Having been through a number of projectors:

Infocus X1 - Sanyo Z2 - Sanyo Z3 - Projection Design Action Model I mk II - Panasonic AX100 - Sanyo PLV-70

I have to say the PLV-70 is the on projector that has made me stop and question whether I really want more than it offers. I've just watched Baraka on Blu Ray and was stunned. Bright, good colour accuracy and a fantastic picture full of detail. Is anyone else still running a PLV-70 and loving it? Has anyone else had their upgrade bug temporarily halted by a great projector?

I have finally replaced my PLV-70 about a month ago after six years of great video. I chose the Epson 7500 and it is definitely a much better picture. I was concerned about finding a projector that would be bright enough for sports, but the much better contrast and lower black levels really makes a difference and sports look great. THe Epson is plenty bright and I have a Grayhawk screen. I have also been rewatching a lot of my movies - especially those with dark scenes. There is a big improvement and as much as I like the 70, I would not go back even for a frametime!

Anyone interested in an excellent used 720P projector . . . . .

Al

I'm with Al, I have the 20HD which is the clone of the PLV-70 and I upgraded to the Epson 6500 and absolutely love it. The poor 20HD is sitting in my closet waiting for me to make a pool/game room and then it will go in there, but the 6500 is staying in the theater.

Hmmm I'm still not convinced I'd be satisfied with a projector that puts out less light, particularly as my room isn't very well light controlled. The Canon LCOS projectors look nice, but very expensive and 4:3. I wish they would license out their light compression tech.

You have to remember that the Sanyo, though rated at 2200 lumens, really didn't test that high. Plus in addition, brightness is only 1 aspect of a display. If you have a huge screen or tons of ambient light, it might be important. But newer displays will on a whole kill it.

Also, it didn't really have all that accurate colors compared to today's offerings (many of them anyways).

It's still a great deal brighter than any of the other projectors I've had. I think I read it does approx 1200 lumens calibrated. The colour accuracy is not bad at all, and I'm not a complete pedant about it.

It's still a great deal brighter than any of the other projectors I've had. I think I read it does approx 1200 lumens calibrated. The colour accuracy is not bad at all, and I'm not a complete pedant about it.

That's probably about right (1200 lumesn calibrated) with a fresh lamp.

It really comes down to what one prefers...it is a decently bright projector, but lacks in many other areas. To each his own.

To each his own.

Indeed that was the spirit of the thread. But I guess being happy with what you have doesn't encourage people to buy the latest and greatest.

I personally used a PLV70 (actually the Studio Experience clone) years ago...I have to agree that I miss the brightness when compared to most current, similiarly priced models. But, eventually I got used to it...really had to as I didn't have enough money to get a 3 chip DLP. :)

Where is Dawn? :D

I didn't have enough money to get a 3 chip DLP. :)

That's been my problem for the last 6 years :) I'm still scanning the classifieds for a budget 777 or 333. 3 chip DLP is the chink in my armour.

If they could make a good 3 chip, even 720p, but at like $3000...they'd sell a boatload. Make it 1080p and they'd put everyone out of business. :)

Where is Dawn? :D

Where else ?
She's watching Lord of the Rings of course :D

:D:D:D

Speaking of which, I've got a V-inc Bravo D1 DVD player with a very mildly flaky drive already set up with the PLV 70 timings in the custom resolution menu that I'll send to anyone who wants it for the cost of shipping.

I replaced my 20HD with an RS1 a couple of years ago. I miss the brightness a little, but since I have a highpower screen, the RS1 is still pretty punchy. My Sanyo went to a friend's relative who is enjoying it for gaming.

BB

:D:D:D

Speaking of which, I've got a V-inc Bravo D1 DVD player with a very mildly flaky drive already set up with the PLV 70 timings in the custom resolution menu that I'll send to anyone who wants it for the cost of shipping.

I replaced my 20HD with an RS1 a couple of years ago. I miss the brightness a little, but since I have a highpower screen, the RS1 is still pretty punchy. My Sanyo went to a friend's relative who is enjoying it for gaming.

BB

Not too bad a hit in brightness...glad you countered with a bright screen...surely that helped.

You sold me the screen with the 20HD Jason. Remember I was one of the JHouse HT/tanning salon crowd. So the screen didn't counter, it was already there.

Probably the largest reason the drop didn't bother me was I went from a 700 hour PLV70 lamp to a new RS1.

Thought you were familiar! :)

The projector I have had in my HT for the shortest time was the PLV 70, I found it shockingly bad.
It was loud, had no black level, it was grey! though the ansi contrast in brighter scenes looked ok ,it had terrible uniformity across the picture, it had a very bad red push and the pixel works processing on SD DVD was poor.
I was surprised that the OP thought it was superior to a projection design action unit even the mark 1.
The PLV 70 replaced a PLV60 I had been using for quite a while, it was defintly not an upgrade and was quickly replaced.
A machine to be avoided

The projector I have had in my HT for the shortest time was the PLV 70, I found it shockingly bad.
.
A machine to be avoided


Hey, the PLV70 is by far the best, most satisfying projector every made. NO WAY 5999 JHouse sheep could have been wrong so don't piss us off.:mad:.

I object to being called a JHouse sheep. My poor taste and bad decisions are entirely my own!

I object to being called a JHouse sheep. My poor taste and bad decisions are entirely my own!

It's ok to think that way :).

I'm in denial. DAMN YOU!

Note to self: need regression therapy and new uber-contrast, colour accurate projector. This is going to be expensive...

Wow. Would never have expected a minor thread war over a projector out of production for 6 years.

Hey James. The G90s I have seen had greys for whites. In fact, I would go so far to say as the black level on my old 20HD was whiter than the white you get out of G90. :)

Baa. (Where's the JHouse sheep emoticon?)

Wow. Would never have expected a minor thread war over a projector out of production for 6 years.
My better judgement is saying "Don't reply, James. Let it go." But I need to get this off my chest and then I'll I'm done with it.

Look, the OP has a projector that he's happy with and he started a thread looking for kindred spirits (to go with the other spirits he'd had:D). I threw the first stone in the pissing-on-the-PLV-70 war and I was wrong to do so. I didn't have anything positive to bring to the party so I should have just stayed away.

I said it before and I'll say it again because I meant it: Diarmuid, I hope you continue to get years of enjoyment out of your projector. You're happy with it, and that's all that matters.

Hell, I'm envious of anyone that still has time for this hobby. My work schedule and other things have driven me from it altogether..for now.



And now for something off-topic:Hey James. The G90s I have seen had greys for whites. There's no doubt about it. At Cliff's first home theater meet in his current house, we did a A/B comparison of one G90 vs a stack. We were sitting there looking at a full "white" screen. Then Cliff turned on the second unit to a full white screen and when he did, it was clear that the whites from a single G90 were actually grey. Not dark grey, but definitely not white either.

Hey James, no offence taken, I over-reacted. Definitely a case of different preferences. I'm totally sold on brightness. ANSI and on/off contrast only matter up to a point for me and the the 70 is good enough, particularly in my environment. Without proper light control high on/off and ANSI get wiped out fairly quickly and there is no way my environment has a low enough black floor to support high numbers, so the high lumens give me better perceived contrast. It works here, but in a proper light controlled set up the 70 can be easily beaten.

I was just ribbing you. "My backs are whiter than your whites" was my standard response to CRT guys who use to come into the digital threads years ago.

Hey, figured I would jump in here as well. I just recently installed my fifth (?) bulb and am still loving it. My room is anything but light controlled, and this is an all-things projector, so the lumen output is critical for my environment. Though I have convinced my wife that it is OK to watch TV with the overhead light turned off. Especially since I installed some rope lights to give some ambient lighting.

I have thought about replacing it with a 1080p projector, and have heard that the Epson 1080 UB could be a close replacement. Just have a few other, more important, projects to get done first: roof, furnace, etc. From what I can tell, the bulbs cost about the same, so no savings there.

Anyway, just wanted to through another voice into the crowd.

Wow, fifth bulb, that is going some. Very good to hear. Approx how many hours did you get per bulb by the way? I'm a fairly low user, so am still on my first, but from what I've heard people seem to get about 1000 hours a bulb, does that sound about right?

I just re-checked and I originally got it in June, 2003, and am on my fifth bulb (original included). I got about 2000 good hours on my original bulb, butt have only gotten about 1000+ hours on my replacement bulbs. So I guess I have averaged a little less than 1000 per year. So about 20 hours per week. Which I guess is about right since the majority of our watching is week days, after dinner. The 7 - 10 prime time slot.

And like I mentioned, we have really enjoyed the large screen. I built a roughly 9' diagonal blackout cloth screen for it, and movies (and HD football) are great. I like getting to have a little chuckle when people talk about getting their new, "big" 43" HD-TV, considering that is a quarter the size of my "TV".

Anyway, I am glad there are other who are still enjoying this projector as well.

It's good to hear it's going strong after all that time Tim and you're enjoying it as much as I am. I love the look of daylight scenes on it, you really get a sense of sunlight on bright sunny day scenes from a bright projector. Scenes with large expanses of snow also really hit you. Certainly it's a bit grey on dark scenes, but shadow detail is very good, better than most I've tried in the past.

I like getting to have a little chuckle when people talk about getting their new, "big" 43" HD-TV, considering that is a quarter the size of my "TV".

The correct comment for those friends is "You measure your TV in inches? How cute!"

The correct comment for those friends is "You measure your TV in inches? How cute!"

Love it. I'll definitely remember that one.

Hey I see you're in LA. You don't want that Bravo DVD player I mentioned above for nothing do you?

Hey I see you're in LA. You don't want that Bravo DVD player I mentioned above for nothing do you?
No thanks, I do pretty much everything through my MythTV PC. I've finally gotten my IR blaster configured to control the projector and receiver using my PC remote. Finally down to a single remote.

Thanks anyway.

well, i'm still running mine. waiting for something with enough lumens for daytime ports viewing in a non-light controlled room.

Good man, although saying that I'm just about to pull the trigger on a new projector. Should arrive in the next couple of weeks. Will post a few comments if all goes well.

Actually scrub that. Was going to buy a used Infocus 777 but financial circumstances have intervened.Much to my annoyance. Still a 3 chip DLP is the only thing that can tempt me.

I went from a PLV-70 to a Benq W5000 less than a year ago. I thought about a 3-chip and decided a one-chip would be a better solution. Cheaper, and no alignment problems. I would have liked to buy a Planar 8150 but cost kept me under control. I am powerfully impressed with 1 chip DLPs. Don't sell them short.

When LED lights get established there will be absolutely no reason to have a 3 chipper anyway. Best solution is buy the Benq W5000 and save your pennies for a LED powered 1 chip DLP.

That's my two cents.

I went from a PLV-70 to a Benq W5000 less than a year ago. I thought about a 3-chip and decided a one-chip would be a better solution. Cheaper, and no alignment problems. I would have liked to buy a Planar 8150 but cost kept me under control. I am powerfully impressed with 1 chip DLPs. Don't sell them short.

When LED lights get established there will be absolutely no reason to have a 3 chipper anyway. Best solution is buy the Benq W5000 and save your pennies for a LED powered 1 chip DLP.

That's my two cents.

I would absolutely get a 1 chip DLP but I see the rainbow effect very badly. Love the DLP picture though. If I didn't have RBE problems it would be a no-brainer.

Issue is not RBE with LED (no color wheel) - issue is lumens.

It may be some time before LED can match the lumen profile of a PLV70.

By the way, I am still running my HD20 (PLV70 clone). It is hard to live without the lumens once you have them, especially in a far-from-ideal environment like mine. I would upgrade to a 3-chip DLP if I could afford one.

I agree about the lumens. I started out with my Benq W5000 with Iris wide open at full lamp power. Over a couple of hundred hours, however, I have cut back the Iris to smallest aperture and econolamp mode. I operate in bat cave in total darkness on a 110" screen so this wasn't too hard to adjust to. If I had no control of the light in my viewing room I would not have sold the PLV-70.

Diarmuid: I would try to see the latest DLPs with 6 or 7 sector wheels that run at high speed. I can see rainbows on many presentation DLPs and older HT DLPs but I have not once seen a rainbow on my Benq. I suspect the Planar 8130 or 8150 would be even better. Try seeing one of them or the newest Infocus. The RBE is virtually non-existant. Don't give up on DLP just yet.

If he's like me, he may still see it on the latest DLPs. I still do. LED should solve the issue though. They run at something equivalent to a 20X wheel I think.

You're both absolutely right. I've tried 5x and 6x colour wheels and I still see RBE very badly. Also lumens are really important to me. My setup needs a high lumen projector and, to be honest, I prefer the punch of a bright projector. LED 1 chip DLPs sound great, not a lot of lumens as yet but maybe with a high gain screen they could do the trick. I'll definitely check them out.

Wow, it's too bad that there isn't a vaccination for RBE. The one chippers are excellent values. Too bad also because LEDs right now are not very powerful. And they get expensive for very much power. I don't have a crystal ball but I would bet that we will be waiting a good 5 years for a powerful LED projector at reasonable price. That means you need to be looking at LCOS technology or 3 chip DLPs. Not a lot of choice. High gain screens will surely help.

Hi folks!
Gee, it's fun reading the back-and-forth on this! About 6 years ago, I was reading about the PLV-70 on this forum, and found one on DigiBid for $3,500... Smokin' deal at the time! I was in a rush to replace my Barco DLC-6300 (talk about a light-canon), which had met an untimely end while measuring it out for a coffin/oops - hush-box in the garage. Damn lens left a 1.5" gash in the concrete floor!
I got the Sanyo, set up the (much smaller) hushbox with an inverted slide-out rack & chief ceiling mount attached, ran a 35' DVI cable and connected it to a Bravo D1 (which was a bit of a pig to upgrade and set up properly)... which lasted less than a year! I've been through 4 lamps (5 counting the one that's in there with about 1000 hrs) - one of which popped! Fortunately the ceiling mount meant that nothing got sent into the fans or delicate areas, since the projector was inverted.

Most recently, I replaced my Anthem AVM-2 with an Onkyo PRSC885, and integrated it with a PS3 for source material and the PLV-70 using a (pre-draconian P.O.S.-DRM-enforcing) HDMI Switch.

I can all-too-well-empathize with the "don't have time for this hobby" any more... I have not fired the HT up in over 6 months...hope all my old amps and speakers are hanging in there OK, along with the PLV!

My brother was asking me what he should do for a replacement projector (he had a PLV-60), and after some brief research I told him about the Epson 6500. He went and bought it, so I'll be checking it out when I vist in September.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane... hope y'all don't mind my dumping my primary cortex on the thread!

russ

Hi folks!
Gee, it's fun reading the back-and-forth on this! About 6 years ago, I was reading about the PLV-70 on this forum, and found one on DigiBid for $3,500... Smokin' deal at the time! I was in a rush to replace my Barco DLC-6300 (talk about a light-canon), which had met an untimely end while measuring it out for a coffin/oops - hush-box in the garage. Damn lens left a 1.5" gash in the concrete floor!
I got the Sanyo, set up the (much smaller) hushbox with an inverted slide-out rack & chief ceiling mount attached, ran a 35' DVI cable and connected it to a Bravo D1 (which was a bit of a pig to upgrade and set up properly)... which lasted less than a year! I've been through 4 lamps (5 counting the one that's in there with about 1000 hrs) - one of which popped! Fortunately the ceiling mount meant that nothing got sent into the fans or delicate areas, since the projector was inverted.

Most recently, I replaced my Anthem AVM-2 with an Onkyo PRSC885, and integrated it with a PS3 for source material and the PLV-70 using a (pre-draconian P.O.S.-DRM-enforcing) HDMI Switch.

I can all-too-well-empathize with the "don't have time for this hobby" any more... I have not fired the HT up in over 6 months...hope all my old amps and speakers are hanging in there OK, along with the PLV!

My brother was asking me what he should do for a replacement projector (he had a PLV-60), and after some brief research I told him about the Epson 6500. He went and bought it, so I'll be checking it out when I vist in September.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane... hope y'all don't mind my dumping my primary cortex on the thread!

russ

I don't mind at all. In fact I'm all for celebrating last years best models. They're the best value in a rapidly developing market. I still love the PLV-70 for its brightness, shadow detail and punch in a non-ideal environment. I've seen a lot of projectors and the 70 still delivers.

This is absolutely creepy. Wow. Anybody want a PLV-70 in Houston? You pick it up. Needs a bulb. Nothing else wrong as far as I know. You may want to check out my rant in a ScottyB thread.

I'm still running my PLV-70 in a less than perfectly light controlled room, and still find it to be outstanding. Replaced bulbs, but it just keeps on working. Can't recall exactly when I got it, before 2003 I think or around 2003. Continue to watch DVD and HDTV but not Blu-Ray. Was thinking about doing Blu-Ray, but decided I don't want to have to mess with working through HDCP issues. When the next bulb fails it will probably be time to consider something like Optoma TX1080. But who knows... maybe I will get one more bulb and wait another year ...... It's a wonderful projector, for watching TV and movies on a 11 ft diagonal screen.... that's right TV guys, 11 FEET not inches. Inches... what a sad way to measure a screen, unless it's in the 100+ range

Hey James, no offence taken, I over-reacted. Definitely a case of different preferences. I'm totally sold on brightness. ANSI and on/off contrast only matter up to a point for me and the the 70 is good enough, particularly in my environment. Without proper light control high on/off and ANSI get wiped out fairly quickly and there is no way my environment has a low enough black floor to support high numbers, so the high lumens give me better perceived contrast. It works here, but in a proper light controlled set up the 70 can be easily beaten.

You seem to have an endless supply of reasons as to why you shouldn't upgrade-- so why ask the question? The only reason you might upgrade is that you want more resolution, better blacks, and better shadow detail as well as improved video processing. If you perceive what you have as "good enough" then why ask the question. If you have good eyesight and enjoy home theater as a hobby then there is no doubt you would be thrilled with a projector like the Epson 8500UB. It is plenty bright and can easily match the PLV-70 if not surpass it in image brightness--with the added benefit of full high definition resolution and profoundly better black level.

Wow, Lenny, I haven't thought of you in years. Flashback.

i've had my Boxlite-hd20/plv-70 for years.. but finally pulled a trigger on an Epson 8500ub which should arrive friday.. i suppose i'd like to sell my older unit, any idea what it's worth or how/where to offer it? grateful for advice..!

~michael

i've had my Boxlite-hd20/plv-70 for years.. but finally pulled a trigger on an Epson 8500ub which should arrive friday.. i suppose i'd like to sell my older unit, any idea what it's worth or how/where to offer it? grateful for advice..!

~michael

First off a big hello to JHouse--

Regarding the value of the the PLV70 it would depend on how many hours on the lamp. If it has a fresh lamp then it is worth between $3-400. The issue is a brand new 720P projector with a HDMI input can be purchased for slightly more than $600 and the buyer is getting a new bulb, HDMI input, and a warranty. The projector won't have all the features of the PLV70 but it will have better contrast ratio, blacks and it is brand new. If the PLV 70 is on the verge of needing a new lamp then it is almost worthless. In many cases it is better to keep your old 720P projector and use it as a backup.
Lenny Eckian