So, I'm finally in a house with a media room. I've already got my sound system taken care of. Now, it's projector time. I hate that we are in a transitional period for 4K. But, it is what is.

Room is 20x15. 1 small window that i will do my best to black out. some small ambient light through the French doors that i'm going to try and figure a way to minimize as well.

Walls are currently white, but I will be painting them a dark gray or something soon.

Receiver is a Denon AVR-X4300H.

My budget for projector, mount and screen is $3000.

50% movies/regular tv
35% sports
15% gaming PS4 (currently)

3D is not necessary. I'm not a huge fan, and my wife can't see it.

Recommendations

http://www.projectorcentral.com/best-selling-home-theater-projectors.htm

About 6 months or so ago I went with the Epson 3700 having previously been happy with an Epson 8350. I paid $1300 for it at the time. It has no 4K capabilities though. I'm using it as a stop-gap until the 4K projector technology is more mature.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/epson-3700-review.htm

The newer Epson 4000 has 4K compatibility (I assume some kind of wobble technology) and has a street price of about $1800. The Epson 5040UB is similar but has better contrast and black levels. It costs about $2700 though.

I'm not sure on screens, but I've seem several positive reviews of Silver Ticket products. They are pretty cheap as well.

https://www.silverticketproducts.com/collections/fixed-projection-screens

I had a Visual Apex screen previously that I left at my last house. I'm in a rental now so I'm going with an Elite screen that is "portable" so I don't have to hang anything on the wall.

Mike92 said:

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About 6 months or so ago I went with the Epson 3700 having previously been happy with an Epson 8350. I paid $1300 for it at the time. It has no 4K capabilities though. I'm using it as a stop-gap until the 4K projector technology is more mature.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/epson-3700-review.htm

The newer Epson 4000 has 4K compatibility (I assume some kind of wobble technology) and has a street price of about $1800. The Epson 5040UB is similar but has better contrast and black levels. It costs about $2700 though.

I'm not sure on screens, but I've seem several positive reviews of Silver Ticket products. They are pretty cheap as well.

https://www.silverticketproducts.com/collections/fixed-projection-screens

I had a Visual Apex screen previously that I left at my last house. I'm in a rental now so I'm going with an Elite screen that is "portable" so I don't have to hang anything on the wall.

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we are definitely in the transition phase. the 5040UB has been highly recommended. But, at 2500-2700 bucks, it's definitely eating up the whole budget.

a couple of "4K" Optoma's look interesting as well.

I upgraded projectors a couple months back and was kind of in the same boat - 4k projectors just didn't offer the price vs performance bang I was looking for. I figure in another year or 2 we'll have some much better 4k options at much better prices.

So I went with the Sony VPL-HW45ES since it was arguably the best projector for $2k or less. Or course, I bought it on sale for $1500 so that definitely helped my decision. I have it in a blacked out room and it's freaking spectacular. Looks like a plasma on the wall (100" screen in my smallish room).

Regardless, check the throw calculator for whatever projector you get to make sure your setup will work with the projector you choose. The Sony is very accommodating with both vert/horiz shift as well as some zoom.

For screens - you can't go wrong with a white Silver Ticket screen off Amazon for around $200.

If your in Austin I'll happily demo the Sony for you.

i'm beginning to lean towards the Sony 45. the guy that did my buddy's media room in Houston with a sweet ass JVC set up is really pushing the the Sony.

One thing to keep in mind is the lens shift. I have an Epson 8350 and the lens shift is better than any other projector I have seen which makes for really easy installation

I just replaced the bulb after 39xx hours and the picture still looks great. I will upgrade when 4k hdr projectors are available but for now I am very happy with the Epson.

update: I kind of blew the budget a bit. have a JVC RS420 on the way.