Digital projectors DLP or LCD

[stonemason]

Interested to know from those who have digital projectors which you have, DLP or LCD models. Any particular must have or best avoided models based on experiance would be good also, preferably those available in the UK.

Thanks

Geoff

[alrobin]

Geoff,

I have a Mitsubishi DLP model - I chose it because DLP projectors have traditionally had better contrast ratios than LCD models. However, I believe that both technologies, as well as the LCOS models, have recently improved to the point that there are excellent projectors among all of the three types. For me, contrast ratio was one of the most important features, after suitable resolution, aspect ratio, etc. "Optoma" is another of the more popular as well as affordable makes favoured by photographers.

[Igor]

Newest LCD and LCoS projectors: Epson TW2000 ($3999 street price) and JVC RS1/HD1 ($5000) have very good contrast and black level comparable with DLP models.

Personally I plan to buy Epson TW2000.

[fh1805]

Hi Geoff,

My own projector is a Dell MP3300 (now discontinued). It uses DLP technology. I was involved in the decision making process when my photographic society purchased its digital projector. They bought an Optima that is also DLP.

The principal factor governing both purchases was "how much projector can we get within our budget?". I got a £1300 projector for just £450 by buying it on eBay. The society got the Optima for about £700 via an Internet shop.

The factors that determined the society's projector were:

DLP technology (at the time this was better than LCD technology)

Contrast ratio of 2000:1 or better

Light output of 2000 lumens or better

Resolution 1024x768 (i.e. XGA equivalent. We would have accepted higher res but couldn't find any that were within budget at that time)

Manual focus

Manual zoom

You need to bear in mind two things that apply to all modern technology:

- if you buy the very latest model it will be obsolescent within 12 months and obsolete within 24

- if you wait 12 months before buying you will get something better for the same money or something the same for less money.

Good luck with whatever you decide to buy. I hope it gives you, and your audiences, as much pleasure as mine is doing. (I'm off out later this morning with mine to give a presentation to one of the local Retired Men's Forums).

[DimmY]

I tried to use several models of DLP (1-chip) and LCD projectors for home theater, and my verdict is clear: only LCD is suitable for me. I just cannot look at the screen for a long time with a DLP model because of the "rainbow" effect. My eyes get tired with it very soon. As regards the contrast ratio, the newest models of LCD projectors (made by Epson at least) beat DLP easily. And LCDs provide much better colors and brightness. So my choice is LCD only (I didn't have experience with LCoS, though).