Best projector for Sports Bars?

[snickn]

Hi Guys.

I'm not a HT expert by any means, I know if I wanted a projector for my home theatre I'd go with the Epson 1080p, but that's dark, ideal conditions..

So here's the question.

I own a Sports Bar in Houston, and I want to be known as a "high tech" sports bar. One of the keys is servin' up the games in HDTV.

Which projectors would you suggest, disregarding budget for the time being?

Good bulb life (although I hear you can get the $400 warranties on a lot of them to replace the bulb), good image under higher than ideal lighting conditions, and at least 80-100" screen.

Whichever projector I choose I'll have two of them, and then a number of more basic HDTV LCDs be installed into the bar in the upcoming weeks..

What projector would "awe" you if you were to walk into a sports bar? Is there a projector that you'd go to a bar specifically to watch the game on that screen?

Love to hear all the suggestions.

[tonyvdb]

First of all welcome to The Shack,
Seeing as money is not an issue right now then getting a commercial/industrial projector would be far better for you. They run in the $15,000 to $30,000 range some of the better ones still use CRT technology and thus don't require bulb replacement and also support more than one native resolution . The contrast on these are very high and last far longer than LCD or DLP projectors. The only downfall is they are larger than LCD or DLP units.

In your case I would not recommend going with any of the consumer grade units as they will not handle being on for hours on end as bulb life is still not going to last you more than about half a year at best in your situation.

[Picture_Shooter]

Our church has one of those Dell LCP / MP models. It seems to do great and from what I know.. cheap in price. Just make sure you have couple of back-up of lamps . Good luck w/ the sports bar. Free beer for our posts?

[wbassett]

For a sports bar brightness aka lumens is probably more important than CR. Most high lumen projectors are still 4:3 but there are some very bright 720p projectors out now too, which would be great for sports. One thing to consider is the screen. You'll want something that performs well with ambient lighting, especially Sunday afternoons.

HoloDisplays has a great ambient light screen called the HoloVega. I have their full price list, so if you tell me the size I can tell you what they it would cost.

Tomorrow I'll look up some high lumen PJs for you too, there are some at some good prices that you can get. For your setup you need bright and vivid in a variety of viewing conditions and that is definitely doable.

[lcaillo]

tonyvdb wrote:

First of all welcome to The Shack,
Seeing as money is not an issue right now then getting a commercial/industrial projector would be far better for you. They run in the $15,000 to $30,000 range some of the better ones still use CRT technology and thus don't require bulb replacement and also support more than one native resolution . The contrast on these are very high and last far longer than LCD or DLP projectors. The only downfall is they are larger than LCD or DLP units.

In your case I would not recommend going with any of the consumer grade units as they will not handle being on for hours on end as bulb life is still not going to last you more than about half a year at best in your situation.

CRTs last longer than LCD and DLP? Really? Where do you get that? I would not recommend LCD because of the likelihood of buildup of crud in the light path that can damage filters, but DLP is pretty reliable in this kind of environment. Unlike CRTs which age rather fast at high contrast ratios, DLP will look nearly like new with a new lamp. CRT sets require significantly more calibration and more maintenence.

Leonard

[Picture_Shooter]

@ hooters , couple of LCD and Plasma's seem to work well. lol

[solarscreen]

Take a look at the Optoma EP1691. It's a widescreen dlp, 2500 lumens, is very small. Because it is black and very small, it almost disaapears into a dark ceiling and will hide well and not be a distraction. Most reputable places have it for less than a $1,000.00 which is even better! At that price it is well worth a look.