Apr 22, 2009 08:08 PM
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I wanted to write this review for a long time now. It all started because I was getting my incentive and wanted to spend it on something which I like. I already own a 32 “LCD TV, which I have kept it in my room for Home Theater set up. The TV in the hall was 20” 15 year old BPL Sanyo still running good.
I thought of replacing it with a 42” or 46” plasma / LCD. I went to shops like Ezone, viveks.. to enquire and found out that the sizes more than 42” were costing more than 60 K upwards for good brands. As a matter of fact 42 to 46” had a difference of more than 20K which I thought was not worth paying.
I had brought my 32” LCD at 74 K before 3 years and knew that prices of these LCDs wil surely come down and getting 42” at this time will not be worth. This is when my idea clicked towards Projectors. I started researching about it. Many people think that its costly, it will produce heat, need maintenance etc.. But I will try to solve some of these conceptions for you all.
I just visited a showroom to demo a projector, the model no BenQ MP 512 ST. I couldn’t believe my eyes in what I saw. I was able to see just as in any Movie Theater. The image was huge and picture quality was superb. The image diagonally must have been 140 “.Now just think of a 140” and 46” LCD. It will eat all the TVs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The projector costs mere Rs44000.
I came home I thought my 32” LCD is a portable Tv Ha ha ha. I knew the time has come when I can call my Home Theater as a TRUE HOME THEATER. Movies and action sequences are never again the same. I will never ever go to theater again. I will tell you if you are a movie buff and want to spend money on a LCD Tv or want to buy something big for movie experience you can try out projector, it has become quite affordable and given the sheer screen size its surely value for money.
Ex: 46” LCD 60 K = 60000/46 = Rs 1304 per inch.
140" proj @ 45 K = 45000/140 = Rs 321 per inch.
Now let me throw light in to technical details of LCD/ plasma compared with projector. COMPARISON LCD/PLASMA WITH PROJECTOR BENQ MP 512 STMore Resolution: Lcd tvs have resolution 1360 x 768 and upwards, people think the more the resolution the better. People are right but wrong! Yes having higher resolution is better if and only if your have HD content to be played in TV, other wise you will be seeing more pixels on the screen, where as the projector I am talking about has native resolution of 800 X 600 so even standard definition videos appear better in my projector than my LCD tv.
Now you will ask then what about HD videos in projector, yes the projector will play HD video in great quality but it will rescale to its native resolution. You may loose a little sharpness but you can never notice that thin line, you have to be a too good Audio and videophile to notice the difference.
Portability: Well I can place the projector and point out in any wall in any room to turn it into theater. But I cannot carry a 46” tv every time. I can take the projector to my vacation trip.
Short Throw: Well the projector I am talking about is ST. that means I just need 3 feet distance or more to produce 100” + screen. So I need less wires, I don’t have to mount my projector in the wall at an extra cost. Even small distance walls in small room will produce big image.
Multipurpose: Although you can connect a PC to LCD, you can more easily connect it to projector and also use for browsing and presentations.
Dark Room: The projector has 2200 lumens that means you can view it even with a tubelight On. But to get a movie effect we will need it as dark as possible. But a LCD can be viewed in any conditions.
Bulb Life: Yes one fact is there that Projector lamp life is not for ever, as per spec it will go for 4000 hrs in Economic mode, my experience says that Economic mode is bright enough for viewing. When I bought it I used it for 3 hrs a day, but now I can only find time in week ends so my ratio is now 1 hr/day. So bulb will last more than 5 years (lowest bracket).
Size: LEAVE ALL THE OTHER POINTS, THIS SHEER SIZE IS ALONE ENOUGH THAR CAN MAKE YOU BUY THIS.
Well this is not a comparison I am making to prove that Projector is better than TV. You may or may not use it for TV viewing, But if you have a good music system, separates, speakers and enjoy movies this one is for you. You can never ever watch movie in tv after watching in this.
So people who already have TV but want to make movie experience better I say you buy this rather than a big tv. Or you can get a 32” lcd + proj at the price of a 46: lcd (WORTH IT).
You can also buy HD projectors like Infocus, but they will cost you around 90K. This is only required if you want to view the same colors as intended in the movie scene pixel to pixel. I feel movies are itself fake concept and why do we need to see so original color in a duplicate movie LOL.
Please look at my attached Photos; I say if you go for a DEMO you will bring one home.You just cant have small sound for big screen. You need to set up good audio also.
*My SPECS:
*Ben Q MP 512 ST 120 + inches
Polk Audio Rti A5 Main speakers
Onkyo 304 Receiver
Surround: Onkyo
SPEC:
BenQ MP 512 ST
800 X 600 Native Resolutions
HDMI (this is important, upscaling through a good player enhances the quality)
Has inbuilt speaker
Bulblife : 4000 hours
A new Bulb will make the projector as good as new which you may have to replace after 3 years which is costing around Rs 15000 now. In one of the photos I have switched on the tube light to show the screen size that I get on the wall. No I am not promoting any BenQ brand, this is just a review of what I own and what I feel.
Krish
