[James Malloch]

We're thinking of getting a projector in our new house (ideally <£400 if you can get anything decent in that price range) which we would combine with a chromecast for Netflix etc.It would need to case about 3 meters.

Ideally we would have the sound coming out of some speakers on the other side of the room (currently also using chromecast) though I'm not sure this functionality exists.

Any tips on how to best set this kind of thing up, and projector recommendations, would be very welcome.

Ideally we wouldn't have to run a wire right around the room to the speakers. Maybe a small bose speaker, or similar, could be installed next to the projector and just connected in line?

[cheque]

Why do you want a projector rather a big telly James?

[nik at work]

We have one for movie nights. It’s ace. Ours is a fairly high spec one, second hand from a family member at bargain basement price including speaker setup. But still came in at about £800 I think...? Dunno what is available at sub-400 but if there is anything decent I think it’s worth it as a luxury treat. But you’d still want a telly, projector is great for movies but would be draining to watch general telly bobbins on I reckon.

[Johnny Brown]

I might be a couple of years out of date but have bought a couple for work. They are alarmingly low res if you are used to any sort of high def screen. My experience with casting type devices is poor, so unless youtr favourite prelude to a movie is endless reboots, updates and 'connection lost' messages I'd go for hard wiring at least one end if you can.

[tomtom]

£400 buys you quite a lot of 4K tv real estate...

[cheque]

I used to have one and there are two things that made me very happy to replace it with a telly, both relating to the fact that they work via a big lamp- there’s a fan blowing the whole time it’s turned on (adds to the movie atmosphere at first but gets old pretty quick, particularly when it’s late at night and you don’t want the volume very loud) and the lamp burns out quicker than you’d think and costs a lot to replace.

[tomtom]

For any presentation stuff at work - if it’s a small seminar room i much prefer a large telly... 65 inch 4K start At 550..

[ali k]

Shame that experiences of them seem to be poor. I was hoping to do away with a TV when this one dies and switch to a projector to avoid a huge screen dominating the room most of the time. I like the idea of a screen there only when I want it to be. Disappointing.

[lagerstarfish]

No personal experience, but short throw projectors might be worth looking at

[Bradders]

RE casting, I haven't had an actual TV aerial for quite a few years now, and instead made do with a Chromecast. Never skips a beat, and I've now recycled almost all of the DVDs I had as they were pointlessly taking up space.

[James Malloch]

Why do you want a projector rather a big telly James?

We used one on the boat we had for a few years (which was a bit of a pain) but like the fact it didn’t dominate the room at all. We only watch some films and series now and then (never normal telly) so would prefer not to have a TV out on display all the time.

We’re used to crap quality so it would probably be a step up from what we currently have anyway. Definitely not bothered about 4K/HD etc.

Been looking at the room more and I think that running a cable to the speakers would be okay going around the picture rails - you probably wouldn’t see it - so that would solve the sound issue.

It’s a shame that the better projectors are more expensive but if anyone does have a recommendation it would be great. We will have a look online too but I’ve no idea what I’m looking at really...

Thanks for the input from everyone though. I’ll not get my hopes up too much for a decent budget setup!

[nik at work]

I agree with a lot of what Cheque said, and if I was a telly watcher then I’d get a telly over a projector. As it is I generally watch films and do that fairly infrequently, so would happily get rid of the telly. Sounds like you might be of a similar mindset...
A couple of points:
1 our projector is HD, but our screen (convenient white wall) is probably just over three metres wide, so it’s a big ass picture. Obviously a smaller screen would “hide” lower definition better. SD sources don’t look good at the scale we are projecting.
2 you can watch a telly with the curtains open on a sunny day, not so much with a projector. Although the enforced cinema darkness does add to the occasion of watching a movie on the big (-ish..) screen.

[yetix]

There's a projector in my house which was here when I moved in (will check the spec on it tomorrow) we watch movies on it as house a couple of times a week and love it. Sure the quality isn't as high as the some 4k/hd tvs but I still think it's more than good enough personally. No bulbs have been replaced whilst I've lived here but we don't watch much TV generally but like I say a few movies a week as I mentioned. More enticing than previous houses I've lived in with a TV in I thought personally.

[tommytwotone]

... it’s a big ass picture...

Hey, whatever you choose to watch behind closed doors / in the privacy of your own home Nik...

[T_B]

Jay at https://cinemaforall.org.uk/ in Sheffield advised us on projectors for work. We ended up getting a Vivitek dh331 (£1300), which is very bright with vivid colours. Ideally you’ll project onto a screen with a black border. There’s something weird that goes on with your brain if you just project onto a white wall with no border to the image. It doesn’t look anywhere near as bright.

[cheque]

We’re used to crap quality so it would probably be a step up from what we currently have anyway. Definitely not bothered about 4K/HD etc.

Right, resolutions-

DVDs are 720 x 480

“HD” is 1080 x 720

“Full HD” (quite often referred to as simply “HD” these days) is 1920 x 1080

“4K” is 3840 x 2160

When they’re abbreviated to one number it’s normally the smaller (vertical) one.

Sometimes they give you projector resolutions in computer monitor codes. This mind-boggling chart will help with that.

That should help you shop. I had a quick look and it seems that for under £400 you’ll be looking at quite a low res unless you don’t mind closing the curtains and you don’t need a short throw one. Short throw seems to be defined as 3-8 feet so you may not.

[tomtom]

Fully appreciate a TV is not the ideal solution James.

But....  TV's seem to last 10-15 years between needing an upgrade - and from my lecture room use of projectors is about every 3-5 years... (I've had a bulb go on one - once - only once...)

[nai]

mount a tv on a wall and use a throw or something more imaginative to cover it when not in use?

[CrimpyMcCrimpface]

Second Nai's comment above about mounting on the wall and covering when not in use.

Installed a TV this year and, like you, I didn't want it to dominate the room so mounted it on the wall and surrounded it with shelving. The TV mount is on an arm so you can pull the TV out into the room and retract it when not watching. The mount was around £28 on amazon and is really robust. I bought the mount with the longest arm and lowest folded profile.

Some pics here for inspiration.. https://imgur.com/a/vwLe1Og

The other thing, I don't know much about energy consumption, but I would think powering a bulb to project light across a room would require more than powering lots of LEDs to light themselves. Depends on usage I guess.

[nai]

Good point re power consumption.

https://www.johnlewis.com/samsung-the-frame-2020-qled-full-hd-art-mode-tv-32-inch/p4987386?sku=238649446&s_ppc=2dx92700055387932470&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5bz-BRD-ARIsABjT4njZ1pTrvE83v55s2J9dlC9_rL8OPLebAMcDWYhEwK8ECtn3IR7PqkQaApywEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Johnny Brown]

TV's seem to last 10-15 years between needing an upgrade

   The old CRTs maybe. Good luck getting firmware updates that will keep your smart TV running any useful apps beyond 5 years. I know this is an argument for using a Firestick and that's why I'm doing it. Just be glad you didn't splurge '000s on a B&O system that it compatible with fuck all, like my Dad did.

[cheque]

Can’t you just use a Smart TV without any of the apps then? The 50” LG one I replaced my projector with in December 2013 still works fine. Did I buy in a sweet spot before they became app dependent?

[Johnny Brown]

If it doesn't have apps how do you watch streaming services?

[nik at work]

Firestick?

[tomtom]

Last year we replaced a Sony 32" LCD 720 telly I got for £400 in 2005... Was (and is) still going strong..

As the others said - when the smart bit of the telly falls over replace with a fire stick/now tv box etc... they do all the shizz now for £20-30...