PC Gaming on a projector

ok thanks for clearing it up for me, i think im gonna buy it this weekend or next weekend. hopefully this weekend, and is there anything i could buy so i could have my xbox360 and ps3 hooked up at the same time or are there enough of those yellow whit red(dont know what they call them) things in the back?

 

Aaaargh...yellow, white and red are for composite video and stereo signals (yellow is the two conductor composite video, and white and red are the left and right stereo channels)...

Composite is not cable of passing an HD signal...the cable can't support the bandwidth required...

For HD, you have to go with component or HDMI (DVI)...

If you want a way to switch both audio/video at the same time with component cables, then buy a receiver with at least two component video inputs (if you choose component for your gaming systems...I believe both the 360 and PS3 have component cable packs available...component cables are much cheaper than HDMI and a receiver without HDMI inputs is cheaper than a receiver with them)...audio/video receivers with component inputs (no HDMI) run anywhere from $200 to $500...you can do the same with HDMI and an audio/video receiver, but the receiver will be more expensive...

You can also buy a component or HDMI switch (usually, 4 goes ins and 1 goes out...most are signal sensing so if you plug your 360 into channel 1 and your PS3 in channel 2, and both devices are turned on, you'll see video from the 360, but if you turn off the 360, you'll see video from the PS3) and some component switches also have audio switching capability, but switches are dumb and can't decode audio...they can only pass it along to a decoding device...switches are typically $100...

 

I personally think 1080p is over-rated, jumping to even 720p is a phenomenal difference.

 

http://www.monoprice.com
for all your cable needs,HDMI cables are cheap.like 10 bucks or less.

dont get sucked into monster cables you see in the stores.

and also carry projector screens,
I bought two of them there for 300 bucks each.

Electric Projection Screen (135 inch, 16:9) (and then painted them with my own paint mix).

 

Vivitek will be showing an LED DLP full HD projector at CES 2009

Basic Specs from Vivitek:
Model # H6080HD
1920x1080
800 lumens
100,000:1 Contrast
Lens throw ratio - 1.85~2.4
LED Life: 20,000 hrs

 

I'm off shift, and as promised, I took some pictures of the projector in action...

I'm a horrible photographer, and obviously a dark room with a projector throwing out light isn't an ideal situation...

Also, I had to downsize the picture resolution by almost 70% to get them to upload to the image gallery, so I probably lost some quality there...

The pictures look 'soft' or 'fuzzy' to me compared to the image on the screen that I see with my eyes...so as you browse the gallery, look at the pictures from a 'so that's what a projector can do' standpoint...you'll get some idea of color and brightness, but not enough to sell you on a Panasonic (or LCD-based, for that matter) projector...

And just remember, as you're looking at those pictures, that screen is 80 inches wide (wider than most of us are tall) and 45 inches tall...it's huge...and some people go even bigger...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=94484

PS. Looks like someone has to approve the photos first. I don't know how long it takes for approval. Good night everyone.

 

Imageshack, photobucket, photohost, picasa... pick one

Look at the user review of the HD 65 I posted, it has good pictures.

Just make sure exposure is set for the light source and it should come out great.

Shoot low ISO with a middle of the line aperture.

 

Anything new @ CES is so expensive when it hits market, plus 800 lumens sounds kind of low.

I agree w/ narsnail to an extent 720P is more than enough for a movie, but as a HTPC where you do double duty as a computer 1080P is much better for the extra realestate you get on your desktop and when viewing images and things.

So if your going to use it as a computer monitor chances are it will be in light, thus you need a high lumen count.

I saw a cool projector last year that I think was at CES it had like a 6" throw distance, you could almost have it against the wall and it would still project a 60" screen.

I found a few links on things similar:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/sanyo_plc_xl50_review.htm
http://www.gizmag.com/go/2090/

 

Wow, i never realized how amazing projectors were this thread has made me change my perspective still gonna upgrade my series 6 for that series 8 though

 

360 probably has DVI or HDMI not sure as I do not have one, those would be the best way to go if the projector takes it. Otherwise you want component cables (the red,blue,green cable) this has the ability to do 720P and is a higher quality than composite.(the single yellow one)

By todays standards composite is done for, the only thing I would use it for is an old nintendo or something. Even my non HD Wii uses Component.

To use more than one composite/component connection is easy, $20 or so can get you a toggle box and just a push of a button can swap your source. If the projector has more than one set of inputs, you wont even need the box.

You can use a Composite/RCA toggle box with no problems if you have an external audio connection. It would have the Red, White, Yellow connections for the left/right audio & video. Just use all 3 video cables instead and feed the audio directly to a source like your stereo system.

Just throwing that out there to save a few $$$ over a component toggle box.

 

I own an Optoma HD65 and can vouch for that it is an excellent pj. Had a friend over this xmas that owns an Epson full HD pj and he was blown over by the picture quality.
So if you want a cheap pj the Optoma isn't a bad choice.

swank

 

800 lumens for a completely dark room is acually ok.but yah the price will be sky high at first cause its new, but the key is 20,000 hrs, people are fed up with buying lamps.I know my projector puts out about 800-900 lumens on eco mode (which i always use anyhow) and it still is bright enough.and at 100,000:1 contrast ratio , for sure blows mine away and most projectors out on the market today.

 

It does 20,000 hours because it's LED based instead of incandescent...I'm waiting on the LED based technology to become affordable before I upgrade my projector...

Same thing with a laptop...my next laptop purchase will be backlit by LEDs...lower power consumption and over a 5 to 10 year period, a lot less likely to fail than the current flourescent backlighting of LCD panels...

 

Even in common house lights.

Incandecant = cheap but low life
CFL = Cost about 2x more but last about 2x longer
LED = Cost about 5x more but last about 5x longer

In the end they end up very close, except the LED uses less power so over time if it last its full ife it will be the cheapest.

I assume the LED projector bulb cost much more than the halogen so while it wont have to be replaced as often it will probably cost much more.

 

Projecter = for Dark Room it's their weakness.

 

ok thanks i think thats what i exactly wanted.

Great more good feed back on the Optoma HD65, how much are the lamps?

 

Depends where u live. U can get them for about £100 in th uk and $300 in the us. I've seen them a lot cheaper. Have a look in some of the audio/video forums and you will get some tips where to get them cheapest.
Just watched an episode of Battlestar Galactica on my 92" screen Just love that show..................

swank

 

dang $300!

anyone have any experience or heard anything good about this projector?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9053114&type=product&id=1218012518974

Edit: i cant seem to find any reviews on it with pictures so i could compare it to 720p

 

But dont u guys think, there is some loss of quality in the graphics?
I felt so..

 

Gaming can be great fun with a projector, if you have the room for it. I ran a projector for the longest time. Then I had kids, and my projector room turned into a kids play room.... *POOF* no projector. Oh well, in a few years, will probably get it back when kids will think it's cool to watch movies on a projector. Oh my evil selfish ways!

 

Thats kind of the reason I wanted one.

The kids can toss a baseball into a 37" LCD and it would be doomed. It would be hader for them to hit/hurt a ceiling mounted projector and if they hit the screen no harm done.

I actually have decided what I am doing.

When the kids are out of the house I will have the space & money for it.

Im going to build a set of walls in the corner like this \_/ and get a digital triple head 2 go and use 3 projectors for ultra wide FOV.

Surround gaming with 3 monitors is great, Gaming on my 1 big 37" is great.

Put the two together and... it will be unbelievable. First game will be WoW. I dont really care for WoW and do not play anymore but it was the first game that tempted me and had great support for surround gaming (3 monitor setup) so instead of just shifting your eyes left & right to see the entire FoV like 3x monitor or one big monitor can do. You will have to turn your head and LOOK around

Will be great for racing games too with my full theater surround system (dual subs) and a wheel + clutch + stick.

Its gonna be a fun project for sure.

Edit: here is WoW on the TH2G - HERE and HERE

 

Luckily I have a dedicated tv/pj room, which is probably the only room left in the house I can rule over

Wife is working late this weekend, so the project for this weekend is, after the kids have gone to bed, to hook up the computer to the pj/surround system and play some CoD Multiplayer in glorious 92" (and maybe some Trackmania Nations)

swank

 

about to go get the Optoma projector from circuitcity, anything else i should get instead of just the projector?

 

Depends what you are going to hook it up to, some cables maybe, if your going to mount it on the ceiling you'll need some sort of stand/mounting device.
I would use some time to think through how and where your going to place it. There is a nice tool on http://www.projectorcentral.com/projection-calculator.cfm where you can calculate screen size/placement from pj to screen.

 

well the one im gonna buy is $1029.99 and it comes with a ceiling mount, i know where im gonna put it to, thanks for the link so if i am correct it needs to be 14feet2inches so it can be 100inches horizontal right? can you recommend a good size that i could keep it at that looks good

 

That sounds nothing short of amazing.

 

To ICantFeelMyFace:

I had an Optoma 1024x768 projector (DLP). Best projector ever. I could play with the lights ON and it was very visible on an 85" screen.

Do yourself a favor though and get 1280x800 or larger resolution if you can.


To ViciousXUSMC:

Drool! Sounds awesome. I plan on getting TH2G someday, or whatever the equivalent is at the time, since it will probably be another ten years before I can even think of doing something like that again.

The setup I had I played Battlefield 2, Falcon 4, and Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed (all-time fav racing). I had a monitor on a swivel arm for my flight instruments too. Oh, how I miss those days. Good thing I've got two boys, so will have every reason to have an awesome setup when they get a bit older!

 

A good rule of thumb to start is for your viewing distance to be 1.5x screen width, or 2x screen height is another theory. Obviously this is just a starting point, but it'll give you an idea, although you do of course need to match this against the throw capability of your projector.
I myself have a viewing distance of about 3.20m and a screensize of about 90"(have a 92" drop-down screen) and I feel that its about right.

swank

 

Hey swank since you have an hd65 am i gonna have to mess with the settings or are they pretty much set already? and thanks i think im gonna make it the same distance like you have it

 

The optoma has already quite good colours out of the box. Most of all I think it is up to each individual how they prefer their settings. I have adjusted some of the settings and I run the pj in eco mode (it is that bright and I don't have a batcave ).
You could check out this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=947156&page=32 where there are a couple of guys tweaking the optoma to get the optimal PQ, you will get some pointers there, but like I said, try for yourself.

What are you going to hook it up to?? Dvd, BD, Xbox??????

Swank

 

i plan on hooking up my ps3, xbox360, and something so i could watch tv on it(sorry dont know what its called exactly) cable box i think

 

Cable box it is
If you are able to plug all via hdmi, thats the way to go.

Swank

 

yeah cable box, and im sure theres something i can buy that can hook everything up at the same time

 

I am lucky to have an av amp that has multiple hdmi ports in/out, but you can buy a hdmi switch that will take care of that problem. Also if you are going to plug your signal to both the pj and a telly you'll probably need a hdmi split, something like this http://www.amazon.com/Game-Infinity...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231683971&sr=8-4 which I have myself and does the job.

swank

 

Just to add my comment to projectors.
I spend far too much time in front of my laptop screen and then sometimes sleep too little...
If I then have to stare at a projector screen in University my eyes start to really hurt, worse than with my SZ's screen.

I believe a projector would, in the long run be an unhealthy option.

 

Hell No!

I primarly use the pj for movies and nothing else. Even though I've tried running games on the pj through pc and wii (not good enough resolution for such a big screen), I prefer using my laptop and 42" tv for the wii.

swank

 

why dont you use it for games?

 

I dont think the wii has good enough resolution (max 480p or 564i or something like that). It gets to blocky and washed out when its transfered to 92", thats why I prefer to use the wii on my telly. I have friends with xbox360 and ps3's and they look great on big screen.
When it comes to pc, it looks really great, but its to much hazle, for me anyway, to hook it up to the pj. I probably will get hold of an extra 3m hdmi cable so I dont have to change cables like I have to do now. But like I said, it looks great. CoD and Trackmania are really fun on big screen.


swank

 

Yeah you need 720P for a big screen at least, 1080P even better.

For a computer I would require 1080 to make it a primary monitor. 720 would be fine for games/movies though.

 

Oh i must have missed it when you said wii, alright i see what you mean though. I thought you meant you didnt play your xbox 360 or ps3 on the projector because it looked bad or something.

 

Wii Sports = Ownage on a 100"+ screen.

Also its not a bad idea to make a custom larger sensor bar so that the remote movements coincide with what you see on the screen more.

Just use two candles to test out at first how far apart your IR LED's should be on your sensor bar. It works.

My favorite Wii game is probably Mario Kart Wii, it has a great free online mode, but Wii bowling is also addicting if you have a big screen setup. Some beer, some friends, its the cheapest way to go bowling.

Best thing of all with a projector no worries about somebody throwing a 70mph wiimote fastball through your $2000 HDTV screen.

Why do you think they upgraded the handstraps

 

I Posted a link to pics of my projector setup on page 6 of this thread. Each pic has some explanation under it that might be worth reading. There's pics of my 360, ps2, gamecube, DVD, bluray, and HDTV. I would repost the link but I'm a rookie on my wife's iPhone (i'm without Internet for a week or so).

 

You need to upgrade to the Iwheel

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/apple_introduces_revolutionary?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

 

Lmao.

10 char

 

Just to show you guys the potential of a triple projector screen.

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showpost.php?p=73186&postcount=92

He has 3 projectors there, his wall is rounded some though, mine wont be like that. It will just be angled because it is much easier to work with and build.