Okay, So a few months ago I purchased a lcd projector. Not an expensive unit, but I figured it might look sharper and brighter than my Sony 1251q (which only has a little over 1100 hours). Over the last 2 months I have tried just about everything to get the contrast to improve to a somewhat decent level. No matter what I did it was still gray and unacceptable. So last night, out of desperation, I brought the 1251q out of storage and set it up. I wanted to see if my memory was better than reality.

WOW what a difference. No SDE, black blacks (not triple stack g90 500,000:1+ contrast but still much better than the LCD) and just an overall "Film" like picture quality that was unattainable with the LCD, even sd-dvd looked better. I a/b the systems for about 4 hours (until around 2am).

Now I will say that the LCD was much sharper than the 1251q. Which to some might seem to be a positive, but to me it seemed unnatural. (I even turned the sharpness control to it's lowest setting, which didn't help)

So, now I get to un-mount the LCD and start building a ceiling mount for the 1251q.

I just thought I would share my experience. Enjoy! :)

Sharpens pulls them away from CRT, Film like image always brings them back. Just like Alan Gougers Experience!!

Welcome back!!!!

Athanasios

you can get sharpness and film-like image by stepping up to an EM focusing set, about a 20% increase in both sharpness and light output actually.
At any rate, welcome back to the videophile Dark side. Bulb machines are for the unwashed masses:D

I am still amazed at the film like image a good CRT delivers. If you are a true film buff and love movies CRT emulates that film look the best of all display technologies.










.

you can get sharpness and film-like image by stepping up to an EM focusing set, about a 20% increase in both sharpness and light output actually.
At any rate, welcome back to the videophile Dark side. Bulb machines are for the unwashed masses:D

Yeah, I would love to have a nice EM LC 8" or 9", but I can't seem to find anything local, or within my beer budget. Until then, I'll stick with the 1251q.

I think I am going to sell the lcd and buy a HDfury2 and maybe, just maybe a PS3 for Blue Ray.

Once i finish my Blend set up I think i might buid an 8500LC with the 8 inch LC tubes I have, if I dont decide to use it in another part of my basement I might sell it, it will be all tricked out too with all my mods !

Athanasios

Yeah, I would love to have a nice EM LC 8" or 9", but I can't seem to find anything local, or within my beer budget. Until then, I'll stick with the 1251q. don't get stuck on LC, an 8" AC machine with EM focus will do all the things mentioend above and more like uniform screen brightness, higher resolutions, better optics than the 1272, etc.
The problem with LC IMO is that you got the G70 = failure prone, NEC's = Loud, complex, noisy picture, and my favorite the Marquee with it's cloudy chambers and leaky bellows. As of today, there is no clear winner for an easy LC route. People get stuck on LC but the AC machines are still excellent performers.

Personally I would go with Barco 808 if LC isn't critical. Get a set of NEC 144 lenses to fix the inaccurate red. Very easy to set up even for a novice, quiet and the best chassis design bar none (except maybe a Pinafarina clothed Electrohome)

yeah I see that curt has a few 808s now.

Last night I had the wife come down to get her impressions. She was pushing me to get the LCD simply due to it's size. I demoed Finding Nemo, SD DVD. Specificly the scene where the dad fish and the "Ellen" fish (I don't know their names) are in the deep black botom of the ocean trying to read the address on the glasses. First I showed her the LCD which she said looked "Okay". I used a peice of cardboard to block the lense

I then showed the CRT (which I was using the Pic Mute to block the picture) "WOW, that lookes 3d!" Those were her exact words. I switched back to LCD. I asked her to comment on it.... " Now it looks flat, bland, and unatural, compared to the other (CRT)"

Again the CRT... "I can see the detail in the water. Floating specs in the water stand out. They are not noticable in on the other (LCD). The colors look brighter and more natural."

Looks like I have the wife approval to keep the crt. Now the fun of mounting!

I think it's Marlin and Dorry, what a great movie. Those guys at Pixar have some true creative genius i ntheir work.
You gotta belive there is a big difference when the wifey can see it. Not only that but once you ge it mounted you won't have to worry about anything for years and years, the 12XX were the most relaible PJ sony ever built and it doesn't use bulbs.:)

Great to switch back!

I, by myself having a SONY D50 HTM for some years and now with only 580 hours of use, was thinking all that time (especially after having for 2 years the Toshiba HD-XE1 and seeing how good HD is) to move on to a FullHD SXRD / DiLA projector.
But everyone who sees the CRT image from these "little" 5,5 inch tubes is really impressed, so considering also the fact that with a bulb projector I would have to change the lamp every around 1000-1500 hours, I too made my decision and ordered yesterday the HDfury 2 to replace the analog component 1080i I am using now from the XE-1 and see if there will be any improvement.

Long live CRT!

Mipi- Good to hear. I too ordered the Fury and a box1040, they should be here in the next week or so. I also ordered a PS3 from dell (they had a 20% off sale going on!), so I will have BluRay in the next week too!

don't get stuck on LC, an 8" AC machine with EM focus will do all the things mentioend above and more like uniform screen brightness, higher resolutions, better optics than the 1272, etc.
The problem with LC IMO is that you got the G70 = failure prone, NEC's = Loud, complex, noisy picture, and my favorite the Marquee with it's cloudy chambers and leaky bellows. As of today, there is no clear winner for an easy LC route. People get stuck on LC but the AC machines are still excellent performers.

How about the Barco 1209s? The 120x series projectors are widely believed to be one of the quietest projectors stock. I have never heard of one with a leak and my two with 14000 hours on the chassis still have clear glycol. Now maybe the problems haven't come out yet because they are relatively rare and on average are newer than your 9500 (they S series came out in late 1998 or 1999). Parts are not has plentiful as the Marquee but you can raid most parts from a 1208 chassis.

How about the Barco 1209s? The 120x series projectors are widely believed to be one of the quietest projectors stock. I have never heard of one with a leak and my two with 14000 hours on the chassis still have clear glycol. Now maybe the problems haven't come out yet because they are relatively rare and on average are newer than your 9500 (they S series came out in late 1998 or 1999). Parts are not has plentiful as the Marquee but you can raid most parts from a 1208 chassis.
that's a good point, i forgot about the late mdoel 1209's. They are very quiet and good perfromers. Their only weakness is that Quad splitter but if the 1208 part works then that helps. you don't see very many of these anymore though, more likely to come across it as a rebadged Runco DTV1100 but then you get a Red c-element and cool black case too.

that's a good point, i forgot about the late mdoel 1209's. They are very quiet and good perfromers. Their only weakness is that Quad splitter but if the 1208 part works then that helps. you don't see very many of these anymore though, more likely to come across it as a rebadged Runco DTV1100 but then you get a Red c-element and cool black case too.

You are right the new quad/EHT boards are unreliable. You can install the old style quad and EHT board from an older Barco in the 1209s with a minor mod (just did it to my Runco 1100). The other limitation is that you are right no color filtering on stock Barco 1209s (and rare) and the Runcos are limited to 1080p 60Hz.

Looks like I have the wife approval to keep the crt. Now the fun of mounting!
WOW that's a really good wife.... :)
and good luck with the CRT as well! :D

no color filtering on stock Barco 1209s (and rare) and the Runcos are limited to 1080p 60Hz. the 1080P 60Hz should be something that's easilly fixed by Greg Eisman no? Maybe not the 3000% improvement he claims but I would think 72Hz shouldn't be a problem.:)

the 1080P 60Hz should be something that's easilly fixed by Greg Eisman no? Maybe not the 3000% improvement he claims but I would think 72Hz shouldn't be a problem.:)

Right I believe the limitation is software only so it is relatively easy to get past.

Right I believe the limitation is software only so it is relatively easy to get past.

Andy (MadHatter) says that you have to replace the entire controller not just a software update (this is at least with going from Barco Data to Graphics 1209s). Also another interesting thing I noticed on my Runco 1100 this weekend. Is that it has some boards that are not in either the Barco Graphics 1209s or the Barco Data 1209s. Some of the boards are the same as what is in my 808s Data (horizontal shift and vertical board for example). I know others have reported their Runco 1100s saying Barco Data 1209s on the yoke coils but mine does not. So whatever the case at least some Runco 1100s are not equal to Barco Data 1209s. It is amazing how much variation there is in these late model Barcos. Since I am happy with 1080p 60Hz it is not a big deal for me.

WOW that's a really good wife.... :)
and good luck with the CRT as well! :D

Yeah, she is cool about all of this. Expecially since I started my whole basement remodel without telling her. :eek: She was pissed for the first few weeks, but then as it started to take shape she got into it.

So whatever the case at least some Runco 1100s are not equal to Barco Data 1209s. It is amazing how much variation there is in these late model Barcos. Since I am happy with 1080p 60Hz it is not a big deal for me. oh forgot to add that to the list of Barco handicaps. Their parts interchangability is awful and you almost need a computer program to keep track of what parts will interchange with what year , model etc.
It's One Thing Electrohome did right, almost 100% full backwards compatibility with very few exceptions.

my set up is barc data 808 with joust adapters and 144 lens (it does make a big difference correcting the red), ps3, hdfury2 connected into a gammax. I haven't fine tuned my picture yet but man what a difference the picture is compared to my barco data 800. it does 1080i.

I know the 1209/08 are a lot bigger than the 808 and will shoot a great picture as well. I don't find the 808 that noisey but I may build a hushbox around it.

I'm lucky that I live close to Curt and I bought both my crt's from him. He goes over everything so I know I don't have to worry about some of the issues Barco's have.

Well, maybe since the wife is on board, keep your eyes open for a good deal and upgrade.

I'm always looking for an upgrade. However, with the HDfury and PS3 in the mix now my image has improved greatly, sd-dvd even looks better now that I can upscale it to 1080i. I can't wait to see what the gamma boost does for me with the box1040. I really can't see how the image could improve "that" much more. (I'm sure it could, but I'm just going to enjoy my toys now)

As for getting the wife to buy into an upgrade at this point, something will have to go wrong with the Sony. Mmmmmmmmmmmm......


New thread title: Anyone know how to fix spot burn on a Sony 1251?
nope?
HONEY! THEY SAY WE NEED A NEW PROJECTOR! :)