I am looking to buy an LCD projector for parties and get togethers and outdoor movie stuff....mostly though for gaming parties. I have been looking at tons of these things and I am stumped on something. The ones with HDMI inputs look like just what I need but.... how can I direct sound to external speakers and not the crappy internal ones?

In other words I assume I would plug my HDMI cable from my 360 into the projector, but I do not see outputs for sound on these things unless I'm missing something?

I'd rather not drag my receiver outdoors if possible. Can someone please school me in how this will work?

HDMI can handle both video and sound. If there are no other sound outputs on the thing (optical, digital coax, RCA etc) then I imagine HDMI is the primary if not the only output (seems like there should be other outputs though).

Heh, I thought about this oftion for playing games on till I saw the prices....!

Cheaper to get a flat screen TV with a PC input.

I'd use one of these http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360componenthdcable/ and deal with the audio and video separately. You definitely don't want to try to get the audio in and out of a simple projector that's video only.

Ok maybe I'm not explaining myself properly. The units I'm looking at are HD capable and are for video quality not jsut business presentations. Most of them have 1 HDMI port, and a few A/V inputs.

I would use the HDMI cable to go to my 360/PS3/bluray, etc but how would I get sound besides the chinsy internal speakers?

San, I can't view your link from work but will look later.

Six, I have 2 LCD TVs but that's not what I need. I want something for outdoor use rather than indoor use (hence the concern of sound and whether I'm going ot have to port my receiver and speakers outside).


ok checked link from home PC... I have that cable already, I don't use it b/c I use the HDMI cable... I guess I need to find a unit that allows me to have A/V in but also has an audio out? Even if I use a small stereo for the outside stuff rather than dismantling my receiver and stuff. argh.

My receiver has like 6 HDMI inputs on it. I have my PS3, 360, cable box, TiVO, TV, going to my receiver and I control everything with my receiver remote this way I get surround sound for everything. Sadly for all my technical prowess, stereo shit is my weak link and I don't know enough about it. I'd just like to be able to have a projector and a sound solution that I can make portable for parties and gatherings.


EDIT again!

Ok I finally just got off my ass and walked down the hall and asked the guys. They helped me connect the dots and told me what I needed and how to do it. I'm good now :) Sorry for the noob questions, I don't get this shit. I would use the cable San linked and pump video to projector and sound to an alternate source like a boom box or amp or something. YAY!

Fildien, dear, I have given this much thought, and it becomes perfectly clear and an inescapable truth that you simply have too much stuff!!!!! :p

Sanchek's way is probably the cheapest route. There are HDMI breakout boxes that could convert the video to one thing and the audio to another if quality matters too much, though RCA is good enough for the average person.

Fildien, dear, I have given this much thought, and it becomes perfectly clear and an inescapable truth that you simply have too much stuff!!!!! :p


/gasp!

We're DINKs, we can never have too much stuff!

Eh... just get one of these:

http://www.jvc.com/press/index.jsp?item=721&pageID=1

Eh... just get one of these:

http://www.jvc.com/press/index.jsp?item=721&pageID=1


You spend $250-500k on a home, and then spend an extra $175k+ to make one of the rooms an excellent home theater. I bet the insurance folks would love to write your home owner's policy.

Brad and Angie would prolly love one of these for watching the home movies of the kids, but I don't see this wonderful projector being something any but the top 5% of the population would ever consider having.

Might be great for a sports bar, though. :rolleyes:

A 4k projector showing home movies would be a huge waste, and unless you have hundreds of thousands of dollars would be a superfulous upgrade.
Verizon Fios is what, 20mb/s. Comcast is closer to 12mb/s. Blu-Ray is leagues better, probably 60mb/s but for a 4k image we're talking about needing 200mb/s data rate to make it look good.

And of course not much is shot in 4k. Feature films and network dramas are shot on film which is comparable in resolution, and some commercials are shot on the Red still but not much. To get copies of these in 4k resolution is pretty unheard of and would be pricey even if they figure out a method of distribution (hard drives or something?).

I am sure you guys realized, but it was a joke.

The home technology isn't here yet to power this this, true. However... AMD just put out a vid card that could support 6, 30" monitors with a total wide resolution of over 7K. So there is technology capable of pushing 4k resolutions, they just need to be produced. We eventually will be going 4k in the home, I think, but not any time soon.

Thanks all for the advice and input. I've found my solution in just a cheapy Dell proj from w*rk for now :) I don't need HD for what I want to do at this very moment. In the future, next summer I will be purchasing an HD one but for now I'm good :)