This installment of You Asked is a projector - heavy special . There is no better time to do this , given some of the massive TV screen sizes we ’re seeing these day , along with falling prices on those monumental screen sizes .
Big TV vs. projector
With all these immense screen we saw declare at CES , do you consider projectors are on the fashion out ?
A related interrogation came from Sayeed , who said : Hey Caleb , I was inquire about the new Xgimi projectors . Why do n’t you also include projector reviews ? The TV reviews are neat , but I wonder if I and others should turn over a projector for filmdom that are 100 + inches .
Another input from one of our CES insurance coverage videos asked if there were any projector at CES and , if so , why they were n’t seeing coverage from anyone around those .
I included all of those questions because they all tie into this one big answer :
First off , never mindall the unbelievable television receiver we saw at CES — I do n’t thinkprojectorsare on their way out . It ’s true that you’re able to get a98 - inch TCL S5 video for $ 2,000right now , which is just utterly mad . Seriously , if you ’re look for a totally decent handsome - screen door idiot box , check out that deal because I can hardly believe it ’s real .
I make for that up as evidence of the true statement that it ’s never been less expensive to get a large - screen TV . I remember back in the day that anything above 85 inches was only available from Sharp , and those goggle box cost a modest pile . Now ? Getting a 98 - incher is easy .
But projector still have a place . Because breaking that 100 - inch roadblock with a TV is still cost - prohibitive . The 110 - inch Hisense UX that was just announce , as well as the 115 - column inch TCL QM89 , will no doubt be expensive . I ’m thinking somewhere between $ 15,000 and $ 20,000 .
So , for cost reasons alone , puzzle a projector setup remains a more economical choice for anything over 100 inches . Ultra short throw projectorprices are come down , and many serious option are on the food market . I think the fact that declamatory - screen TVs are more affordable now is hold folks more comfortable with bigger and grownup screen , and so projectors may become a more popular product family .
But what are big blade thinking ? Hisense sells both massive video silver screen andlaser TVs .
I ask Hisense President David Gold about that at CES , and he suppose : “ We see it as complementary . We see it as there are consumers who want that real cinematic experience and get a niggling act of that silver screen door experience they would have in a pic theater of operations … so we want to have a production and a solution for that type of consumer , as well as the versatility that we ’re now pop to proffer in optical maser as well . So we really see it as complementary and giving the consumer that power to choose their own escapade in terms of what they want at home . ”
Clearly , Hisense feel the grocery store for projector is still impregnable as well .
But the bare fact is there are only so many hours in the day . BenQ , Epson , Hisense , LG , Samsung , Awol , Xgimi , Xiaomi , ForMovie — there are a ton of projector options now , and we just ca n’t color over those any longer .
Projector vs. TV for business applications
Taylor Ulrich save : Would you urge a projector or a tv set ? We ’re revamping a conference way in our new office that was previously equipped with an onetime projector setup . We ’d be look at an 85 - inch TV if not a projector . It ’s a undimmed room due to a wall of window . We use Google Meet videoconferencing , often along with other overbold role like screencasting , YouTube , etc . The budget is $ 1,500 to $ 3,000 .
Taylor , I ’d go with a large - concealment TV . And you do n’t have to stick to 85 inches . As I just observe , there are groovy deals on 98 - in goggle box right now from TCL andSamsung . I ’ll add that , with a Google TV especially , built - in Chromecast makes screen sharing easy . There may even be built - in support for Google Meet .
You ’ll never have to concern about whether the paradigm is vivid enough , and the speakers build into the TV eradicate the need to have powered speaker get in touch to a projector . So , if you could mount a large - screen TV in that space , I ’d say go for it . I ’m a boastful lover of TVs over projectors for business space , whenever that is potential . particularly league elbow room .
HDMI switch woes
Carlos Shaw publish : I was inquire if you have a solution for switching between two HDMI eArc signal blend in to my Sonos Arc soundbar . I have a Samsung 2022 Frame TV and a Xgimi Horizon Pro 4 K projector that use the soundbar for sound . There are two HDMI cables that I manually / physically switch and connect / gulf from the back of the Sonos Arc soundbar depending on which one I need to use .
I ’ve purchased about 10 HDMI switches from Amazon , hope that I can easily toggle each signaling , but to my surprisal , when I insert an HDMI switch between the Samsung TV or projector and the soundbar , I get no audio at all . Nothing . Am I neglect something about how the signaling act ? I ’m somewhat tech - savvy , but I ca n’t seem to figure this one out . HELP ! !
So , Carlos , I gave this one a heap of thought and considerateness . I ’d like to know which HDMI switches you used , just to make dead sure they were n’t miss a key feature of speech you might need . In your email , you assured me they sustain eARC , but as we know , eARC support does not guarantee HDMI 2.1 reinforcement . Nor does it guarantee HDCP 2.3 sustenance . For that cause , I ’m curious what you tried . For instance , did you try on one of Monoprice ’s Blackbird switches ? I ’d like to know if its8 K 60 switchwould work for you . But there ’s a prospect that even with a switch that digest all the thing , you may still run into an issue – and I think this may be at the gist of your job .
Any time you switch from one source to another , yourSonos Arc soundbarneeds to complete an HDMI handshake with that reference . When this handshake encounter , the soundbar learns about what the source is , what it can do , what form of signal it ’s move to send , then include all this information in the EDID – which stands for Extended Display Identification Data . include in that handshake is a recognition of HDCP , which stands for gamy - bandwidth Digital Content Protection .
This handshake must be finish successfully in gild for everything to work . My business concern is that when you use your switcher to go back and forward between the television receiver and the projector as seed , that handshake is not getting triggered . Now , ideally , the shift you use would trigger this handshake . It would force it so theEDIDwas put across , and if it did , I cogitate everything would operate fine . From experience , I cognize that you may get the video to work , but not the audio .
So , my suggestion for now is to try this : When you make a electrical switch from TV to projector , or vice versa , try turning the video or projector off , then back on . See if that works . If it does n’t , try turning the Sonos soundbar off and then back on .
If one of those works , then my suspicion is that the shake is not hold place after the switch go from one source to the other , and we need to dig further into what a shift involve to do to force a new handshake and what switch out there will do it for you , if any . I ’ll talk to the phratry at Monoprice and perchance chat with Jason Dustall atMurideo , who I am trusted has a long ton of experience with this sorting of thing . We ’ll get it figured out . But try what I suggest , please get back to me , and we ’ll do a follow - up on this in a succeeding article so that everyone else can learn about what happened .
OLED vs. LED for ‘accurate’ cinematic experience
Here ’s a interrogation I enjoyed a great deal , coming from bcom77 — it ’s not incisively a projector head , but projector - adjacent , I venture you could say .
They wrote : We all hear about TVs these days take in movie house / film producer modality that are guess to well capture the cinematic experience and Lord ’s aim . Most TV reviewers / enthusiasts say that OLED tv set are secure for capturing this . But should n’t lead / mini - chair TVs be best for this as , due to their backlighting , they well mime a movie theater screen and its projector ? You do n’t get OLED ’s perfect blacks and near - infinite contrast ratios in a movie theater no matter how expert its frame-up is , so , therefore , would n’t that mean that OLED television are not drive home the most “ accurate ” cinematic experience ?
I ’m not implying that OLEDs are subscript TV — as we all know , that ’s not true . It ’s just a thought process I had , and I ’d be interested to see what your thought on it are .
Interesting intellection ! I guess I ’ll part partake my thoughts on this by pointing out that there isa lotthat ’s different between what find in a cinema and what ’s happen on a TV at home .
The magic with projector and screens is that black levels — or the basis for contrast — come from an absence of any light other than that which the projector is supplying . Now , motion-picture show theaters are rarely pitch blackened , right ? You ’ve got red exit signaling that make light , and there are safety igniter so hoi polloi can see where they are walk . There are a few unlike light sources in a flick theater , so you never have a complete absence seizure of light .
Still , theatre of operations do a passably decent job of mitigating how much of the brightness level in those theaters impacts the screenland . As a effect , you do get middling comely pitch-black levels in a theater . You ’re right-hand , though , they are n’t perfectly black like an organic light-emitting diode . But I bet those Hollywood directors surewishthey were .
But I also roll in the hay many Hollywood directors will talk about not needing more than 200 nits to light a scene properly . Let ’s not get into that , though .
In a telly , the film producer or Cinema fashion is mean to get the people of color temperature rightfield , the motion cadence correct — i.e. , no motion smoothing and solid 24 bod per 2d ( Federal Protective Service ) replication . And they are think to get the luminosity right . In other words , the average picture level is think of to organize well in a darkened elbow room .
While LCD - found TVs may have disgraceful level that more accurately mirror your experience in a film , they also bring other matter to the table that do n’t be in the movie house , like bloom and halo . It ’s one matter for the blacks not to be wholly black , but it ’s another for it to be splotchy around the light source only . In a Ccinema , if the smuggled stage are splotchy , it ’s not bond to the mental object , it ’s tied to the ambient ignitor . Does that make sense ? There is n’t a straightforward line of comparability between how anLED - backlit LCD TVbehaves and the experience you get from a projector and projection screen in a movie house .
I think the grounds that we likeOLEDso much is because black is black , yes , but there ’s also no halo or blooming take .
There ’s one other differentiating factor we have n’t utter about yet , which lead us nicely to our next question .
Motion clarity: liquid crystal limitations
This comes from Fabrice Teboul . Because their email is a little long , I ’m going to have to paraphrase it here :
Fabrice mentions that he wants to upgrade his screen — or exhibit — in his setup and that he got a opportunity to check out the TCL X955 and Hisense UX 8H – both of which are models especial to his region . He then goes on to mention that he was n’t stoked about the motion blur and lack of definition on those television liken to what he ’s used to with his projector .
He likes the brightness , demarcation , and people of colour of the TVs , but want better motion clarity and is now wondering if his money is better spent on a bright projector or a TV , have the motion clarity issues . He ’s wondering if the TVs were n’t set up properly where he saw them .
The only way to deal with motion fuzz on an LCD TV — even with refresh rate of 120 Hz or 240 Hz — is to use motion smoothing processing . The signaling you get from your sources is likely 24 or 30 fps most of the sentence , or 60 fps at best unless you ’re gage and can get legit 120 Federal Protective Service content or higher . That think the TV needs to create fake frames to take advantage of its eminent refresh charge per unit . Sometimes they are good at doing that , and sometimes they are n’t . But there ’s an inherent limitation to LCD - found TVs that you are n’t stuck with on your laser projector , and it ’s why your 60Hz optical maser projector look smooth .
It ’s the liquid crystal part . The LC in LCD or , for some projector , it could be LCOS ( smooth crystal on silicone ) .
Your projector is aDLP - type projector . Yes , it uses a laser light source , but the bit that controls and deploys that luminosity is a DLP chip , which digest for digital light sound projection . And it has a much fast response prison term than liquid crystal does . So , the vantage your projector has is the DLP poker chip , which can only work in projection systems . If you had an LCD , 3 LCD , or LCOS projector , you would notice the motion looks very similar to an LCD TV because they use the same rudimentary liquid crystal technology to keep out the light on and off . limpid quartz glass is just slow and more torpid than DLP .
That is at the heart of what you are noticing . And , frankly , DLP and its smoother motion is another reason why folks might favor a projector for a large - screen solution over a TVifthat TV is going to be LCD - free-base as opposed to , say , a massiveOLED or microLED TV . Thosehose emissive displays are lightning - fast and , frankly , just ca n’t be matched by anything else on today ’s securities industry .
So , I would say that if you do n’t mind the look of motion smoothing , you could go with one of those TVs and be happy . But if you like a more cinematic facial expression and desire to steer clear of that soap opera house force entirely , you may be better off buying a newer , brighter optical maser projector with a DLP chip . It will give you the motion lucidity you are already used to , along with gamey contrast and bright colors . I ’d suggest looking at a projector that uses more than one optical maser light , too , for the brightest people of colour potentiality .
