PC Monitors & TVs thread - The Bear and Badger

Officer_V

Ghost in the Shell and Interstellar watched in 4k on the new set over the last couple of nights. Fucking beautiful.

Minkymu

b0r1s wrote:

Could you switch to Dolby Digital instead of Atmos and see if that makes it any better?

Dolby digital works fine no sync issues, but i bought a decking atmos bar so it’s annoying.

Its something to do with the tv sound processor introducing delay on atmos audio. Loads of c9 and cx customers moaning about it.

b0r1s

Mmmm, I don't have a Series X, but I have an Apple TV and that played Atmos without delay. Again, I had to fiddle with settings, but I didn't set any lip sync on either my TV or sound bar.

EvilRedEye

This is a useful video on renaming inputs on LG 2020 TVs (mine defaulted to calling the Switch 'PS4'). Turns out you can also move where the input name shows up on the screen.

b0r1s

Ha ha. The good old Tech Giant. He’s pretty good but I wish he’d stop wearing the vests lol.

b0r1s

LG OLED owners. Not sure if this is just the CX but there is a bug in its implementation of Dolby Vision content with elevated black levels. I’ve noticed it in space scenes with star fields and the opening Star Wars logo in Mandalorian. You’ll see fringing of grey around the logo. There’s a simple fix. Reduce your brightness to 49. Default is 50. There’s a noticeable difference and black levels fall back in line.

Minkymu

Ah ok

Verecocha

Will have a look at that, good find.

b0r1s

Yeah, I noticed watching Mando then decided to do some googling. It doesn't seem to affect normal HDR or gaming HDR.

Moot_Geeza

Does anyone have much experience with projectors? The 50'' HD stalwart in my front room has so many things burned into the display even my wife mentions it, and she doesn't even flinch when the WiFi drops streaming services down to SD, so we've been thinking of replacing it with something a little different. There's between 10 & 11ft between where we'd mount a projector and the screen, and we'll be getting black-out blinds as part of the imminent front room makeover.

I gather I'd need a good set of speakers on top of the projector and screen, but for a whopping home theatre experience it seems like a comparatively cheap option looking at the prices of mid-range TVs. I'd have an Xbox One going into it as the smart device for apps. 4K doesn't get my juices flowing anywhere near as much as the thought of a giant screen that lives behind a curtain/rolls up and down with an electric whirr. Is a good 1080p projector really going to give me an image as crisp as a good 1080p telly? Are there any brands to look out for or avoid? Thanks, if anyone can help.

b0r1s

I have no experience beyond using them for work, but if it's more scale than PQ you want, why not try out a cheap one for now and see if it's ok. You'll then know spending more money will deliver you want you want. Amazon have a few in the lightning deals at the mo. And you could always return easy enough.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Projector-APEMAN-Videoprojector-Portable-Including-LC350A/dp/B07WCSB5G1/ref=gbps_tit___15d522e0?smid=A357M4R57T5QL9

JMW

We’ve had a couple of 1080p Optomas, I really like them but ideally as an option for another room. It’s a different experience from TV, more - cinema-like, obviously - and it’s a great option for your buck if you want a big, big screen.
Sound needs some thought - both placing the machine because they can make a bit of a racket, and figuring out surround etc. And then other stuff to consider - eg if you have anything camera-based (PSVR) etc. - that’s tricky because your boxes will often be behind you now.
Another benefit is depending on how you set it up everything can be pretty much out of the way when it’s not on, not like a tv. Also, we just point ours at a light-coloured wall,and that’s never been an issue. It’s not a great day time option though.
Anyway, it’s been great for us, but I wouldn’t want to not have a tv too. I mostly use it for films now.

Verecocha

b0r1s wrote:

Yeah, I noticed watching Mando then decided to do some googling. It doesn't seem to affect normal HDR or gaming HDR.

This character has just made my life so difficult. Most people refer to me as Mando so there’s a total reaction every single time I read or hear it.

poprock

Quite a few of our neighbours use projectors instead of TVs. Easy to see them getting used when walking past with the dog at night, and some of them do seem to have a really excellent image. Nice and sharp, even at huge sizes.

Syph79

b0r1s wrote:

I have no experience beyond using them for work, but if it's more scale than PQ you want, why not try out a cheap one for now and see if it's ok. You'll then know spending more money will deliver you want you want. Amazon have a few in the lightning deals at the mo. And you could always return easy enough.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Projector-APEMAN-Videoprojector-Portable-Including-LC350A/dp/B07WCSB5G1/ref=gbps_tit___15d522e0?smid=A357M4R57T5QL9

I’d watch out for any cheap projector claiming it’s 1080p. The description for that item says:

Designed for home theaters. It supports a full HD 1080P image, with a native resolution of 800 * 480P and 4:3/16:9 adjustable projection size, 2000: 1 contrast ratio and max 180" display size of making home cinema a reality.

b0r1s

Ahh tbh I didn’t dig any deeper than the title.

jdanielp

No actual experience of home projectors but from what I've read and heard about them over the years, one of the key aspects is the quality of the lens (which is the same with pretty much any optical instrument), which you're not going to get on a 'cheap' model (although this may be more of a key aspect in terms of home cinema than gaming).

Moot_Geeza

I'm well excited about this. Will do some research before crossing my fingers for Black Friday deals. Cheers all.

Escape

I've a BenQ W1210ST, and I believe Nick Fullspec has an Acer Predator Z650, which is very similar. I've this screen — https://www.luxburgvisual.com/luxburg-reg-80-quot-177x100cm-16-9-portable-freestanding-floor-pull-up-projection-screen-matt-white-screen-70-quot-x-39-quot.html

Avoid floorstanders without gas struts, 'cause they wobble like buggery. The other thing is rippling, where even a too-close radiator can cause small waves. Anywhere near an open window? You'll probably want a fixed wallmounted one instead. Obviously the larger the screen, the calmer its desired environment.

Downsides to mine: it's pretty noisy and has to sit close to the middle of my living room. A spare LUXURY bedroom like Rouj has'd be ideal. Upsides include enough brightness for my room light not to bother it (light's above and slightly behind), and it has better motion than modern TVs and most monitors (the ones without user-programmable strobing and/or high refresh rates like mine). Colours are okay, but no HDR. The two speakers are good enough for my fightmen and general gaming, and throw sound forward and wide quite convincingly.

If you run a long HDMI cable to it via a splitter, as I do, that splitter has to be powered. For power I use — https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trust-Gaming-19866-Playstation-Extra/dp/B00INRN0RW/ — but the new consoles have enough USBs.

Re: Black Friday, the BenQ TH685 is a newer version, with pluses and minuses. It's cheaper and does 1080/120 HDR rather than 1080/60 SDR, but it's slightly noisier, has less accurate colours, and one speaker instead of two (which might be worse, but I dunno). The reason for its less accurate colours is because it needs more brightness for HDR, so it uses a different colour wheel.

I did think about swapping mine for the TH685 for 120Hz, but then I figured that's mostly gonna be a boxtick thing this gen, so if I'm still playing my console games at 60fps I might as well keep the superior colours and lower noise. Games that do run at 120fps benefit from reduced input lag of 8ms, versus 16ms at 60Hz. But then I don't like HDR, which might sway others towards the TH.

If I could change three things about my ST, I'd make it quieter, 120Hz, and give it horizontal lens shift so I could position it close to a wall. The throw on these is short, by the way; something like 4.5ft for 80".

Moot_Geeza

Lots to consider, thanks for the post. I've been working through a few LISTS online to get some ideas in preparation for Black Friday. I'd play games on it from time to time but 120Hz/input lag wouldn't be a major consideration as a) too much lounge home theatre gaming would see my loft room mancave repossessed and b) I won't bother playing anything twitchy or reflex dependent on it, I expect it'd just be for occasional single player whoppers. And TOWIE. HDR might be something I'd like, but *shrugs*, I've not missed it so far. Also we're getting blackout blinds so ambient light shouldn't be a problem. I'd definitely get speakers too, no point in having a cinema experience if explosions rattle the unit rather than the windows.

Moot_Geeza

I'm out the loop with certain things, but most projectors I've looked at don't seem to have an optical out, just line in/out jacks. If I'm running streaming apps through a console that has optical out, I'm good to go with a soundbar, right? Is it okay to run an extra long optical cable?

Or should I be thinking bluetooth/something else?

Eric

I game via a projector and have recently upgraded from a BENQ W1070 to an Optoma UHD40 for 4K and HDR. If I'm honest the upgrade whilst noticable probably didnt justify the outlay as the BENQ was a fine projector.

Screen wise I use an IKEA blackout blind which works an absolute treat, but I will be upgrading to the 120 inch version of this is the new year.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07YMM2FR2/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=APLJ5AXPSKRV0&psc=1&th=1

Sound wise your good to go just bypass your audio to your projector and connect directly upto your soundbar. Appreciate you may need a switcher if your soundbar only has one input but saves you conncting an optical and a hdmi around your room.

JMW

I had to return one projector, can’t remember the model but I think optoma, because there was no way of disabling the speaker and I was using my surround system, so didn’t want that tinny thing rattling along at the same time. I still can’t quite believe that’s the case, but did quite a lot of looking around on the internet at the time & richer sounds staff couldn’t help either. Definitely something I’d make sure of if and when I get another.

Eric

Wow that is an oversight, I think I just turn mine down to 0 but I could see that potentially activating a mute symbol on the screen.

JMW

On googling it now, it does seem to be a thing with some optoma projectors. With the two I’ve ended up with over the years it isn’t, internal sound is just bypassed if you’re using a separate system.

Escape

You can run a long optical to a soundbar fine, Moot. The reason I have to power my long HDMI is due to a splitter, outputting my PS4 to both monitor and projector (at the same time if I wanna do a Tom Cruise, but I like my sofa). I used an unpowered splitter for a 5m HDMI, but when I got fed up of stepping over that and bought a 10m, the splitter ran out of puff.

I'm actually pretty happy with the speakers on my 1210. No surround, obviously, but they're in the ballpark of a good CRT for quality, so much better than flatties. Does me for Chaolan's squawks and Armor King's roars.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

And TOWIE.

Might want something less orange for the colour setup. Remember those little blue cards you got with old-school GPUs? They could bundle little Trump faces now.

Eric wrote:

Screen wise I use an IKEA blackout blind which works an absolute treat, but I will be upgrading to the 120 inch version of this is the new year.

Yeah, those wallmounted ones are decent. It's the Bob Ross jobbies that twitch like Gove.

Boolitt

Well, having owned my Oled Lg for 3 years now, i have just started to notice a couple of blemishes on the screen.
Used the pixel refresher and they still show up.
Ran one of these background tests on youtube and lo and behold when the background is red or some other pale colours theres a big netflix logo burned in on the bottom right hand corner and a couple of other marks.
This is from the built in netflix app which has the logo visible there while browsing netflix.

It doesn't make a big difference when watching most things but it does catch my eye now and then.
Bit pissed off but have sent a message to LG in the hope of getting a fix.

Moot_Geeza

Apologies for everyone who wasted time helping but my projector dream has been mercilessly crushed by Mrs. Moot. Her 'vision' for the front room (not that she said vision, but fuckit) doesn't accommodate a fully massive screen, meaning the alcove the image would be projecting onto isn't big enough for anything above 70" 16:9....which is much bigger than our TV but also perhaps not big enough to warrant a projector instead of a TV. My plan - which I even drew out - had a 90" pull down screen in an admittedly awkward position, with my reasoning being it's hardly going to be in the way when it's tucked into its little ceiling base, and also massive screen > everything else. Plus my plan opened up a secret door to the kitchen that's been blocked for 25 years. Anyway, it's a no, and the burn-in beast lives on

Moot_Geeza

Moot_Geeza

Look at it, trying to ruin my enjoyment of Clumsy Rush.

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