Under a bit of pressure to consider getting rid of the projector and getting a TV.
Current projector screen is 96″.
We never used to watch much TV and when we did it was meant to be a bit of an ‘event’ so a projector was perfect.
It was a slight pain when wanting to watch the TdF or some other day-time event, but otherwise blacking out the room at night was straightforward.

All these decisions were made in 2001

Since then we’ve had 2 kids and video games have become part of the mix. Now they’re older they are having friends around after school and because the living room is a room you have to go through to get to any other room in our house (and it has stairs in it), having the room blacked-out during summer days is getting annoying (to my wife and I anyway).

We’re also going through bulbs like crazy – about one every 14months at £350 each!

My wife has also expressed a desire to be able to do other things while watching TV – sewing/mending being the example given.

Now TVs are flatter, lighter and cheaper, I’m wondering whether we should consider it.

Other complications involved are:
– Having to re-arrange the room because currently all the gear is at the back.
– Screen currently drops down over chimney-breast and TV would have to be limited to 42″ (no chance) or somehow move away to give access to the bookshelves either side.
– I’m pretty picky about picture quality and every single one I’ve seen on demo in shops is horrible, so I’m having to go off AVForums reviews to choose.

Another option is a much brighter projector, but projectors have got more expensive if anything and bright ones you can set up well for film seem rare and mega-money.

Anyone done it?

Get a 42″ TV for  the normal, everyday stuff and keep the projector for  “events”

The reduced projector use should cut down on your bulb spendage.

bright ones you can set up well for film seem rare and mega-money.

Home cinema projectors are all about contrast rather than brightness, they assume if you are doing it properly you’ll have planned lighting accordingly.
Where are you getting lamps from, we use Just Lamps who seem very good on price, Just projectors also being very competitive if you want to replace it sometime.
Our new 10,000 lumen HD Panasonics are now laser so no lamps to worry about, I imagine they’ll become more common for home use as well in time. One other big advantage with them is just how quiet they are. But yes projectors do seem a faff, I’ve loads here I could make use of if I wanted but have never bothered

every single one I’ve seen on demo in shops is horrible

Don’t they stick them on some shop demo mode so they’re super saturated and ultra vibrant to woo the punters?

Don’t they stick them on some shop demo mode so they’re super saturated and ultra vibrant to woo the punters?

Yes, but I’m not going to go through all the menus looking to turn off the processing/etc. Maybe I will once I’ve narrowed it down to a final TV. The AVForums projector reviews are spot-on with my findings, so I’m assuming I can rely on their TV reviews too.

Where are you getting lamps from, we use Just Lamps who seem very good on price, Just projectors also being very competitive if you want to replace it sometime.

Ivojo, or JVC directly. Just Lamps want a trade account setting up. You could get me a price for a JVC BHL-5009-S if you like 😉

Get a 42″ TV for the normal, everyday stuff and keep the projector for “events”

Yes, this is another worthy option. The boys have said they would use the projector instead if possible, which kind of ruined the idea. I could force them, but I suspect I’d lose 🙂

You didn’t mention budget but a 65″ LG OLED + heavy duty swing arm wall-mount might work?

65″ is the smallest I would be ok with I think.
Weidly 75″ didn’t really do much more for me.
82″ suddenly got back into the realms of cinematic imo – they they’re all £3500 which doesn’t seem to be money well spent imo. I was thinking of more like <£1500.

Annoyingly – I wanted to go the other way and get a new (second hand) projector with lens shift, so that I could have a 2.35:1 screen that was wider than our current 1.85:1 screen, but it looks like my film requirements are going to have to come second-place to everyone else’s telly/game requirements 🙁

Went for a 65″ Panasonic OLED in the end. (£1379 from Costco).
It’s not quite big enough for my tastes, but the 77″ OLEDs are £3500 and the 75″ LCDs just didn’t look good enough.

Superb image once you engage the accurate colour options and turn off all the processing.
1080p is superb. 4k test material from inbuilt youtube and iplayer is a bit spooky!
My AV receiver isn’t 4K, so it’s not too convenient to upgrade to 4K sources at the moment, but we’ll see.

Projector is still in place, but I think it’s going to be hard to justify keeping it to my wife who is pretty sold on the telly in terms of keeping ambient light levels highish or the curtains open/etc.

Unfortunately, my youngest is now addicted and we’ve had to introduce usage rules!

Went for a 65″ Panasonic OLED in the end.. It’s not quite big enough for my tastes

:-O