or 50" Panasonic plasma panel.
Not sure they sell the HD versions here, maybe only the ED versions,
since Taiwan won’t have HDTV for the foreseeable future.
(Anyone getting any from their satellite or cable?)

Alas, my room may only be big enough for a 32" display,
and plasmas don’t get that small, so I have my ear to the ground
for an LCD display. Anyone here got an LCD display; where
did you get it etc. People seem to like the Kolin, though they’re
cheaper in the US than here. (After all, they’re made here).

[quote=“Toe Tag”]I would also consider a 42" or 50" Panasonic plasma panel. Not sure they sell the HD versions here, maybe only the ED versions, since Taiwan won’t have HDTV for the foreseeable future.
(Anyone getting any from their satellite or cable?)[/quote]

Firstly many people don’t understand what HDTV is. Firstly there is very little programming filmed in HDTV. There are a few satellite channels broadcast in HDTV but non of the current satellite receivers have the necessary MPEG4 setups necessay to view HDTV.

There is no HDTV broadcast on cable TV in Taiwan. Cable TV is Analogue and cannot support HDTV. Digital cable will be able to support it but again the programming has to be filmed with special a HDTV camera. It’s much like Imax, filmed with special equipment and vieved with special equipment.

I’ve seen some of the NFL games in HDTV format by using MPEG4 satellite PCI cards which can be viewed at 1080 resolution.

Some satellite broadcast sports such as cricket can be had in pure widescreen with 5.1 surround sound… which is pretty good.

Most countries are 5 - 10 years away from HDTV broadcasts and it’s whole new range of technology. Buying a HDTV will not get you any better quality out of a DVD because they are are not created HDTV.

Appreciate the confirmation that as long as we’re in Taiwan we can forget about HDTV and can at best mark time waiting for the rest of the world to perfect it.

It should be noted however that the USA (and probably Japan) are close to perfecting it. In a major metropolitan area of the USA I could get 8 OTA (over the air) HDTV stations, a dozen on Comcast cable, and another dozen on DirectTV or Dish satellite. I could watch them on a 1080p (60 full frames a second of 1920x1080 native resolution pixels) plasma or LCD. But its still somewhat costly and recording it is still a bit dicey and the cable card and HDMI stuff is not totally settled.

I disagree slightly with the last part of your post in that, many devices upconvert, line-double and filter DVDs up to take advantage of HDTV displays. But 720p HDTV is probably plenty adequate for this.

I now feel that a 32 inch LCD display would be acceptable size and weight for check in luggage, so I could bring one back from the USA. But then there would be warranty concerns.

The Microsoft showcase where you can see real examples is here;

microsoft.com/windows/window … ider/film/