RLGaming.com

any chance you got a line on any of those Dell Coupons again??? ;)

Hey Steel,

Softball msged me this post. Try this one:

$20 off $150 Code: QGM7T0C1C2TVVD

Is there something in particular you're looking for? I may be able to find a deal online somewhere if I know what you're looking for.

PS. Thanks again for the GTR channels on the Ventrilo server! We use it every week.

24" widescreen LCD monitor...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/Prod ... ry_id=4009

i might go cheap and egt the 20.1" though...

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... ry_id=4009

Hmmm... looks like you just missed a 60$ off coupon from beginning of March. Woulda made it 739$.

you had to tell me that, eh?!!!

Steel, I'm looking at the same one. They've been running that 20 percent off for a while now ... that 20.1 is downright inexpensive comparatively.

i know - of course that is what makes it difficult...double the price for an additional 3.9" of diagonal viewing area.

i actually read a review where the reviewer said it was almost too much screen - they had to turn their head to see the entire screen...

gee, I wish I had that problem. Just sit a few inches further away.

make sure you check the response time... one of the 20.1" monitors has a 16ms response time - i think the standard format model. not that good for gaming.

might also check the Gateway FPD2185W or others...

24" too big? I game on my 92" projector screen Just make sure whatever display you buy the native resolution is something your rig can handle. If it's 1920x1200 or something you better have SLI 7900GT's!!!

I'll keep my eye out for another coupon for you guys.

what projector do you use? i have considered that as well, but most are limited to 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions... of course one can then crank up the FSAA then...

I think I read in one of the forums about some guy who uses the projectors at his school which were 16x12. The big problem is basically the price of the element when it finally burns out (approx 2-3000 hours). On a $800 projector (10x7), the element will be approx $250-350. So, by way of percentage costs you would in theory be looking at $2500-3500 for an element in a 16x12 projector which will cost around $6-8000. I'd wager a bit more though, seeing as the prudent manufacturer realising the element being the crucial part of the equipment would need replacing every 2-3000 hours (if it hasn't already been broken in some other way!). Might just add some extra costings to that part of the equipment.
I'm just using basic figures in the thread I read, so you'd need to be looking at pricing properly to find out what you really would pay for a decent projector of that ability.
And personally I don't think moving your head to see the whole screen renders it too big. Having to knock the wall down to get all the picture in - now THAT is too big! :lol:

Steel wrote:what projector do you use? i have considered that as well, but most are limited to 800x600 or 1024x768 resolutions... of course one can then crank up the FSAA then...

Currently using a Infocus 4805. It's only a 480p (854x480) widescreen projector but I normally run my games in 720p(1280x720) to help with jaggies. My unit is quite old and I wouldn't recommend it anymore with the new stuff coming out. I use my projector daily for HDTV and dvd movies etc. and Kodiak is right about the bulbs being expensive. They only last 2000-3000hrs. My next projector while I wait for the 1080p units to drop in price is the Optoma H78DC3 720p projector which I'll buy from Costco for their "generous warranty".

Projector's are great if you have controlled lighting but otherwise I'd look at a different type of display. Maybe 42" plasma or wait for the SED technology that Toshiba's bringing out.

i know about the elements...

my concern is the resolution, and then where to set it up. it would probably be exclusive to my PC...

how do you run your games at a higher resolution than the projector supports? or do you not really use it for gaming?

2000-3000 hours is a long time. how many months does that equate to? or have you not yet had to change the element?

how much is that projector at costco? does costco have any flat screens to compare to that gateway?

would you still recommend a normal 4:3 format monitor since most games don't support wide screen yet? i don't really like the idea of losing the additional height of the screen.

note that mine is dedicated pretty exclusively to gaming... movies are in the family room.

I once set up an AB cockpit with my pc and HOTAS using a projector @ 10x7. The surroundings were blacked-out, and all I had for a projection surface was a white bed-sheet. The results were pretty damn impressive I have to say, even at that standard. It definitely helped create a higher degree of immersion from my own personal experience.

The H78DC3 is 3800CAD with screen which is alot more expensive than what you would be able to get it for at other stores but again, "costco warranty". I haven't had to replace my bulb yet. Costco canada and Costco US carries different products though. Looking at the US website I see they have 2 popular units that I've come across. The Optoma H31 (480p similar to my 4805), and the Panasonic AE900U (720p LCD projector). The Optoma and Infocus units are DLP technology and some people see rainbows because of the mechanism of how the wheel spins. I personally do not see rainbows so it's a non-issue for me. I have dual use for my projector, I want movies as well as game on it. So video and film picture quality is a concern for me, and I haven't seen LCD surpass DLP in this regard especially with black levels. DLP is generally better at blacks(not always but generally).

As for running a higher resolution than the native resolution of the display. You can do this with pretty much any display. Say your LCD flat panel native resolution is 1024x768, but you change your desktop to 1280x1024, the display will take your larger resoltuion and scale it down to it's native resolution. In general this looks like crap especially on flat panel displays. For projectors, they also can take different resolutions, especially HDTV resolutions 720p and 1080i. You will see alot of TV's, etc say HDTV ready but their resolutions are 854x480 or something lower than 720p, technically these are not HD displays since the native resolution is lower than 720p(1280x720). These displays will take the higher resolutions and scale them down to their own native resolutions. Scaling in itself varies in quality between displays as well, hardcore home theatre guys will buy a 2G+ scaler unit that just does scaling and deinterlacing and nothing else. As for widescreen vs 4x3, I personally can't stand 4x3, this is 2006 EVERY game should support widescreen. I bought BF2 and it didn't support WS, so I sold it. Every game I've played except for BF2 recently supports WS. There's a forum called widescreengaming.com or something that people will post ways of getting widescreen resolutions working.

PS. Kodiak, were you using a CRT projector? These new digital ones are much better suited for gaming especially in terms of resolution and brightness.

No BK, it was just a CRT type. What kind of price difference are we talking about for CRT vs. Digi at the same resolution abilities?

KODIAK wrote:No BK, it was just a CRT type. What kind of price difference are we talking about for CRT vs. Digi at the same resolution abilities?

I'm not sure. I never looked into CRT, I don't want to deal with needing it calibrated all the time and light gun convergence etc. Not to mention risk of burnin(not sure on pj). Not to mention analog displays are interlaced as far as I know.

Would love to have the use of a decent projector for simming/gaming, but have to say that a monitor is more practical for general computing. I like the idea of all these flat screen monitors dropping in price so rapidly as would appear to be the case with that 24" example in Steel's post. Two years ago I purchased a 21.3" Samsung SyncMaster 213T and the price then was approx £1000. :shock: Now we're talking 24" @ $800 - not bad!!

I wouldn't recommend a projector for general computing/gaming only. You shouldn't surf write documents etc on a pj. However, if you're into home theatre and movies, etc. Then projectors make sense if you can deal with their limitations. I have my HTPC hooked up to my receiver as well which powers my theatre speakers.

One of the concerns I've had with the recent LCD displays is the lack of HDCP support on the DVI connectors. With the onset of Bluray and HDDVD, the content providers CAN and probably will, restrict resolution based on the presence of HDCP. Currently the opinion is that HDDVD and Bluray will be restricted to 480p resolution if the display doesn't support HDCP. Most computer displays don't support HDCP at the moment, most HT stuff does though. Also, there isn't any videocards on the market that support HDCP either, at least not yet. If you're not interested in HDDVD or Bluray movies this is all a moot point. =D