I am curious about your decision from going from the light cannon to the newer hi rez projectors. Is it a huge difference?

If I make a jump, it might be the panny.

Any word of a plv70,75,80 replacement?

I have a high power 140 inch screen with plv70.
Any info would be thankful!

I'm waiting with you to hear what people say. My PLV-70 still works flawlessly and makes a lot of light. The Infocus IN83 and Optoma HD-81 and HD-81LV look pretty bright but won't fit my room due to offset and 8 ft ceiling.

The Epson 1080 UB looks pretty bright. I have learned on this forum that uncalibrated light output can be deceptive -- unfortunately only a few reviewers give calibrated outputs and often they at least appear to disagee.

What do you want to bet that we are told that a JVC RS1X is the answer?

I'm waiting with you to hear what people say. My PLV-70 still works flawlessly and makes a lot of light.

Interesting thread but I suspect that there is still no satisfactory answer.
As a PLV-70 owner I would love to move on to 1080P but with clear prerequisites.

Must have large 2.35 constant height screen. My current screen is 120" x 67". To me any smaller is not home theater but large TV!
The screen must be no greater than 1x gain and audio transparent. In other words the sound must come from the screen and you must be able to sit anywhere is the room and enjoy the same picture.
The picture must be bright. While I would love to enjoy similar contrast that other projectors not at the expense of glorious light. My current bulb is near the end of its life yet the screen is still bathed in light.
A replacement 1080p projector must be less in cost than a small car. In truth, that is my wife's prerequisite not mine.


I have had the PLV-70 since before George Bush changed the world and I would have thought I would have moved on by now but have yet to see a projector that I consider a viable upgrade.

Interestingly the recent thread "Is the Traditional Luminance of 12 foot-lamberts Bright Enough for Your Tastes?" demonstrated an overwhelming preference for more light. I hope the projector manufacturers were following the thread!

Meanwhile with a Hi Def player hooked up at 720P I guess I am happy to wait until a upgrade option becomes available.

I really like the output of the 70 also (when the lamp is healthy)
At 10 ft. away from a 140 inch screen, hi def looks real good. Throw in a few more pixels and the upgrade seems worth while. Now my back row in the theater would only gain the contrast boost of the current 1080p projectors. It is hard to see the difference thru numbers. I bought my 70 from only the opinions of this forum and 6 years ago I am glad I took those opinion full heartedly.

I havn't done much research on this next question but here it goes: Are there 2.35 aspect ratio lcd panels out there in projectors? I really get the whole lens sled to use up all res from the projectors but I can't afford that extra cost. It would be nice if 1080 or greater resolution projectors can do that ratio without bars on top and bottom.

will you guys quit beating around the Bush and get back on topic:D

"I bought my 70 from only the opinions of this forum and 6 years ago I am glad I took those opinion full heartedly."

Me too. It was pretty clear then that the PLV-70 was a winner. The forum was right. The problem is that there are a lot more choices and technologies out there today (and most of them are dim machines).

One almost hopes that a clear choice will emerge at CEDIA. LED? Laser? Who cares? Until then I may just stick with the old dinosaur.

emerssing yourself into someones home theater would be nice. You get a real sense of are hobby from different prospectives.

the choices and possible new tecs can make for an interesting cedia and ces show. Something I would really like to attend.Time and money, darn it this hobby can be expensive! This is the fun stuff, the hunt for the next best thing within budget.If I didn't have that budget thing.

good thread. I am still using my 20HD. Would love to upgrade to 1080P but can't find a projector bright enough to compare and allow me to watch in the daytime.

I saw a post earlier this year from a long time PLV-70 owner that made the switch to the Panny AE2000U. Of course it is not as bright, so it may not work in every circumstance, but it may be an option. I am considering one also, and intend to keep my HD20 incase I need to power through ambient light.

I am holding out for a daytime demo in my multi-purpose room before I make the final choice. I also need to make some actual lumen measurments on my system to see if other reported measurements from the Panny are in the ballpark or not.

Jumped to an RS1 about 8 months ago. I miss the punch a little, but everything else more than makes up for it.

BB

BB,
What type (2.35?),size screen and what gain are you using?

Considered Optoma HD81LV but then read it's thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=891002). Now waiting to see how the 3200-lumen Canon WUX10 (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelDetailAct&fcategoryid=131&modelid=17187) turns out. (Why 1200p? Because my 16' screen is as much for PC use as for films).

On paper, contrast seems the only weakness. However a ProjectorCentral review of the 4:3 version (http://www.projectorcentral.com/canon_sx80_review.htm) indicates real-world contrast could be even higher than the RS2. Absolute black level will of course be much worse, with 3200 lumens blaring out.

Frustrating that the pricepoint for getting a 1080p equivalent is still much higher than what we paid for the PLV70 over 6 years ago. Street price on this Canon should be similar to what the PLV70 was when released.

Basically unless one springs for a high end 3 chip DLP, you pretty much have to choose between brightness and contrast... They haven't been able to maintain both while also maintaining a good price point.
I'm sure it will come soon...

Interesting thread but I suspect that there is still no satisfactory answer.
As a PLV-70 owner I would love to move on to 1080P but with clear prerequisites.

Must have large 2.35 constant height screen. My current screen is 120" x 67". To me any smaller is not home theater but large TV!
The screen must be no greater than 1x gain and audio transparent. In other words the sound must come from the screen and you must be able to sit anywhere is the room and enjoy the same picture.
The picture must be bright. While I would love to enjoy similar contrast that other projectors not at the expense of glorious light. My current bulb is near the end of its life yet the screen is still bathed in light.
A replacement 1080p projector must be less in cost than a small car. In truth, that is my wife's prerequisite not mine.


I've got a BenQ W5000 shooting a 110"x48" (CIH) SMX AT (1.16x gain) screen. The BenQ is a great value one of the least costly 1080p machines out there. And for me, even in low lamp, and with the manual IRIS closed all the way it produces plenty of light, though I haven't measured it in a while to know exactly how many ftL.

Or if you've got a ceiling that's high enough, an InFocus IN8x would be a great option as those truely are light canons (1600 lumens on the IN84 IIRC, seems like Art might have measured more than 1700 in one config from it).

Interestingly the recent thread "Is the Traditional Luminance of 12 foot-lamberts Bright Enough for Your Tastes?" demonstrated an overwhelming preference for more light. I hope the projector manufacturers were following the thread!

Problem with that thread (from what I remember), is it didn't seem like anybody had a clue how much brightness they had. So while perhaps most wanted more light, maybe most only had 7-8 ftL to start with.

Mitsubishi FL7000U...........

BB,
What type (2.35?),size screen and what gain are you using?

Sorry for the late reply, went on vacation.

I have a 16x9 120" diagonal high power (2.8 gain). It was insane (in a positive sense) with the old Sanyo, but is still very nice with the JVC.

BB

My god!!! Did you have to hand out welding googles to guests to protect their eyes?

Hi Power and PLV70...well now you DO like bright images. :)

welding glasses, hmmm that might improve the plv70's contrast.

The next morning I still see the movie burned into my eyes as I drive to work. To bad the last thing i see is, scrolling credits!

I thank Brandon B and Tryg for the advice 6 years ago. I am still quite happy!
The newer projectors do seem real nice. Just not ready to bit yet. I would love to see a jvc,panny or epson.

As a HD 20 owner for about four years I finally decided to upgrade to a 1080p projector. I purchased an Epson 1080UB about a month ago. It wasn't an easy decision as there was nothing wrong with the HD 20, but I needed to advantage of 1080p sources. I have to run an HDMI cable under my living room to be able use the 1080p output, still hooked up via component. That being said the biggest difference at present between the two pj's is the black levels, it is quite dramatic. In so far as brightness goes the HD 20 is still the winner, but the 180UB has a video mode called vivid that will allow you to view the pj during the day even in a room like mine with a lot of ambient light. The only drawback in the vivid mode is that colors are somewhat off, but for watching sports it's not a big deal.I expect the picture to look even better when I have the HDMI cable installed. I'll be selling or trading my HD 20 for an new receiver, if anyone is interested PM me.

Herb

thank you for your input. I am wondering about some other variables.
What is the size of your screen? What screen do you use? How far do you project?


Larry

Larry my screen size is 92" diagonal. Screen is a Dalite 1.1 gain gray screen and am projecting from about 10'. I would have loved to go larger in screen size, but the constraints of the room would not allow.

My god!!! Did you have to hand out welding googles to guests to protect their eyes?

Yes. :)

White scenes caused physical squinting. The JVC doesn't do that.

The day I get something with 2000 lumens and the performance of the RS1 though, I will be pretty satisfied. Mostly because then I can go to a 10 foot wide constant height scope setup.

BB

I love it when I come across a PLV-70 thread!

I jumped this January, from the mighty and beloved PLV-70 (which I had for years) to a PT-AE2000, Prismasonic lens and 11’ HP Scope screen. I worried myself silly about whether the new PJ would be bright enough, I have been extremely happy with the switch.

I use two screens: a 120” diag. 16:9 Greyhawk and an 11’ wide HP in 2.4:1 (55”X132”). I run the HP on Cinema 2 mode and the Greyhawk in Normal mode and the Panasonic is bright enough, even for the Greyhawk.

I’m quite pleased with the PT-AE2000 over the PLV70; HDMI, better blacks, sharper picture, no screen door. I'd say I was satisfied with the upgrade but I gotta admit I’m interested in seeing what the PT-AE3000 is going to offer, the rumours I’ve seen so far say it’s going to be a bit brighter (2000 lumens?) than the AE2000.

Sigh...bump

Anything come out that will allow me to watch in an ambient light filled room on a sunday afternoon the way I can with my 20HD?

Within the next two weeks I'll be assessing two "business" models' suitability for an entertainment room / home cinema: the Dell 7609WU and the Optoma EP1080. (Hoping I don't suffer from DLP rainbow effect).

Both are brand new models specced at ~3000:1 contrast and ~3600 lumens, which in the real world will probably equate to the PLV-70's true 1800+ lumen brightness.

Sigh...bump

Anything come out that will allow me to watch in an ambient light filled room on a sunday afternoon the way I can with my 20HD?

As I stated in my previous post, the Epson 1080UB in the vivid mode will throw up a bright enough picture to watch with ambient light, albeit with some sacrifice of color accuracy. Best bet if you could talk a local dealer to demo in your home. I found one in my area willing to do so. Good luck.

BUMP.

Still rocking the SE HD20 / PLV-70 believe it or not.

About ready to upgrade finally, if I can find a projector that offers comparable or greater brightness and 1080P.

I'm noodling on the 9500 UB from epson - but also don't mind spending up fro there - just need something that allows me to watch in the daytime with lots of ambient light - have floor to ceiling windows.

I welcome any and all thoughts!

Thanks

PV 70 going strong here also. I am with you. something bright like the70 with a led lamp and 1080p , 3d ready, automatic lens shift anddddd, is that to much to ask far!!!

Is the LG CF3D what we have all been patiently waitting for. 2500 lumins sounds like a PLV70 replacement. Anyone seen one yet?

1080p, 4000 ANSI, 50,000:1 contrast
http://www.benq.com/products/Projector/?product=1646

That Benq looks imppresive. Any users out there yet?

Is it shipping yet? I get the impression it's a new model.

I'll start a thread, and see if anybody considering it.