So it says my G70 can do 120mhz and I recall once seeing 3D mentioned in connection with this projector. Can I put that out of my mind or is it actually possible? (GEForce 3D games or ideally Blu Ray films when they are offered.)

I have some side questions that aren't worth a worth starting a whole thread for if anyone can answer any of them it would be appreciated.

1. My screen is currently eight feet wide and I liked it with the 1270 even if it sacrificed some crispness. I understand that is as wide as one would want to go with that projector. What is as wide as one would want to go with a G70. I am physically limited to 10ft. I have a crazy cool kind of screen where I could reasonably fabricate a pair of snap on side panels just for extra wide playback of 2:35 / 1 films to make them extra special.

2. I have an opportunity to get a Curt Palme set HDfury2 with Gamma X for a good price. I welcome any first hand opinions on the value of Gamma X? The pictures show a change of course but making night look lit up might not be a good thing depending on what its supposed to look like naturally. And while a 100 tool just to perk up low end gamma might seem like a lot, if it gives the movie experience a nice wow factor...its hard to put a price on that.

3. My projector hasn't even been fired up yet and is sitting on the floor. If its sort of still factory set, will I need to set up the raster and do astig and other geek tweeks, or is astig one of those advances that is sort of auto tweeked within this projector? I did all this stuff with masking tape drawing lines back about four years ago on my 1270 using Guy Kuo's instructions. Opening the works is always intimidating, but I am willing and able to do it if necessary.

I think your current screen is too wide already.

Do you mean 120hz? Not 120mhz? Anyway, yes it will do it, but at a low resolution.


I would run a G70 at 1080i 96hz, just like my XG-LC.

If your using a PC to go to 120hz you don't need the HD-Fury...Analog is better and the Fury is a needless expense if your driving your projector with a PC. I use the Box 1021 for Gamma boost and it does do a nice job.


Mike

I second Mark_A_W on your screen size being to big .. 100" 16:9 is the biggest I would go for A G70 & 92"-96" being the optimum screen size especialy if you wanto get the most life from your tubes..

FWIW I am running A 92" 16:9 Stewarts Luxus Deluxe with Studio Tek 130 with my low hour G70+ Moome HDMI-Gamma card with Stunning results..
Unlike Mark_A_W 1080i @96Hz, I run 1920x800p/817p @ 48hz for blu-Ray with my G70....

Cheers...

What do you run for a 16:9 image Mr Mad?


Back to the original topic, I wonder how 1080i at 120hz would go for 3D? I wonder if the interlacing would kill it?

Hi Mark_A_W,

For 1:75:1 like Bolt on blu-ray I just leave my VP50pro at 1920X817 @48Hz and lose rez,
But I look at it this way most Blu-Rays are 2:35:1 or 2:40:1 and I am to lazy to worry :eek:..

Aaron rigg has already given me A lecture about throwing rez away for 1:75:1/1:85:1 :D..

Lets see what he says when he visits @ the ends of month...

Cheers....

Cropped or little-in-the-middle?

I tried 3D on my G70 but it looked like sh!t :eek:
Have you run 3D on your XG Mark, Did youy get good results ??..

Cheers....

Cropped or little-in-the-middle?

Na just left in the middel mate, although I do stretch the scope aspecs verticaly to use more of the tube face ..

Cheers....

I second Mark_A_W on your screen size being to big .. 100" 16:9 is the biggest I would go for A G70 & 92"-96" being the optimum screen size especialy if you wanto get the most life from your tubes..

FWIW I am running A 92" 16:9 Stewarts Luxus Deluxe with Studio Tek 130 with my low hour G70+ Moome HDMI-Gamma card with Stunning results..
Unlike Mark_A_W 1080i @96Hz, I run 1920x800p/817p @ 48hz for blu-Ray with my G70....

Cheers...

FWIW its worth a lot. By 92"-96" I assume you mean diagonally? Since my screen is 120 inches at 4x3 I guess my 16x9 size is 102" diagonal. So just 6 inches bigger than 96.

Your room probably is too but my theater room is perfectly light controlled and I notice the default projection size for a G70 is 4:3 120". I'm not sure how running a smaller screen saves tube life unless you then drop brightness and contrast below 50/80. I'm still stunned by blu ray performance on my 1271 with 7/9/10 tubes. I think my head is going to explode if the picture gets better with the G70. Just for the hell of it though I may see what a smaller image looks like before I ceiling mount. But its hard to imagine it
looking piles better.

I thought long and hard about a Stewart screen. Whether I want it to or not stuff gets on a screen at some point. Its nice to be able to literally make it good as new with ten bucks of paint. In the end Behr Ultra Pure white tested so well compared to other expensive screens I made a semi rigid screen and invented a horizontal black masking system with Neodymium magnets that pin the mask to steel plates behind the screen. Its a wonderful system. I can slide the masks up and down for different film ratios. I am sometimes perplexed by people who vertical mask their screens. Horizontal assures you always have the biggest image possible. I am kind of big on big. Different philosophy. I have been entertaining higher gain screen paint top coat but don't want to pay more than fifty bucks a quart to get it. The only downside with what I have is when the screen question comes up with guests, telling them its house paint is kind of unsexy. But boasting a 10 foot screen is sexy.

All these diagonal inches make my head hurt...

I think for a G70/XG-LC the optimum screen size is 2.1 to 2.4m wide.

Lolz. Now my head hurts.

I'm still stunned by blu ray performance on my 1271 with 7/9/10 tubes. I think my head is going to explode if the picture gets better with the G70.

Get a tarp.

I am runnig the HD Fury2 and the Gamma Boost on my XG110. I think the Gamma Boost is a great addition. For 100$ buy it and you won't be sorry

Buying a tarp.
I am also close to the point of wanting to do the HDFury2/gamma combo. I have to talk my roomy into buying a PS3 or a Blu Ray. The HTPC has been a pain this year for Blu Ray but I think I have it ironed out. If someone wants to put together seemingly a shockingly full featured HTPC with HDMI/SPDIF outs and other goodies for their CRT for under 300 dollars including the OS, ask and I'll put it down here. Learn from scores of hours of pain, and wallet drain.

Buying a tarp.
Buy the tarp. I went from a 12xx to a minty G70, and the difference is night/day. Like getting new glasses. It's all about the fine detail - Mike Parker calls it background detail. It ain't there on a 12xx; it's there on a well-setup G70.

If someone wants to put together seemingly a shockingly full featured HTPC with HDMI/SPDIF outs and other goodies for their CRT for under 300 dollars including the OS, ask and I'll put it down here. Learn from scores of hours of pain, and wallet drain.
I'd like to see that. My impression is that you have to spend a lot more than $300, and then it's still a time-sucking pain in the ass. Wait, are you talking for BD, or just for DVD?

SC

You can get other boards but I picked up a Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H. Its a mini board which means you don't get a lot slots but it doesn't matter since it has everything you need onboard except maybe a wireless network adaptor. Onboard is an ATI HD3200 which plays Blu Rays just great and an HD sound card which outputs both SPDIF audio which makes for very easy hookup either optical or coax. And has HDMI out which surprised and impressed me for the 65 dollar price tag. For fifty to as high as you want to spend you can get an AMD dual core CPU up to a Phenom. (The board handles AM3 and AM2+ CPUs but I understand you should stick with AM2 for theater setups. You need 4800 series or above for blue ray) I picked up 2Gigs of DDR2 memory for 14 dollars at a black Friday sale. Internal blu ray players are cheap. My Sony BDUX10 was 89 dollars last year. I think its entirely possible you could get one from New Egg for as little as $59. Add a Logitech 710 cordless keyboard and mouse combo which is quite nice quality with long range convenience and very good battery life for $40. You might want to pick up a good 500 watt Antec power supply off Craigslist for
$25 bucks but useable cases with power supplies can be had for thirty dollars. Forgot the SATA hard drive. A 320 gig drive can be had in my area for 49 bucks.

But essentially all you have to do is mount the motherboard hard drive and Blu Ray in a case and you are done. I forgot to mention the operating system is free. Windows 7 is still free and available and does not expire til next June. Also free but not as legitimate and requires more work, you can make a Hackintosh and run Jaguar 10.5 on an AMD or Intel chip now if you are a Mac guy.

This setup does absolutely everything I want and need it to do and indeed much more. It was super easy to set up. Just use "Optimal settings" in the Bios. I can watch blu ray, dvd, stream video off ABC and FOX with Move player at near Blu Ray quality, watch Hulu and other networks. Play PC games, And just cruise the web if need be although I don't recommend burning your minty tubes in with a browser.

I struggled for 9 months of bad buying and aggravating problems to get to this simple and very cheap High def HTPC solution. Now for me I couldn't own a projector without running it on an HTPC. But I now also think its important to be able to run it from a set top box as well for everyone else' convenience.

Recommended is to advance purchase Windows 7 from Best Buy, Walmart or Amazon now for half off. Only 49 dollars. Buy a new Microsoft Blue Track mouse or mouse/keyboard combo which mouses on any surface instead of the Logitech. Software is another issue. PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra comes with the Blu Ray player and its a great player. But upgrading to PowerDVD 9 Ultra is probably worth it for the upscaling and dejuddering and other enhancements. And if you want to store some of your showpiece Blu Ray's or DVDs on your hard drive AnyDVDHD is pricey, but your only real option.

I'm really excited about needing that tarp. Hope I can get this bugger running this weekend.

You can get other boards but I picked up a Gigabyte MA78GM-US2H. Its a mini board which means you don't get a lot slots but it doesn't matter since it has everything you need onboard except maybe a wireless network adaptor. Onboard is an ATI HD3200 which plays Blu Rays just great and an HD sound card which outputs both SPDIF audio which makes for very easy hookup either optical or coax. And has HDMI out which surprised and impressed me for the 65 dollar price tag. For fifty to as high as you want to spend you can get an AMD dual core CPU up to a Phenom. (The board handles AM3 and AM2+ CPUs but I understand you should stick with AM2 for theater setups. You need 4800 series or above for blue ray) I picked up 2Gigs of DDR2 memory for 14 dollars at a black Friday sale. Internal blu ray players are cheap. My Sony BDUX10 was 89 dollars last year. I think its entirely possible you could get one from New Egg for as little as $59. Add a Logitech 710 cordless keyboard and mouse combo which is quite nice quality with long range convenience and very good battery life for $40. You might want to pick up a good 500 watt Antec power supply off Craigslist for
$25 bucks but useable cases with power supplies can be had for thirty dollars. Forgot the SATA hard drive. A 320 gig drive can be had in my area for 49 bucks.

But essentially all you have to do is mount the motherboard hard drive and Blu Ray in a case and you are done. I forgot to mention the operating system is free. Windows 7 is still free and available and does not expire til next June. And right now you can early Windows 7 for 49 dollars. Also free but not as legitimate and requires more work, you can make a Hackintosh and run Jaguar 10.5 on an AMD or Intel chip now if you are a Mac guy.

This setup does absolutely everything I want and need it to do and indeed much more. It was super easy to set up. Just use "Optimal settings" in the Bios. I can watch blu ray, dvd, stream video off ABC and FOX with Move player at near Blu Ray quality, watch Hulu and other networks. Play PC games, And just cruise the web if need be although I don't recommend burning your minty tubes in with a browser.

I struggled for 9 months of bad buying and aggravating problems to get to this simple and very cheap High def HTPC solution. Now for me I couldn't own a projector without running it on an HTPC. But I now also think its important to be able to run it from a set top box as well for everyone else' convenience.

atomiccow:
What software program are you using for that blu-ray playback? Any problems with the program?

Craig

Sorry to take so long to respond Craig. I am just using Power DVD 7 Ultra which comes with the Blu Ray player free. There is an annoying problem that it is only two channel sound unless you are using SP/DIF out. But you can either buy an LG player or pretend you have an LG player and download the LG update which has six channel sound. Its free, its just that in theory its only for LG owners. Just to be brief I will say I have had no problems with any version of Power DVD since changing to this motherboard.

I should have used the past tense. I am now using Power DVD Ultra 9. But you don't have to upgrade. Power DVD9 has upscaling and Motionflow dejuddering for DVDs but not Blu Rays. I like this feature a lot as it helps level the playing field between DVDs and Blu Rays for when you don't have the choice of playing a Blu Ray. It can make them look more Blu Ray like. But not as good as a real Blu Ray.

How are you getting Gamma adjustment with Powerdvd and ATi onboard video?

You can't, as far as I know.

Bluray on a PC only really works if you convert the disc to a MKV file.

Guys, what happened to the OP's original question about 120 and 3D. The Nvidia solution looks cool, and would be interested in giving it a go on my XG

FWIW I run 1080i@96hz same as Mark, and a 96" wide screen. But I Maximize to the max using a HTPC my phosphor usage so the picture is great at that size.

Guys, what happened to the OP's original question about 120 and 3D. The Nvidia solution looks cool, and would be interested in giving it a go on my XG

FWIW I run 1080i@96hz same as Mark, and a 96" wide screen. But I Maximize to the max using a HTPC my phosphor usage so the picture is great at that size.

Hey there Ken

When will I lay eyes on that setup of yours?:):):D:D

Cheers Mark G

Anytime your up my way. I work from home so I'm always here. But als, I only have one XG up in my temp setup in the basement now. But still a treat. Also, got the Rover as well lol!!!!

Bluray on a PC only really works if you convert the disc to a MKV file.

My initial response to that is you are nuts. But I will ask anyway. Why do you say that? Maybe you have cryptic insider reasons. I watch Blu Ray's all the time on a PC without converting it to an MKV file. I am pretty sure that is a Blu Ray I am looking at unless tricks are being played with my eyes. Before I bought a Blu Ray player to see if I liked it, I downloaded a few MKV copies of Blu Rays and found them mostly fairly disappointing. That may not be representative of typical home mkv translation or packaging. But on some of them I rather noticed quite a bit of artifacting. I never have converted to MKV myself. That doesn't mean I never will. I'd like to keep a dozen or so showpiece titles on tap. People seem to love them MKVs.

And as for gamma adjustments on Power DVD, I typically don't use it, but Catalyst Control center has gamma control. I am guessing Avivo can be used to override preferences in Power DVD if you really wanted to do that. I prefer letting Power DVD handle those things.

My initial response to that is you are nuts. But I will ask anyway. Why do you say that? Maybe you have cryptic insider reasons. I watch Blu Ray's all the time on a PC without converting it to an MKV file. I am pretty sure that is a Blu Ray I am looking at unless tricks are being played with my eyes. Before I bought a Blu Ray player to see if I liked it, I downloaded a few MKV copies of Blu Rays and found them mostly fairly disappointing. That may not be representative of typical home mkv translation or packaging. But on some of them I rather noticed quite a bit of artifacting. I never have converted to MKV myself. That doesn't mean I never will. I'd like to keep a dozen or so showpiece titles on tap. People seem to love them MKVs.

And as for gamma adjustments on Power DVD, I typically don't use it, but Catalyst Control center has gamma control. I am guessing Avivo can be used to override preferences in Power DVD if you really wanted to do that. I prefer letting Power DVD handle those things.

Mark was referring to the fact that using a ATI card in Vista, the Gamma control in the Catalyst control center does not work for Bluray playback via PowerDVD.

Try it for yourself & see. it will be fixed with the next product release from AMD, but it will most likely mean a hardware upgrade as the new drivers I suspect won't support this feature for older hardware.

But if you use AnyDVD and playback M2TS files or MKV files as Mark mentioned, then you have access to the gamma control when using a player such as WMP Classic etc.

Tip: When downloading MKV files, download 8-9GB sized files, as the quality will be effectively no different to the original Bluray. If you are trying 4.7gb files, they generally suck on the bigger screens

Mark was referring to the fact that using a ATI card in Vista, the Gamma control in the Catalyst control center does not work for Bluray playback via PowerDVD.

Try it for yourself & see. it will be fixed with the next product release from AMD, but it will most likely mean a hardware upgrade as the new drivers I suspect won't support this feature for older hardware.

But if you use AnyDVD and playback M2TS files or MKV files as Mark mentioned, then you have access to the gamma control when using a player such as WMP Classic etc.

Tip: When downloading MKV files, download 8-9GB sized files, as the quality will be effectively no different to the original Bluray. If you are trying 4.7gb files, they generally suck on the bigger screens

I guess I never had Vista so I never noticed. I'll try see if its working on System 7. I haven't really liked playing with the gamma. With my 1271 it was usually best to leave it to my projector controls. But it didn't occur to me to diddle with whatever the low range gamma like they do with them Gamma X cards.

No gamma, and no lossless audio.

Gamma makes a HUGE difference to the image quality. All CRT projectors need a tweak to the gamma IMO, not necessarily the "bump", but they all need the "normal" gamma control tweaked.

Oh, and no smooth playback either.

Powerdvd's not bad, but it's not perfect like madVR renderer and Reclock.

My initial response to that is you are nuts. But I will ask anyway. Why do you say that? Maybe you have cryptic insider reasons. I watch Blu Ray's all the time on a PC without converting it to an MKV file. I am pretty sure that is a Blu Ray I am looking at unless tricks are being played with my eyes. Before I bought a Blu Ray player to see if I liked it, I downloaded a few MKV copies of Blu Rays and found them mostly fairly disappointing. That may not be representative of typical home mkv translation or packaging. But on some of them I rather noticed quite a bit of artifacting. I never have converted to MKV myself. That doesn't mean I never will. I'd like to keep a dozen or so showpiece titles on tap. People seem to love them MKVs.

And as for gamma adjustments on Power DVD, I typically don't use it, but Catalyst Control center has gamma control. I am guessing Avivo can be used to override preferences in Power DVD if you really wanted to do that. I prefer letting Power DVD handle those things.

One more thing.

MKV is just a container.

The MKV's you downloaded do not sound like they had untouched video from the bluray disc - which is the easiest way to make them. The video and a lossless flac audio track (created losslessly from the TrueHD/DTS-MA/LPCM track) is muxed into the mkv container.

There is no loss in quality, in fact you gain, as Powerdvd cannot do full quality audio.

All these diagonal inches make my head hurt...

I think for a G70/XG-LC the optimum screen size is 2.1 to 2.4m wide.

My head hurts from converting METERS :D(metric-conversions.org/length/meters-to-inches.htm).

That's coz you're OLD Bruce!!

And grumpy ;)

That's coz you're OLD Bruce!!

And grumpy ;)

All I know is that the king's foot is 12 inches.:rolleyes: Anything else is heresy!:eek: