A couple of weeks ago, I helped my cousin install a home theater projector in his basement. It actually took longer than I thought to set it up. After several hours, it still was not quite perfect. The picture looked great, albeit just crooked.

He had a 110″ screen that almost was too big, if there is such a thing. We watched the Duke-Maryland basketball game, which looked fantastic. Sports are suited for such a large screen. Commercials though were almost painful to watch. I am not sure that projectors make good everyday viewing. Channel surfing on a 100″ screen is not actually all that appealing. Movies and sporting events look fantastic and benefit from the larger viewing area.
Here are some tips I learned that afternoon:

1. The screen will actually be lower than you think. The top was almost at my eye level. This is basically a function of how far the projector is from the screen.
2. Horizontal lens shift is a very useful feature. We were just a couple of inches off in our installation. Unfortunately, his projector did not have lens shift. Very frustrating.
3. Ceiling joists, and therefore screens hanging from those joists, sometimes are not level
4. Make sure the projector lens is exactly perpendicular to the screen. Such a big picture makes image distortions very obvious.

Seeing the projector in action though did make me want one in my basement. After hanging the projector from the ceiling and seeing the results of our handy work, I realized professional installation may not be a bad thing.

Several manufacturers are shipping 1080p projectors for around $2500. Optoma is the latest company to join Epson in the 1080p with the impending release of its HD-803 projector. From the press release,

The HD803 features a 1080p DLP� DMD chipset from Texas Instruments and an 8,000:1 contrast ratio with Optoma�s proprietary ImageAI-II� technology, which lets the HD803 deliver excellent color saturation and subtle details for superior image quality. The Optoma HD803 features studio-grade resolution for the high-quality, HD experience that enthusiasts crave.

Here are some of its notable features:

• 1200 Lumens and 800:1 contrast ratio
• Dual HDMI 1.3
• Three-stage video processign system

In the right room, manly one with little daylight (i.e. a basement), a projector is a great option for a large picture. The HD803 should be available this December.