What used projector to buy? (go to post 7 for details)

[mistermodcreator]

Hi, this is a bit of a weird issue.

 

I have my home theater setup so that Switch, PC and PS4 all connect to my receiver, the Yamaha HTR-4063, and from there to the projector, a Acer p1120 (This is a budget built over many years). Switch and PC are able to connect like normal (the PC has problems when not selected on the receiver though, more on that later).

As soon as I connect the PS4, really strange issues start. As long as it is not selected for output on the receiver, everything is fine. Audio plays normally and the HDMI-connection is stable. However, the moment you select it for output, the receiver instantly looses the HDMI-signal and the signal indicator on the display comes on repeatedly for at most one second at a time, before going blank again. At first I suspected the quite long HDMI-Cable to the projector, but connecting the PS4s cable to the cable going to the projector directly (via a f-f coupling), everything works fine. As I have no way of splitting the HDMI-signal, it needs to go through the receiver for audio though. I manually reinstalled the PS4s OS using a USB-stick and during that process the connection through the receiver worked exactly one time, after a restart the signal was lost again.
Any ideas on what might be happening here?

Now on the PCs problem: Wen not selected for output, the other connected monitors turn on and off again periodically, during which AMDs drivers will crash given enough time. As soon as the projector is turned off, the issue goes away too.

For both problems the projector is my main suspect atm. Am I on to something or could those issues be caused by something else entirely?
 

 

 

Here are the receivers HDMI-Settings:

Control: off
Standby: off
Audio: Amp

[emosun]

that receiver is 15 years old and would never be expected to conform or be compatible with any sort of modern hdmi standard. Nor would I expect yamaha to make any sort of hdmi switcher capable of lasting more than a decade without breaking for no reason.

remove the amp from the setup and see if the devices connect and function with the projector with a normal sized cable. if they do , then find a more modern hdmi switcher solution.

[mistermodcreator]

2 minutes ago, emosun said:

if they do then find a more modern hdmi switcher solution.

I did think of that already and may take this as an opportunity to switch to atmos, but as this is a budget setup that will have to wait a bit. I'm maybe going to switch to a fire TV stick for the meantime, as that did work. I just liked the extra horsepower of the PS4 as if it works, it's so much easier to navigate a UI when the device is not a complete potato like the first gen fire Tv stick.

So that's my backup wen it should turn out that nobody else around here can think of an easy solution that i might just have missed. All to say: I'm gonna consider the HDMI-splitter idea, but I would like a proper fix for this so the preferred method would be getting a modern-isch receiver (maybe for my not-super-soon upcoming birthday)

[emosun]

tbh the projector also seems to be about 13-14 years old as well and is just a standard 800x600 resolution projector that besides supporting hd signals doesn't actually display an HD image. so it may be time to retire that as well going forward vs trying to make it function with anything modern.

[mistermodcreator]

59 minutes ago, emosun said:

the projector also seems to be about 13-14 years old as well and is just a standard 800x600 resolution

Yeah I know, it has been with me for 7 years now. It was one of the first tech things I ever bought, so there is definitely some nostalgia at play here too. Actually in motion it's not quite as bad as one might think and the colors are fine too (at 120hz it's actually the highest refresh rate display I own), but when browsing Netflix you can really see the missing pixels in text, for example.
But you're right. I'm currently looking at getting the Epson EH-TW3200 used for ~150€. It's also quite old, but is at least close to my "less money when possible"-budget.

New is out of the discussion, but if you have any used suggestions (I live in germany and typically buy such things on "Kleinanzeigen") up to or slightly over that budget, let me know

[mistermodcreator]

Oh, and one small addition I forgot above: When the PS4 is selected for output on the receiver and the projector is switched to a different input, everything is fine too. Sound and therefore a HDMI-Signal are detected on the receiver and work fine. I'm going to try another, even worse projector (image-wise) tomorrow to try and find the cause of the problem.

[mistermodcreator]

On 12/7/2024 at 12:26 AM, mistermodcreator said:

I'm going to try another, even worse projector (image-wise) tomorrow to try and find the cause of the problem.

Jeah, cause found. The other projector has no problem showing the PS4s image. I'm gonna get a new projector for christmas, the big question being which one.

Atm, I'm looking at the Epson EH-TW3200. It has all the things I want (Lens-shift, a pretty big zoom and 1080p native) and conveniently fits in my budget of 100 to 200€ in Germany. I found a used one with ~900 lamp hours for 139€ on "Kleinanzeigen".


Question for the forum: Anything better I can get my hands on (in Germany)? I wanna go Epson because they use their 3LCD tech, which as I imagine might be better for color and maybe even contrast.