Grouch...
... great reply! It seems to me as if you KNOW something of what you're talking about (as opposed to me - I freely admit to knowing next to nothing!.... or less, depending on the topic. Of course, that does not stop me from posting a few novellas here!!!). At any rate, my complements on the reply.
So.... have you seen the
laptop conversion ideas posted online? If I can get a new laptop on black friday I was considering retiring this one to the kids. And the Dell they have now could be retired to become a "digital frame" conversion project for me! Here is a link to a page with several conversion projects
http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_picture_frame.html plus here is one such photo of a completed DELL conversion with what might be the actual model Dell I want to convert. I also have 3 additional Dells with varying degrees of damage (all cracked screens) which I someday was hoping to cobble together into a digital screen if I ever found a replacement screen for them for real CHEAP.
Any thoughts on this?
AND... an off topic question? I was going to build an addition onto our home (the contractors 1st proposal was due this week but is now slated for early next week). We have an Epson 57" Rear projection and a relatively inexpensive "all in one" surround system in a box. I was going to finish part of the addition as a home theater of about 15x20 size. To varying degrees I can do what-ever I want within a down to earth budget. Well... really most of budget requires the perception of getting a deal. IE, if it costs $500 but looks like retail we won't consider it. But if it costs 10,000 and is obviously twice discontinued and 70% off then we'd snap it up.
So... my question. I was considering front projection but just went to view a Yamaha on a 103" screen at a specialty AV store. The projector was huge and cited as $12,000 and screen $4000. Gain unknown on the screen and projector seemed to have something out of convergence or adjestment. I pointed out the ghosting edge and I thought the image was clearly muddy and soft compared to my $2000 57" LCD rear projection. Frankly, the image looked horrible and - although BIG in size I was NOT compelled to budget $16,000+tax compared to my humble 57" Epson at $2000.
SO...
Does front projection perform with comparable quality to the other means of display? Plasma, LCD direct view, LCD single panel projection, and Epson or Sony style 3 LCD rear projection? I could even confiscate my wife's proposed walk in closet BEHIND the far wall of the home theater if REAR projection was the way to go
... but then she would probably exact a concession from me elsewhere. MAybe we don't want to go there...
Before you embark on a big reply - I understand front projection is the only way to get an image much over 70" in size. If I have a 15' wall then I could do 3' on either side for curtains and run a 9' or 108" x 60" screen.
Front projectors require a dark room for proper performance.
The LCD direct view screens supposedly have ghosting issues with fast motion and thus require fast response rate performance to overcome this "flaw".
Single panel LCD has the spinning wheel rainbow effect - unless it is the 6 color double speed wheel.
And 3 panel LCD supposedly overcomes the rainbow effect with darker blacks - but it still lacks the contrast ratio and brilliance of plasma.
I seem to think Plasma is the way to go except it has a limited half life ... especially with the heavy use I would give it. Which is why I already have 2 spare bulbs for my Epson screen but am still on the 1st one. The life of the Epson bulbs is cited as longer then usual at 10,000 hours. The comparable Sony 3 LCD system - which I suspect Seiko-Epson sold Sony... has an ADJUSTIBALE outpput level with varies the expected bulb life from 6,000-10,000 hours.
So... having said that ... I am looking to use my existing 57" in the home theater while concentrating resources and spousal tolerance on first rate finishing touches like classy lounge chairs in front and sofas in back - or some other mixture, recessed & dimmable lighting, theater curtains and possibly a curvy suspended ceiling treatment. Plus double sound proofed walls with all the wiring arrayed for future or present install of a centrally mounted over head front projector and surround sound arrays.
I understand the center channel to be the most important - but... I am actually considering burying the sound sources behind recessed compartments in the wall if possible since the single frontal center speaker is considered the essential driver. So... I was going to just get by semi-temporarily with some sort of fabric frame stretched to create mask around the Epson and flanked by curtains that will eventually house the front projector.
The fabric frame is my simple and cheap {?} way of bridging the gap between the decision on what to do. I figure there is about 3' of gap on either side of the 57" to the curtain edge then perhaps another 1.5' to the wall. If and when I get a 103 or 108" screen then I'd push the curtains out a little further and maybe splice in something or rebuild the mask plus move it back to be near flush with the wall - plus add the little crescent shaped illusury stage "pit" at the base of the final screen. I might add a working curtain at that time into the gap the Epson occupies in depth too... for a little drama a few times a year when I have guests over for chuckles and dinner.
So - if I was going to hide the drivers... can I use a mixture of "MY OLD DRIVERS" from my old stereo to make it fly? I have good JBL 4311 studio monitors I would mind substituting for some of the all in one surround system I already have - as I look at the things and think they're toys by comparison. AND when I look at the custom AV stuff at the high end places I muse ... this stuff is nicely finished but I want to HIDE everything - and if so why do I need this fancy stuff which is marketed to those who are looking for a way to throw away money? I am NOT looking to throw away anything if at all possible.
I think I do need a good 7.1 AV receiver....
but what is all this nonsense about power conditioners and AV componentry. AND does ANYONE really need a video processor with a miniature screen in a 15x20 home theater? I used to FILL a larger living room with just the two JBL100s I used to have and the 4311s are nearly (exactly) the same except for cosmetic finishing ... and a 85 watt intergrated amp. Could I cobble them / wire them together to create a center channel or are their unshielded woofer magnets gonna wreck my Epson? And if so - then why can't the JBLs be used if and when I get a front projection screen?
Groucho...
do you have any thoughts, observations or recommendations? I know... I have a lotta questions. It's been this way all my life - especially more so AFTER I got married. It was simpler before I got married... but then again there are plenty of good things about being married too... heh-heh-hee. Seriously, I've been happily married for 13 years, and "with her" now for about 23. And it IS nice - until I want to get or do stuff that she does NOT want to get or do - and vice versa! LOL! IE... she walks out of the scary or ultra dramatic movie fare... while I tend to enjoy it.
Thanks in advance for any thoughts or enlightenment you care to embark on posting. OR thanks to anyone else with a constructive thought or humorous retort to post!
Gotta run now...
Cheers!
). For myself, I have a couple of old laptops around the house I 'retooled' that pull pics from a couple of folders on my server. Yeah, I'm a technogeek. 
!
but there's a lot more going on in one of those than a speaker wire.
