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Best projector in a basement setup?

natgeo-enj0yer

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Aug 24, 2025
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I'm setting up a small home theater in my basement here in LA and trying to pick a good projector. I want something that shows a clear, sharp picture, especially for watching movies at night with my kids. I've been looking at Epson Home Cinema 3800, and ViewSonic PX701-4K.

Bec I tried Optoma HD39HDR and noticed fast scenes looked a bit blurry? maybe I need to adjust the settings. Has anyone used these projectors before? I'm not looking for anything super fancy, just something that works well and gives good picture quality.
 
If movies with the family are your main focus, the Epson 3800 is the way to go. The ViewSonic is cheaper and solid for gaming, but not as strong for movie quality. The blur you saw on the Optoma is pretty common, though sometimes tweaking the motion settings helps. Did you already mess around with those settings?
 
DId you try enabling Enhanced Gaming Mode on the Optoma HD39HDR? It's supposed to cut motion blur during fast scenes by boosting refresh rate to 120Hz. Also, how's your setup, are you projecting onto a screen or wall, and how much ambient light do you get down there?

Between the Epson 3800 and ViewSonic PX701-4K, I've heard the Epson has better contrast and lens shift, but the ViewSonic wins on lamp life and brightness.
 
Epson 3800 gives brighter, sharper colors for movies, while ViewSonic PX701-4K handles gaming and 4K better. For mostly movie nights, I'd go Epson; for gaming too, maybe the ViewSonic.
 
I'm setting up a small home theater in my basement here in LA and trying to pick a good projector. I want something that shows a clear, sharp picture, especially for watching movies at night with my kids. I've been looking at Epson Home Cinema 3800, and ViewSonic PX701-4K.

Bec I tried Optoma HD39HDR and noticed fast scenes looked a bit blurry? maybe I need to adjust the settings. Has anyone used these projectors before? I'm not looking for anything super fancy, just something that works well and gives good picture quality.
How's this going? Are you done with your home theater setup?
Optoma HD39HDR is a single-chip DLP, and I've also heard of people noticing motion artifacts in fast scenes.
Unfortunately though, it's not always fixable.
Among your options, I'd also go with the Epson Home Cinema 3800!
It uses 3LCD technology, which virtually eliminates the rainbow effect and generally offers better motion clarity than the ViewSonic PX701-4K or the Optoma you tried.
The ViewSonic is sharp and a good value, but it's another single-chip DLP, so you might be risking similar issues.
 
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