Time to update to 4K Projector? Recommendations?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Time to update to 4K Projector? Recommendations?

Talkiet

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#243107 27-Nov-2018 09:52

Hey people, it's time for some retail therapy to give me something to concentrate on for a while....

It's 4K time here I think... Here's what I am after.

Environment: Dedicated light controlled room, almost all viewing in the evenings with curtains drawn. 106" ambertec screen (needs 12v trigger), Projector will be ceiling mounted. 3.7M from screen to current projector mount. Could go back 40cm or forward about the same.

4K projector. I think Faux4k is going to be ok because I don't want to spend $6-10k on a projector. Looking at the Benq W1700 (more recent ones apparently fix the lens sharpness) or Optoma UHD51a. Optoma apparently have EDID/Sync issues to the point where at least one local place won't sell them. The BenQ has the most stunning lack of retailers imaginable.
TV - No problem here, many reasonably priced decent options in the 60" range.
Amplifier - current one won't do 4k even passthrough. So I need a new HT amp. 5.1 is ok, needs two HDMI outputs. No I don't want to use a splitter - done that before and it's full of pain.
HDMI cables... Will need 2 longer cables for 4k and I am a bit scared I might be needing $500 cables. I HAVE read the other threads on here but wondered if anyone had any DIRECT PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with non active 7-10M HDMI cables at 4k60 HDR recently that worked?
Media player. Currently have an i3 NUC ( https://ark.intel.com/products/83257/Intel-NUC-Kit-NUC5i3RYH ) windows windows 10 / Kodi. I don't think it will have the grunt to drive 4k60. Wondering if any of the newer generation Android boxes GENUINELY support 4k60 HDR?

Cheers - N

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

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#2135166 27-Nov-2018 11:49

I asked about cables here a little while back, but no definitive answer. I think you should be able to get a normal hdmi cable for the 7m length.

For the 10m though, it gets tricky. My current 10m HDMI cable only does 4k 30p. Still that is good enough for 90% of the content.

I'm currently talking to PB tech about their unitek active HDMI cables , which are advertised as 4k 60p. But, plenty of HDMI cable companies outright lie about specs, so I asked pb tech if i'll be charged a 'restock' fee if it does not work....waiting on their reply. PB Tech are not great about returns, even on products found to be not fit for purpose.

Anyway, from what I can tell, the most reliable cable for the money, is ruipro.... still will set you back couple of hundred and have to order from amazon. Nothing around longer hdmi cables is simple!

Regarding projector, can't help you other than i just bought the jvc dla-x7900, its very nice , got a great deal with a free lamp. I think the price was around $6800 (don't quote me haha) after taking off the value of the free lamp.

Consider a apple tv 4k with infuse app to play content. Works great on 4k content. Apple tv 'Plex' app does not really work at all with 4k content as it has problems with audio formats requiring the server to transcode and it always times out cos it seems to want to transcode the entire clip first rather than on the fly.

Or, the nvidia shield seems like it might be ok.

I have an asrock deskmini windows PC, a bit similar to the nuc. It works with 4k 30p content, but not 60p. Might have to see if i can upgrade the mobo. (mini-stx)

reven

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#2135172 27-Nov-2018 11:58

Ive been looking at the Mi 4k short throw laser projector.

Its short throw, so you would have to mount it a lot closer. But solves your HDMI cable issue, its fairly cheap* usd$2500ish) compared to the $6800 JVC mentioned. If you need to rip up your ceiling a little to adjust the powerpoint/htmi etc, the amount you save on this project should cover the cost of some mud and paint.

My current projector is a 720p mounted about 4m back in a room with a lot of windows... so can only watch at night. which sucks in summer. looking at altering a different room maybe over summer.

mentor

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#2135212 27-Nov-2018 12:52

For the cables, I'd definitely look at these...

http://www.soundlab.co.nz/cables-interconnects/227-audioquest-diamond-hdmi-cable.html

networkn

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#2135236 27-Nov-2018 13:22

The new JVC's are nice, but they are still reasonably pricey. Personally I'd pay an extra 2K if you have it and go from the entry level to the mid range, esp if you plan on keeping it for a while. The blacks on the JVC's have to be seen to be believed in my opinion. They are super black. My Sony native 4K is amazing black compared to the 4 Year old mid to high end Sony 1080P I am exceptionally happy, other than the colour banding.

Senecio

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#2135250 27-Nov-2018 14:02

An alternative to expensive long run HDMI cables could be to use and ATV 4K / Nvidia Shield for your source and mount it close to the projector in the ceiling and control it with a Harmony Hub using bluetooth?

Another poster mentioned problems with 4K content through Plex on ATV 4K. I've had no such problems. My ATV streams 4K HDR content from the NAS on my home network without any trouble at all.

Talkiet

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#2135251 27-Nov-2018 14:05

Senecio:

An alternative to expensive long run HDMI cables could be to use and ATV 4K / Nvidia Shield for your source and mount it close to the projector in the ceiling and control it with a Harmony Hub using bluetooth?

Another poster mentioned problems with 4K content through Plex on ATV 4K. I've had no such problems. My ATV streams 4K HDR content from the NAS on my home network without any trouble at all.

Not really an option since I have a TV as well, and everything needs to go through a remote amp as well... I have conduits I can pull new cables through, but the locations of the screen, projector, TV and amp are fixed. (I do have a Harmony Hub as well, controlled through Alexa and a Harmony One)

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

Behodar

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#2135261 27-Nov-2018 14:22

reven: Ive been looking at the Mi 4k short throw laser projector.

Is that link going to the right product? It doesn't mention 4k or UHD on that page.

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surfisup1000

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#2135264 27-Nov-2018 14:33

Senecio:

An alternative to expensive long run HDMI cables could be to use and ATV 4K / Nvidia Shield for your source and mount it close to the projector in the ceiling and control it with a Harmony Hub using bluetooth?

Another poster mentioned problems with 4K content through Plex on ATV 4K. I've had no such problems. My ATV streams 4K HDR content from the NAS on my home network without any trouble at all.

Just google it, and it seems a widespread issue among many apple tv owners. Apple TV 4k plex simply refuses to play some 4k files. Typical type of experience which....

https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-reason-why-the-the-apple-tv-4k-plex-app-stutters-and-why-infuse-doesnt/332371

Infuse works perfectly though, so the problem must surely be plex.

surfisup1000

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#2135265 27-Nov-2018 14:36

mentor:

For the cables, I'd definitely look at these...

http://www.soundlab.co.nz/cables-interconnects/227-audioquest-diamond-hdmi-cable.html

Very funny. At least I hope you are not being serious.

networkn

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#2135268 27-Nov-2018 14:39

surfisup1000:

mentor:

For the cables, I'd definitely look at these...

http://www.soundlab.co.nz/cables-interconnects/227-audioquest-diamond-hdmi-cable.html

Very funny. At least I hope you are not being serious.

That's HALF the price of the Monster cable! A good deal by any account :)

Dunnersfella

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#2135417 27-Nov-2018 18:12

My personal experience with BenQ hasn't been positive... which I believe is one of the reasons why you don't see retailers carrying them. Once bitten...

The Optoma is popular, but there are MANY MANY new projectors coming from other brands as the TI chipset is widely available and a lot of the computer companies are bringing out their own versions.

How many GB's can the projectors you're considering handle via HDMI? I see the brand new Sony's can go up to 18GB, so high-spec cables would be essential at this level. If the Optoma / BenQ can only do 10GB, don't worry too much!

billgates

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#2135442 27-Nov-2018 18:58

JVC are good and one of the few that have low gaming lag input for online multiplayer.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Talkiet

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#2135444 27-Nov-2018 19:07

Should have mentioned I don't care about gaming at all - input lag would be a valid consideration otherwise.

I have also just bought an Nvidia Shield off Amazon (Really cheap today - $220 NZD landed including remote and game controller - selling for $380+ on TM)

I'll be able to test my existing cables with a 4k60 HDMI 2.0 monitor when the shield gets here. WHile that's not perfect (monitor isn't HDR) it should give some indication...

Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.

networkn

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#2135455 27-Nov-2018 19:38

I had real trouble with HDMI cables when I moved to 4K projection. In the end I went with Certified cables which have the QR code for validation. With those in place at every connection, I get proper 4K HDR 60FPS from any source.

It wasn't THAT expensive, but certainly frustrating to have spent money on decent cables a year ago most of which didn't work properly but worked flawlessly with 1080P or 4K non HDR. What made troubleshooting much worse was the fact that some cables would sometimes produce the right result.

Batman

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#2135593 28-Nov-2018 07:40

in terms of cables, all my cheap ($5!) 10 year old hdmi cables pass 4k 60fps hdr10 without issues. *ymmv.

- under 5m

- one stop direct (ie source to tv), for some reason i cannot pass 4k hdr between source - amp - tv using same cables. not sure if it's the amp or the cables. the only certified cable i have is the one that came with my xbox one X.

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