If I remmember, the AVS site had a long thread going about these 2 projectors. I think the H30 had a bad reputation for blowing bulbs early in thier lifespan. And the 4805 was constantly being put down for it's fan noise. Just a bit of extra info, not sure about the bulb issue but I can tell you that the 4805 noise factor is not that bad, unless you have it right by you. Mine is mounted about 3 feet above my head and I can't even tell when its running.
Really Optoma and Infocus are 2 of the most trusted projector companies around. Panasonic and Nec are reputable also. Lamp life continues to get better and better. Some people swear by the H30a. The bad comments about the H30 lamps was word of mouth, so take it for what its worth. I spent hours looking through forums before I decided on the 4805. ANd for me it was all about first my budget, next my viewing prefs(more movies than tv), lastly longevity. Here's the thing. You can pay $3000 for a top notch projector right now. And its the cats meow. But 3-4 years from now that same projector probably will be 1/4 the cost. For less than $1500 I can get a good quality projector that may not have the latest and greatest, but it certainly can hold its own. I can get a good screen and xtra bulb too. LCD and DLP are really new to the scene. Think of how LCD tvs have come down in the past year. I'm betting projector will follow.
i cant agree with you more on the fact that projector prices are bound to fall and become more mainstream. a perfect example of this is when dvd players was first introduced all those years ago.
Yeah, there are new technologies coming out all the time. LCD was thought to be dead in the water after the introduction of DLP, but a new range of LCD's came to life and they have infact remained as a good choice for projector buyers, thanks in part for their ability to get richer blacks now...just look at the Sony VPL-HS50 and 51 which gets 6000:1 contrast ratio at around 1000 Lumens or so, as stated, which is better than most 2 generation dark DLP chips with the 12 degree turns (the larger the degree, the more possible the increase in contrast and the grayscale depth). For now though, have a look at the ones you like. Remember that in the UK with Pal, a resolution of 1024x576 is what is suited to DVD the most. Ok, thats essentially WSVGA or so, if such a resolution acronym exists, since 1280x720 is known as as WXGA. WXGA pictures, although better suited to 720p resolution, can leave an image looking to sharp or too digital. Sometimes, at these resolutions a scaler is needed.
The biggest remaining difference in performance between DLP & LCD is pixel blend. The screen door effect is much greater with LCD.
Yeah, thats correct, the low Fill factor of LCD gives us a Screen Door Effect SDE, but dont let that put you off LCD> Most new LCD projectors have very little evidence of SDE: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/qa/images/lcd-dlp-pixel-fill-factor-diagram.gif[img] Both are relatively new technologies, over the next few years im sure we'll see many different products.
Hello. I can say that after 3500 hours of watching my Panasonic AE500 that I've not seen screen door at less than 3 foot from a 7 foot wide screen. I've seen the odd vertical banding, intermittent brightness flickering, 'dirty' solid colours, stained blue polarizer and blobs of dust, but it's still an amazing bit of kit especialy with high definition content and used as a computer monitor.
Havent ever seen any Vertical Banding with mine and i have looked. Yeah, the rest of what you say is true. I hate the dust blobs, but as with any LCD projector, it will happen...
