Have decided that it is time to upgrade my old Hitachi PJ-TX300 projector - it has served me very well for the last 12 odd years. (It still gives a pretty decent viewing experience despite only being 720p)
My main reason for upgrading now is a desire for better blacks - not necessarily blacker blacks, but more detail in dark areas - currently these are very washed out. This is partly due to the fact that years ago the auto-iris on my projector started making awful grinding noises when it changed, so I had to just switch it off.
The room I have my projector is has cream walls (sorry - it's going to have to stay that way) but pretty good blackout - the screen is in front of (and mostly covers) the only window in the room, which also has wooden shutters. Current projector is ceiling mounted and approx 3m from screen. Current screen is 80" ('Hitachi' branded manual pull-down - came free with the projector) , but would also like to upgrade my screen to 100".
I only really watch films/series - no gaming or sports, and virtually all viewing is in the evenings. It's mostly me using the projector, but sometimes the kids use it too. Before I bought my current projector, I viewed a friend's DLP projector, and could see flashes of rainbow when watching a B&W film & ended up with a slight headache - could have been a coincidence, but it was enough to persuade me to go down the non-DLP route. Most of my watching these days is streaming (on a Roku 4K Streaming Stick+) with the occasional blu-ray. I do have a fairly large collection of DVDs but now rarely watch them. Having spent all that money on DVDs I have no desire to spend another small fortune upgrading my physical media collection, and certainly have no plans to get a 4K bluray player.
My budget for a new projector is only about £1000 (+a bit more for the new screen).
My main dilemma is this - should I be going for a new 'low end' pixel shifting '4K capable' (specifically the Epson EH-TW7000, or I might be able to stretch to a used/refurbed 7100) or would I be better off getting a used 'last gen' HD projector that should give me better black performance (sometime like an Epson 7200 or 9200, a Sony hw45es or hw65es or one of the a JVC DLA series). I'll already be getting a jump in picture resolution going from 720p to 1080p (although balanced a little by having a bigger screen) - would I get much more benefit from going to pseudo-4K given that I'll only be getting 4K content through streaming, or is it worth it to benefit from HDR? Should I be going for future-proofing (given that I'm likely to keep this projector for another 10 years or so) or am I going to be happier with slightly older but more refined technology that may even give my old DVDs a bit of a new upscaled lease of life?
The other issue is my sound system - I currently have an entry level Onkyo AV reciever which is not 4K capable, so I'd also need to upgrade this (or maybe buy a splitter to extract the audio from the 4K signal?). I've had no real desire to upgrade my audio system as the majority of my listening is using headphones so as not to disturb the kids at night.
Finally, I'm not against buying 2nd hand, but it would be nice to get the benefit of a decent (6 year) guarantee by buying new.
Any advice would be most appreciated - may thanks for your help!
My main reason for upgrading now is a desire for better blacks - not necessarily blacker blacks, but more detail in dark areas - currently these are very washed out. This is partly due to the fact that years ago the auto-iris on my projector started making awful grinding noises when it changed, so I had to just switch it off.
The room I have my projector is has cream walls (sorry - it's going to have to stay that way) but pretty good blackout - the screen is in front of (and mostly covers) the only window in the room, which also has wooden shutters. Current projector is ceiling mounted and approx 3m from screen. Current screen is 80" ('Hitachi' branded manual pull-down - came free with the projector) , but would also like to upgrade my screen to 100".
I only really watch films/series - no gaming or sports, and virtually all viewing is in the evenings. It's mostly me using the projector, but sometimes the kids use it too. Before I bought my current projector, I viewed a friend's DLP projector, and could see flashes of rainbow when watching a B&W film & ended up with a slight headache - could have been a coincidence, but it was enough to persuade me to go down the non-DLP route. Most of my watching these days is streaming (on a Roku 4K Streaming Stick+) with the occasional blu-ray. I do have a fairly large collection of DVDs but now rarely watch them. Having spent all that money on DVDs I have no desire to spend another small fortune upgrading my physical media collection, and certainly have no plans to get a 4K bluray player.
My budget for a new projector is only about £1000 (+a bit more for the new screen).
My main dilemma is this - should I be going for a new 'low end' pixel shifting '4K capable' (specifically the Epson EH-TW7000, or I might be able to stretch to a used/refurbed 7100) or would I be better off getting a used 'last gen' HD projector that should give me better black performance (sometime like an Epson 7200 or 9200, a Sony hw45es or hw65es or one of the a JVC DLA series). I'll already be getting a jump in picture resolution going from 720p to 1080p (although balanced a little by having a bigger screen) - would I get much more benefit from going to pseudo-4K given that I'll only be getting 4K content through streaming, or is it worth it to benefit from HDR? Should I be going for future-proofing (given that I'm likely to keep this projector for another 10 years or so) or am I going to be happier with slightly older but more refined technology that may even give my old DVDs a bit of a new upscaled lease of life?
The other issue is my sound system - I currently have an entry level Onkyo AV reciever which is not 4K capable, so I'd also need to upgrade this (or maybe buy a splitter to extract the audio from the 4K signal?). I've had no real desire to upgrade my audio system as the majority of my listening is using headphones so as not to disturb the kids at night.
Finally, I'm not against buying 2nd hand, but it would be nice to get the benefit of a decent (6 year) guarantee by buying new.
Any advice would be most appreciated - may thanks for your help!