I am planning on setting up a home theater in my house. We have one huge room where I was thinking about hanging a projector from the ceiling and running the connection back to my computer so I can show DVDs on it. The projector that I am looking at has RCA video, SVIDEO and both 15-pin and DVI VGA inputs.

My question is which one if any would be able to make a 75 foot run back to my computer? I know I would have to have a custom cable made but would this be possible?

DVI is the best IMO , but to make a run over 40' it
needs to be boosted with something like THIS .
Be warned , they are not cheap

How are you planning on connecting your computer to the TV? I am loking to do the same. Thanks

Quoted: How are you planning on connecting your computer to the TV? I am loking to do the same. Thanks

My projector will be the TV , and it will probably connect to either a second video card or I might get a dual monitor card like a matrox G550 so my monitor will be on one connection and the projector will be on the other.

Quoted: Quoted: How are you planning on connecting your computer to the TV? I am loking to do the same. Thanks My projector will be the TV , and it will probably connect to either a second video card or I might get a dual monitor card like a matrox G550 so my monitor will be on one connection and the projector will be on the other.

You might want to rethink using a projector as your TV if you have kids .
2000 hr bulb life is the norm and with some bulbs costing $500+ it's cheaper
to buy a 32" CRT  boobtube for trash viewing .

I run DVI-D to my projector and have one computer set up with a
HDTV card , 2 DVD drives and a large HD just for DVR storage .
The computer has Firewire , USB-2 , S-video and a 7 in one
card reader so I can display  just about any media out to the projector .
I also use a good sound card with optical out to an external 7.1
surround sound system .  It's a good setup and the most bang
for your buck since the components can be swapped out as needed .

You have definitely received some good advise. I would echo the following:

1. I would re-think using a PJ as a TV. You would have to have good light control in the room to get an acceptable picture. As mentioned, bulbs are expensive and you'll put a lot of hours on it quickly. Even worse is the on/off cycles. If the kids are in the habit of turning the TV on and off you will not even get the advertised life. The bulb should only be turned off AFTER it has reached it's operating temperature. This can take a half hour. If you have frequent power outages due to electrical storms etc, then you would need to limit the viewing because the fan needs to run to cool the bulb. Your kids may not have the discipline to reframe from watching during a electrical storm.

2. 75 feet is going to be too long for a DVI cable. I agree that the DVI is the best route because it keeps the signal in the digital domain the whole way from source software to the pj. No D/A and then A/D conversions.

3. Consider using a dedicated DVD player. HTPC can be finicky and depending on where it is located, can be distractingly noisey.

Bomber

I disagree with one point, that of using a stand-alone DVD player.  I would instead argue the use of a dedicated HTPC.  My reasoning for this:

1. You could put it closer to the projector than the dual-use PC as described in his origional idea.
2. A dedicated HTPC can be put together with quiet operation in mind.
3. An HTPC can be set to the projector's native resolution.  Any DVD player you hook up will do a D/A conversion, be shipped off to the projector to have an A/D conversion done, then the projector will have to down or (more likely) up scale the video.  Each of those actions reduces the quality to some extent.
4. Convergance.  An HTPC with an ATI tuner card can preform as your DVD player, tuner, and media player all under the control of one remote, adding to the ease of use.

Just my .02.

I disagree with one point also . I agree that a dedicated HTPC will offer some advantages like being built to be quiet and closer placement and I'm on board with that recommendation. Where I disagree is

Any DVD player you hook up will do a D/A conversion, be shipped off to the projector to have an A/D conversion done, then the projector will have to down or (more likely) up scale the video.

There are plenty of DVD players that upsample DVD's to your PJ's native resolution (720p, 1080i) and pass along a digital signal. Since he mentioned DLP, the native resolution is most likely 720P. My Pioneer Elite DV 59 upsamples DVD's to 720p and then feeds my Sharp 12K via an HMDI to DVI cable (30 ft) just nicely.

You can get these upsampling DVD players for $300 which is less than the price of a decent dedicated HTPC.

YMMV


Bomber


PE Link


Note they can be had for $700.

Bravo D2 DVD player


These can be had for under $300

I stand corrected.

Well that leaves you with three options:  HTPC, DVD, or get both.

Quoted: I stand corrected. Well that leaves you with three options:  HTPC, DVD, or get both.

LOL...in the AR15 tradition....get both!

For the not so wealthy home theater owners point of view, I have seen some over 50ft s-video cables on ebay for $3+8shipping. If your video card has an s-video output, this might be the way to go. Oh and for your computer, def. get a second harddrive, and make it a big one, once you get your room set up, prepare to be spending tons on dvds.

Bleh.  I never want to converge another projector again.

Quoted: I don't like HTPCs much.    It's so much easier and simpler just to drop a DVD into a dedicated player and use the remote.    It won't crash or screw up or have to be tweaked and adjusted a thousand ways from Sunday like an HTPC does.   After all,  HTPCs are Windows-based and setting them up is a real PAIN. As for projectors,  I much prefer CRT projectors over all others.  They're big, bulky, and need some occasional adjustment,  but the picture quality stomps digitals.    And a good used CRT projector can cost you a lot less than a new digital.     CRT lifespan is at least 10,000 hours of use, under normal conditions, too. CJ

You brought up some very good points and you left out a few details.

Converging the big behemonths is a PITA. They are big and are not as easy to mount (size and weight), take up valuable headroom, throw a lot of heat and noise and you must have complete light control. Are they capable of a better picture...absolutely better when in perfect conditions. Blacks are fabulous, colors can be extremely accurate when they have had an ISF calibration. They are in short "old school" and they certainly don't build things like they used too .

OTH, you can plug in a digital and enjoy. Some of the newer better models are being delivered with very accurate grey scales (D6500) and SMPT color points and the black levels on the HD2+ chips is very impressive.

Bomber

Quoted: I Sources up to 1080p. CJ

1080P. Do you have any source material or are you scaling? How's it look compared to 1080i or 720P?

Bomber

PS most of my comments were tongue and cheek. Digital has come a long way but it the right conditions it will not compete with CRT although I haven't seen any of the new 3 chippers