Projector as TV

andybird123 · 13 May 2022 at 15:36

Tempted by the option of 100-150inch you get with a projector, we are seriously considering getting a projector instead as the newer ones seem to be over 2000 lumens, so basically watchable with the curtains open but the option of the full on 150inch home cinema experience when you want it.

I've done a bit of searching about and watching youtube reviews but struggling a little on making a final decision, but keep gravitating back to the XGIMI Aura, which is an ultra short throw laser, but it doesn't necessarily have to be short throw if there's a comparable model (or better) for a similar price. The Aura is around £2200, but then they also do the Horizon Pro at £1499. I guess budget wise I could stretch to £3k if there's something that's hands down better than the Aura, I realise I'm going to be getting pixel shifting 4K rather than true 4K, android TV built-in is also not entirely required as we already have a bunch of media devices / sticks / set top boxes etc.

I guess what I'm basically asking is; whats the best sub-£3k projector?

andybird123 · 14 May 2022 at 09:03

I've just stumbled across the BenQ X3000i
It's £1500, seems to be a pretty decent bright projector that also does up to 240hz at 1080P

It's ticking a lot of my boxes at the mo, and as it's not UST, an ALR screen seems to be much cheaper

Someone tell me I'm wrong?

andybird123 · 14 May 2022 at 11:43

Pottsey said:
Never used that one myself. As long as you’re not sensitive to rainbows which are visible to people sensitive to them with that projector.

Also if your using that with DCI-P3 color space for HDR then your going to lose a large amount of brightness and will only be able to watch it in a light controlled room.

The only time we would worry about HDR is either for watching a movie or gaming, the room we would put this in is already at the back of the house (e.g. north facing) and only has one small window which already has a blackout blind

my gaming monitor does 90cd/m2 and this projector even on HDR does 87 so that seems acceptable to me

andybird123 · 14 May 2022 at 16:17

thanks, that does actually help a lot and its #4 on their Best under $3k and even looking at the under $5k ones, they all have something "wrong" in comparison for what I would be using it for

andybird123 · 15 May 2022 at 11:12

Thanks for the offer but moving country soon so probably wouldn't have space to take it with us!

andybird123 · 15 May 2022 at 20:26

Rroff said:
Maybe partly because the ones I've owned have been a bit of a faff with turning on and off but even with projectors which are fully useable in daylight I've never really gelled with a projector as a replacement for a TV, though there is little like the experience of watching a movie on a wall sized display from a projector. In the longer run they've always been a bit less convenient than a large TV.

We hardly watch "normal" telly, its almost all prime/Netflix/YouTube/movies etc. The projectors I'm looking at all have Android either built in or stick included and all from one remote - our current Sony TV is android and takes about a minute to boot up and connect to wifi

The input lag on the BenQ is pretty impressive too, our current TV is rubbish by comparison