I'm playing Video Games on a FREAKING 120 INCH SCREEN!

[Anthony1]

Hi guys! You might remember that a couple of weeks back I did a post about how I would soon be playing games on a 100 inch screen. Then I found out that I got scammed in a Ebay scam and the dream went down the drain.


Well, I couldn't help myself, I still bought a DLP projector and now I'm playing my Video Games on a 120 inch screen. I was able to get about 60 percent of the money I lost in the scam back from PayPal and the other 40 is going to be covered by my Bank because of the fraud. So because I was able to basically get all my money back I decided the heck with some shady deal on Ebay, I'll just buy a brand new projector. That way I get a warranty and legit return policy, etc, etc. The difference was only $200, and my Wife as a Fathers day present decided that she would pay the $200 difference because she knew how excited I was about getting a Front Projector, and how shattered I was over the scam.

Anyways, I bought a Infocus X1 DLP Projector for $850 from Amazon. It's actually $950, but there is a $100 rebate if you buy it before June 30th. With Amazon there is no shipping and no tax, so it's a pretty solid deal.

Yes $850 isn't exactly chicken feed, but believe me, it is worth every single penny and more. If you guys could come over to my house and see this, you would be totally blown away. It is that freaking sweet. No Joke.

The Projector cost me $850 and the screen cost me $45. I also had to get a component to VGA adapter cable ($12.95) and I paid a Handyman guy $50 to install it on my ceiling. The Ceiling mount that I got for it was about $55 or so. So basically the whole deal cost me a grand. But oh my God is it the most amazing thousand dollars that I've ever spent on anything. I must honestly say that I've never gotten more bang for my buck from any other product ever, compared to this Infocus X1. If you came to my house and saw this thing in action you would think that it cost like 6 thousand dollars or more. It's that damn good.

I'm going to have to take a bunch of pictures and get them up on here some how so you guys can get an idea of how it looks. I'm not sure if the pictures will really capture the true feeling that you get when you are sitting in the Theater room, but at least it can give you some idea.

Once I got everything working properly the first game that I tried on it was Need For Speed: Underground for the XBOX. I have my XBOX hooked up to this thing so that I get the HDTV signal from the XBOX going to it. Need for Speed: Underground looks so freaking good at 120 inches diagonally, that I nearly needed to change my pants when I first saw it. I mean it's totally jaw dropping. A picture this big just totally swallows you up in the experience of it all. You are practically inside the video game when you are playing on a screen this big.

The next game I tried was ESPN NBA Basketball for XBOX. One of the reasons that I wanted to check out this game was because it's one of the few XBOX games that does 720P. Well let me tell you, the Infocus X1 projector and 720P is like a match made in heaven! Seeing such a crystal clear game on such a huge monsterous screen is a freaking religious experience.

After that I just started trying all kinds of different games. Then I went to the emulators. I have a modded XBOX and I have all the major emulators running on it. MAME is unfreaking believable on this huge ass screen! Just earlier today I was playing the acrade version of Mortal Kombat on this huge screen and it was just such a cool thing. Playing Genesis games in 720P on this huge screen is amazing too! I was playing Gaiares on it and it was really cool.

Look, I'm sorry to be braggin about this, but it's not the fact that I'm trying to brag about it, as much as it's a fact that I would just love to share this with people that could appreciate this. I'm truly in video gaming heaven right now. There isn't a better way of playing my games in existence. From a video standpoint and what you actually see on the screen, it simply can't get any better than what I currently have. From an audio standpoint, there is a lot to be desired because I had to do this in my Garage and from a acoustics standpoint the Garage isn't the best place to try to do Home Theater. I have a Dolby Digital 5.1 system in there, with the speakers and sub, but it's not a "high end" audio setup. It's still damn good.


Anyways, tomorrow I'm going to try taking some pictures with my Digital Camera. I'm not sure how to get the pictures on here, but I'm sure that I could email them to somebody that knows how to get them on here, and then everybody can see what I'm talking about.

I'm telling you, if you are a hardcore gamer, and you have a extra grand to spend to take your gaming to the ultimate level, then this is it.

[junglehunter]

*yawns*


x_x

[Anthony1]

*yawns*


x_x

Hey, you can say that, but next time your in Sacramento, California come by my house and see this in action and the last thing you will be doing is yawning.

[kevincure]

I have the same setup as Anthony1, and he is right in that it's the best grand I've ever spent on videogames. Forget NFS Underground, I've played *Pac-Man* on it. It's awesome. If you can get your room dark enough (it can be played in a lit room, but it's nowhere near the same experience), I highly, highly suggest picking one up.

What's even better, though, is that prices *continue* to fall for front projection. If you're in the market, the Sanyo PLVZ2 and the BenQ PB6100 are both great values - the Infocus X1 is great and the cheapest solid projector, but it is a 3 year-old machine.

[lendelin]

Sounds fantastic, I'm curious about some pics.

If I had an adequate room, I'd do the same thing instead of buying an HDTV one day. Racing games must look awesome on such a setup, and a great action-adventure game like Otogi...hmmm...mouth-watering.

[hezeuschrist]

I'd love to have something like that. I just got my first decent sound system and It's an absolute blast watching movies like Lord of the Rings with HUGE bass and surround sound. Now I just need the visuals to go along with it and I'm all set.

You have a sweet sound setup to rock your ears too?

[musical]

May I have more info?

(1) I assume the room has to be completely dark to use a video projector. True?

(2) Can I just plug my PS2's S-video directly into the projector?

(3) Can the 110" size be changed to other sizes (say 50")?

[brykasch]

I too would like some more info on this as I have been thinking about doing this as well for movies and what not. thanks!

[robotriot]

musical:

1) Not completly, depends on the ANSI lumen the projector has. To be able to have a good picture in daylight you need probably 1500+, but most projectors with 1000 or less already give you good pics when it's just a little darker than normal daylight. You don't need a completly light-less room.

2) Yes, most projectors have Composite, S-Video, VGA, RGB connectors, so any console will work.

3) The picture size depends on how far the projector is away from the wall/screen. The nearer it is, the smaller the picture gets.

[kingpong]

What's even better, though, is that prices *continue* to fall for front projection. If you're in the market, the Sanyo PLVZ2 and the BenQ PB6100 are both great values - the Infocus X1 is great and the cheapest solid projector, but it is a 3 year-old machine.

I would definitely suggest the PB6100 over the X1. They're largely comparable, but the PB6100 has better black levels, a brighter bulb (better able to handle ambient light), and most importantly IMO, a higher speed color wheel. The X1's much touted Faroudja deinterlacing chip really isn't so special - might be a little better than the PB6100 in that regard, but not significantly (I've tried a few de-interlacing methods and don't see any significant differences). Also in favor of the PB6100 is that it doesn't have the goofy 480i/480p on 2 different connectors setup of the X1, which makes setup less annoying.

When I first got my projector, I figured I would go with a low end unit since I didn't know how it would turn out. Having lived with it for a few months, I'm wishing that I had gone for a 1024x768 projector or higher. More expensive, obviously, but it would have been worth it. 800x600 is good, but you know 1024x768 would be better. I figured that this is a good starter projector, and by the time I need a new one something that does 1080p natively should be affordable.

[Sylentwulf]

It's awesome. If you can get your room dark enough (it can be played in a lit room, but it's nowhere near the same experience),

BINGO. I'll stick to my 47" 1080p widescreen RPTV for around the same price.

Also, when someone gets up and walks across the room, the picture doesn't get cut off

[Videogamerdaryll]

Sounds fantastic, I'm curious about some pics..

Ditto......

I'd like to see what it looks like..

[Cranduit]

I think we use the X1s at work and they seem to be pretty bright at a closer range. Since I work at a movie theater, it's a 60 foot throw to a 45+ foot screen. Hook up directly into the sound system (that required a bit of cable hacking) an drop the lights to complete black and it looks real nice. We try to get quite a few people out and play Halo 16 player across 4 of these, it's like everyone gets their own big screen. However even after playing on that I still prefer my Mitsubitsi rear projection with HD support.

[rotten03]

How often do the bulbs need to be replaced? Are they suitable for watching normal television or is the bulb life such that you should only use the projector for movies?

[robotriot]

The bulb life depends on the projector, and again the ANSI lumen. More lumen = shorter lifetime and expensive replacement bulbs. They usually range from 1000 to 2500 hours.

[atari_overlord]

I also just recently got a projector set up for my game room. I went with an epson powerlite S1 and I am very happy with it. Everything looks great except for the lack of ability to use a light gun. Damn I want to play huge duck hunt.

[kevincure]

The bulb life on the X1 is 4000 hours, I believe 2500 hours is about average for front projection.

As for screen size, you can adjust the size quite a bit without moving the projector. Just estimating roughly, I'd say that the X1 with a 12' throw can generate a screen between 60 and 100 inches. Most projectors have a "sweet spot", though, where you don't want to make the screen bigger because you'll start to lose the brightness (80-90 inches for the X1 seems to be the most you would want, though I've seen this projector running with a very nice image and a screen in the 180" range).

It's no problem to hook up any system - you'll find the same connections as you would on a high end TV.

If you can't control light very well, and will be playing in the evening when there's still quite a bit of light, you can always buy a "grey" screen - a company called Goo makes screens that you essentially put together yourself, but give a very good image, for around 300 bucks. Grey screens often do a much better job of controlling ambient light than a simple wall.

[Anthony1]

Ok, I'm going to try to answer as many of the questions as possible.


Do you have a sound setup to rock the ears too? This Home Theater room that I'm doing is in my Garage and it isn't my primary Home Theater setup. So my best Speakers and Subwoofer and Amp is in my living room. However, I still have a pretty decent system set up in my Garage. I used to work at a audio/video store and I got some super high quality speakers for like 65 percent off. I had some extras that weren't being used, so I'm using them with this. I went on Ebay and got a really good Subwoofer for the Garage for only 50 bucks delivered. I still need a center channel speaker. But all in all the sound is pretty damn good, but the fact that the acoustical situation is horrible being in a room like a Garage. Just really bad acoustics. But all things considered, it's pretty damn good.


Does the room need to be totally dark? No, it doesn't need to be totally dark, but it better be pretty damn dark. So this is going to be a big problem in alot of situations. In my situation, because I'm in the Garage, I can make it totally dark if I want to, even in the middle of the day. However, I usually have a little bit of light coming in. Not too much. But if it's totally dark, then your eyes can get some serious eyestrain after awhile. But the reality is that you definiltey need to have a pretty dark room for this, or you have to wait for nighttime to use it.

Can you just plug your PS2's S-Video cable in? Yes you can, but this projector really shines and shows it's true capabilities with progressive scan sources. So I would recommend only playing games that are 480p or better. I had to get a Component to VGA cable and then plug that into my VGA input on the projector. The other end went to a Mad Catz Component HDTV system selector's output. Then I can plug 4 different 480p or higher sources into this projector with that switchbox. For video gaming that means the XBOX in 480p or higher, GameCube in 480p or higher and the few PS2 games in 480p or higher. The downside is that the VGA input only accepts 480p sources or better. So for all the PS2 games that aren't 480p, you cant see them this way. You would have to use the S-Video for the PS2 and GameCube games that aren't progressive scan. And for the once in a blue moon XBOX game that isn't progressive scan. Since all the best games tend to be progressive scan, I don't even concern myself with it.


Can the 110" size be changed, like to 50"? Of course, you just would have the projector closer to whatever you are using as a screen. But, I don't know if it would make a ton of sense to get a Front Projector to only have a 50 inch screen? I think that 70 inches should be the lowest amount. You want to have the maximum wow factor and 50 inches is like a regular big screen TV. The cool thing though about the Infocus X1 is that it's only 6.7 pounds, and it even comes with it's own carrying case. Some people make a portable 70 inch screen that they take with them for gaming sessions on the go. It's pretty sweet to be able to take a 70 inch HDTV gaming screen over to a friends house to blow him off the map!


How often to bulbs need to be replaced? Well that depends. The X1 supposedly has a 4000 hour bulb life, but in reality if you get 2500 hours out of it, then you should consider yourself pleased. This is one of the big negatives of front projection. A new bulb is $299. Not exactly cheap. But if you use it correctly, you should get at least 2000 hours and if you use it 4 hours a day that's about a year and a half. So you have to play $300 every year and a half to have the baddest gaming screen on the planet? Not to bad if you ask me. Sure, I would prefer not to pay $300 every year and a half, but just get your buddies to chip in, because they will be over your house every day drooling all over it. When the bulb runs out, ask for donations.


Here are some basic things that I've learned about the X1


1. To have a huge screen, you need to be able to have the projector back pretty far from the screen. Basically you need to have at least 14 feet or so. If you have a distance less than 14 feet, then I don't know if it would be the greatest idea to get one of these. The whole appeal to it, is the fact that you have a freaking gigantic screen. Less than 14 feet equals not a huge screen.

2. You need to have a pretty damn dark room to fully enjoy this. Does it need to be pitch black? No. But it does need to be pretty damn dark. The reason that this thing is in my Garage is because the Wife loves to have every window in the house open with tons of sun coming in. In my Garage I can have it nice and dark so it works great in there for me. Plus, in my house the farthest I can get the projector from the screen is like 13 feet. But in my Garage I can get it 19 feet back.

3. You need to have some type of wall or something to shoot the video onto. You can get a pull down screen for about $200 and you can mount those pretty much anywhere, but the problem with those is that after awhile the screens start to curl up on the corners unless they are tab tensioned screens. Tab tenstions screens cost more than a used Honda, so you can forget that unless you are super wealthy. If you have a decent wall that you can use, you can get a white polywall panel from Home Depot that comes in a 4 x 8 size. It's perfect for making a 98 inch diagonal 16:9 screen. You just need to cut about 11.5 inches off the width of the panel and you are set. Luckily for me, in my Garage I have very smooth walls, and all I needed to do was to paint the damn wall! Behr Ultra Pure White Interior Flat Matte is the best paint to use. $20 for a gallon of paint at Home Depot.

4. Regular crappy TV on Front Projectors is not a good idea. Basically when it comes to my X1 there are several things that it does really, really well. It does XBOX incredibly well. It does 480p GameCube games incredibly well. It does the very few 480p PS2 games very well. It does DVD movies from my DVD player very well. It does HDTV from my Direct TV HDTV reciever very well. But when it comes to regular crappy TV? not so good. Some channels are still decent, like MTV and the HBO channels and stuff like that, but alot of the channels look pretty crappy on such a huge screen. It's the old, "Garbage in, Garbage out" thing. So if you plan on watching alot of regular TV and VCR's and Tivo and stuff like that, then stick to your TV's. But if you want to watch HDTV and DVD movies and XBOX and 480p games and stuff like that, then you will be in heaven!



Oh by the way, I'm going to take some pics tonite. Hopefully I can post them up tomorrow.

[suppafly]

WE WANT PICS!!! WE WANT PICS!!! WE WANT PICS!!!

[Anthony1]

I've got some pictures. How do I put them on here?