Soon I will be playing games on a freaking 106 inch screen!!

[Anthony1]

I was bumping around the Internet one day, when I found a post with a guy talking about playing Halo on a 100 inch screen, and how it is the most incredible experience imaginable.


At first I was thinking, yeah, it must be nice to be rich, and to be able to have ridiculous money to spend to get a Front Projector and screen and all that.


But as the post continued, the guy explained how he got his entire setup, up and running for under 1 grand!!


I though, "Wow, playing Halo on a 100 inch screen for under a grand?" Under a grand is actually dooable.


So what I did was investigate all of the information that he provided, and I discovered just how easy it is, to get your own 100 inch screen up and running. Basically, you need a number of things, some of which are going to be very difficult to acquire, but, where there is a will, there is a way.

Here is what you would need:


1. A large room that can be "almost" completely darkened. Now this is the hardest thing. I actually don't have any rooms in my house that are large and can be completely darkened. So I had to do this in my Garage! But hey, the Garage is perfect. It's large enough, the wife doesn't complain about it, and I can control the room light very well.

2. A projector - The projector of choice is a Infocus X1 DLP Front Projector. This thing can do 800 x 600 resolution. The good thing about that, is that it can do the full resolution of DVD movies and 480P video games. You can even watch HDTV on it, but it doesn't do the full resolution of HDTV. But still, it supposedly looks pretty damn good with HDTV. Anyways, this projector is absolutely perfect for 480P sources. From what I've heard, the XBOX is an absolute dream on this projector. I'm assuming that the GameCube games that are in 480P would look awesome as well. Same thing with the 480P Dreamcast games, and also the few 480P PS2 games. Plus this projector has a really nice chip in it that will take S-Video sources and improve them dramatically. So you can hook up any S-Video game machines and get a really good picture on those as well. But the best feature of this projector is it's price. It's standard price is $999.99. But there is a $100 rebate on it right now. Also, many places are selling it for $899.99 so after the $100 rebate, you end up getting it for $799.99. I got mine slightly used off of Ebay for $650 shipped.

3. A screen. At first, I thought that the screens that people used for these huge home theater rooms would cost a fortune. And they do, if you actually buy one at a home theater store. But you don't need to buy one at a Home Theater store. You can make your own, or if you have a large white wall, you can project the image right onto the wall. The screen that I'm going to use is a 106 inch (diagonally) widescreen 16:9 screen. It's 52 inches high and 92 inches wide. Unfortunately, because of where I'm putting my screen, I have to have one that is attached to the ceiling, that you manually pull down when using. It's going to set me back about $150.00. But if I didn't need it to be retractable, then I would have built my own. If fact, you can go to Home Depot and for $17 get a white panel that is 4 x 8, that would make a great 92 inch 16:9 screen. It's a specific white panel that tons of people use to make their own screens. In fact, I might have to get one of these and use it temporarily, until I can get the right screen that I want for around $150 shipped.

4. A place to put the projector. Usually it's best to have it mounted to the ceiling, so you will need a ceiling mount. You can get one on Ebay for about $60 shipped. Or you can make your own.

5. A Component to VGA adapter. This is the adapter that you would use to connect a XBOX, GameCube, progressive scan DVD player, etc, etc, to the Infocus X1. These go for about $10 to $30 depending on the type of cable.



Anyways, I should be getting my Projector in the mail any day now, and I'll be sure to give everybody a full report on how this thing works with my Video Game systems. Man, I just can't wait to see Need For Speed: Underground on my XBOX in 480P on a 106 inch screen!!!!

[hydr0x]

-_- -_- -_-

sorry anthony, but please stop bragging with some kind of high-tech equipment, it's NOT interesting for any of us, we really don't care at all...

[Flack]

Wow, rude.

My projector setup ran me a little more, about $1,500. I went with a Toshiba projector which ran me about $1,399, but sells for around $1,199 now. My screen ran me about $170 (with shipping) for a pull down, 8' screen. My Toshiba projector is bright enough that I can play just fine in my room with windows open. The more the lights are dimmed the brighter it looks, of course.

Oh, and the Toshiba projector has VGA, Composite, and S-Video ins, so no converters are needed.

[Daria]

Heh as soon as I saw the topic title I thought "Anthony got a projector" (:

They're fun arent they?

[Jasoco]

God, I hate those things. They're ALWAYS on eBay and are freaking stupid. Enjoy it if you must, but no.. We'd rather use a real TV.

Besides, don't these things flip the picture? Some do. And who wants that?

I'd take a super expensive projector any day.

[Flack]

God, I hate those things. They're ALWAYS on eBay and are freaking stupid. Enjoy it if you must, but no.. We'd rather use a real TV.

Besides, don't these things flip the picture? Some do. And who wants that?

I'd take a super expensive projector any day.

I think you're thinking of those $5-$10 cheap-o rigs, not a $900 projector like Anthony is talking about.

I've yet to see a single person's jaw not drop when they walk into my media room.

[Jasoco]

My mistake. Carry on. :embarrassed:

I wish I had a room DARK enough to do that, though. Stupid windows. Also.. I don't think there's enough room in this house to even have a picture projected large enough. :o

[TheRedEye]

PROTIP: Don't plug your Atari into that thing. Ouch.

[sniperCCJVQ]

PROTIP: Don't plug your Atari into that thing. Ouch.

POF !!!!!!!!!

[Jasoco]

PROTIP: Don't plug your Atari into that thing. Ouch.

POF !!!!!!!!!Ouch in a bad way? Or Ouch in an "Eww.. that looks ugly" way?

[Bratwurst]

I'd get into this but the cost of the bulbs (as I remember) were prohibitively expensive.. like 200 bucks a pop.

Whatever happened to that technology that enabled you to stack several monitors into a grid and display a single image that way?

[Jasoco]

Whatever happened to that technology that enabled you to stack several monitors into a grid and display a single image that way?My problem with that is the actual grid that you see. Annoying. Even if it is very thin like some types of these grids.

[chadtower]

Anthony, be sure to let us know how all those RGB modded consoles look on the projector. :-P

[Bratwurst]

My problem with that is the actual grid that you see. Annoying. Even if it is very thin like some types of these grids.

My problem is I didn't ask for your opinion, I threw out a line to see if anyone had some information on how its done, whether they've done it before, etc. ;)

[sisko]

Do light guns work with projectors?

[Flack]

I'd get into this but the cost of the bulbs (as I remember) were prohibitively expensive.. like 200 bucks a pop.

Whatever happened to that technology that enabled you to stack several monitors into a grid and display a single image that way?

Bulbs for my projector run about $200 and are good for about 3000 hours. That's 8 hours a day for a solid year. Or, if you only end up gaming an hour a day, that's 8 years. It's certainly something to consider before jumping into the world of projectors.

By the way, did you ever see the guy who had thirteen monitors running Flight Simulator (http://www.zonaeuropa.com/00127.htm)?

[jonjandran]

Just a FIY Anthony.....

The In Focus sells a better model for a couple hundred more that does 1024*768 and is a third the size. :-P

[Anthony1]

Wow, rude.

My projector setup ran me a little more, about $1,500. I went with a Toshiba projector which ran me about $1,399, but sells for around $1,199 now. My screen ran me about $170 (with shipping) for a pull down, 8' screen. My Toshiba projector is bright enough that I can play just fine in my room with windows open. The more the lights are dimmed the brighter it looks, of course.

Oh, and the Toshiba projector has VGA, Composite, and S-Video ins, so no converters are needed.



Flack,

That 8 foot screen that you got, have you had any problem with the corners slowly but surely starting to bend up? This guy told me that unless you get a really expensive retractable, the corners end up bending, and he said to do it cheap you have to go with a fixed screen.

Also the X1 has all those inputs too, but you need a Component to VGA adapter if you want to see stuff in 480P/720P/1080i etc, etc. Like to hook up the XBOX for 480P.

[Jasoco]

Why not just get that big TV Mr. Burns has. A gigantic CRT. LOL

[Anthony1]

Anthony, be sure to let us know how all those RGB modded consoles look on the projector. :-P


Unfortunately, this DLP projector can't do an analog RGB signal that has a horizontal scan rate of 15kHz.


I would have to get an old school RGB projector to do that.


But, I'm sure things will look absolutely gorgeous via my Modded Xbox. Super Nintendo at 1080i is really nice and clean. Or you can run it at 720P. The Genesis in 720P is almost as good as real RGB. The NES at 1080i is very clean. MAME obviously is very nice at 480P.

And with the XBOX media player, you don't even need to hook up a seperate progressive scan DVD player.

[Anthony1]

Just a FIY Anthony.....

The In Focus sells a better model for a couple hundred more that does 1024*768 and is a third the size. :-P


What's the model number? Are you talking about the Screen Play 4805 ?

[jonjandran]

It's this one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48653&item=4132824165&rd=1

[Vroomfunkel]

I was thinking, yeah, it must be nice to be rich, and to be able to have ridiculous money to spend

Like spending nearly a grand on a big screen? :hmm:

Not to be rude, but to me .. and presumably to others on a similar budget ... $1000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on something like that. It's not necessarily what you say, but how you say it!

Vroomfunkel

[whoisKeel]

heh, nice.

when i first read this i was thinking it was one of those 'attach mirros to an existing tv thing' that are always on ebay. anybody heard any results about those?

[Anthony1]

It's this one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=48653&item=4132824165&rd=1


Yeah, that's a good deal. But still my Infocus X1 cost me $649 shipped. That one is $1270 shipped. My X1 was basically half the price.

The thing is, as much as I would love the increase in resolution on that unit, the only way I was able to even think about trying a projector was because I could get one for $650 delivered. Otherwise, I would not be in the market for one at all.

Now, maybe a few months from now, I'll wish that I new about that auction, and that I spent twice as much and got that one, but for now I'm cool with my $650 X1. Especially considering the X1 originally sold for like $1699 or so.

[Anthony1]

I was thinking, yeah, it must be nice to be rich, and to be able to have ridiculous money to spend

Like spending nearly a grand on a big screen? :hmm:

Not to be rude, but to me .. and presumably to others on a similar budget ... $1000 is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on something like that. It's not necessarily what you say, but how you say it!

Vroomfunkel


A grand is pennies on the dollar compared to what something like this would have cost just a few measly years ago. A DLP Projector like the one that I'm getting, would cost like 10 grand just five years ago!

I'm going to be watching a screen in my Garage, that would be as good as a movie stars home theater back in the early 90's.

So for a grand, yeah, I think that is dooable.

Of course, I haven't spent a grand yet. Just $650. I'm going to get my screen for $20, my ceiling mount for about $50, my Component to VGA cable for about $15.

That's $735 total.

[kingpong]

I've been using a BenQ PB6100 for a few months with a 100" screen (4x3), and it is fairly nice. Definitely like it better than the X1 due to the faster color wheel in the PB6100. My only significant gripe is that with my room's setup I have to sit about a foot closer than I would like, and as a result I get a little bit of a screen door effect. I figured at around $1K for everything involved it was worth a shot - if it wasn't that great, it was only $1K lost. After having the projector for a while, I'm happy enough that I'm wishing I had spent another $500-600 to go up to the 1024x768 PB6200, or better yet (for a little more), something that did 720P natively for when the HDTV programming is worth having.

From a gaming standpoint my only complaint is that having a screen so large makes fast songs in Karoake Revolution very hard. When the words have to scroll across an 80" wide screen quickly, they're moving so fast that they're going to blur, not due to the projector, but due to you just not being able to focus on something moving that fast.

[kevincure]

Hey guys, let the guy enjoy the new TV without the caustic remarks, y'know? Sure, a thou is a decent bit to drop on a TV, but me and a bud of mine easily saved up and bought even more expensive televisions that that while in school and working part time. Owning a TV like that means you buy the $9000 2000 model car instead of the $10000 2001 model, y'know? It's not like he's talking about plasmas in the back seat of his Escalade.

Anthony, you'll find that some light doesn't really matter with the X1 and you certainly don't need pure darkness, although the image will look better of course when it's fully dark. You also, if possible, should try the projector on a plain white wall before investing in a screen. If the wall is clean and fairly smooth, you'll get a great image even without the screen, save some cash and make your room look much cleaner. Lastly, the X1 actually has a 4000 hr. lamp, but you need to update the firmware so it doesn't automatically shut off - go to the Infocus site for the info.

[TheScaryOne]

Cool man. I would buy one, but i'm saving up for the next wave of consoles. As for me, I don't have many rooms that I could use for a projector, we don't have basements in Texas. :angry: Oh well, i'm fine with my 20 inch flatscreen. :)
As for Hyr0x, don't be such an asshole. If you don't care, then that's your problem.

Have fun with that projector man. 8-)

[chadtower]

Be sure to keep us updated on this... I'm in the process of finishing my basement and now that I see how low the price has dipped, I am seriously considering adding that to the plans. If I could get a new one, with warranty, for ~$800, that's right around the cost of a good TV anyway.

[Daria]

From a gaming standpoint my only complaint is that having a screen so large makes fast songs in Karoake Revolution very hard. When the words have to scroll across an 80" wide screen quickly, they're moving so fast that they're going to blur, not due to the projector, but due to you just not being able to focus on something moving that fast.

But the um words/arrows/whatever wouldn't be moving any faster, they'd just be proportionaly bigger.

[Anthony1]

Be sure to keep us updated on this... I'm in the process of finishing my basement and now that I see how low the price has dipped, I am seriously considering adding that to the plans. If I could get a new one, with warranty, for ~$800, that's right around the cost of a good TV anyway.



Yeah, I will definitely keep you guys updated, but this isn't a "Home Theater Room" forum, so I understand that some people don't want to read about this, so I will try to keep my updates to a minimum.

Obviously, my goal is to get everything up and running and then to kick back and play Need For Speed: Underground on a 100 inch screen, and then to report back on what that experience is like.

But I still have to wait to get the projector, and I still need a ceiling mount. I'm trying to get my ceiling mount off of Ebay, but I have to wait till the auction has ended.


By the way, I got my screen today! It cost me a whopping $18.00 from Home Depot! Tons of people are using this 4 x 8 White Polywall panel as a Home Theater screen for projectors. Supposedly it works really, really good. Plus, it's only 18 bucks. I actually wanted to have a 106 inch 16:9 screen, but instead it's going to be a 97.909 inch 16:9 screen. Oh well, for ony $18 I can't complain. I also need to buy some Black Cotton Velveteen from JoAnn Fabrics for $10 a yard. This will be my masking cloth that will surround the perimiter of my screen.


So far, here are my total costs:

Infocus X1 DLP Projector (shipped) ------------------ $649.00
4 x 8 White Polywall panel to make a 98" 16:9 screen-----------$18.00


What I still must buy, and the expected costs:

Ceiling mount (shipped) ------------------------$40.00 to $70.00
Component to VGA adapter------------------------$15.00 to $30.00
Masking cloth (per yard)-----------------------------$10.00 x ? (not sure how much I'll need)
1/2 gallon of waterbased adhesive to apply screen to wall-------------$15.00


Once, I'm completely done with this project, I will give everybody exact totals of the cost, as well as pictures of the end result.

[Jasoco]

From a gaming standpoint my only complaint is that having a screen so large makes fast songs in Karoake Revolution very hard. When the words have to scroll across an 80" wide screen quickly, they're moving so fast that they're going to blur, not due to the projector, but due to you just not being able to focus on something moving that fast.

But the um words/arrows/whatever wouldn't be moving any faster, they'd just be proportionaly bigger.Ditto. Stuff will still move the same speed they used to, whether it's a 13" TV or a 109" projection. It's juist proportionately bigger. It still takes the same amount of time to go the "distance". :)

[Anthony1]

Total and Complete dissaster.


I got scammed.


Yep the front projector that I got on Ebay for $650, turns out to be a scam. The guy has my $650, and I have nothing. I'm going to try to fight it, with PayPal, Ebay and my Bank, but I don't know if I'm going to have any legitimate recourse on it.


PayPal says that they froze the guys account, and if there is any money in it, and I win the dispute they would give me the money in there up to the $650 amount that I lost.

Of course I can guarantee that this guys PayPal account is $0.00. So I'm not going to get anything back from PayPal.


Hopefully my Bank will somehow cover me on this.


I paid via PayPal but through my bank's checking account that was linked to my PayPal account.

God this sucks.

I went from dreaming every night about playing NFS:U on a 100 inch screen to being totally depressed and dissapointed.

Oh well, you live and you learn. That was a very expensive lesson.

[Jasoco]

Oh my God. That totally sucks. X_x

I hope SOMETHING happens to the guy. Hopefully your bank will give you money back. It's sickening what some people will do.

How did you find out you were scammed?

[jonjandran]

Man that is Mesed up !!!! :angry:

I would find out where he lives, if you can, and file charges against him.

[kingpong]

From a gaming standpoint my only complaint is that having a screen so large makes fast songs in Karoake Revolution very hard. When the words have to scroll across an 80" wide screen quickly, they're moving so fast that they're going to blur, not due to the projector, but due to you just not being able to focus on something moving that fast.

But the um words/arrows/whatever wouldn't be moving any faster, they'd just be proportionaly bigger.Ditto. Stuff will still move the same speed they used to, whether it's a 13" TV or a 109" projection. It's juist proportionately bigger. It still takes the same amount of time to go the "distance". :)

Not exactly... The object being larger and in theory easier to see does not offset the difficulty caused by the object moving faster. Comparing a 100" screen to a 20" screen, the object will move 5 times faster on the larger screen due to everything being proportionally larger. Despite the objecting being 5 times larger, it is not as easy to focus on as on the 20" screen. Now if I was able to stand 5x farther away from the screen then the 100" screen would look the same as the 20" at 1x due to the relative movement and size compared to my field of view would be the same. Maybe think of it this way, kind of the reverse but with the same result... Watch something moving across your screen while you are 5' away. Now watch the same thing while you are 1' away. The object now appears 5x larger and moves 5x faster. Can you focus on it as well as you could at 5'?

Maybe I missed when the definition of velocity was changed from distance traveled per unit of time...

[Jasoco]

Well, Proportionately it would be the same proportionate speed. But it'll still take the same amount of time to move across the screen no matter how big the picture is.

[Flack]

[ not worth the fallout ]

[Jasoco]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, didn't mean to be a "Dick", but I don't think bigger screens make the framerate go faster. So therefore, it'll still take the same time to go across the screen, whether the thing is flying at 50MPH or 1MPH. :hmm:

Think of it this way, I use "Proportionately" in the sense that a bigger screen is like being closer to the action.

Say you are watching a NASCAR race. The cars are going to be moving the same speed whether you are right on the track or all the way in the Nosebleed seats. THAT'S what I meant by "Proportionately". Don't resort to calling me names when you don't understand. You're a MOD for God's sake! :(

[kai123]

What I think he is saying is that the screen will have to process it 5 times as fast to display the same image. It will not make mario 5 times as fast it will move just as fast as it did before. It is like a cd it has to spin faster on the outside to keep up with the rest of the cd. I think :hmm:

[Flack]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, didn't mean to be a "Dick", but I don't think bigger screens make the framerate go faster. So therefore, it'll still take the same time to go across the screen, whether the thing is flying at 50MPH or 1MPH. :hmm:

Think of it this way, I use "Proportionately" in the sense that a bigger screen is like being closer to the action.

Say you are watching a NASCAR race. The cars are going to be moving the same speed whether you are right on the track or all the way in the Nosebleed seats. THAT'S what I meant by "Proportionately". Don't resort to calling me names when you don't understand. You're a MOD for God's sake! :(

You won, you got my goat. Game on, regardless of screen size.

[Jasoco]

No hard feelings? Sorry I wasn't clear enough. I didn't know how else to explain it.

[kingpong]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, didn't mean to be a "Dick", but I don't think bigger screens make the framerate go faster. So therefore, it'll still take the same time to go across the screen, whether the thing is flying at 50MPH or 1MPH. :hmm:

You're exactly right - the framerate doesn't change and it takes the same amount of time for the object to move across the screen. Due to the increased size of the screen the speed increases proportionally. And isn't it harder to focus on something moving 50mph than on something moving 1mph?



Say you are watching a NASCAR race. The cars are going to be moving the same speed whether you are right on the track or all the way in the Nosebleed seats. THAT'S what I meant by "Proportionately".

Try to read the numbers on the cars when you're on the track, and try to read them from the nosebleed seats. Going to be much easier from the nosebleeds (until you reach the point where they're too small). Though the cars are going the same speed, their velocity relative to your field of view is slower and your eye doesn't have to move as fast to keep up with the car you're trying to watch.

[Jasoco]

Good, you understand my point. I was just explaining it. I know how hard it is to actually concentrate on something close up like that. :)

[Predatorxs]

Hey Anthony1,

Sorry to hear about how you were scammed, this makes no difference at all but do the bragging after you have the item, your askin for bad luck, i know it sounds silly but... it's one little rule i stick too, along with aload of other little rules ;)

I hope you get your money back though!..

Now on too big screens, when the snes was still the top dog a local cinema had a special weekend for people that wanted to play there consoles on a cinema size screen it was £15 an hour.

A friend of mine went along with his Snes and his brother... and played Street fighter II and Super mario world for the whole hour, he said the hour went really, really fast but it was worth it in the end.

He mentioned that the screen looked alittle stretched near sides and the bottom of the screen but it wasn't really noticable.

Also he had to play it from the projection room.. He said It would have been cool to play it from the middle of the cinema, like you where watching a movie.

A number of Games mags made mention of the weekend it also went on in London, and Scotland. I was away on holiday at the time, so i missed out :(

OFF ------ TOPIC

Why do some Americans use the frase "I could care less" when the actuall frase is "I couldn't care less"

Back ----- On Topic :roll:

..XS (you crazy Kids!)

[jonjandran]

OFF ------ TOPIC

Why do some Americans use the frase "I could care less" when the actuall frase is "I couldn't care less"

Back ----- On Topic :roll:

..XS (you crazy Kids!)

Maybe it's because we actually could care less if we really, really tried. LOL

[Predatorxs]

OFF ------ TOPIC

Why do some Americans use the frase "I could care less" when the actuall frase is "I couldn't care less"

Back ----- On Topic :roll:

..XS (you crazy Kids!)

Maybe it's because we actually could care less if we really, really tried. LOL

Heheheh i guess you could LOL, thanks for clearing that up JonJandran ;)