Front Projector v. Rear Projection

[afoeckler]

I'd like your opinion regarding going with a front projector v. a rear projection television for a pseudo-home theater in my basement.  I'm having my basement finished beginning at the end of the month.  There will not be dedicated home theater room but a more open concept theater area with a wet bar and larger table setting area to the side of the theater area.  

I had my heart set on Sony's new 70 inch rear projection television (KDS-R70XBR2) but after going to the home show this past weekend and seeing a 100 inch screen with picture by an 1080p Optoma (pumping out a Blu-ray movie with a ps3 - which I was fortunate to find before Christmas) I've started to question which way to go - front projector or rear projection.  I'd go with a front projector in a minute but my only concern is when we have people over I don't want to have the lights off to watch a football game when we are in the basement.  Everyday viewing versus turning the lights off for a movie at night is concern of mine - I don't want to alway have to sit in the dark to watch television downstairs.  Are my concerns regarding light overstated?  Any opinions/experiences regarding this issue are greatly appreciated.

Al

[gparris]

Personally, I would go with 70" XBR2 vs. projection with lighting issues you gave.
Sitting the SXRD about 12-15 feet away from the downstairs bar (if you have one) allows people to drink their beer, not spill it on them in the dark.

Light will fade any front projection and lose details found in a good HD picture, regardless of the safeguards...my opinion and experience.
I think you almost answered your own question here.

On the other hand, another thing to consider:
1)The bulbs on the front projectors (as I understand it) do not last as long as these XBR-SXRD's do
(it has an extra bulb, too, in the box).
2)These projector bulbs can be a bit more expensive,depending on the projector purchased, too.
3)Since you are not doing a "dedicated" home theater with a dark room, theater lighting, theater chairs, etc, get the one of the best HDTVs out there:
The 70" SXRD....but again, that's my advice and you wanted some feedback.

(I have seen the 70" at Magnolia and it is wonderful, just like my 60" SXRD).:wave:

[Blitzburgh]

No projection is going to be good with light.

If you can get a dark room rear projection is the way to go.

[Ralph Kramden]

I love my projector, but I wouldn't buy one in your situation.

[Bluto]

Al,

I am in the exact same situation as you - finishing an exposed basement, more an open concept than dedicated theater room, etc.  Initially, I wanted to go with a front projector to get as large a screen as possible.  But, reps from both Flanners and American have steered me towards rear projection when I describe how the area will be used.  I'm going with a Mits 73 inch.

[gparris]

Bluto, the Mits 73" 1080p DLP is another excellent HDTV set, saw it at Magnolia and on-line at CC.
ABT has the matching stand for it, also, if that is a consideration.

It  was one of the few DLPs I have ever seen without noticing any rainbows, it is the largest RPTV set out there I know of and cnet gave a similar model/size a good rating.

So good luck and tell us about your set once you get it...nice choice.

afoeckler: Hope these suggestions help you out!:wave:

[FeedingFrenzy]

O.K. I've had the finished basement for about a year and a half.  9' bar all done up real nice.  Running the 55" Sony.  It ended up basically being the kids room like my wife said it would end up.  We do however get down there for sporting event parties and movies.  I actually watch the sporting events with my can lights in my drop ceiling off and my wall lighting (think it's call sconce lighting)pretty dim. I leave cans over my bar about half as well.  Watch the movies in dark. A little broke up I didn't go with another 5-10" on the TV but the price was good.  I have been looking at the drop in price on front projectors thx to some other posts.  Does the room have to be really dark?  Just like the idea of the wow factor in screen size.

[Blitzburgh]

I have a Mits 62" Rear DLP and it is absolutely stunning

[Mark Strube]

I'm going to steer away from the crowd a bit on this advice... most projectors today are capable of getting VERY bright. When you have moderate lighting turned on in the room while you're watching a football game (I'm talking maybe a few levels above ambient, comfortable lighting but not bright), it'll look fine. The main thing you're losing when there's light on in the room with a projector is the black levels... so dark scenes in movies will look horrible. However, with sports you really don't have to worry about that. Also, most projectors have very easy settings for a "bright" or "sports" setting.

I think it's worth at least trying out a front projector. Buy one and be very clear on the return policy... play around with it in the room before you mount it or do anything permanent (and keep in mind that shining it on a wall won't reflect light as nicely as a proper screen, especially if that wall isn't white or gray).

Good luck with everything! I've become a huge proponent of having front projection anywhere you can pull it off... it's the most economical way to get a huge, beautiful HD picture.

[Blitzburgh]

Yes some room lighting is fine. I have found open curtains or blinds, that kind of lighting is bad.

[FeedingFrenzy]

One other suggestion would be to drop in size on the Sony and use the extra for a front projector and screen.  That way you would have both.  Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but looks like for roughly $3,000.00 you can get a nice projector and screen.  I guess would also depend on how you would lay things out.  Neighbor up the street basically just had a screen that would drop down and cover thier TV and entertainment center.

[Mark Strube]

Hell I got my 720p projector for $900 at Best Buy. You can see that my other set is an SXRD, so I am quite critical of image quality... and I'm very happy with that projector. I was worried I'd see pixels with only 720p on an 80" screen... perfectly smooth picture sitting about 10 ft away.

[Matt Heebner]

IMHO.....I would go with a front projector. The only time I would advise staying away from a front projector is if you were to have it in a room where it would be either very expensive to block the light, or would be damn near impossible to control the light (like a living room). If you have an area where you can totally control the lighting situation...go with size !! Some of the DLP projectors have some serious light output so you could have ambient light not interfere too much with the image. And you can always control the light ! You buy a nice 73" RPTV, and no matter what....it still will be only 73 ". I know right now you are saying "hell...73" is pretty gol-darn big" but trust me...it will shrink with time. When I first brought home my 55" TV, I thought it was way too big.....until about 4 months later when i was wishing I would have bought the 65 " instead.

You may like the 73" now, but you'll be thanking yourself that you bought the FP that can throw a beautiful 120" in the long run. Especially since you can control the lighting if you choose. Hell...I sit in the dark in my living room most nights because HD still looks much better even on RPTV with less light!

[afoeckler]

Thank you all for your opinions.  

I've decided to go with the rear projection set (I'm still thinking the 70 inch Sony but I'd like to hear what people have to say about the 70 inch Sony v. the 73 inch Mitsubishi).  What I've decided to do, though, is have a tube run for future wiring for a front projector that would allow me to install the front projector in the future (and then install a pull-down screen that would drop down in front of the rear projection tv - just for family movie nights, etc.).  Although I may never install the front projector, since I'm having the ceiling dry-walled I don't want to have any regrets in the future.

If anyone has any suggestions for wiring a basement for the future - specific to my idea to accomodate a future front projector or other general ideas - I'd appreciate hearing those as well

Thanks again.

Al