Long story short, our basement flooded minorly, it's been flood cut and refinished/new drainage and we're going to make it a game/sports/bar area. 

I'm considering either a projector or a new TV for down there. I can get a 60" TV or larger for $500-800 depending on brand. I can get a HD projector for $400~ I'll be using a wireless sound bar system for either one. 

I love the idea of the projector and having a wall sized Jags game on there. The room has two overhead lights, one of which can be turned off to make the screen side of the room decently dark. 

Anyone with experience on both? In my price range I can get a TV that's going to have a better picture and color but smaller, or the much larger screen of the projector but a bit less clarity/color. Thoughts?

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

I personally would go with better picture over size. But, do your homework on the 4K TVs. Not all are created equal from my understanding. In the 5-800 range I’m not sure how much of a benefit you’d get from 4K unless you have the programming. Very little is being broadcasted in 4K. Unless you stream 4K stuff not much from the providers will be in 4K. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll still look good. That being said, the higher end 4K TVs can do a better job of upscaling the HD content to give you quite a nice picture. I’m not an expert in this by any means. Just a few things I’ve learned when I asked the sales guy why the 2 Samsung’s were both 4K and same size why the one was so much more expensive. Congrats on the flood and getting a man cave out of it.

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What is this basement that you speak of?

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

In my opinion better picture is about better contrast and projection TVs can't come close to a good LED or similar tech.

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I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

I personally would go with better picture over size. But, do your homework on the 4K TVs. Not all are created equal from my understanding. In the 5-800 range I’m not sure how much of a benefit you’d get from 4K unless you have the programming. Very little is being broadcasted in 4K. Unless you stream 4K stuff not much from the providers will be in 4K. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll still look good. That being said, the higher end 4K TVs can do a better job of upscaling the HD content to give you quite a nice picture. I’m not an expert in this by any means. Just a few things I’ve learned when I asked the sales guy why the 2 Samsung’s were both 4K and same size why the one was so much more expensive. Congrats on the flood and getting a man cave out of it.

In my opinion better picture is about better contrast and projection TVs can't come close to a good LED or similar tech.

That's kind of how I'm leaning. A 55-60" tv isnt exactly small either. I have a 55" Samsung and it's beautiful. As a cord cutter, the Smart TV feature is beneficial as well instead of plugging q computer into the projector.

As for the actual 4K display, I intend to game on it from time to time with my Xbox One X as well.

And yeah, crappy situation that turned positive for sure. Putting a bar down there was actually my wife's idea too. Guess the only trade off I'll have to make is splitting the decor with a Cowboys fan.... almost not worth it lol

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What is this basement that you speak of?

This is the first basement water I've ever had in my life. I cant imagine how much a basement in Jax would flood lol

One of the benefits of living up North. (I also like snow)

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

My dad has a 4K and most everything on Netflix is not 4K compatible so it looks like crap. Like, really craptastic. Regular tv looked good but anything streaming was horrible.

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My dad has a 4K and most everything on Netflix is not 4K compatible so it looks like crap. Like, really craptastic. Regular tv looked good but anything streaming was horrible.

I don't understand that. My living room TV is a 4K Samsung and Netflix looks fantastic, especially their 4K content. Maybe his internet connection can't handle the stream?

Going from a 1080p LCD to a 4K LED was a noticeable difference on everything.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

One of the benefits of living up North. (I also like snow)

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I personally would go with better picture over size.  But, do your homework on the 4K TVs.  Not all are created equal from my understanding.   In the 5-800 range I’m not sure how much of a benefit you’d get from 4K unless you have the programming.  Very little is being broadcasted in 4K.  Unless you stream 4K stuff not much from the providers will be in 4K.  Don’t get me wrong, it’ll still look good.  That being said, the higher end 4K TVs can do a better job of upscaling the HD content to give you quite a nice picture.  I’m not an expert in this by any means.  Just a few things I’ve learned when I asked the sales guy why the 2 Samsung’s were both 4K and same size why the one was so much more expensive.  Congrats on the flood and getting a man cave out of it.

In my opinion better picture is about better contrast and projection TVs can't come close to a good LED or similar tech.

That's kind of how I'm leaning. A 55-60" tv isnt exactly small either. I have a 55" Samsung and it's beautiful. As a cord cutter, the Smart TV feature is beneficial as well instead of plugging q computer into the projector.

As for the actual 4K display, I intend to game on it from time to time with my Xbox One X as well.

And yeah, crappy situation that turned positive for sure. Putting a bar down there was actually my wife's idea too. Guess the only trade off I'll have to make is splitting the decor with a Cowboys fan.... almost not worth it lol

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What is this basement that you speak of?

This is the first basement water I've ever had in my life. I cant imagine how much a basement in Jax would flood lol

One of the benefits of living up North. (I also like snow)

There’s a reason we don’t have them down here. You dig a hole deep enough for a basement, you’ve got a new swimming pool.

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

My dad has a 4K and most everything on Netflix is not 4K compatible so it looks like crap. Like, really craptastic. Regular tv looked good but anything streaming was horrible.

I don't understand that. My living room TV is a 4K Samsung and Netflix looks fantastic, especially their 4K content. Maybe his internet connection can't handle the stream?

Going from a 1080p LCD to a 4K LED was a noticeable difference on everything.

Yeah, I don't know. I remember trying to watch something on Netflix and it was horrible on the TV but looked fine on my laptop and my Kindle when I checked it on them. My dad doesn't buy cheap stuff either so it doesn't make sense.

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That's kind of how I'm leaning. A 55-60" tv isnt exactly small either. I have a 55" Samsung and it's beautiful. As a cord cutter, the Smart TV feature is beneficial as well instead of plugging q computer into the projector.

As for the actual 4K display, I intend to game on it from time to time with my Xbox One X as well.

And yeah, crappy situation that turned positive for sure. Putting a bar down there was actually my wife's idea too. Guess the only trade off I'll have to make is splitting the decor with a Cowboys fan.... almost not worth it lol

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I would suggest the LED TV. I was in a similar situation in January for the playoff games when after our Buffalo playoff win I decided to upgrade from my 47" LG LED. The TV is less than 10 feet away so I figured a 60" max would of been a winner. After doing some shopping I found out that most TV's nowadays are made in 55", 65", and 75". 55" was too small, no sense in going from 47" to 55", and 65" seemed too big. I went with the 65" and I am so glad that I did, it's not too big at all. 

I got lucky and found an open box Samsung 8000 Series at Bestbuy for a decent price. Costco recently had a similar TV at a good price, as they often do.

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Find out the cost of a replacement lamp for the projector, some of those run hundreds of dollars and only last a few thousand hours.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

Unless youre going for a dedicated home theater environment, projectors are a waste. Ambient light makes the cheaper projectors washed out, and I don't know about everyone else, but I do not enjoy watching my primetime sports in the dark. Getting a brighter projector means more expensive bulb replacements for a higher long term cost. Also a much more expensive and slower upgrade path.

Get you a 65" in that 5-800 range(TCL 4k w/Roku & a soundbar has been great for me). In 4 years update to an 85" and relocate the 65" to wherever you see fit.

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I don't understand that. My living room TV is a 4K Samsung and Netflix looks fantastic, especially their 4K content. Maybe his internet connection can't handle the stream?

Going from a 1080p LCD to a 4K LED was a noticeable difference on everything.

Yeah, I don't know. I remember trying to watch something on Netflix and it was horrible on the TV but looked fine on my laptop and my Kindle when I checked it on them. My dad doesn't buy cheap stuff either so it doesn't make sense.

Maybe he wasn’t using HDMI cables?

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If you golf you can use the projector in a simulator set up as well.

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My dad has a 4K and most everything on Netflix is not 4K compatible so it looks like crap. Like, really craptastic. Regular tv looked good but anything streaming was horrible.

Setup can be a little tricky. Our Sony 4K had a terrible picture out of the box. To much saturation and that weird "soap opera effect". Tweaking the advanced settings made all the difference in the world. All the streaming looks great now although sometimes when I'm watching true 4K content (like from Amazon Prime) I'll get a stutter or dropped frame here and there.

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I'm condescending. That means I talk down to you.

If you golf you can use the projector in a simulator set up as well.

This is an idea, I dont think my ceilings are high enough unfortunately.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

Yeah, I don't know. I remember trying to watch something on Netflix and it was horrible on the TV but looked fine on my laptop and my Kindle when I checked it on them. My dad doesn't buy cheap stuff either so it doesn't make sense.

Maybe he wasn’t using HDMI cables?

Possibly. They watch regular TV 99.9% of the time so it doesn't really matter to them but I'll them.

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It depends on how far from the TV you plan to sit. You won't know the difference in pixels unless you sit close enough. If you plan to have a gang of people over to watch games and stuff like that, take a good hard look at getting the projector. From my personal experience, no matter how big your TV is, you always want a bigger one.

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It depends on how far from the TV you plan to sit.    You won't know the difference in pixels unless you sit close enough.   If you plan to have a gang of people over to watch games and stuff like that, take a good hard look at getting the projector.    From my personal experience, no matter how big your TV is, you always want a bigger one.

Ain't that the truth.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS