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@stillwater That wasn't perhaps very clear in my initial post, but I am specifically looking at ultra-short throw projectors, i.e. projectors that sit less than 50 cm away from the screen (or wall, whatever).
The main reason I'm considering those is to avoid the wires issue. I could probably run cables in the ceiling and up to a convenient location to anchor a ceiling projector above my sofa, but it would be either an ugly job, or a very tedious one (there is a false ceiling in my lounge, although I don't know how thick it really is, so in theory I could just make a hole at entry/exit points and then spend hours fumbling around to manage to drive a cable through...).
I know, or at least I guess, that ultra short throw will mean some compromise on image quality (distortion, luminosity, homogeneity of picture etc.) but from the one I saw at a friend's, and it wasn't by a far a top-of-the-range model, it's more than enough for my needs.
So yeah, everyone, have you got feedback on ultra short throw projectors?
Budget, as I said, no clear upper limit. I'm not going to spend millions and I just want something comfortable, but on the other hand since that would be a purchase that I hope would last me quite some time, I am ready to invest a bit more. At this stage, I'm more trying to get an idea of what is important and how price plays with that, I'll pick an exact price range later.
@PleegWat said in Home Cinema:
As I understand a good projection surface is a greyish silver, so not exactly a nice living room wall surface either. Since you also mention a roll-up screen, a dumb roll-up screen with a projector on the other side of the room may be an idea?
I might indeed end up with having a roll-up screen, but again this is something I can easily change after having installed my initial setup, if I realize that the blank wall isn't satisfactory, so it's not a major issue for me.
@hungrier said in Home Cinema:
As was mentioned, they had a demo at CES of an OLED TV that rolls into its base. No word on availability or pricing yet, but it's probably "later" and "way too much"
Yeah, actually that video was one of the things that motivated me to start looking again. I know that practically speaking (i.e. even if it gets into production it will be much too expensive!) that thing is not going to be in my living room for years, but the idea really, really appeals to me a lot.
@Cursorkeys : thanks for all the advice. I'll keep the lumens/dB values somewhere as some rough guide points. Laser projectors look nice, and they do seem to exist as ultra-short throw ones. Combining both criterions I get a nice short list. But wow, that's expensive! Minimum GBP 2500, more like 3000... and that's obviously without the sound system on top of that. I could spend that if I really wanted to, but do I...?