It recently occurred to me that there were videophiles before there was HD material and that it is probably so much easier today to get such good results than was possible with even the most tweaked out and advanced system. I started this hobby at a time when there was some HD broadcast material and 720p was all the rage.

So, for all of you who were videophiles in the 480i days, share your stories for posterity. What equipment were you using? What were your sources? What did you think a good picture was at the time? If you could travel back in time and use your setup, could you make it more than 5 minutes into anything? How much did you spend? Tell us all about that top loading VCR that you spent a fortune on.

I was basically me bitching till about 2005 about why companies hadn't made 1920 x 1080 products yet :)

The industry knew what the standard was in 1996-98 they just rolled out more products that didn't push the envelope :(

Then of course there were many people on the forum saying 1080p would never be a standard and that 1920 x 1080 projectors would always be over $30k and out of reach of the masses.:rolleyes:

It's been a slow process

1996 my first real HT:
pj: Sony D50Q 7" CRT/20K:1 CR/150 lumens $15,000. The D50 had built in component inputs!! PQ: to die for!
screen: ST130, 106" diag 16x9
source: Pioneer Laserdisc, Sony VCR with "jog/shuttle"
2000 added Sony 7000 DVP player, heaven.
2002 added Toshiba progressive DVD player, 480p oh my god!
2003 found AVS desended into madness. Have had Sony HS10, Sharp 12K, Sony G70, Sony HS51, Sony Ruby, Sony AW15, Sharp 12KII and now Pioneer FPJ1 (RS2) :D

So, for all of you who were videophiles in the 480i days, share your stories for posterity. What equipment were you using?

What equipment "were" I using? Hell, I'm still using it. My Panasonic ED resolution (854 x 480) is still doing duty in my first "home theater" set up.
(Now that I'm joining the ranks of the Big Screen aficionados I sort of cringe at the idea of calling my 42" ED plasma/surround set up "home theater." It used to seem big, but now it's just an average TV size).

As I've mentioned several times before on AVS, the issue of careful attention to tweaking and presentation pays huge dividends even on such a modest display. I'd view my plasma with a black backdrop, often masking for 2:35:1 content, lights out, image as tweaked as I could get it, and the effect on guests was often dramatic. Even with SD DVD they couldn't believe the realism of the image. Once HD plasmas became more popular it still was a common occurance for friends who bought HD plasmas to say how the image on their plasma wasn't as good as my "super plasma" (they didn't even realise it was cheaper, lower resolution).

Now that I'm used to much bigger images I don't watch movies on the plasma anymore. I save them for the big screen.

Source has been until recently the venerable old Panasonic RP-91. Still a classy looking machine and I'll never forget the upgrade in image quality it gave me over my first cheap Sony player. But I'm still living in the analog world, since my plasma can't accept DVI or HDMI, nor does my Pioneer 49TX receiver have HDMI. So I have various component video and S-video sources, along with all their sound outs and it's cords, cords, cords...and I'm sick of it.

Speaking of image quality, that's something I keep thinking about since the advent of HD media like Blu Ray (and HD DVD). There used to be a much broader phenomena of people obsessively tweaking their SD DVD images: from reviews and sales of all manner of analog video cables purported to produce much better images, to various audiophile-like tweaks of isolation pucks, increasing bracing of chasis, swapping out caps, SDI mods...you name it. It really was very audiophile-like.

Now I don't see much of that anymore. Perhaps it's that we are still early enough in the introduction phase (as we were at one point with CD and DVD) that the initial "wow" of simply seeing HD images from a disc is enough to quell the need to tweak. People used to be obsessive about reading the reports from Secrets Of Home Theater Fidelity and it's ilk to endlessly chew over the test results. I don't see that phenomenon much anymore with Blu Ray players - at least not nearly as it was with SD players.

Perhaps that will change with time. Maybe it's the fact we've moved mostly to digital connections and interfaces that more people accept "bits are bits" and there isn't as much to tweak as there was in the analog world. Or maybe one could make the case that the tweaking has simply moved more into the digital realm, with people obsessing over the performance of Video Processors. I dunno. But it doesn't seem to be as it was....

(Which I'm not bemoaning, necessarily).

After accustoming to increased screen size and other changes things, at the end of the day, are surprisingly similar at a very basic level between the two resolutions, ie: some movies look great and some look bad. My desire for something better remains about the same.

I had a Barco Graphics 8" CRT with a Panasonic DVD player and a DVDO IScan plus. All on a 72" ST130 and I was in hog heaven until something blew on the Barco - I didn't know about the forum back then. I then bought my first digital - a Sanyo XP PLC21N that had an amazing spec'd contrast ratio of 900:1 with 2000 lumens.

Man some of you guys had nice systems for back then.

I was all LCD. CRT's were just too large for my livingroom. Back in 1995 a purchased a Sharp XVS-90U 640x480 LCD projector with very little contrast ratio. :) Used that on a 100 inch 4x3 glass beaded Draper screen. Driven by a Mitsubishi SVHS VCR and Sony 7000 DVD player then a Pioneer DVL91 Laserdisc combo player. Upgraded the screen to a Draper M2500 material 16x9 119" diagonal. In 2000 I purchased a Sony VW10HT LCD projector. Still low contrast ratio! :) Built my Home Theater/home addition in 2003. Still used the VW10HT at that time driven by my Meridian 598 DVD player, Sony DirecTV HD tuner, DVDO ISCAN Ultra and then ISCAN HD VP. I actually used a Toshiba XA2 for a while with my VW10HT via analog connections. Then in Dec 2007 I purchased a JVC RS1u and soon after a Lumagen HDQ. Last year I grabbed a Pioneer 51FD Bluray player. I'll probably stick with this setup for another 6 or 7 years as long as nothing breaks. I am one to get what I paid for out of my purchases.

I still have my Pioneer DVL91 laserdisc player. I have the entire collection of Looney Tunes on Laserdisc so it stays in my system. :)

I was more into audio back in the 90's and early 2000's so I focused on my audio system. All Meridian digital front end with Bryston amplification, Aerial Acoustics speakers and subs! No plans to change a thing these days.

Ron

I started in 1997 with a Sharp LCD unit XVH37U (640x480), a Rotel processor capable of Dolby Pro Logic, two rotel amplifiers and a NAD Tuner.

The Sharp was replaced by a Runco 7" CRT (852) in 1999 and then a Runco VX1000Ci in 2003.

I now use a Marantz VP15S1 for projection on a 106" diagonal 16:9 DaLite Electrol



The sharp LCD projector reminds me of spring-time.....just like looking through the screen door on the back of the house during a warm spring day. :)

Just after Christmas I canceled my order for the RS20 based on reports of a deficient CMS and consequently I am still using my original system circa 1999 consisting of the aforementioned and memorable Panasonic RP91K DVD player processed through a (does anyone remember?) Focus Enhancement Quadscan Pro. The mostly beautiful and sometimes stunning picture is presented by a well tweaked (Dillard) JVC DLA-G11 projector capable of decent black levels (723:1 contrast - yes that's seven hundred twenty-three) provided lamp hours are above 1200 and no one in the theater with a Crest strip fetish smiles and washes out the picture. I hate it when that happens during a dramatic, dark scene.

The projector is in a separate room since the fan noise has caused geese to flush, dogs to bark, dairy cows to go dry, and parents to fear for their children. I still chuckle each time someone complains of the new projectors being too loud.:)

I'm sure many of the long term members remember the group effort and relentless tweaking to make this era of projectors the best they could be. I really loved that time.

Roland

Before 1080p? How about 1080i for last 10 years on my beloved Nec XG1352 with its real high black level and dimensional PQ and accurate color production!
During this time I have also had many fixed panels as well such as IF4805(480p DLP), Sharp10x, Sony HS10A(720p LCD), Sony VW50(1080P SXRD) and Optoma 7300 (720p DC3 DLP) along the XG.
Life has been pretty OK for me in last 10 years in FP domain.

My 480i days go back to the 1980s. I came accross a classified ad about how one could have a huge TV screen for just $11. I sensed a scam, but I was curious and certainly willing to lose eleven bucks. A few weeks later I received a fairly large envelope containg a flat plastic Fresnel (spelling?) lens along with instructions on how to mount the lens on a cardboard box that one could place in front of a 12" TV and thereby project a large image onto the wall.

I tried it and it worked -- kind of. The image was dim, upside down, and flipped. But it worked. This led to my purchasing slide projector lenses and learning how to switch the leads feeding the CRT so the image would be flippped without showing a mirror image on the Kodak Ektalight screen I had obtained. That screen was just 40 inches square, but huge compared to the sets of the day. The image was also extremely dim, but functional. People loved the big image and I ended up selling two of my rigs to various boy friends of my sister-in-law. The proceeds went to upgrading my projection TV hobby.

After experimenting with other lenses and table model TV sets, I eventually purchased a Mitsubishi fold out 50 inch front projection TV in 1985. What an improvement -- bright and sharp. Next was a Sony 40 inch rear projection TV which I enjoyed for years before buying my first modern front projector (an InFocus 5700) about five years ago.

Forgive me for rambling, but as you can see, I'm a visual media old-timer. I go back to the 1940s when I had a Univex 8mm home movie projector (it used a 35 watt automobile bulb for its light source). I had a little theater in my parents' cellar. Put on movie shows for the kids in the neighborhood (Charged 5 cents admission). The kids enjoyed the B&W slient cartoons and Charlie Chaplan movies. Even back then I was concerned about getting a brighter image and dealing with the jiggling image that toy projector produced. It's just wonderful how things have really improved over the years. I wonder what our hobby will be like 50 years from now.

Great story Hoyt. That's real vanguard stuff!

When I was growing up my parents had a CRT based black and white TV that was kept in our basement with all the furniture that was no longer good enough to be in the living room. The room had 1/4 inch mahogany plywood panels on the wall, an acoustical tile ceiling that had been stapled directly to the joists and an asbestos/vinyl tile floor. It was a good thing it was in the basement because we didn't have air conditioning and in the summer you didn't want to be anyplace else in the late afternoon.

We had 3 network channels, a local independent and PBS. My earliest TV memories were Howdy Doody and Winky Dink. The later show involved putting a sheet of plastic on the front of the CRT so that you could draw the necessary missing element so that Winky could escape the bad guys and save the day. Like drawing a bridge between two sides of a river bank.

Every Friday the Local channel would play a Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movie that I rarely missed. Later I saw the Beatles play live on that TV and shortly after went to my first live concert where you could barely make out the music.

I can't recall any couple ever sleeping in the same bed, nudity or violence on that TV unless you count Johnny killing a crocodile. But I'm certain that TV played a role in defining my life.

1. 480i -> Faroudja VP251* -> 480p -> Runco DTV-930 (née NEC 6PG Xtra)

2. 1080i -> Faroudja DVP-5000 -> 1080p -> Sony VPH-G90

* Should have been a VP301, but...

Man those Faroudjas were expensive little toys...

Man those Faroudjas were expensive little toys...

I remember the first gen VP100 ( I think that was the right model number )
and its price. 3:2 pull down cost you and arm in those days.

My memories from back in the day:
I always admired the high-end Faroudja line doublers, but I always thought that they were way too expensive for what they did. I was also shocked by the cost of front projection technology in general and I didn't have a room that I could dedicate for FPTV.

So I stayed with a 32" Sony XBR direct view CRT, 480i and laserdiscs until I couldn't take it anymore through the mid-90s. Then DVDs came out and I saw how inexpensively they could deinterlace and do 3:2 pulldown to 480p. So I bought my first "progressive scan" DVD player the Marantz DVX-8000 which was really one of the first HTPC's.

Anyone remember this:
https://www.metamedia.us/metamedia/images/DVX8000.gif

This triggered a search for a display capable of accepting progressive scan 480p. Searching the Internet back in those days involved things like searching Usenet news groups and I came across a post by a guy named "Mark Rejhon" who found a company called "NetTV" that was selling "huge" 38" progressive scan direct view TV's. So I bought one and immediately had problems with it. So I sent it back and bought an RCA progressive scan TV and a RCA DirectTV HD decoder (DTC-100) with progressive scan capability. 1080i was "upconverted" to 540p. Anyone remember this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/sc/1851758-2-200-0.gif

Eventually I rethought the whole thing and decided to buy a bigger house and make sure that there was a room big enough for a dedicated home theater. The #1 priority for the new house was a dedicated HT room.

Having worked on Hughes-JVC ILA projector lines I was familiar with the great image that it could produce and JVC had bought the company and just come out with the new DILA technology in the form of the G series. Mark Rejhon and I continued to exchange a few e-mails about progressive scan setups and he kept telling me he was a moderator for a new Internet website. Something called, "AVS Forum" and I kept telling him about the benefits of the new JVC LCOS projectors and the new G1000. I don't think either of us listened to each other. Eventually I decided to give AVS a quick look and was amazed and joined (initially in 1999 with a username of "AVJunky", but I decided that AVS was the one place on the Internet where I could post with my real name so I created my current account in 2000). Later Mark apparently decided to try out the JVCs and ended up with one. In hindsight we should have listened to each other earlier than we did :)

http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/473/product-5396473.jpg

Eventually I bought a new home and set up my first true FPTV setup with a JVC G11, 1365x1024 and a Stewart Greyhawk (circa early 2000s). The low contrast on the G11 immediately triggered upgrades on each succeeding generation of digital (G11, SX-21, HD2K, RS1, RS20) and in hindsight I wish I had just bought a CRT and lived with it up until about the HD2K or maybe the RS1 era.