Brent, you were a huge help when I bought the DWIN and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you again. But I don't see the need to bother you when I can tell DWIN the problem myself. Sure, some may want to go through the dealer, but I haven't chose to do so. I bought a DWIN projector, not a HUSKINS projector, so I will try to deal with their customer support for now. But I may take you up on the offer of dealer support soon.

That has to be the most idiotic thing I've read as of recent. Dude, this is exactly WHY you have a dealer. Or at least that's why I like having a dealer is I can TALK to HIM and have HIM take care of any problems that I MAY have. Take for instance Brent...he's going to fight with DWIN to make YOU happy (and I use the word "fight" VERY loosely). It's in Brent's best interest to make YOU happy in the end. He wants your business, DWIN wants his business, and they BOTH want YOUR future business as well. If it weren't for Brent, you could have bought it through an internet site and dealt with it yourself. But you can't. Why? Becuase you'll lose out on the warranty. Which then links you BACK to your DEALER.

Your dealer would have a better shot at getting you either a replacement or a temp/demo unit while your unit is getting serviced than you would calling the manufacturer directly. "Bothering him" as you so bluntly put it is not bothering him at all. It's actually good that he HEARS what problems you are having so he can keep track of it for future customers and take care of it immediately. Sure, you didn't buy a "HUSKINS" projector, but you did buy a DWIN projector with HUSKINS service. My suggestion....Use it!

Now that we've steered this thread way off topic, let's get back into it...

I've got about 150 hours on my TV3 and all I can say is "WOW!" HD sources are amazing. I can't wait for Sundays to watch football! As for DVD, I need to find the right player for the TV3. I currently have a Samsung HD931 and it's "okay". I get "jitters" every once and a while from it...meaning the picture "jumps/stutters" occasionally. When I go back to see if it's something with the disc, it plays just fine. I do have an older build of the 931, so that may be the problem. It happens randomly. Firmware might take care of it. Could it be a handshake problem via DVI from the Sammy to the DWIN? I don't get these "jumps/stutters" via my Sony SAT-HD200. Any thoughts? I think I'm going to pick up the Denon-DVD 5900 and put it to use. I keep hearing good things about it. The only thing keeping me back is Pioneer's new DVI unit. Grr! :mad:

Chris,

I see the same thing with my showroom TV3/Sammy 931 combo. I feel it is definitely in the Sammy because I have seen a different Sammy 931 do the same thing with a new Sanyo Z2 in my showroom. In spite of the occasional jitter and the "black crush" problem, I think the 931 is the best looking (overall) DVD player I have plugged into the TV3 (and I have use many including many Panny players). I suspect the jitter problem is due to the Faroudja processing (flame suit on) in the 931 as I have no other explanation as to what else it could be.

Incidentally I sell a few TV3's myself and I have yet to see this problem that has hijacked this thread for the last few pages. I watched the Hulk again last night for the 3rd time and did not see the problem that the posted screen shots indicated. I have no doubt they exist but I have never seen it in any TV3's that I have sold!

When will DWIN be incorporating HD2+?

Originally posted by MVideo
Another dealer chimes in.

Alright Brent. Put your money where your mouth is. Give me the name of ONE tech at Dwin that I can talk to who will acknowledge this issue and help me fix it. When that happens, I will make a public retraction and apology right here. Until that, my comments stand.

I've sent an e-mail to the technician at Dwin refering him to this thread. If he thinks my interpretation of his e-mail is unfair, he can come and defend it.

THERE ISN'T SOMEONE FOR YOU TO CALL EXCEPT YOUR DEALER

- THAT'S MY POINT...

Your dealer should have a MUCH better relationship with DWIN than you do - if not you chose a bad dealer (no offense).

I would not expect any of my clients to have to convince DWIN of anything or get them to admit to anything either. All I would want to do is make them happy.

The dealer relationship becomes very important with $1000+ purchases as can be seen here. I'll repeat - IT DOESN'T TAKE DWIN ADMITTING TO A PROBLEM TO TAKE ACTION AND FIX A SPECIFIC SITUATION.

MVIDEO - PLEASE GET YOUR DEALER INVOLVED AND GET YOUR UNIT FIXED OR REPLACED - DWIN WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU - To do anything else seems crazy for such a large investment. Try getting units replaced twice from any other manufacturer - they won't do it! They might try to fix it several times but that's it.

We've beat this issue into the ground, but I'd prefer not hearing about it anymore from people that are just going to complain and not do anything about it.

I'd once again also request you post your "proof" of the cover-up or I'll assume it's not valid.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Originally posted by Toxarch
Brent, you were a huge help when I bought the DWIN and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you again. But I don't see the need to bother you when I can tell DWIN the problem myself. Sure, some may want to go through the dealer, but I haven't chose to do so. I bought a DWIN projector, not a HUSKINS projector, so I will try to deal with their customer support for now. But I may take you up on the offer of dealer support soon.


When you buy a car out at Jerry's Chevrolet you're buying a Chevy, but when something goes wrong do you call Chevrolet and try to get the problem fixed. Obviously, no. Who pays when you get a car fixed under warranty? The manufacturer does, but the dealer always facilitates the repair. It's no different with high end AV gear. I know that you don't want to bother me with the problem especially when you feel that you can relay the issue adequately, BUT this is how the system works. It's the only way to fully utilize the warranty. I can appreciate your DIY attitude and yes it frees me from these "minor" hassles. The funny thing about it is that I'm almost embarrassed that one of MY customers (not DWIN's) has an unresolved issue. I take that very seriously because it represents to others what to expect if they hire me regardless if I sell them a DWIN, Marantz or Optoma.

Originally posted by Toxarch
The point is not the cost of sending it back once to get fixed. The point is that they won't acknowledge the problem to devise a solution for it. Why pay to send it in if I am just going to have it returned with a note saying that there is no problem, and then have to send it in again later? If they want to just send me a replacement, great, I would love that. If they want me to send it in, then fine, they can send me a temporary replacement. I paid for a projector and shouldn't have to be burdened with not having one because I had to send it in for repair.

DWIN has told me they will take care of any of my customers that have issues. Including you, Tox. DWIN doesn't have to acknowledge the issues. They only have to fix or replace units for people that have issues.

They won't return a unit and say nothing is wrong - That's why it is imperative to get an expert involved like me. I can come over and make an evaluation and then there is no question - before you send it in. DWIN will stand behind my analysis. I've installed a few dozen of these and know when one exhibits problems.

As far as a temporary replacement goes, that's not very feasible. DWIN typically turns around units in 24 to 48 hours and you'll only be without it for a few days. Again I'll go back to the car analysis. Do you think they will just send you a brand new car when the original one has a flaw that you verbally told them about? Obviously, no. You have to get it fixed and most don't give you a loaner. The idea of a manufacturer giving out AV loaners has not and is not going to happen by any company much less DWIN.

Anyway, call me this week and maybe we can get some long-term resolution.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Originally posted by curej
When will DWIN be incorporating HD2+?

For those interested, The TV3+ that incorporates the new HD2+ chip is now available and shipping.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

[i]I'll repeat - IT DOESN'T TAKE DWIN ADMITTING TO A PROBLEM TO TAKE ACTION AND FIX A SPECIFIC SITUATION.

....

I'd once again also request you post your "proof" of the cover-up or I'll assume it's not valid.

Brent Huskins
Media Design [/B]

Those two sentences are interesting when viewed side by side, no?

I'm looking forward to seeing how you handle Tox's issue.

I'm not sure why all these issues need to be discussed so publicly, but I guess it keeps us from getting bored...

On the other hand, I'm extremely pleased with my TV3. I'm just running out of inputs! Two PC's (HTPC and media server), XBox, DirecTivo (surprisingly good picture on most SD channels), two DVD players, S-VHS, I've had to use my Denon 4800 receiver to switch S-video to connect some of the inputs, but I'm really glad I got the TV3 with its two-box design, or I'd have cable strung from hell to breakfast if I had a one-box projector on the ceiling. Still of course need to get an HD sat/terrestrial receiver, and I'll have to find a DVI switcher at that time.

I haven't seen any ghosting other than on some poor-quality SD channels, such as on the scorebox of the Sonics game last night, and no quality problems other than the light crescent, which I plan to address with the lens cap fix. A little light from the rear of the projector but it's not nearly as bad as the crescent, and not particularly noticable on my dark grey ceiling. I'm at minimum offset and (almost) maximum throw, against a white 1.3 gain (my guess) 137" screen.

Just ordered a bunch of Xantech components to do some IR distribution (tired of having to do acrobatics to try to get the IR to reach the components in the rack at the side rear of the room), and I guess I'll (literally) dust off my Philips Pronto and start programming it - nobody else has any hope of getting things working.

Are the Bravo D1 and TV3 IR codes posted anywhere? Oops, I guess I should look first, found this link (http://remotecentral.com/cgi-bin/files/rcfiles.cgi?area=pronto&db=devices&br=vinc&dv=dvdplayer&md=bravod1&fc=&kw=&st=&dt=&so=&pg=1&file=ccf_templates/complete_system/chad-gauntt_pro.zip) at remotecentral.com, lets hope I can figure out how to make it work for my TSU2000.

I agree... SkyPalace

This is a personal issue between the dealer and his customer. They need to get it worked out privately. There is obviously a reason why the customer doesn't want the dealer involved and it's none of our business why but more importantly for me (speaking for myself) I don't care why.

Discussion of the issues or problems with the TV3 and the fixes we come up with is different. But if the dealer wants to help and you don't want him to then that's a personal thing and needs to be off the public forum. Thanks SkyPalace.

Does Dwin have a public upgrade policy from the TV3 to the TV3+? It would be nice to know what an upgrade costs.

Has anyone been able to actually A/B the TV3 and the "TV3+" and determine if there is a noticable difference?

Initial reports from DWIN were that the difference would be minimal, but that, of course, could have been said in order to discourage people from waiting to buy. This is what we all heard would be the case regarding the HD1 vs. the HD2 chip, which turned out to be a significant improvement.

Don,

Amen!

Skypalace,

The .ccf file on Remote Central was posted by me. The codes for the Bravo may be a little buggy, but the Dwin codes work great. If the Bravo codes don't work for you, PM me and I'll forward my latest version.

Chad

I'd once again also request you post your "proof" of the cover-up or I'll assume it's not valid.

Exactly.

That's really the only fair thing to do under these circumstances.

Thanks Chad, I'll let you know. This will be my first foray at Pronto programming, but I'm getting a little tired of getting called over whenever something needs to get turned on, or a different input selected, or ...

Seems easy to me - to watch a DVD just grab the Denon remote and turn the receiver on then press the CD input (since DVD is used by the other DVD player), press Power then 9 on the Dwin remote, then grab the Bravo remote and you're off to the races (unless the DVD doesn't load, or you want to change volume, or the aspect ratio isn't correct). And make sure you put the DVD into the right player. Simple!!!

Does anyone have a procedure for cleaning dust blobs from the sealed optics? If not I guess I will have to send it back to Dwin.
Thanks

Originally posted by kraigk
Steve - My TV3 shipped with a big dust blob. I called Rodger and he explained the process which was pretty simple. 6 screws on the bottom (as I recall) and some compressed air to blow on the mirror and lense. That is what I did and it worked fine and I haven't had any dust issues since.

It's important that the nozzle be kept at least 6 inches from any optical surface.

BTW: This was easily found by doing a search for "Dust AND Blob" within this thread.

I just checked www.dwin.com and the TV3+ is not listed on their website.

Frank

Yet they are currently available...

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Brent,

MSRP wise, do you know how much more they cost over the TV3?

Thanks,

-ftlee

$10,995 vs $10,500 on MSRP

Brent Huskins
Media Design

I am poised to buy my new projector. I am willing to go up to the 10K range, but would prefer to stay in the 6K range. My question....not simple, I realize, but I'm totally at a loss.... Is the Dwin TV3+ worth the extra $4K? Will I likely feel that is was worth it? You all know how hard it is for us folks out here who cannot readily comparison shop....I hate to be wrong about a $10K expenditure on my budget!!

Thanks for any help.

JC

The Infocus 7205 will reportedly not be available until January or February, so if I want HD2+ the only choice among those three may be DwinTV3+....not a bad choice, though!

Been lurking & researching for several months now but finally pulled the trigger on a TV3. The knowledge I gained here has been invaluable (thanks). I bought it from Daniel here at AVS and he was great to work with. He said it would take 2-3 weeks for the pj to arrive, but it came in 6 days. Now I'm waiting for the screen.

Here's my question...I can flush mount the pj and still get the screen mounted within the lense shift range, but it would mean almost maximum lense shift (because of a soffit around the perimeter of the ceiling). I remember reading that it is preferable to not use much lense shift if possible for maximum picture quality. I can eliminate the need for lense shift if I use an extention rod (I found a 11/2 " galvanized pipe & fittings at Home Depot for this), but the installation would sure look better without it. plus it would keep the pj further from our seating position (higher) which I guess would help reduce fan noise. Flush mounted, the pj would be a little over 8 feet high, and with the extention it would be around 7 feet. How much will using 90% of the maximum lense shift range affect the picture quality? What would you do in this case?

Back to Daniel at AVS...I agonized over this decision because I had an empty 3/4 inch conduit running to my projector (along with plenty of RG6 cable) and was worried that I couldn't fit the digital cable through it. There was no other way to get the cable to the pj without tearing up brand new drywall. He went out of his way to help me with that problem, but it turned out that I was able to snake it through after all. Now I just can't wait to get the screen and get it all hooked up. Thanks for your help on the pj mounting question.

Bill

Bill,

I'm not sure how many TV3 owners in this forum mounted their pj close to max offset. Based on my experience (as you may have read in this thread) that I've had ghosting problems with my TV3. I am now on my 3rd brand new unit as DWIN replaced the other 2 defective units because of dust blob & severe ghosting problem, respectively. Even my 3rd pj still has a very slight ghosting but it's not as bad as the 2nd unit. One thing I noticed though that the ghosting is minimized as you minimize the lens offset. I have yet to try it on my brand new replacement unit and mount the pj with minimum offset and see if the slight ghosting disappears. I have a 100-inch diagonal firehawk screen. PJ is currently mounted with 21-inch lens offset. I don't have problem mounting it further down since I installed the pj inside a hushbox and the fan noise is no longer distracting.

Btw, congratulations on your new TV3 purchase. I hope everything works for you.

-twelly

Twelly-

Glad to hear that your new unit appears to be better than the first two.

Keep us posted.

Originally posted by Skypalace
I'm not sure why all these issues need to be discussed so publicly, but I guess it keeps us from getting bored...

Originally posted by Don Landis
I agree... SkyPalace

This is a personal issue between the dealer and his customer. They need to get it worked out privately. There is obviously a reason why the customer doesn't want the dealer involved and it's none of our business why but more importantly for me (speaking for myself) I don't care why.

Discussion of the issues or problems with the TV3 and the fixes we come up with is different. But if the dealer wants to help and you don't want him to then that's a personal thing and needs to be off the public forum. Thanks SkyPalace.

I missed this earlier and didn't want people to think I ignored it...

The only reason I am addressing this issue publicly is because I keep seeing a couple people complain publicly about their TV3's yet they fail to do anything about it.

Don, this really isn't a personal issue between me and Toxarch. He's a great guy and has put together a very respectable theater in his father's home. I've never privately discussed any negatives in regards to his TV3 but only discussed the issues here on the forum lately. I'm sure prospective TV3 owners can actually appreciate the dialogue of a dealer and a user, yet I can see how it might bore or annoy a current user. And yes, I know this is the user's thread, but many would be owners read this thread regularly.

Also Don, what is the "OBVIOUS" reason he doesn't want me involved I might ask? It sounds like you know something I don't. Anyway, I don't want to see anybody (especially a customer) have to deal with a "LEMON" TV3 as Tox calls it and I am willing to go the extra mile to resolve such a situation. It's really nothing more than that.

Don, if you all of a sudden started calling your TV3 a lemon I would probably try to get some help for you too. I hope you can see where I'm coming from.

thanks,

Brent Huskins
Media Design

I concur that the LESS offset you utilize the safer you are in getting the best/unaltered picture from your TV3.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Rob Tomlin wrote:

In darker scenes, I was getting a weird purplish color that looked like "solarization" for lack of a better word. This would only show up on average 2 or 3 times per movie, but when it occurred it was distracting.

Okay, thank you for this! I was catching up on older threads trying to see if there was a similar problem to mine, and it appears there was! There were a few times in darker scenes (mainly with red - shadow detail as well especially in dark scenes on actors faces) that I would see this weird effect and I couldn't find a word for it. I saw your post "solarization" and that hit the nail right on the head!

At first, I thought it was just the mastering on the particular DVD, but then saw it later on my HD DirecTV via DVI (Watching 24). So, I threw in some movies and narrowed it down to dark scenes that have red. My wife and I were watching Chicago the other night and this movie was screaming with solarization. I'll be doing the right thing and contacting my dealer later this evening ;) and will get it resolved immediately.

This will be the second time I've shipped the DWIN back, and the first time wasn't DWINs problem. The first time I sent it back was due to a framing issue that happened during shipping (I was having a dark bluish line at the bottom left of my screen...just looked out of place). Sure enough, things shifted during shipping and it was fixed upon return. And from Rob's comment on the solarization problem, it looks like a color wheel timing error, which again could be attributed to the shipping of the device. We'll see what my dealer and DWIN says about it. I'll see if I can grab some screens of it tonight.

And for what it's worth, I do not have these ghosting problems (I've been watching the credits of all the movies I've watched lately too!). Other than the solarization problem it's been fantastic. What a great picture. Highly recommended.

"Also Don, what is the "OBVIOUS" reason he doesn't want me involved I might ask? It sounds like you know something I don't. Anyway, I don't want to see anybody (especially a customer) have to deal with a "LEMON" TV3 as Tox calls it and I am willing to go the extra mile to resolve such a situation. It's really nothing more than that.

Don, if you all of a sudden started calling your TV3 a lemon I would probably try to get some help for you too. I hope you can see where I'm coming from."

Beats the heck out of me, all Tox said is he doesn't want you to be bothered by it and insists on dealing with Dwin himself. But since you asked, I will volunteer an answer- Go ask HIM why, privately, we all don't need to know. Get it settled with him privately. This is really not the place to ethically discuss it. Maybe he told Dwin, I really don't know but it's obvious he is going to all the trouble so you aren't bothered. Brent, even if I did know a specific reason why all the troble, I would still tell you the same, Go ask him why he chooses to go around you to Dwin, direct when you have committed to do the right thing for him. Trust me on this, if you were my dealer, you'd be in here getting it right to both our satisfaction or I'd ask for my money back! And just a reminder, I'm not endorsing any claim that this issue is a 100% Dwin TV3 cause and responsibility.

I hope this answer to your question ends this private issue here.



PS "Lemon name calling"
I know you will go the extra mile for him, especially since you said so here! You don't have to worry about my opinion with Dwin. I would buy from them again when ready. I am extremely pleased with my TV3. When I sit down to watch, I have a smile on my face because of the superb picture!

Chris-

I thought the same thing as you....that this was just some problem with the mastering of the particular DVD. It was easy to think this when the problem doesn't appear very often. But, when I started seeing it on D-Theater tapes, including Beauty of Japan, I knew that wasn't it!

I was told later that my issue probably could have been resolved over the telephone with Dwin....something they can tell you as far as adjusting the speed of the color wheel. Be sure to mention that to your dealer and Dwin before sending it back.

The term "solarization" was the word that really "clicked" with Dwin too. Once that term was used, it was easy for them to diagnose the problem.

I haven't had this problem since the unit was returned.

I do get the ghosting on the credits (white against black). My offset is relatively large, but not max.

Good luck.

The solarization was fixed using the service code and adjusting the speed of the wheel or delay or something in there a while back. You could try seaching this thread for service code or service menu and narrow it down to about 40 posts. Of course then you would need to know the service code to get into the menu. Mention it to your dealer and he/she could possibly do it for you.

As for the ghosting, it's just easiest to see and notice in the credits because they are white letters on black background. But actually if you pay attention, the ghosting is always there in every scene. It's just blended a little into the picture because of the many colors on the screen.

Well it's funny that you guys are both talking about me...

Chris,

The solarization is due to the timing of the color wheel being slightly off. This is field correctable, yet with Rob's unit we didn't know that yet. DWIN can walk me or you through the process to correct the speed in the service menu.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Brent,

Thanks for the update. I'm sure I'll be having you over soon!

Rob,

Thanks for chiming back in. I did grab a few screens, however, they are horrible. I am the worst at taking digital pics in the dark, and with some experiments I was able to produce the solarization in a couple of shots, but they are out of focus due to some of the settings I had to do on my camera. They are shaky (looks like I need to cut back on the caffeine!)

Here goes nothing...

This first shot is a closeup of a speed bag in Daredevil. You can see it here...

This second shot is of an explosion. I tried taking it full blown, but the camera didn't like it, but I'm including it so you can see where I'm zooming in on in the next post. Please note that I made some crazy settings on my camera to show the solarization. Colors, focus and me being shaky doesn't help these shots!

This is the bottom left-hand corner of the same shot in the last post, but zoomed in on so you could see the solarization....

And it looks like an ugly ass pimple ready to burst! ;) Then again, it looks like the crazyness happening before the THX logo in the "Grand" trailer!
:D

Ghosting? We don't need no stinking ghosting!

I would imagine this would cause major problems for those who see ghosting in their projectors. This is the opening credits from Daredevil. While it's not the Hulk images posted earlier, it does have very detailed whites (outlined buildings that turn into braile for those who are not familiar with the movie). The braile then turns into the credits. Here's what I got. (FYI, camera settings back to normal and had a steady hand this time!!!)

Chris, did you take those first three picture with the camera in the same place? Because in the boxing picture and kind of in the explosion2 picture, there is what looks like a stuck on pixel. Though I don't know since I am not there, it just looks like it in the picture. Though it could be your camera or screen or even in the film. The boxing picture has one bright spot on the dark side of the bag.

Interesting!

I just noticed that. My guess is it's the camera. They were two different locations on the screen. Top right for the speed bag and bottom left for the explosion. I haven't noticed any stuck pixles. It's probably a mix between the wheels-off camera settings and a reflection point from the screen.

I'll go out and take a "normal" shot...if that's possible with a digital camera! ;)

Chris-

After seeing those screen shots, I am 95% certain that you have the same problem that I had, and there should be no problem having it fixed. In fact, as stated previously, you won't even have to send it back to Dwin.

Regarding the ghosting, the credits you posted arent the best example. You need pure white letters on a black background to really see it (at least for my situation).

Rob,

Cool on the fix. I'm glad I don't have to send it in again. To be safe, I'm going to have Brent come over to take a look at it.

I'll also try to grab a screen of some credits (pure white) for ya too. This may sound like a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway...have you looked at your lens to make sure it's not dirty? Like a slight smudge or something? That could be throwing it off a bit. Try cleaning it if you haven't already. It may not "look" dirty, but it could very well be dirty!

Here is a shot of 5th Element with my camera as close as I can get it. It seems dark still, but I don't see the pixels like before. I think it was my jacked up settings I had going! Please note....I have ZERO photography skills! What's the best way to set up a camera for screens?

Okay, so I got a little fed up with the Samsung HD-931 (the edge enhancement is bothering me) so I switched the the Bravo D1. I just applied the latest firmware to it and decided to recalibrate with Digital VE.

The Samsung couldn't pass pluge, but the D1 does. So, my brightness dropped from high 30's to about 34 right now.

Then it was time for the brightness. With the Samsung, I was about 68 or so. Now, using the resolution pattern, I had to INCREASE the brightness to 98!!! Is this right? To double-check myself, I threw in the THX Ultimate Demo DVD (factory, not a burned copy) and used the Optimizer on the disc. Brightness was about the same as DVE and lo and behold so is the contrast! 98 seems way too high, but I could be wrong here. Any idea why this would be so high? I went back through the threads here and saw that most people have their contrast set from 68 to 82. I'm 10 higher than the highest. :confused:

I am projecting on a Studiotek 130 (110") and the projector is mounted about 15 feet away with about an 18" offset.

Thanks!

Chris-

I went through the same thing recently. I had a couple guys from the forum over, and we calibrated using Digital Video Essentials. My contrast was set at 96 or 97.

I recently had an ISF tech over (a member of this forum) who wanted to see my SilverStar screen in action. Well, being an ISF tech he couldn't help but fiddle with the contrast, brightness, and color setting with DVE.

You need to remember that brightness and contrast settings are inter-related. So, once you have adjusted them, you will need to go back and adjust again.

The bottom line is after re-calibration, my contrast is now around 76, and brightness is at 38. We went up on the brightness, and down significantly on the contrast. Tint is at 50, color is right around 70 if I remember correctly.

Keep playing with the brightness and contrast settings. It is still possible that your contrast will be in the 90's.

One of the ADVANTAGES of reading this forum is learning what problems/issues to look for with my TV3.

One of the DISADVANTAGES of reading this forum is learning what problems/issues to look for with my TV3.

Is it possible that the "ghosting" that is REALLY obvious to me now was always there and I didn't notice it, or is it possible that it has only recently appeared or gotten worse?

Also, just found a "dark" pixel in the middle of the screen that was definitely NOT there anytime in the last 4 months. While this is still within the DWIN spec of 4, is it likely that more pixels will go out over time?

Guess I'll be giving my dealer a call on Monday.

Could I get some opinions about Draper screens for a TV3+? My installer has quoted a Draper 106" fixed screen. I just want to make sure this screen is appropriately matched and "worthy"!! Should I get a Stewart? I believe that the screen will be a 1.3 gain white as recommended by Dwin.

I have installed quite a few of these

unfortunately in my own demo I have their Hi-def grey..

Either of them have been great..

No worries.. my advice is to save some money and go draper..

-ads-

Anyone blown a bulb yet..

I think my demo unit is blown..

really odd worked all this morning.. went to turn it on again for another showing.. and no light..

The led is solid and you can hear it turn on..

has anyone lost a bulb yet... mine would be about 2K hours early..

I can't call roger until monday..

-a-

has anyone lost a bulb yet... mine would be about 2K hours early..

So your bulb had zero hours on it when it blew?

Sorry-

About 1K too early

confused lamp life of samsung and DWIN...

I think the Samsung RPTV is like 4k lamp life...

my PJ was around 1K hours

Don't SHOOT. Just a question based on a real life decision I must make. If you all could have had a Marantz S3 for only $2000 more than your Dwin TV3 or TV3+, would you have still bought the Dwin?

I would still go with the TV3. For me, having a two box setup outweighs whatever picture gains there may be. I haven't seen the S3, but I can't see how much better the picture could be. Since purchasing my TV3, I've seen several other projectors, and IMHO, none had as good a picture as my TV3. $2000 is a lot of extra money for what will probably be only a minor (if any noticeable) increase on PQ.

I will need to see a huge gain in PQ and resolution before I will give up my two-box TV3. Even when I do finally upgrade, I will start out with two-box products on my short list. The thought of running several sets of video cables or being forced to buy separate video switching hardware seems crazy to me. Runco and DWIN have it right. Let the projector project. Put the scaler and switcher in a separate box so it can be close to the sources.

I will need to see a huge gain in PQ and resolution before I will give up my two-box TV3.

Ditto that.

The fact the Dwin puts out one of the best looking images is just icing on the cake!

So the single cable thing is that important? What about the light leak, IR remote flakiness, and dust issues people talk about? Trivial?

Never had a dust issue.

The IR remote "flakiness" is not an issue either, since I use a Home Theater Master mx-700.

The light leak is there, but it is such a minor annoyance in my current set up from the front row that I haven't even taken the time to do the lens cap modification, which would easily remedy the light leak problem.

And yes, the single cable link is that important! To me, anyway. Why more companies are not employing this feature is baffling.

I had a dust issue. I called Dwin & talked to Roger. He told me where to use the canned air. Worked perfectly and would be very easy to do it again if I needed to.

Light leak is not a big issue with me either. I never had problems with the remote. I believe the picture is still about as good as it gets and the one cable solution is a very big deal to me also.

Anyone hear about a new TV3+ that is being released?

Curej,

I am another completely satisfied TV3 owner. I extensively demoed the Marantz S2 before I bought the Dwin. I know many say that it is supposed to have a slightly better picture, but I didn't see it. The picture quality on Dwin is absolutely jaw-dropping. I have had no dust issues, modified my lens cap in about 2 minutes so no longer have the light spill issue, use a universal remote (that I programmed using the Dwin remote) and have never noticed an issue with the remote. I'm sure every pj has its quirks and none are perfect, but my pj is as close to perfect as I could ever wish. I highly recommend the Dwin.

Chad

P.S. The two box set up is hugely important in my setting, not just for its inherent advantages, but also to keep me from having to run multiple (very expensive) cables over a 30 foot run.

I bit the bullet and told me dealer to order a TV3+ for me for installation in about 8 weeks (the room is missing drywall still, along with electricity and hvac). Thanks for everyone hear for helping me make this decision. The Demo blew me away, and comparing it to an HS10 left me knowing what I was paying for. The high ceilings in my HT-to-be also helped sell me on the dwin.

My question? Where's the FAQ that Don seems to have been working on since last December? ;-)

As a new TV3 owner, i want to thank everyone here for their free flowing opinions, which really allowed me to make an informed decision in addition to seeing the PQ myself. As I wait for my Studiotek 130 screen to arrive, i need to decide on a DVD player and am torn between a DVI player such as the Momitsu vs a good component only machine such as the Denon 2200/2900. Given the quality of the TV3's scaler, will DVI really be that much of an improvement such that it is worth dealing with the various issues of the Momitsu (or Bravo)? I don't want to be constantly updating firmware, changing loaders, installing capacitor etc.

I have seen one post from MetallicaFreak who preferred the 2900 component output, anyone else compared and/or have a view? All this is assuming i can't spring for the 5900 at this time, suspect next year will see more DVI/HDMI machines with better build quality. I know this has been debated in the DVD Player forum but not much from TV3 owners, hence the posting here.

Thanks!

Originally posted by cmogman
As a new TV3 owner, i want to thank everyone here for their free flowing opinions, which really allowed me to make an informed decision in addition to seeing the PQ myself. As I wait for my Studiotek 130 screen to arrive, i need to decide on a DVD player and am torn between a DVI player such as the Momitsu vs a good component only machine such as the Denon 2200/2900. Given the quality of the TV3's scaler, will DVI really be that much of an improvement such that it is worth dealing with the various issues of the Momitsu (or Bravo)? I don't want to be constantly updating firmware, changing loaders, installing capacitor etc.

I have seen one post from MetallicaFreak who preferred the 2900 component output, anyone else compared and/or have a view? All this is assuming i can't spring for the 5900 at this time, suspect next year will see more DVI/HDMI machines with better build quality. I know this has been debated in the DVD Player forum but not much from TV3 owners, hence the posting here.

Thanks!

I think firmware upgradability is a bonus in a product. You can get the latest stuff without sending the unit in nor having to buy a newer unit. I've had the D1 skip a chapter and freeze a couple of times, but the firmware upgrade that I had sent for free is supposed to help that. Though I am not sure it corrected it since it only happened a few times and I have stopped using the TV3 since before the firmware upgrade. But, Bravo is supposed to have the D2 coming out soon and drop the price on the D1. I think the picture from DVI is a lot better than anything I have seen over component from a DVD player.

I think the picture from DVI is a lot better than anything I have seen over component from a DVD player.

I agree. I've used the Bravo D1, Samsung HD 931 and Sony 999ES. Of these three machines, I'd favor the Bravo. Although it is painfully slow loading and moving through the menus, it has a fantastic picture through the DVI output. Also, I have had some major lip sync problems with the Sammie. I have never had a single problem with the D1. Both DVI players had a better picture than the Sony, though, even though the Sony was way more expensive and well built.

My 5900 arrives this week. Now I'm excited!

Chad

I saw a TV3+ last night, as well as an Infocus 7200. I preferred the image quality overall on the TV3+, although the detail in dark areas was better on the Infocus. I suspect that that reflected its overall brighter image...I may be wrong. The colors seemed richer on the Dwin, though not artificially so. However, as some others have noted, the reds seemed a little rusty, almost brownish-red. Blues were wonderful. I (Mr. Novice) suspect that this is largely adjustable anyway, right?

I'm going to look at a Marantz S2 on Saturday, and try to optimistically extrapolate to what the S3 "should" look like. If I remain unimpressed with the S2 (as I was when I watched it for 30 minutes or so last weekend) I will probably be buying the Dwin next Monday.

I appreciate all of the great information and comments given me in this and other forums.

Originally posted by cgauntt
I agree. I've used the Bravo D1, Samsung HD 931 and Sony 999ES. Of these three machines, I'd favor the Bravo. Although it is painfully slow loading and moving through the menus, it has a fantastic picture through the DVI output. Also, I have had some major lip sync problems with the Sammie. I have never had a single problem with the D1. Both DVI players had a better picture than the Sony, though, even though the Sony was way more expensive and well built.

My 5900 arrives this week. Now I'm excited!

Chad
I stand by my inpression. My 2900 component (calibrated) looked better than my D1 DVI (calibrated). My new 5900 DVI is significantly better than my 2900 was by component.
Just to add another wrinkle, I saw a small improvement when I switch from the Pacific Cable 2M DVI to a better cables 2M DVI. Slightly better detail with a little bit more smoothness to the overall image.

Flame if you must.
FREAK!

Thanks for the input on the DVI vs Component issue, I think DVI is the way to go. I see on the Momitsu website that the new V880N, which is networked and upconverts external composite and S-Video signals, is due out in January. It seems that there will be a lot more DVI choices in the new year (Pioneer DV59, new Sony, new Bravo) so may wait another month or so.

Last question for now, when outputting thru DVI, is it better to select 480 - native DVD resolution, and let TV3 scaler to 720P, or chose 720p from the DVD player and let it upconvert? I would think the TV3 scaler is better but perhaps the most recent technology wins, even if its in an inexpensive unit like the Momitsu or LG 3510a??

Most people have concluded that it is best to set the output on the DVI player to 720p....myself included.

I am getting a fantastic picture from my $199 Bravo D1. I have been lucky, I have had only a handful of lockups since owning it (about 5 months).

I am also a new convert. After making up my mind 1 1/2 years ago I was going to get a projector, I finally called up Jason this week and ordered the TV3+.

Now of course, like a kid I cant wait and have been looking for the manual electronically. I do not find it on the DWIN website. Is it available electronically?

Also I know I have seen the dimensions somewhere, but also cannot find them again.

I know I will be coming back to get many questions answered. Am really looking forward to it!

George M

Here's a link to the manual, George. The dimensions of the PJ is in there too.

http://dwin.com/downloads/manual_tv3.pdf

Congrats and get ready to have great fun hibernating this winter!!

VDMAI

Thanks. I can hardly wait.

George M

So I sent the projector in to get a list of things fixed. The main things I wanted fixed were the ghosting, convergence problems. I also asked them to correct a dust spot that would not go away, a light bar on the right of the screen, light out the lens shift dial, lessen the lens light spill and do a 6500K calibration. I don't know if they did any of it since they hardly ever respond to e-mail and don't respond to my e-mails at all.

Well, I mounted it back in place and did a quick look. The light spill is a little different and I think it is worse than it was before so I stuck the cut lens cap back on. I looked for the light bar on the right of the screen and didn't notice it anymore. I checked the ghosting and it is even worse than it was before. I didn't think it could get worse. I got very upset at that point and turned it off. I'll check the other stuff tomorrow.

Brent, if you read this, let's go ahead and plan on you stopping by after the holidays to see the problems for yourself and then we can send this thing in again.

[edit: typo]

Tox,

I've put fixing my similar problems on hold until I heard there was clear resolution. Apparently there isn't a fix yet. Please let us know here what your final resolution is. I'm sorry that your the guinea pig but I do appreciate it as well..

After reading a glowing user review of the Sharp12000, I checked out their specs on projectorcentral. I was pretty surprised. Sharp says they have nearly doubled their contrast and brightness to 5000:1 and 900 lumens (the 10000 was 2600:1 and 500 lumens).

I'm really happy with my TV3 as is and for my space, which isn't light controlled, the additional lumens really help. But I'd really like to see what kinds of improvements Dwin is seeing with the new chip. Has Sharp substantially overhauled their image processing or is all of this benefit due to the HD2+ upgrade?

I'm kind of bummed that there are no details on the TV3+ on their site. Has anybody heard anything?

HI. We just finished installing a TV3 in my brothers theatre room. Right out of the box it is very nice(had to use comp out because the DVI on his Denon5900 won't work,bummer, not activated I guess). Are there any other adjusts available besides the typical brt/cont/tnt/col/sharp controls, where are the rgb bias controls etc. There doesn't appear to be any major issues with the unit, yet.

WTS,

There is a firmware update for the 5900

http://www.usa.denon.com/home/dvd5900DVIReg.asp

I think that it is a disc that the ship you.

I just took the plunge and ordered a TV3+ through AV Science. Jason was very helpful. Although, I think he might work all day and night. :)

Living in Alaska with nary a dealer in sight makes the phone customer service a big help.

Kevin

I read some reviews posted on projector central that stated there was still a light spill problem with the TV3. The review alluded to more fan noise than other new HD2+ projectors. Can anyone provide an answer to these assertions?

Hi; Well I don't know about any reviews, but yes there is light spill in front of the lens on the ceiling, about 2ft infront and maybe 1.5ft wide, it didn't bother me from where I was sitting. To me the fan noise is too much, very anoying during quiet passages and thats sitting 5 ft in front of it and its a 9ft ceiling finished with sound aborbing panels(1.5in thick covered fiber board). I'm not sure what they spec the db level at for the fan. Thats the first thing I noticed about the TV3 at the dealers was the fan noise.
Yea I heard they send you a disc to update the firmware. My brother asked the dealer to check it out before he bought it and according to the Denon rep it was suppose to have been updated already, yea right.

I received my new TV3+ today. Can you say exited!! (also ordered from Jason) Hooked it up sitting on a table. Connected a DVI, RGB, and Component. Could not get anything out of the prjector!!! Checked all the connecctions. Am using the 50' cable. I was very carefull with it.

Can't think of what else could be wrong. Any ideas?? I sent an email to Jaason.

George

I have decided to have Chuck Williams calibrate my TV3 in early January. I am thinking about having Chuck install a filter over the lens to further improve black levels on the unit, and then compensate for the changes by bumping everything else up to spec.

Is there anyhting I should know about this filter that would cause me to do it or not to do it?

Anything else that I should have done that is not part of a regular calibration?

I would like to present him with a list in advance so he has time to budget at my house. He is also touching up my previously calibrated mits HDTV.

Thanks again guys,
Fred

George, can you get the menus to come up? You might have not have set the right input. If you have the wrong input, you just get a grey screen.

We watched Basic the other night. In the dark scenes in the forrest hut, I could see solarization across the black guy's face. It was not there before I sent the projector in for repair.

Toxarch,

Yes the menu comes, and I have cycled through all the inputs. I cannot change anything on any of the inputs because it shows nothing is connected. I do not get a grey screen -- just a white screen.

I dont know how to tell if it is a problem wirh the cable or the box. Since I can get the menu I thought the connection was ok, but now I am thinking the menu resides inthe projectr itself. Any idea on how to narrow the problem down between the box or cable? I am sure you know how this is killing me having it sitting here and not being able to use it --- and with family coming for Christmas!

I haven't heard from Jason yet. Must be taking some time off for Christmas.

Disconnect all the sources from the scaler. Disconnect the power from the projector and scaler and leave them disconnected for 5 min. Disconnect the DVI plug from both ends and re-seat the cable. Plug the PJ and the scaler back in and connect a composite video cable to the vid 1 input from your dvd player. See if your unit locks onto a 480i signal?

Dan,

Did as you suggested. This is certainly not as plug and play as I had anticipated. Thank you for your help. Here is where it stands.

When only Video is connected --- the projector shows the picture --- However there is a blue vertcal line to the left of the left edge.

When connected with SVideo --- same as with video -- including the blue line!

When connected with RGB from DTR 100 HD Receiver ---- Not recognized as being connected.

When connected with Component (DTR 100) --- Not recognized as being connected.

When connected to DVI via Computer (ATI 9700) set for 1280 x 720 x 60H ---- Garbled dispaly.


Now I'm very confused. The computer I can work on --- but not working with the HD Receiver in either RGB or Component I cant figure. And the blue vertical line definately shouldn't be there.

Hope you have some more good suggestions!

George

I had that same line off the edge of the screen (Mine is ceiling mounted so the line was on the right). I told them to fix that when I sent it in. I hadn't noticed it since it got back. I think that was one of the few things they did fix.

I was able to get rid of the blue line by adjusting the hoizontal image. Don't know if this was the correct way or not. I have not done any picture adjusments with DVE yet. Wont until I know all my connections are working.

Does anyone have a DTC 100 working with the TV3? I have tried all three settings in the DTC 100 setup. Two produce no picture and the third has a lot of noise and break ups - no matter what trace settings I try.

Also, how can I confirmthat I did receive the TV3+ and not the TV3?

George

PS. A very Merry Christmas to all!!

Hi George,
I wish I had other substantive suggestions. I can assure you that my unit was PnP, you should not have to struggle to get the unit working.
I can confirm that the PJ should work with an ATI radeon card and an RCA DTC100 connected via an HD15 connector (left on short retrace time).

I would wait for jason to respond as I fear you may have a defective unit. Maybe they can put you in contact with Dwin at 818-239-1500.

I hope you get your problem rectified ASAP.

Some family was in so I put on a few scenes to show them. They were interested in building a house and adding a theater.

Anyway, after they were done, I put in a couple of test patterns to see if DWIN had fixed or at least improved the convergence problem like they said they would. Well, the convergance looked the same on one side of the screen and as bad or worse on the other side of the screen. Ghosting was horrible on the test patterns as well. The only thing I haven't checked is if they fixed the big dust spot that would never go away.

Toxarch, Is your unit a new TV3+? I haven't seen the problem on the ones I have demoed.

Happy New Year!

Don,

Thanks for your input. I will try to talk to Jason on Monday. I have not been able to get anything recognized correctly on RGB --- Neither the DTC100 or a borrowed Dish 6000. On the 100, Absolutely nothing on the short retraces --- if Igo to long retrace and adjust 80% to the left it will try to lock, but never does.

In testing the Dish 6000 and setting the 6000 to RGB and tried at both 720 and 1080 --- nothing. The 6000 will work with Component!

Rocket:

How can I tell that mine is a TV3+? That is what I ordered.

Thanks
Geore M

Rocket, mine is one of the first TV3s to be sent out. It is not a TV3+, but the only difference is the HD2+ chip. I sent it in for repair and they fixed one or two minor things and made everything else worse. I will let my dealer see it and let him send it in this time. I am done trying to communicate with DWIN since their customer service guys don't do their job.

Hi; Are there any adjustments that can be made with the DVI inputs, because at the moment the comp i/p looks farn better than the DVI i/p(Denon 5900) and that shouldn't be. Does anyone know the code to get into the service menu, I did a search of this thread and I found lots of mention of people getting into the menu but no one listed the codes.
Thanks

Actually I was wrong(or I should my brother was wrong) there are adjustments for the DVI i/p's, same as the other i/p's.
One other thing, does anyone know if Dwin has any updated codes for the remote that comes the TV3. Not one of the multi function remotes will control any of the other equipment. TV3, Denon 5900 and Anthem AVM30, odd. No codes for each other.

I just hooked up a Samsung SIR-TS160 High Definition Direct TV receiver to my TV3 using both the DVI and Component Video connections. Regardless of what I use, the picture is shifted to the left about two to three inches on my 110 inch screen. I have a black bar on the left and overscan on the right. Is there a setting in the service menu that will allow me to correct for this? If so, would someone please PM the service codes to me and post or PM how to correct this.

(DVI 1 is right on the money using my Denon DVD-5900).

Thanks,

Chad

Here's one more I'd love help with. I have the Denon DVD-5900 connected to my scaler via a DVI and also component. Only if the Dwin is turned on and the proper DVI input is selected will the DVI selection I have made stay on the player.

My preference is to output from the player at 720p. So, I select it on using the mode button on the player itself. If the projector is set to the appropriate DVI input, the player will accept the 720p setting. However, if the projector is not set to the proper DVI input or of the input on the projector is changed, the player defaults back to DVI Off (I suspect this has to do with the HDCP "handshake"). This wouldn't be such a big deal if it didn't make firing up the system more complicated for people who are not familiar with my system (i.e. my father!).

Does anyone know of a way to configure the DVD player so that it either defaults the 720p DVI out setting or will hold that setting once it is selected? If so, I would be greatly appreciative!!

Thanks,

Chad

Hopefully that won't require a firmware update, but I think thats what it will take. Either the TV3 or Denon or maybe both. Does the 720p look better the the 480p in the dvi mode from the 5900.

Happy New Year TV3 fans. You too Tox. :)

Benchmark- 1725 hours and counting on my orig. bulb.

A reminder for all who have filters on their air intake to take some time today and clean the filter.


Hope to see some of you all at CES.

Now back to your regularly scheduled topics.

Happy New Year TV3 fans. You too Tox. :)


:D

Happy New Year everyone.

I need help again. I just got a JVC 40K and I need another input. I've used both the component inputs and the DVIs on the Transvision box. I' ve always had trouble figuring out inputs. I've got a Red, Green and Blue out from my DST 3000 STB and I would like to go to the RGBS 15 pin input on the Dwin box. I can't get this to work. I can go straight to my old LT150 from the same source and it works fine. Is this RGBS input different than the 15 pin on back of the LT150?

Randall- The DB15 connector on the TV3 is an RGBHV signal input. The Component is Y, Pr, Pb or Y, R-Y, B-Y color difference signals in the 30Khz and up range for HDTV. You can't simply plug one into the other with a cable adapter. Some receivers have both outputs, but I believe your 3000 just has component. You can convert one to the other but the difficult and more expensive conversion is from Y, Pr, Pb to RGBHV. Going the other way is cheaper and easier to do. Converters are made for both directions.

One such device:

http://www.altinex.com/PDFs/TR6102HD.pdf

I use a CVC-200 Extron here but that one is a bit pricey

Thanks for the help Don. You are right about the Extron, it retails for $895. I searched and didn't find any cheaper options. It would be cheaper getting a component switch and feed both the DVHS deck outputs into one component input of the DWIN and switching. I found an Audio Authority switch for $179. Would I lose picture quality with a switch like this?

Originally posted by Don Landis
Happy New Year TV3 fans. You too Tox. :)

Happy New Year to you too Don and the rest of the people out there with properly working TV3s. One day, I will be able to come to that side.

We all sincerely hope you and Brent get it worked out. I was going to send you a DVD to play for Christmas but somehow I felt you would not have thought it very funny. The movie was "Ghostbusters" :D

I've been following the saga of the 921 which should be my next venture into the world of bugs and troubles. The TV3 is about to soon get a workout here with DVI as well.

I'm also looking for a way to output the TV3 to RGBHV. Anyone with any ideas? I want to use the scaler box to feed a second projector, my CRT. I'll be on the lookout for a converter module at CES. I don't mind that I will need to do a cable swap.

Dwin has announced a dual ouput version of their Transcanner. It's supposed to be shown at CES. That may help you a little Don.

"It's supposed to be shown at CES. That may help you a little Don."

More money! I was looking for a simple DVI-D through put with an RGB takeoff. No switching, no touch, dual output adapter. I'm sure the issue will be HDCP conflict!

This question is more curiousity that anything else. I have a TV3 setup with two video sources. Source 1 is a Bravo D1 over DVI. Source 2 is a Comcast HD box over component. I will soon be adding two more (HTPC and a game console). I did a basic calibration of the DVI using the DVE DVD (contrast = 85, brightness = 37, sharpness = 0, color=tint=50). My question is whether people transfer their DVI settings over to the component? Unless I connect my Bravo to the component inputs and run DVE, the best I can do is guess based on my HD cable content. As far as I can tell, Comcast doesn't have any test signals available for calibration of the pj (do they?).

Note, when I transferred my settings over from the DVI input, the HD picture from Comcast looked really good. What has me wondering is that my default settings on the DVI input look pretty amazing, but they got even better when I ran through the DVE. I'm wondering if I may be missing out on a little more pq.

Can I get some information on what people are using to filter the intake air into the TV3?

Do you install in on the inside or outside?

Thanks
George M

godavego, I think you will probably see some improvement using your DVD player to adjust the component input, but it won't be perfect. I think each source has a different output and one DVD player will require different settings than another DVD player. So your cable will need different settings than the DVD player. I wonder if you can use the off-air test signals to calibrate the picture. You know, like at 3 or 4 am when the station goes offair for a few hours and puts up the color patterns and test tone.

GeorgeM, I am using a 1/4" dark grey washable room air conditioner filter pad from Purolator. I used a thin strip around the lens, one inside the intake grill and another outside the grill. I used two because this one is not too dense and air can pass easily so there are two chances to catch dust. I guess I could have just doubled the outer filter. The filters are bigger than the grill and held in by a fabric tape (not tape used for fabric). I oversized the filters and bulged them out from the grill to give more filter surface area. They work rather well. When I pulled them out to send the projector in, there was no dust inside and none noticeable on the inner filter.

I want to make a little box that will hold the filters and let me just slide them in and out to clean/replace them and look better than dark tape holding a dark filter. Just haven't had time to actually make it.

I am having my TV3 calibrated next week, I have a few questions.
I have decided to have Chuck Williams calibrate my TV3. I am thinking about having Chuck install a filter over the lens to further improve black levels on the unit(I use a white screen), and then compensate for the changes by bumping everything else up to spec.

Is there anyhting I should know about this filter that would cause me to do it or not to do it?

Anything else that I should have done that is not part of a regular calibration?

I would like to present him with a list in advance so he has time to budget at my house. He is also touching up my previously calibrated mits HDTV.

Thanks again guys,
Fred

Jan 8 from CES floor:

Dwin-
Dwin has a new PJ, the TV-10. It is a 3 HD2 chip DLP that weighs in at about 25#. It is slightly larger than the TV-3. Right away I noticed it lacked any of the typical Rainbows from the color wheeled TV3. Picture was, for all practical purposes about the same as the TV3 on a 92" white screen. As I understand it is where the installation is for a very large screen that the 3 chip DLP really shines bright compared to a TV3. So, if you don't mind rainbows and are using it on a smaller screen you may want to save the additional $15K over the price of the TV3 (MSRP).

The demo unit was not a production model but rather a prototype. Estimated delivery is predicted for April 2004. It will come with a choice of lenses depending on your throw distance. With Lens option, plan on a budget of $25,000.

My opinion- Save your money as I could not see that much improvement over the TV3.


The dual output Transcanner is just like the single ones but this one offers two DVI-D outputs. Unfortunately, my wish of an analog and digital out is not going to happoen as it will violate Dwin's licensing agreement with HDCP. However, they are considering a possible upgrade to this dual output as HDMI but that will happen whe they see many monitors begin to support HDMI.

DWIN is introducing their own Plasma screen. I failed to get any details on it as I have little interest in Plasms.


Dwin is also working on a NEW DVI Cable length that will start at 75' and go to 100 ft later on. This new cable uses built in repeaters to support the longer run.



About it for Dwin fans



edit-- I slipped up and originally stated HD2+. This was an error as it is HD2 chip. TI has not licensed the use of the HD2+ for 3 chip projectors.

I'm waiting for the TV-20(?). You know, Dwin's 3 chip xHD3 based DLP projector!

Seriously though, I'm probably in the same boat as many others here. I just installed a TV3 not too long ago. I hope to upgrade in the future, but it will have to be capable of 1080p, no rainbows, high CR, and light output that can respectively compete with ambient light while still calibrated to D65. At the rate of progress that I'm seeing, I expect this to be a realization within 5 years.

Probably sooner.

There is one thing I forgot to ask about 3 chip DLP's
Considering that we are now dealing with 3 chips and three individual light paths, there is a much stronger POSSIBILITY that temperature changes during startup to full equilibrium could result in uneven expansion and result in changes to convergence calibration. Single chip convergence was never really a problem except for the one pixel lines we observed in the extreme close up test patterns and this was said to be caused by optics defects(????). If convergence is a new issue during warmup of a 3 chip PJ it should be considered a tradeoff you pay to get rid of rainbows. Just when is the PJ warmed up? Probably when any changes to the image stop and the image is stable. I'll try to ask that question if I get back but I doubt I'll learn anything negative especially since the final design is still not final.

1/10 update
Haven't been back to the Dwin booth to ask but I did talk to Dan Miller and he referred to one of their engineers who explained that the 3 chip block was designed with precision adjustments for chip convergence and could be done by a specialist trained to do it in the field. As for heat expansion, the 3 chip block does not exhibit any convergence instability during the warm-up phase. I'll try to ask Dwin people if I get back (unlikely at this time however.

DWIN claims they have no optics defects. And they get rather POed if you suggest it to them. Also, according to other threads here, none of the 3 chip DLPs are HD2+ yet.

Ahhhhh, another poor soul who's tried to talk with Roger.

I didn't see it listed here, but could have overlooked it though! Anyway, they are changing the casing on the TV3's now. It's no longer the "paint job" look. It's more of a textured plastic casing. Not as impressive as the first run units though. I asked Roger why the move and it was due to fingerprints and "plastic bag marks" being left all over the unit.

Still love my TV3! :D

Well, Roger is right about the finger prints and "plastic bag marks". I had an issue with a marking from the plastic on my unit which never came out completely, but it isn't very noticeable either.

I love the look of my casing, so I can't imagine the new one looking any better.

Weird thing happen this weekend...

I turned on the PJ, the lamp fired up but all I got was the white screen. I have macro's set up so everything comes up. The DVD player was going and I heard the music but still just a white screen. I also could not enter the menu or change inputs. So I turned it off for about 10 minutes and fired it up again and it was fine. I started watching TT:EE and about, I'm guessing, an hour into it, the PJ started to go crazy and "solarization" of the picture started happening, but only in some parts of the picture. It first started out slow and then got faster and faster until the bulb died. I first thought it was the bulb, but I only have 91 hours on it. I tried it yesterday and watched a movie and no problems....

What could've this been? Any ideas?

Thanks,
Sonny


PS... If you have TT:EE please see if you have a black line maybe 1-2 pixels wide going across the top and bottom of the picture about 5-6 pixels in...It happens during the movie so I wonder if its my PJ or the DVD.

Fred,
When are you having the calibration done?
Can't wait to here the details. I am about to pull the trigger myself.
FREAK!

Hi; ONe question concerning the Bell 6000. Do all the HD channels broadcast all the time in HD. The reason why I ask is because the only channel thats in full 16x9 is the pbs demo channel. DisHD's size is somewhere between 16x9 and 4x3 and the networks seem a little bigger than 4x3. It doesn't seem to matter what the 6000 is set at 720/1080i and it is set to 16x9 in the reciever. In the TV3 the size automatically goes to HD - no letterbox etc and can't be changed, thats on the RGB i/p.
Does anyone have any experience with this combo 6000/TV3.
Thanks

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have bit the bullet and will be receiving the HD2+ upgrade chip for my TV3. Jeff Kleida of Dwin actually commented that he didn't believe there was an appreciable difference between the 2 and 2+ chip.

After I receive, install, and calibrate the unit with the chip, I intend to post my observations of the differences between the two.

Ranger,
could you give us an idea of what the upgrade entails and what the cost was.

From what I understand at the moment it only requires the replacement of the HD2 chip with the HD2+. The chip is socketed and should only take a couple of minutes to pop the case and replace. However, I am still getting contradictory information from two different people at Dwin as to whether the control chip (firmware) will be replaced at the same time. Dwin did state that the system should not need any recalibration after the upgrade, however I intend to perform a full calibration afterwards.

Now for the bad news, Dwin wants $1699 for the upgrade. Quite steep, but I hope worth it. One thing I will definitely find out is whether a firmware upgrade occurs at the same time. If not, and there are noticeable benefits, it may be well worth the forums time and effort to find a 3rd party supplier for the chips themselves. As I stated in another thread, I believe the cost of the HD2+ chip from TI is about $1100. If the upgrade is nothing more than the replacement chip, others may be able to do it for as little as $1250.

Marc,

Chuck Williams just left my house.

Chuck was wonderful! I am very pleased with his work, and I plan on having him out again in the future.

He arrived early and was pleasant as always. After we caught up, he went right to work on my Mits(that was previously calibrated by him 2 years ago). He re-calibrated the display on all formats and took off the glare screen (he finally talked me into it). I am amazed at what an improvement his touch ups made, and my sister came down and noticed a difference (that’s saying a lot :)).

The improvement in the Mits was worth the price alone, but after he finished the mits, I fired up the DWIN TV3. When he first came down, he noted that the picture was WAY to blue. Boy was he right! What was supposed to be 6500K out of the factory was more like 10,000K! He sat down and went to town on the projector. He set everything to around 6500K, did grayscale, adjusted the sharpness and set the colors to their accurate values. The DWIN was WAY off! End result on the calibration...It looks wonderful!!! Would I do it again, you bet you A$$ I would! I am thunderstruck at the difference that this calibration yielded.

If you are thinking about having Chuck out to do your display, I can honestly tell you that you won’t regret it. He is a very nice guy who included me and made me feel part of the process by explaining what he was doing and how it benefits the display.

As I look over to my freshly calibrated display while writing this, I know that this is the best $ you can spend for your HT.


Fred

Fred, did you try to do your own calibration with Avia or Digital Video Essentials? And did you happen to record your before and after settings?

Besides the new chip I thought their was also a new wheel with a green color added. I think that dwin makes the projector upgradable is great. I wonder if the new t3 with new the chip will include that new wheel.

I'm still not sure whether this is good, bad, or indifferent, but Dwin uses a proprietary colorwheel. In so doing, they are not replacing theirs with the new 7 segment wheel that is common from TI.

THnaks Fred,
I know Chuck. He also did my mits about 3 years ago and did an absolutly fabulous job. I was mostly wondering what the difference between out of the box and ISF'd was and you just convinced me. I agree about the too blue thing. I have so many times sat there and wondered if it was me or am I nuts.
Thanks!
I just wish I could get it donw before the superbowl....doughtful.
FREAK!

Slots

According to the Dwin rep at CES the TV3 uses a prisim free light path so it doesn't need the 7 segment wheel. He sounded like they tried it and it didn't make any difference, so no plans to use it. I'm not sure if this is bs or not just what he said.

Phil

Hardware question:

This deal sounds tempting. I'm over $40 and about 18 months so should hopefully be able to get it.

A question re hardware: I currently have a dual-LNB dish with 4 coax cables coming down, which I run through a Spaun 5x8 multiswitch to a Sony DirecTivo and a few other generic Hughes sat boxes.

With the 3-LNB antenna that D* ships with this deal, is there a multiswitch they install at the dish that will allow them to use the existing runs of coax? (I'd really rather not have them run additional, as I very much doubt they'd install to the quality of the existing install).

And would this allow them to run an OTA antenna, again over existing? (And how would they do this - with a diplexor on one of the coax runs that they split off just before the multiswitch)?

I want to make sure that the existing DirecTivo (which needs two separate coax runs through the multiswitch) and other receivers would continue working. The 5th diplexed input to the Spaun (which I currently use as output from the DirecTivo so that I can watch recorded shows on any TV in the house through a diplexor) I'd replace with the OTA antenna, and then use a ChannelMaster modulator to modulate the DirecTivo signal onto it, which should let me get both HD OTA and the DirecTivo output, plus full D*, at any location in the house over a single coax.

Call up Greg if you cant get Chuck. Greg is in your area.

I was mostly wondering what the difference between out of the box and ISF'd was and you just convinced me

The difference was HUGE. He lowered some values in the service menu by 30 digits! The colors match my calibrated mits that is in the same room(they didn't before). Everything looks better, and I strongly recommend this guys!


Fred, did you try to do your own calibration with Avia or Digital Video Essentials? And did you happen to record your before and after settings?

The funny thing is that I did do this before with Avia. I am not a stranger to AVIA, I have done many displays(including several friends displays) with it.

I did the dwin which looked very acurate to what AVIA was trying to show on the first test out of the box(defaults from the factory). When he came over, the unit was WAY too blue, and he dialed in the colors to 6500K instead of 10-11K.

Now the picture is wonderful, and there are a ton of little details that weren't there before(especially in dark scenes).

The man knows his stuff!

Fred

Sorry, the post was intended for this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3213572) on the HDTV forum re the $99 D* deal.

A related question I DID intend to post to this thread:

What experiences have people had with the Hughes HTL-HD and the Samsung TS160 HD D* receivers and their TV3? It seems the Samsung has DVI output (versus VGA and component for the Hughes) so would be preferred on that basis, but it seems that D* doesn't give a choice.

Just wondering if there's anything significant that would prevent one or the other from working properly (other than an assumed preference for DVI).

Sky

don,

Do you know if all lengths of Dwins DVI are CL approved yet?

Well guys, Dwin strikes again. After talking with Dwin, my dealer placed the order for the upgrade. However, after the order was placed another individual from Dwin called and stated that the unit would need to be returned for the upgrade. When asked why, Dwin stated that they needed to recalibrate the unit with the new chip. My dealer commented that he was told that we could replace the chip ourselves. The latest representative said that they had to have it back. Now, please don't get me wrong I love my TV3, but it seems that from a structural point of view Dwin is VERY segmented. Roger in support seems knowledgeable about basic functioning of the projector, but doesn't seem well versed in calibration/adjustment of the units. And god forbid you ever say anything negative about Dwin, as he gets VERY defensive. Along with this goes a mentality which exudes an air of "can do no wrong". All this and more leads me to believe that there is definitely a separation at Dwin between who is physically at the offices and who designs their products. It really strikes me as being almost two separate companies. Tech support (Roger) and the office and sales people seem to be getting little to no information from those that are truly knowledgeable about their products and it seems that they have little to no access to ask questions of the engineer/s if they need to. Just an observation. I will be sending my unit in for the upgrade, but it will take a little longer than I'd hoped.

"Roger in support seems knowledgeable about basic functioning of the projector, but doesn't seem well versed in calibration/adjustment of the units. And god forbid you ever say anything negative about Dwin, as he gets VERY defensive. Along with this goes a mentality which exudes an air of "can do no wrong". (ranger67)

My sentiments exactly -- and add to that the condescending attitude given to customers that buy their multi thousand dollar toys. As much as I liked my TV3's feature list and thought that it had potential to generate a picture I liked, Roger's attitude that the problems I was having with an early unit (now very well documented by a significant number of other owners) was "in my head" is the main reason I sold my TV3 and went to another manufacturer. The new one is not a perfect projector, but at least the new manufacturer appreciates my business and respects me as a paying customer.

I emailed Chuck....
Thanks Fred.

Schlitzie .. since dwin t3 was one of my five on the list to buy, I am certainly not happy to hear the issues you both have had. I just saw today the new JVC d-ila hx1 .. very good. Three to go the dwin, dharp 12k and the marantz s3. but based on what you are saying I may not even view the swin. By the way what unit did you buy and what are your plus and minuses of it.

I agree about the DWIN support. Roger would tell me one thing and another person would tell me something else and make it sound like I was the one at fault. And never talk bad about their bad customer support or problems with their projector or they stop replying to you... if they reply at all in the first place. They don't answer the phone and don't respond until the 3rd e-mail sent.

ok ok I believe you guys. Service and customer satisfaction do it for me. Off I go to Sharp, JVC or Marantz.

Well for my case it was a great roller coaster ride. First you get excited because you thought that you got a great deal for buying it from an internet dealer (huge price difference compared to the local store) and believed that you just purchased a great pj after seeing it in action from a local a/v store & after spending countless hrs comparing pj's. Then the pj arrived, so eager to plug the unit in and then the unexpected happened... a big dust blob and the light spill. Before I ordered the pj I got an email from Roger claiming that the light spill was completely fixed in their new batch. Well the light spill is still there. Anyway, I shipped back my pj for replacement.

The replacement arrived, after seeing a couple of dvd's I noticed a green radiant background at the upper right quadrant. It's very distracting during dark scenes. When I watched the hulk dvd I noticed some very bad ghosting effect on scenes where there is a white forground and black background. I'm sure you've seen my screenshots I posted in this thread. Again, I shipped the unit back to DWIN through my dealer for replacement.

My 2nd replacement arrived. I still see some slight ghosting but it wasn't as bad as the previous unit. After playing with the lens offset I found out that the ghosting becomes bigger the moment you increase the lens offset. I've explained this new findings to my dealer, but according to my dealer the unit has been hand picked by DWIN as one of their golden pj. Hmmm.... I somehow doubt it because I know some of you don't have the ghosting problem at all. The suggested workaround is to minimize the lens offset. This means that I have to move pj further down. Anyway, since the ghosting is not too distracting even with lens offset set in the median so I decided to keep the pj. Few weeks after I start noticing some solarization during dark scenes (or dim background). I know I've read somewhere in this thread that this can be resolved by adjusting the color wheel speed in the service menu. I'm still waiting for answers from my dealer.

Anyway, to summarize my experience I think the TV3 is a great PJ, 2-box design was a plus, its just too bad to learn that DWIN's quality control is poor. Another disappointing fact is that their pj did not comply to some fo the specification - like the light sealed cabinet and the lens offset operational range. For the latter part, dwin's suggestion is to install the pj with lens offset close to minimum. For me this is not acceptable because their pj suppose to operate with the specified operational range and not at minimum. I think for my next upgrade DWIN would be in the bottom of my list unless they improve their quality.

On a side note, has anyone experienced the solarization issue? How did you fix the problem? What's the procedure for adjusting the colorwheel in the service menu?

Well, even with those issues mentioned above my friends & family were still amazed and blown away with the tv3's awesome picture.

-twelly

Thanks for the feed back. I understand that it must be in some ways a great projector, but the above is again too much to deal with for me since this is not the only projector to choose from.

Let me just say that I love my TV3, I have light spill and the offset was off spec but I love it and have zero regrets. I would definatly buy it again. For every couple of people who have issue there are a ton more who love it w/ or w/o issue
FREAK!

I spent some time with Wm. Tovatt at the Dwin Booth this year at CES discussing some of the mysteries of certain TV3 installations that seem to surface in this thread over and over. I believe it represents some 6-8 people who have claimed to have actually seen the Ghost effect, dust blob, and mask alignment issues. Is that all? Oh yes, the solarization issue. Of all these mystery issues all but the Ghost has been defined to an actual fix by adjustment or alignment or calibration.
Bill said that, at Dwin, they have not been able to recreate the Ghost effect but have acknowledged it in the posted photos, thanks to twelly and others. I told him that I was able to successfully recreate the ghost in a white on black background in my HT by adjusting the lens offset to maximum. It just began to show up. I exacerbated the ghost image by using a screen material that contained a glazing coating as in the studiotek 130. It got worse with screen material of greater gain factor and was minimized with a matte white screen and nearly gone with a negative gain screen such as a non coated gray hawk. But the key factor to making it present at all in my HT was the lens offset. Making the issue more interesting, a Ruunco and a Firehawk screen was used in a totally different room environment and the ghost was observed in a title shot of white on black as well. It appeared as an almost surreal look.

I told BIll that I was convinced that these Ghost artifacts in a white on black background were not the fault of any one factor but a synergy of factors in the design of the HT environment that needed to be suspect. During the Ruunco observation, a member of Don Stewart's staff was present and admitted he had much experience with Ghosts in home theater designs. He told me that it was an environment issue and they proved it was sourced from back reflections off the surface of the lens in the projector and there was no way to eliminate this except to adjust the projector-screen-viewer angles. Changing the lens offset could modify the ghosting but not eliminate it. Changing the lens focal length would modify the ghosting but not eliminate it. In his opinion, ghosts are present in all front and rear projector systems and the specific design was all one could do to reduce the effect.
Consequently- those like Toxarch who have a particular room design may indeed reduce to non existence the ghost artifact by switching to another projector that is better optimized in lens design for his HT. Same with others who suffer this issue.
Bill of Dwin said they would try to duplicate some of my studies at Dwin to try to see the ghost effect there. Like my HT, at Dwin, they use a room with minimum offset and a matte white screen. On the road their portable HT tent is near minimum offset and uses a studiotek 130.

The ghost issue has been for me the most mysterious and most difficult to reproduce and control. The reason is that is is as a result of a collection of factors, no single one by itself is 100% responsible.
_______________________________
Dwin- out of the box calibrated to D6500- OK many have discovered this was just not so! However Dwin insists that when it leaves the factory every TV3 is calibrated. My opinion: WEhile there are some ISF techs who will claim that the screen material and room design has nothing to do with a projector's color temperature, there are equally as many ISF techs who will tell you otherwise. Fact- ALL TV-3's are calibrated for D6500 on a matte white screen in a black room, not a gray or firehawk or studiotek 130 in a room with a colored decor. Each of these screens has been shown to cause some color shift in the image and may be exacerbated by room design as well. Once again, some things are a result of the total environment, not just one item in it. In my HT environment, I reduced an overall teal cast to my screen on whites by covering the teal carpet with a 6x9 decorative black and dark gray carpet in front of the screen. I searched for quite awhile looking for a black rug like this just for this purpose.



_________________________
Opinion of Dwin- As a company, they are not the easiest to communicate with. In fact, several people have stated that they appear rather snotty as opposed to friendly. But they make, what I feel is the right projector to satisfy my needs and while I wasn't too thrilled at buying a "Dwin" originally, I am quite happy with my TV3 and would buy an upgrade to it some day again.

At CES, many felt that most of the major players today have HD2 and HD2+ DLPs with superb pictures. You really can't go wrong with any of the major players out there. What it really boils down to is selecting the technology first(DLP, LCOS, LCD, DILA, CRT), then deciding on the configuration second. Dwin offers a unique design that currently no other has. Dual DVI HDCP compliant inputs, and this year, dual DVI-D HDCP compliant outputs, plus 8 other inputs in their remote scaler. It actually makes for a very tight installation compared to others that require lengthy runs of cable and limit the switching capability for prolific equipment racks like I have here.

Don, great report. I have been following these threads for sometime. We are in the process of building a new home, and another HT is tops on my agenda. I say "another" because in the house we sold my HT consisted of an Electrohome 9500 LC Ultra & a Faroudja 5000, scaling to 1080p. Problem was, the buyer loved the system so much he paid dearly to get it. So now for the video side I am back to starting all over. I cannot see another CRT, and my temp HT while we are building is the Sammy HLN507. Since you have seen far more digital projectors than I have access to, I take it you are pretty high on the Dwin ?? Funny, my first PJ was the Dwin 7" CRT.
There is a RUNCO dealer here in Charleston, but don't know if it is worth the extra $$.
Coming from the CRT I had, think that the Dwin would get even close ??
thanks in advance,
Rick

Coming from the CRT I had, think that the Dwin would get even close ??

After 10 years with a BarcoVision 1500 I went through your same struggle. Conclusion: My TV3 is every bit the equal of the Barco and without the alignment maintenance or diminished pq at extreme edges that the Barco had. (The picture is actually better than I ever could project from the Barco because my highest quality input previously was a line-doubled laserdisc vs. now HDTV and 720p DVD)

I have had none of the problems described in this thread except some light spill (on the ceiling) is noticeable, but it seems not to affect the picture on the screen some 20 feet away, and actually adds just enough light to a darkened room to navigate past furniture. I can't see ghosting, rainbows, or solarization, and the fan noise is much quieter than the Barco and really unnoticeable to all my guests. My picture (on a no-gain white 80x106 Vutec screen) is outstanding. I use DVI input for both DVD (Bravo) and DBS (Sony HD300) and they look great. I have no exp. w/customer service -- I haven't needed it.

I have purchased a DWIN TV3 with the new case and a VUTEK high gain 103" screen. I have a very large home theatre room with light control. I would appreciate any lessons learned from you gentlemen on the initial setup.

I was told by Roger how to deal with the light spill by cutting a small rectangle in the lens cap. Any experience there?

Thanks,
Rocket Scientist
Lockheed Martin
Space Systems Denver, Colorado

Rocket Scientist,

Congratulations on your purchase. Cutting the lens cap is a piece of cake. There are detailed instructions on this forum on how to do that, it took me about 15 mins and it works perfectly.

Interesting post above about the light spill producing just enough light in the room to navigate, but has no effect on the PQ, I totally agree.

I wouldn't have corrected the light spill if I didn't have special lighting for navigating around in the dark, this was designed into my room. In my opinion, the light spill is more in your mind than a physical problem.

Have fun

Originally posted by Thomas Marshall
In my opinion, the light spill is more in your mind than a physical problem.

You must have a lot less light spill than I do. I have dark flat blue walls and it's like having a full moon out in my theater. I think I got more light spill after sending it in to get fixed.

Well my TV3 is leaving for Dwin today for the upgrade from TV3 to TV3+. I have gotten further information from them in that they not only will be changing the DMD, but will be updating the firmware on the TI controller card for the DMD. Dwin states that they will have the upgrade done in less than 3 days, so I'll try to keep everyone here informed.

BTW, Dwin shared some information about further DMD developments with me. He (I'll use this generic so as to protect the "innocent"?) commented that a DMD for 1080p which would be a direct replacement for the HD2/HD2+ is in the works. He commented that TI is telling them that they should be able to drop it in like they are replacing the the 2 with the 2+. He also commented that they would also have to make some changes to the associated transcanner to default to 1080p as the default output.

If this is correct, I think all of us TV3 owners are going to be quite happy with our investments over time.

ranger67,
I talked to "Him" a while back about doing the upgrade. "He" said that he could not see any difference in picture except maybe it was just a little brighter. Has "he" changed his mind about this? I only need brighter if I can also get more resolution for a larger screen. Several others on the forum have also commented that there was very little difference between the HD2 & HD2plus and that the faster color wheel in the new projectors were the biggest factor in improved picture. I also worried about sending my projector back to Dwin as I don't have any problems now and I could get it back with problems.

It will be interesting to see if you think your new projector upgrade is any different. It is doubtful that you could ever really be sure if the picture is any better with the new chip. The Placebo effect would probably make you think it looked better even if they did nothing but repackage and send it back to you(I'm sure they will upgrade but this is to make a point), I mean when you spend $1500 it should look better. Interesting news about the 1080p ugrade.

Please keep us informed.

Randall, my perception is that Dwin HAS changed their position on the upgrade. I say this as they commented about the benefits, blah, blah, blah... whereas prior to the TV3+ being their shipping version I received the same comments you did. Secondly, you need to remember that they are not changing their colorwheel as they feel that their design (no prisms) does not warrant the change. Their thinking is that the prism design causes problems which are being addressed with the new colorwheel and isn't necessary in their projector. Who knows. I hope that the change will be beneficial. If for nothing else, if I decide to sell it and upgrade to another manufacturer at some point it might help with the price I get.

As far as getting the projector back damaged, I realize the possibility, but hope for the best.

I will try to keep everyone informed as to the status as I progress with this. If it isn't worth it, I hope to help others not waste their money. If it is worth it, I will relay that as well.

Toxarch,

Have you done the lens cap mod, it gives excellent results?

As far as my particular light spill, I have a ten foot ceiling that is light blue, FYI - the PJ is well behind the front row of seating, the spill is about 3 feet forward and has approx a 3 foot spread. Yes is throws light in the room, but no other viewers ever noticed it, or at least never said anything.

I took care of it because I tend to be very picky, as I believe you probably are. It really didn't change the picture quality as I went back and forth several times to test the results of the lens cap fix, which now brings total darkness.

I also prefer total darkness as it gives a more "Movie Theater" type experience.

Ranger,

Is is your understanding that when the 1080p chip comes out from TI we'll be able to upgrade our pjs to that chip just like you're doing with the 2+ chip? I wasn't sure if this is what you meant or not. If so, that would really be fantastic.

I'll be anxiously awaiting your report on the upgrade.

Chad

Has anyone hooked up a TV3 to a Pioneer 59avi via DVI? I'm considering getting one for my new theater (which should be done in 4-6 weeks) but I'd like to know if others have had problems with it.

Erik

Erik,

My research shows it should be fine, the company I ordered mine from guaranteed it would be compatible, or they will refund my money.

I should get mine next week and I'll post my results.

I'll be comparing the DV 59 to my D1 and 951 for starters. If all goes well I'll be unloading two DVD's at a very cheap price.

I went with the Pioneer over the Denon 5900 due to it's ability to change the screen format on the HDMI/DVI digital port. Plus the price is almost half that of the Denon.

A friend of mine has the 5900 on order, when it arrives he will bring it to my house for a side by side to see how they stack up.

Originally posted by Thomas Marshall
Erik,

My research shows it should be fine, the company I ordered mine from guaranteed it would be compatible, or they will refund my money.

I should get mine next week and I'll post my results.

I'm looking forward to seeing your posts, and the comparison with the 5900. I have a couple more weeks before the room will be ready for the projector so I'm not in a huge rush to get a decent DVD player ordered. Driving a TV3 with my four year old Pioneer seems like a crime, somehow!

Erik

I just installed the Dish 921 DVR with DVI to the TV-3. This is my first experience with DVI on the TV3.

One thing I observed that was different with the DVI and this 921 was that all the HDTV channels exhibit a small border around each channel's picture. Some people don't see this because their monitors overscan enough to hide it if it is there.

Does anyone here see this border which is a teal blue color about 3-7 DLP pixels wide surrounding the main picture on their DVI device? I wonder if this is an artifact of the 921 or the TV-3 or a bug they need to fix. No one here has mentioned it so I believe this is native to the 921.

Otherwise the picture quality of the 921 and DVI is just incredible! The colors and picture window effect is truely realized with DVI HDTV. This is true even when looking at the screen 2 ft away it looks like a photograph!

Originally posted by Thomas Marshall
Toxarch,

Have you done the lens cap mod, it gives excellent results?

Yes I have a done the lens cap mod, but we shouldn't have to do it on any projector. My room has 12 foot ceilings and the projector is above the back of the second row. I guess my dark room makes it more obvious.

The xHD3 chip swap out is very interesting. That would be an upgrade I would be willing to do.

Does anyone remember where in the 71 pages of this thread is the description of how to make the lens cap modification?

Since DWIN is now acknowledging this as a "fix" for light spill (according to post #1391), maybe they can pre-cut and send lens caps to TV3 owners who request them.

They can't precut the caps because of the lens offset. Each person using the offset would need a different cut lens cap.

I think Don had a description of it in his DWIN FAQ he put together. Fred DeGrandis found an electrical tape made by 3M at Home Depot that comes in a clear plastic case which could be used as a substitute lens cap. I put that clear cap on with the projector on, and used a marker to draw the area I needed cut out. Pull it off, cut out the rectangle, and spray paint it flat black. I put a few drops of silicone on the inside edge of the cap because it's a little big (let the silicone dry). Then put it on the lens and you are done.

Originally posted by Don Landis
I just installed the Dish 921 DVR with DVI to the TV-3. This is my first experience with DVI on the TV3.

One thing I observed that was different with the DVI and this 921 was that all the HDTV channels exhibit a small border around each channel's picture. Some people don't see this because their monitors overscan enough to hide it if it is there.

Does anyone here see this border which is a teal blue color about 3-7 DLP pixels wide surrounding the main picture on their DVI device? I wonder if this is an artifact of the 921 or the TV-3 or a bug they need to fix. No one here has mentioned it so I believe this is native to the 921.

Otherwise the picture quality of the 921 and DVI is just incredible! The colors and picture window effect is truely realized with DVI HDTV. This is true even when looking at the screen 2 ft away it looks like a photograph!
Hey Don,
I just installed a 921 also. I do not see a border at all. I also did not see one with my 5900 via dvi or Bravo D1 via DVI.
I totally agree that the picture is absolutly fantastic. Even sharper, more detail and 3D than the 6000 via component. I am thrilled with the 921/TV3 combo. So far I have not seen any bad bugs just some little tiny ones.
Knock on wood.
FREAK!

"I just installed a 921 also. I do not see a border at all. I also did not see one with my 5900 via dvi or Bravo D1 via DVI. "

Hmmmm... Tune to several HD channels and be sure none of them have it. I have seen it disappear on some programs.
I sent this bug report into my inside contact at E* today. I'll see if he has any answer. He reviews all the bug reports submitted.
I plan to test the Component outs on the 921 to see if it is just related to the DVI on my 921. I wish I had another DVI device to test on my TV-3. I realize that my TV-3 may have an adjustment out for DVI screen size.
I suppose I could poke around in the service menu too. Maybe I should contact Dwin as well.

Thanks Freak, appreciate your report.

The xHD3 chip swap out is very interesting. That would be an upgrade I would be willing to do.

Can anyone confirm that this WILL happen in time? I would buy the DWIN on the spot if it is true. Can we get the information confirmed somehow?

Thanks,

Frank T. Lee

Originally posted by ftlee
Can anyone confirm that this WILL happen in time? I would buy the DWIN on the spot if it is true. Can we get the information confirmed somehow?

Thanks,

Frank T. Lee
Frank,
If the chip is the same size as the HD2/HD2+ then it should work because I was told by Dwin that it can upgrade to any chip that will fit the socket. I have no information about any upgrade to xHD3 though. I would be up for that upgrade too. Though I sure do LOVE the picture out of my TV3. I will be having it calibrated early Feb.

Don,
I will take a closer look. Any particular channels/shows to check?
I set a bunch of times over the last few days. All sat shows and all recorded flawlessly. This machine ROCKS!
FREAK!

I agree with you about the 921. A few issues yet but all in all it is a superb receiver for HDTV. Try the Demo channel. I saw it first on there. Later I will try to connect the component to compare. At least in Component I will have the ability to form the image geometry. But, if you never see the border, then it must be something that is peculiar to my stuff only. I will also get a picture of it.

toxarch,

I completely agree with you, a PJ of this caliber and cost should not have a problem like this, but such is life. All three of my finalist PJ's had issues of one kind or another (S2, Z10k and the TV3). Go figure.

Don,

I have Adelphia's Motorola DTC 5100 HDTV box and Samsung's OTA 151 box and I've never seen that type of problem. However, occasionally one of my OTA HD channels will display a thin line of light over the top of the picture, not sure what it is, doesn't happen very often. I assumed it was the broadcast channels problem, not my equipment.

Don,

I have a Sony SAT-HD200 DirecTV box and every now and then I either a) Get program code information on the top of the image (looks like white and black code bars going crazy) or b) a thin, green line on the right edge of my screen. I guess I should double check to make sure I have my projector overscan set correctly. And I also should mention that it varies on the program, and NOT the channel. One thing I find extremely funny are the commercials that appear "letterboxed" in 4:3 because I can see that they just put masks over the top and bottom of the 4:3 image to make it letterboxed. There were times I could see what should have been going on at the bottom edge. Bad masking job!

Everyone else,

So, I haven't visited this thread in a while, but I was just thinking the other day how impressed I am with the image of my TV3. Armageddon was on tonight on ABC (HD and 5.1) and the colors were phenominal. Resident Evil: Superbit got a spin the other night and I was amazed at the quality I was getting in the room. Followed shortly after was Cabin Fever, which had an incredible HD-like image. I think I've wanted to beat the **** out of my Bravo D1 more than anything else due to it's random disc jitters!

Anyway, I've only had one experience with DWIN's tech support, and it went fine. Now, I do have the solarization problem, and I need to fix it quick (shows HORRIBLY on MGM DVD intros). Other than that, I don't have the ghosting problem. My only problem with my setup is my DVD player, and I'm waiting for Thomas to solve my problem (Pioneer or Denon). So, hurry up would ya?!?! :)

On another note, I spoke with Rodger at CES and asked the HD2 to HD2+ question, and he said don't worry about it (told him I was sitting 11.5' back with a 110" Studiotek 130). He said I'd be better off selling my HD2 and buying a HD2+ if I decided I wanted to do the upgrade though. Why? I asked the same thing and he said I could spend either $1,500 on an upgrade (sending it in for them to do it) or spending $400 on a new projector assuming I could get back what I spent on the HD2. Interesting to say the least.

Speaking of CES, there were times throughout the show I'd see video demonstrations (cough, Faroudja, cough) and was like "Damn, I love my TV3...it beats the hell out of this!" Then there were times I was like, "Holy crap, that projector rocks! (cough, Sony Qualia, cough)", but then realized it was about twice as expensive as what I've got now. No thanks. And I don't think I was the only one to think this at the show.

Twelly,

Did you find the fix for the solarization issue? If so, please let me know.

Post calibration values on my tv3:

12 feet away from a 1.3 gain screen in total darkness:

regular video menu:
70
36
50
50
0

Service menu white balance:
45
22
20

Don,
I checked the demo channel and all other HD channels- no border at all.
FREAK!

"I have a Sony SAT-HD200 DirecTV box and every now and then I either a) Get program code information on the top of the image (looks like white and black code bars going crazy) or b) a thin, green line on the right edge of my screen. I guess I should double check to make sure I have my projector overscan set correctly. And I also should mention that it varies on the program, and NOT the channel. One thing I find extremely funny are the commercials that appear "letterboxed" in 4:3 because I can see that they just put masks over the top and bottom of the 4:3 image to make it letterboxed. There were times I could see what should have been going on at the bottom edge. Bad masking job!
"

That's it! I only see the VITC data code on some locals here but in analog connection I was able to correct for that with vertical blanking in the TV3. Dwin doesn't call it that.
The graphics to give a wide screen look on 4x3 shot video is done exactly as you said. The reason why you were able to see the full video poking through the back layer is because the editor trusted his sloppiness would be covered in the SMPTE standard 5% overscan for action. I use a graphics frame size of 644x486 as opposed to 640x480 in a frame buffer using the 640x480 page size for NTSC. This makes sure that all video that is 644x486 is fully masked even in a TV with no overscan. If the editor had switched his broadcast monnitor to underscan or x-pulse mode he would have seen his sloppiness.

What I think is happening with the blue or green border is that our TV-3's are not cropped in the image "raster" as is others. I want to be sure this is a TV3 issue and then will investigate a way to adjust it in the service menus if possible.

Freak- I did see that a recording of a live program with the border present here had this border cropped out in the 921 playback. It appeasr that the framing of this hard drive signal is different than the live output. That was just one instance so I want to try it several times to be sure.

OK- I think I have the border issue under control and a way to eliminate it. It does seem to be an issue with the 921 and not the TV3.

The blue border shows up when I am watching a DVR recording in HDTV and then stop and return to a sat channel such as 9443 the demo, or any sat channel even SD! such as CNN on 200. The blue frame shows up upon return to live sat. If I now tune to my OTA channel it goes away and stays away permanently. I can surf all sat channels and it is gone. Even where it was before.
As soon as select a DVR recording and watch it for a few minutes, (no blue border here either) and stop and return to sat channel the blue border returns and the only way to get rid of it is to tune the OTA channel and back to the sat channel.

The above I repeated many many times so this is now a definable bug, at least in my setup. Not a major one but what I call an annoyance to my picture. At least I know how to eliminate it now!

OK, here's a quick description of how to get rid of the solarization problem. I'll try to get a more elaborate description next time I watch something (Could be a while since I hate seeing the TV3 problems). You have to get in the service menu to fix it. Then, I believe you need to get into the white balance settings and change the index setting. This number should be around 205-215 before you start. Moving this number up or down a little (+/-5) should take care of your solarization problem. I suggest you find a scene with solarization before adjusting this and pausing the scene while adjusting it. What should the number be? I don't know. Mine had no solarization problem before I sent it in to get fixed and came back with solarization. The index value is different with each projector. Just go by eye to find the right setting.

Well, I guess a more elaborate description isn't really needed. That's pretty much how you change it. Get into the service menu. Select White Balance. Change the Index value. Mine is set at 200.

I tried Fred's white balance settings and they look so much better than mine did. I asked DWIN to do a D65 calibration while they had it, but I am guessing they didn't. My values were all about 20 points higher than Fred's. Then I used DVE to tweek the user settings. I still can't seem to get my green right using DVE.

Toxarch, what problems are you having with "green"? I was wondering if it is the same issue that I see, which is that the blue and red filters on the smpte color bars provide a smooth/beautiful output, but green can not be smoothed out. No matter what the setting, the pattern will not match up with the green filter.

On the subject of solarization, even though adjusting the delay index can help, remember what you are doing is adjusting the timing between the colorwheel and the DMD chip. This is a double edged sword as your colors will eventually begin to drift. A shift of +/-5 would be the largest adjustment I would dare to make. After a lot of research, Guy Kuo from Avia provided a simple but elegant way to set the index correctly for those of us who have access to a color analyzer. That would be to project a full red, green, or blue screen and with the color analyzer look for the index setting which provides the purest and strongest readout for the selected color. In fact, he commented that red usually was the best color to work with during the calibration as it is usually the purest on most projectors.

ranger 67-

I'll only discuss the use of the filters and some troubleshooting tips for tracking down tint issues as you seem to have the index adjustment down cold. Personally I have had no need to change any of those service settings.

Use of filters is not a perfect science. I once tried to establish what does work and found a particular grade of welding blue glass. And it is blue that you use, not green for SMPTE color bars.

The filters that come with AVIA are close but not perfect. They will get you in the ball park.

I had suggested to Dwin that they build into their projector a blue only for user tint and color saturation adjustment. The attitude unfortunately was that only engineers like me would be interested in this so it is not worth the trouble.

If your bars are not alternating blue/light blue to equal intensity and the long bars matching up with the small Chips (SMPTE) then it is most likely the tint that needs adjusting. Chroma is used to increase the dark blue intensity so the upper and lower bars line up with equal blue intensity. My avia filter looks near on once adjusted but a good eye will see it is not perfect. My Blue welding glass is better but still not perfect. Without a real blue only circuit, that is the best I will try to achieve on my TV3. I doubt for general viewing it would be noticeable perfect anyway.

In broadcast TV work, sometimes we get clients who insist on a perfect color match of some shade in their logo. The best we can do is match that color on a calibrated screen on our broadcast monitor and then explain that TVsets are all adjustable and no two are ever the same (NTSC) :)

If your bars are way off then you will see some pinkish or greenish to the flesh tones of a fair skinned person. It is harder to see on darker skinned people or people with a fresh sun burn or weird makeup like that girl in the DishNetwork demo channel. She is wearing stage makup, not TV makup! I know the difference!

Many of the TV-3's are so much alike that you could probably preset your brightness, color, tint, contrast to what many of us found similar last summer and be close for a starting point unless you got into the service menu and started making adjustments. If you did, hopefully you wrote down your factory settings. If not you may be in for an ISF job or send it back to DWIN for co$tly repair. I would probably choose a "qualified" service tech first. If he doesn't know the TV3 codes thae he is not qualified.


Also, you didn't say what input you were using. If Digital DVI there will be no adjustments needed but in analog, if your cable has a loose ground it may cause a bad color impedance and that would also shift your bars in the SMPTE test. All cables should exhibit a 75 ohm standard impedance load at the TV-3 input. I would plug in the cable and check each color to it's shield for 75 ohms. If one is different then you have lost a shield and it will raise the brightness of that color and foul up the mix for perfect color. If it happens on the green, like say 100ohms, then that will through your brightness off to hot. Since you said it looked green I would suspect the red/ground impedance being low compared to the others. However it may be fine and the others high and you adjusted your brightness / contrast to compensate.

If your SMPTE bars are real close which you said they are not, I would suspect white balance in the service setup menu. Get an ISF tech to recalibrate your TV3.

I hope I haven't lost you on this as it does help to have a thorough understanding of how impedance and color affect one another to aid in logical troubleshooting.

Unfortunately, Fine engineers like Guy Kuo and Joe Kane give the average lay person enough rope to hang themselves in some cases. If you had their knowledge of the engineering you probably wouldn't be here asking the questions.

Ranger, that is the exact same problem I have been having.

Don, the DVE disk has the regular SMPTE and another one of their own design. They have you calibrate the blue, then the red, and then the green. the idea is that blue gets you close, red gets you really close and the green is the fine tune color adjustment. The problem is that the blue and red can be perfect, but the green is way off. Don't know if we are just supposed to look at one shade of green to match the level or all of them like you do for blue and red.

Also, are you looking for a blue only screen output from the projector? It is built into the projector if that is the case. In the service menu, they have several test patterns built into the system like cross hatches, and whatever. They also have a red screen, green screen, and blue screen in with the test patterns. Maybe you could use those.

I can't acces the menu via the remote control, all other commands seem to work. Anyone else have this problem ?

Toxarch-

I'm not familiar with the tests. Joe Kane originates many new testing procedures that are not standard in the industry. He gave a talk on these on the HT Cruise and is hoping the industry will embrace his test patterns for Digital TV. I have the Avia here and while pretty good if you follow the procedures, I preferred to use standard SMPTE tests in my HT. I know them and use some of them every day.

The blue only is not the same thing. It is not a test pattern. It is a way of channeling all color of RGB to the single blue circuit and displaying them on screen. If you feed a straight program to it the picture will be blue and white or light blue but color bars will generate an alternating bar pattern like you see when looking through your blue gel at SMPTE bars. The blue only in a monitor replaces the gel and as such is really like the perfect gel since it is generated by true display and not the shade of the gel filter. Only broadcast monitors generally have blue only or "blue gun" as it is sometimes called on a CRT.


Tonight I tested the Component output of the 921 with the TV3 and I am happy to report no streaking hardware bug many are reporting.

Also, I have been spoiled by DVI this past week. Switching back to Component after getting used to DVI is quite a let down. What a difference!
Now I want to go out and buy a new DVI out DVD player.

Don or anyone in a position to reply,
Is the TV3 based on the HD2 chip or the HD2+ from T.I ?
Also can you tell me what the warranty period is?
Thanks
Dennis

Initial build most of us have is HD2. If you buy new today it comes with the HD2+. Old ones can be upgraded but it is, IMHO, too expensive for the perceived value unless you have a huge screen and sit close enough to see pixels. I had to get up to 5 ft away to see the better looking pixels. Also, I think DVI would be required to really benefit. There are too many artifacts on component that I see now that would overshadow the HD2+ advantage.
Warranty is a year parts and labor except for the bulb which is 30 days from date of factory shipment.

Originally posted by Don Landis
The blue only is not the same thing. It is not a test pattern. It is a way of channeling all color of RGB to the single blue circuit and displaying them on screen. If you feed a straight program to it the picture will be blue and white or light blue but color bars will generate an alternating bar pattern like you see when looking through your blue gel at SMPTE bars. The blue only in a monitor replaces the gel and as such is really like the perfect gel since it is generated by true display and not the shade of the gel filter. Only broadcast monitors generally have blue only or "blue gun" as it is sometimes called on a CRT.

Could this possible be done with something like an all blue color wheel? Or maybe deactivate the motor and leave it on blue? I'm just thowing out ideas here. I don't know about the all blue wheel because it looks like there is a kind of eye that reads the color on the wheel as it spins.

Toxarch,

Thanks for the solarization tip. Upon initial inspection, the index was set at 204. I put in a MGM DVD with the red curtains at the beginning (best display of solarization) and adjusted the index accordingly. I'm now down at 200, which is where your's is at and no solarization.

I also for grins a giggles threw in Freds numbers and what a difference! I recalibrated with DVE and it seems I have more depth to the picture. Fred's seating distance and screen are almost identical to mine (other than the screen manufacturer) so I figured what the hell. I know the new settings are not perfect (every projector is different!), so I'm going back to my original settings and will most likely have an ISF tech come out to D65 my machine.

Can anyone else take a look at their Index setting and let me know what it is at? Just curious.

Thanks!

Don,
Much thanks for the info and the prompt response.
I am a (recently retired) newbie to this site and the knowledge and generosity of those contributing (to those of us needing help), is unbelievable.
Dennis

Chris,

I have a TV3+ and my factory set index delay was set at 201. This setting had to be changed to 197 as I was experiencing purple flesh tones in DVD's during scenes that had low ambient light. It looked like a radioactive glow. I did not experience this with the TV3 I had. Its factory index delay was set at 209. I also tried Fred's settings last evening. Depth of colors and increased saturation was the first thing I noticed. Facial flesh tones also seemed to be more natural. I am wondering what his gray scale settings are. The R,G,B gain settings are the same for both my old TV3 and the new TV3+ but the R,G,B levels are different. I wonder how far apart all of these factory setup projectors differ?

Fred,

Do you know what your white balance settings were before the calibration?

Steve

Chuck lowered the levels by 30 points or more!

I dont remember the pre-calibration numbers, but when Chuuck walked in, the first thuing he said was that this display was WAY TOO BLUE!

He fixed the problem and made my TV3 look great. It was $ well spent!

Toxarch-

I don't know. DLP circuit engineering is way out of my area. If it were calibrated blue standard gel, you could plop that in the light path after the DMD just before the lens. If that were built in we could assume it passed test as being a standard blue that works.

I also for grins a giggles threw in Freds numbers and what a difference! I recalibrated with DVE and it seems I have more depth to the picture. Fred's seating distance and screen are almost identical to mine (other than the screen manufacturer) so I figured what the hell

Originally posted by Fred DeGrandis
Chuck lowered the levels by 30 points or more!

I dont remember the pre-calibration numbers, but when Chuuck walked in, the first thuing he said was that this display was WAY TOO BLUE!

He fixed the problem and made my TV3 look great. It was $ well spent!

I used your numbers too fred because I thought things were too blue. I am having the ISF job done in about a month or so. It was a big improvement for me as well. I did record my numbers before I change them:
Service menu white balance:
45
22(was 45)
20(was 42)

FREAK!

I installed my new TV3+ yesterday. The Tranvision processor would not power up. The led blinks slowly indicated power to it but will not power up either with the manual button or the remote. Have any of you gentlemen experienced the same problem? Thanks for your help if there is a something for me to try before going back to DWIN.

Thanks

"but will not power up either with the manual button "

Call your dealer first! Let your dealer deal with Dwin.

Make sure your DVI cable is properly seated. Try disconnecting the power and then power it back up.

And make sure the power is properly hooked to the PJ not just the box.
FREAK!

Good god, that Chevy Truck commercial looked fantastic in HD last night during the Super Bowl!

Talk about finding out if your projector is calibrated properly! The yellow truck on that gorgeous blue sky was breathtaking. Kudos to Chevy for doing that one in HD.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it was the "Holy, $hit" commercial by Chevy. All the kids had bars of soap in their mouth. Nicely done commercial. You can see an extremely lo-res version of it here...


http://www.users.muohio.edu/choongty/chevy-soap.avi


Damn that look fantastic on the DWIN TV3 last night!

I guess that I get to officially join this thread as my 3+ is up and we watched two movies this weekend. A 110 is way better than the little 27 we had been watching. Even the wife has a big grin.


Thanks to Jason for the great service and Don Landis for some good advice. I have my Avia now too and will look in to doing some tweaking but it looked great out of the box. Have not had bars up on it yet. I wanted to watch a movie first. After all that is what I got it for. Plenty of time to tweak later when the wife is traveling.

Don't know if it is the "farthest north" TV3+ but it may well be.

Heck, I am so far north that Dwin would not hook me up with a Dealer. :) Jason was there to take up the slack.

Now back to watching movies.......

K

Thanks for the tip on white balance adjustment. Index on my tv3 was set to 214. Adjusted it to 208 and solarization is gone. Awesome! Thanks guys.

-twelly

Great Gooooglleee Wooogleee... 72 pages...

I started reading and got to pages where there was more discussion on dvd players vs the actual projector... and people picking fly poop from pepper on light spill and a bit of dust..

Dust is a problem no matter what set of optics you chose there is no projector that truly seals out dust... I was involved with a project where Kodak made up 6 lenses for Nasa to work in conjunction with the hubbel... they came the closest to manufacturing a dust free lens.. I will not state the cost of the lens. Don't get me wrong ...sealed optics do help but it is definitely no guarantee.

anyway I sort of woke up and had a brilliant idea and hit last page...

Dwin is a company I never really considered in the past until I saw the 3 chipper Transvision 10 and the Transvision 3. I was most impressed by Dwins ability to stay on the cutting edge of technology.... I guess I have been wasting too much time manufacturing mounts for projectors I endorse and kind of missed the boat on this one..

After having the opportunity to speak to some of the people at Dwin I was most impressed with their knowledge, and energy about what they do.. It was very refreshing.

I do plan on having the Transvision 3 ... and possibly if it makes it the Transvision 10 at the Canuck Shootout in April.. not sure if the 10 will be available yet but it will be very close....

In the interest of brevity and saving me some time before moving forward carrying the product and making a home for it in a showroom I would be most appreciative of your overall impressions

1) with the company,,, how it has handled the aforementioned shortcomings, and how responsive and action compelling they have been to any suggestions or improvements.

2) the product itself, especially the 2HD+ ... did they offer an upgrade path ??

3) The quality of the scaler...

4) The noise level seemed to be a complaint... At an event like CES it is difficult to get an overall impression of this and I found db ratings are not reliable as it is usually the pitch that is more annoying than the actual measured db rating... and there is no clear cut standard of doing this rating unfortunately.. I guess if it is still an issue I could always pump out a hush box in an esthetically pleasing shape that would simply and easily attach to one of my mount designs and color match it..

5) How user friendly is it.??

6) Settings out of the box.... Is it close?

7) Is there a short list summary of the most viable tweaks on the 2hd+ units and the older ones.... and if so can we put a reference to this on the very first post...

8) Whats the biggest beef with it currently??

Thanks in advance...

Robert

Originally posted by mandarax

After having the opportunity to speak to some of the people at Dwin I was most impressed with their knowledge, and energy about what they do.. It was very refreshing.

Wow, they must have different people working the shows than the ones who answer the phones and e-mails.


1) with the company,,, how it has handled the aforementioned shortcomings, and how responsive and action compelling they have been to any suggestions or improvements.

They don't handle the problems. They say there is nothing wrong with their projector. You can send it in to them and they will "improve" on what they consider perfection. They don't take suggestions very well.

2) the product itself, especially the 2HD+ ... did they offer an upgrade path ??

The HD2 chip socketed and can be replaced with the HD2+ chip with a software upgrade. But they use the old color wheel. They claim that the xHD3 chip will be upgradable the same way, but I wouldn't believe them until it happened.

3) The quality of the scaler...

Pretty good. It didn't scale my old interlaced component DVD player very well, but that might have been the player.

4) The noise level seemed to be a complaint... At an event like CES it is difficult to get an overall impression of this and I found db ratings are not reliable as it is usually the pitch that is more annoying than the actual measured db rating... and there is no clear cut standard of doing this rating unfortunately.. I guess if it is still an issue I could always pump out a hush box in an esthetically pleasing shape that would simply and easily attach to one of my mount designs and color match it..

It's only noticable during quiet scenes. You will notice it.

5) How user friendly is it.??

The menus are simple and easy to navigate. I would say it's pretty user friendly.

6) Settings out of the box.... Is it close?

Close to D65? No. But DWIN will tell you that it is. But the picture out of the box is pretty good.

7) Is there a short list summary of the most viable tweaks on the 2hd+ units and the older ones.... and if so can we put a reference to this on the very first post...

Don put together a good list and FAQ and even submitted it to DWIN for review. I don't think they liked it too much. It seems to me that they won't acknowledge problems (or flaws) with their projector and don't want a list of them posted somewhere.

8) Whats the biggest beef with it currently??

Ghosting, light spill, dust, customer support, convergence and solarization (I posted a fix to this a couple of days ago). Everyone doesn't have the same problems. But those are probably the ones that come up the most.

Toxarch...

Thanks for the reply especially in chronological order...

Customer support is extremely important ... I had no trouble getting a hold of some important people at Dwin... actually quite the contrary.. and it was the people that I talked to on the phone that impressed me the most..

The Dwin rep even offered to come to my shootout in April... which at this point I am not sure people want... do not want to turn it into a marketing bonanza .... already have a potential sumo wrestling match as an entertainment side show..

What about the rest of you guys?? what do you think??

Robert

"Don put together a good list and FAQ and even submitted it to DWIN for review. I don't think they liked it too much. It seems to me that they won't acknowledge problems (or flaws) with their projector and don't want a list of them posted somewhere."

Since I had the opportunity to have dinner with a person from Dwin on the HT Cruise, I was able to get a very good understanding behind their attitude toward the FAQ.
As Tox said, I listed the good, bad, and ugly in that piece. I had documented several main problem areas and owner work around.
Dwin was not hating the idea that I did that nor did they ask me to remove it. Rather, their position was that they chose not to endorse it for liability reasons. They simply chose to not acknowledge it's existence. I have no problem with that. In particular, the FAQ on the dust filtering I am using and suggested in the FAQ. We had a very good level of discussion on ways Dwin could implement the same degree of dust protection at the mfg. level including the necessary safe guards to insure projector temperature protection. They were quite receptive to the ideas but whether these ever get implemented is another subject. I would imagine it really depends how much an issue dust really is from the masses. Dealer feedback on this is probably more important as dealer feedback of having to deal with this will be what encourages Dwin to move on some dust filter creativity in the design.

We also discussed some ideas on an adjustable matte box design for the lens that would be user adjustable for eliminating that annoying light spill from the lens. The FAQ addressed the use of a lens cap cutout which most are using in one form or another. Dwin also has recommended this to complaining users. It must be sized and cut in the field because of different environments.

As stated everyone doesn't have the same problems and I can say I don't share Toxarch's same attitude about Dwin's customer response. But, then again, all my discussion with them has been related to general issues as I have always kept my personal requests on the TV3 between me and my dealer. Very few issues, but when one comes up, my first reaction is to contact my dealer.


This past CES, I didn't spend alot of time looking at projectors but the ones I did look at I would say my TV3 is equal to or better than those, but not by much. The lower end has improved by quite a bit but the upper end of the scale $10K to $14K seems to have remained constant. Going to the next level of improvement, IMO, is the $25K and up category of 3 chip DLP. Not in my league! Because of this, I feel the TV3 was an excellent investment in HT imaging for the foreseeable future.

Two Words.

Love it.


Now that the solarization is fixed (again, thanks Toxarch!) I'm in heaven.

No ghosting.

No dust blobs.

Had a convergence problem due to shipping, but DWIN customer service came through and fixed that. So, no convergence problem.

All I need is a ISF calibration and I'm done. Right now the picture is fantastic (out of the box), but know it's higher than D65.

If anyone can feed their DWIN with that Chevy "Holy $hit" commercial in HD, you'll love the picture it's throwing. Good contrast of colors.

I agree with Chris - I have had absolutely no issues with my TV3. I do not consider the light spill on the ceiling to be an issue because it is so easily fixed in about five minutes. All the projectors I auditioned (Marantz, Runco, Dwin and Sharp) had fan noise. I, personally, can't differentiate between a couple of dBs. I love the two box setup. I now have about 500 hours on my pj and have not had one single problem. Would I buy again - definitely!

In my opinion, the TV3 is an awesome projector.

Chad

Thanks guys...

You saved me from reading a mountain of info.. Sounds like a good unit.

Like I said dust is a problem with any projector ... I dont think any of us is going to go to triple class A clean room environment..

Sounds like a winner... I really want the 3 chipper at the my shootout to give people a reference ... cross my fingers....it will be close.. But I do think many people are going to like this unit till the price pressure forces the technology to be squeegeed down to the masses

Gentlemen I would appreciate your experience on this one. My new TV3+ is experiencing lamp problems. When I initially installed it the lamp flickered. I wrote that off as an infant situation. Last night while watching NEMO it not only flashed but went out mutiple times during the show. I was able to shut down the projector and restart it each time. The next outage seemed to be occurring about every 10 minutes or so. It is mounted on the ceiling with no restriction on cooling air.

I would like to be able to access the service menu in order to use some of the settings you gentlemen have found to be improvements. How do you access the service menu?

Thanks.

RS,

I had a simliar issue with about 95hours on the lamp. It would start to flicker with "solarization" on some of the picture. Then flicker until it shut itself off. I called DWIN and just sent it back yesterday. It's not the lamp since it fires up....so I think its something with the PJ. I don't think there are any service menu items that would help that.

-sonny

Thanks sbaillar.

DWIN is shipping me another projector also.

RS.

Mandarax
I too have had my TV3 for about 6 months. Light spill...no problem, easy fix. Picture is absolutely beautiful. Two piece unit makes for easy conections. I DO NOT regret buying this machine!
Questions for members: I have heard that using a HTPC as the image processor rather than a commercial DVD player, will "greatly improve the image". I can't see how the image could be better.
Can anyone comment on this???

By the Way:
It iseems to me this this thread is getting too long (73 pages worth).
Don, perhaps you sould create a new one for "Dwin TV3 Owners Thread - 2004). Fresh for 2004. What do you think?

FishLady,

I trashed my PC for many reasons I won't go into. IMO the new digital DVD's are as good as it gets for DVD playback, every bit as good as a PC and no headaches, unless you're using a faulty D1 :)

I just replaced my D1 and 931 with a new Pioneer DV 59, and I love it.

I'll put the PQ of the D1 or my DV 59 coupled with the TV3's processor up against any PC out there, and the best part is the reliability.

Just my opinion, and you need to know I really dislike PC's, they have no place in my custom HT :)

Glad to hear you love you TV3, I couldn't be happier with mine. I would buy it again in a heart beat.

Originally posted by FishLady
By the Way:
It seems to me this this thread is getting too long (73 pages worth).
Don, perhaps you should create a new one for "Dwin TV3 Owners Thread - 2004). Fresh for 2004. What do you think?

I see no justification for that. When you access the thread you can access the last page and be there just as quickly as the first page from the main forum list. Having some of the most important information on the TV3 contained in the early posts is beneficial for all new members of the "Owners club" Splitting that off to another thread that would scroll off into the archives would just further hide the important information.

Since the start of this thread there have been several other threads pertaining to issues on the TV3. Unfortunately, few if any have an idea where they are or how to search for them. Having everything here makes it easy but I do admit that if one is not interested in making the extra effort to read the posts, Scan through the irrelevant stuff it can be a bit of a chore locating something specific, especially if you don't do a thread key word search which is another tool many are not familiar with on the forum.

Another aspect of this thread is that I have decided to "moderate it" with the cooperation of the TV3 owners. I'm not an AVS moderator but I ask cooperation for my one rule in this thread I stated in the first post. : That this thread is for TV3 Owners and soon to be owners to aid each other with tips and tricks to make the TV3 a better PJ for all. We don't allow discussions of one PJ is better than the other debates here, only discussion on the TV3 use, Dwin support, dealer support, and ask that all other discussion be done in other threads. Keeping these debates out has actually kept the thread at least manageably small, IMO.

Thanks for the opportunity to restate the purpose of the TV3 Owners Thread.

Thomas- Not much has been said about the latest addition to the options on the TV3. Dwin has produced a new TV3 scaler. I don't recall whether it is optional but I got the impression that it was the new standard. It's improvement is that it contains a second active DVI output to drive two displays. You could use it to drive two TV3 PJ heads or Dwin's latest DVI Plasma screen.

I asked about having a combo of the DVI and the RGBHV output and Dwin told me they couldn't do that under the DVI license agreement for HDCP. Just in case you were wondering.

Don,

The new scaler is called Duovision and it is due out next month. It won't replace the single DVI output Transcanner that comes with TV3+'s currently. It will actually add about $2,000 to $3,000 to the cost of a TV3+ if you choose the Duovision vs the Transcanner to mate with the TV3+. The current plan from DWIN is that the Duovision will only work with DWIN products as well. Yet another reason for not offering RGBHV and likely more of a reason than the HDCP licensing issue. Of course DWIN wants to sell their PJ's and plasmas.

They plan to have 3 PJ's by the end of the year - TV3+, TV10 and a low-end/entry level unit that is either domino based or HD2 based. It will look and work differently than the current TV3/TV3+ also. They will have flat screens to go with the PJ's - 50" Plasma (currently available), 63" Plasma, and 1 or 2 LCD panels in the 20"-40" range. This would give a Duovision customer a lot of options as to what and how it is used. 2 projectors or 1 plasma and 1 projector - same room or different rooms in the house. I hope that clarifies.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

I wonder when they changed that to Dwin Plasmas/LCD's only? At CES it was DVI out only to keep their license agreement. but I understood I could connect any DVI monitor I wanted to the new scaler. BUt there was an offer on the table that I turned down that did include the 50" Plasma screen. I just don't like Plasma technology. Thanks for the update.

That's been my understanding of Duovision from its inception. When I first found out about it I asked about using other "more affordable" plasmas with the Duovision and was told that it would not be possible. From a DWIN marketing strategy it's smart, from a customer flexibility standpoint it stinks.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

So I decided to connect a UPS to the TV3 in case of a power outage. This would let me have the power and time to let the TV3 go through its short but necessary cool down period. The main problems I was dealing with was where to mount it and the voltage output from the UPS. This voltage output is why I am putting this in the TV3 thread and I'll make another thread for the UPS mounting if anyone is interested.

The projector specs states that the projector will run with 100-130 volts AC. The main problem is that an APC UPS outputs around 80-90 VAC when running on battery. I bought a 500VA APC UPS to connect to the TV3 which should give enough time to shut down the projector and be small enough to mount near the projector. It also offers surge protection and some power conditioning. I had to make sure the TV3 would keep running at the lower UPS voltage so decided to go ahead and try it out. I fired up the projector and let it warm up for a few minutes. Then I climbed the ladder and unplugged the UPS from the ceiling plug. It switched over to battery power and the projector kept running fine like nothing happened. This 500 VA UPS outputs 83-84 volts while on battery. The scaler and most of the rack equipment is on a 1000VA UPS that outputs 92 volts on battery. Here's a picture of the projector and where I mounted the UPS on the drop pole.

Thats an interesting pic.. Here is a pic of my most recent mount design..for the Z2 ...

A guy had a NEC chassis projector and wanted to do the same thing ...What we did was used the same basic design for the projector mount... but didnt use the adjustable knee joint pieces ... I had a hole cut into the (the ceiling / wall plate) which is just slightly larger than a regular electrical outlet cover plate... only it is 14 ga crs... we used just a piece of threaded rod to his spec.. we drilled through the chassis of the UPS to accept a bolt and nut.. put another ceiling wall/plate on the end and fastened the UPS to it.. a high tech looking sleeve covered the wire and the threads of the threaded rod.. The ups was screwed and bolted to another ceiling mount plate and dropped just behind the unit...

With a longer drop like you seem to have ... I would have opted to have an extention a plate cut to take the weight of the UPS and just seat it on plate. Not sure if you can envision this ... but a pic of the mount may help..

Robert

I chose this design of UPS because it is a wall mountable design. That drop mount is a 1 inch threaded pipe. It can hold about 600 pounds. The way I have it mounted, the UPS can easily be removed and I didn't have to drill through its chasis. Plus, since it's a 12 foot ceiling, you don't notice the UPS above the PJ.

I am interested in this UPS... Some of the projectors do not require it due to the ability to have some smarts as far as knowing the proper temp to light up the bulb... Lamp life will not be harmed by the shut down of a projector... it will be harmed if the lamp lights up again before cooling down. some projectors after being shut down will have to be turned back on again.. so this is not a problem as long as the owner knows to give it a few minutes of cool down time... So if someone had a power problem...did the projector fire up the bulb right away and this is the concern .. IF the UPS is not a true sine wave... it can actually do more harm than good..

I didnt really pay much attention to the color of the unit when I saw it at CES... I try and color match the mount to the projector... Since I powder coat finish the mount ..Blue is a fairly difficult color to match up.. ie get it wrong and it can look horrid.. How "out there" is the color.

Hush boxes... I have had some cool hush boxes cnc laser cut and formed to shroud the projector..

I am going to have another Canuck Shootout in April... and I am praying that the "10" is finito by then...

I like the processor... but I do not like the fact it is proprietary on the video out... I think this is a mistake... especially since I could have used it as a decent processor at the shootout...

Do you guys know of any other processor that would work at least dual out non proprietary outs,,, and at least two component outs...??

I have three full DaLite CinemaVision high contrast screens that I would like to fire up at the same time...

Toxarch... I love looking at pics... thanks ... 5/8 solid cn steel has the psi load strength of 3500 lbs... and some guy just called my mount flimsy..

Toxarch-

I am using two UPS systems here. The big one operates the main equipment cabinet. It is a 1.5KVA and will run everything here for quite awhile, including my ECP-4000 CRT. The second UPS is an old APC 500VA I had on the shelf not doing anything. Both put out 118VAC under load.
I am wondering how you measured that voltage. Was it under load or no load? The way these UPS systems work you need to measure the AC voltage under load. When the power goes out, my dual UPS backups keeps everything running without a flicker and no change in image quality.

The Monster power processor has it's own analog meter and that is where I measured it from. The PJ head / ACP UPS was tested with a VOM once during the installation.

I have another APC 1.5KVA in the edit suite that runs the duplication bay of 20 VCR's and 6 betacam VCR's, monitors, and scopes. It sits at a regulated 125VAC under load too. I have VAC analog metering in the rack to keep an eye on the voltage, too. The computers are on several UPS's but I don't have them metered.

I think you should recheck your UPS output under load because your readings sound way low.

They'll pass through 125 volts when they are plugged into the wall. But when running on battery, their voltage is lower. Maybe they up the amperage or something. I remeasured the APC 1000VA UPS and it outputs 95 volts on battery with the full load I will have on it.

I measured them with a B+K 2702 digital multimeter. It's fairly accurate.

You should report those readings to APC support. Something doesn't seem right with your UPS.

I did some searching on the APC website. It seems that I have an average responding voltage meter and was measuring a stepped sine wave output and that's why I am reading a lower voltage.

Note: This discussion is a result of the fact that a Non-True RMS meter will read anywhere from 80 - 90 Vac from the output of a 120 Vac APC UPS (or 170 - 180 Vac from the output of a 230 Vac APC UPS) producing a stepped approximated sine wave while operating on-battery. This is not an issue when the UPS is operating on-line.

http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=jNhh5C3h&p_lva=&p_faqid=923&p_created=1010390400&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTczJnBfc2VhcmN oX3RleHQ9dm9sdGFnZSBvdXRwdXQgb24gYmF0dGVyeSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXB lPTMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9NTMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9wYWdlPTE *&p_li=

http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=jNhh5C3h&p_lva=&p_faqid=1493&p_created=1010390400&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTczJnBfc2VhcmN oX3RleHQ9dm9sdGFnZSBvdXRwdXQgb24gYmF0dGVyeSZwX3NlYXJjaF90eXB lPTMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDE9NTMmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9wYWdlPTI *&p_li=

Thanks, Toxarch- More good info find. All my UPS produce pure sinewaves (is there really such a thing?) according to the literature so that is why the meters are reading correctly.

Thomas,

Did you make a final decision on the Pioneer 59 vs the Denon 5900? These are the two players I'm currently debating (Brent, expect a call soon!). The downside to the Pioneer is the DVI to HDMI cable. I'll need one. I already have a nice DVI cable that I just don't want to throw away. Downside to the Denon is the extra price and the problems with switching inputs on the DWIN. Aparently you have to reset the Denon to DVI every time you switch off of the DVI input. Is this right? Sounds like a pain in the ass if you ask me.

How is the picture of the 59 compared to the Bravo D1? That's what I'm running right now. I found the picture better on the D1 than the Sammy 931 I had. 931 had so much edge enhancement it wasn't funny.

Just let me know.

Chris

Chris- You need to read everything you can on the Denon 5900, but I believe the latest is that Denon fixed the problem with a new software upgrade. Also, I see in some posts that Gefen has a 2x1 IR controlled DVI selection switch. Soon even us TV3 owners will need 3 DVI inputs. The switch is HDCP and costs about $250. I believe this also helps with the Denon, keeping it locked to DVI.

I would like to Try HTPC configuration:
I have a friend who is running a HTCP/CRT and would like to see how a HTPC would look on the TV3. Therefore can anyone tell me:
(1) What is the native resolution for our TV3 so that we can feed this exact resolution to the projector?
(2) What is the refresh rate?

Well, I know the native resolution is 1280x720 and I would guess that the refresh rate is 60 Hz.

I am running a HTPC with Theatertek an the results are stunning.

I have started to flirt witht he idea of going with an all in one player like the pioneer or the Denon, but we will see.

Just an FYI, my TV3 is back from Dwin with the new HD2+ chip installed. I will be having it calibrated to D65 this weekend and will provide a full report later. In the meantime I can say that I feel that the contrast has been improved and that screendoor effect has been GREATLY reduced. Where previously, I could see SD from within about 3 ft. I have to get within 12 in. , that's no easy feat so as not to block the light, to see it now.

Was it worth the money?

Won't really know until after I calibrate it to D65. My initial impressions are that the contrast has been improved but not by a lot. It definitely is not a night and day difference, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they absolutely have to get every last ounce of performance out of the machine.

On another note, I purchased a new Denon 5900 to take even better advantage of the unit. It is currently coexisting with my previous DVD player for valid comparison reasons. Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know that Denon has addressed their handshaking problems. The new 5900 locks up every time set with DVI on to 720p. Happy-happy, Joy-joy :-)

Excellent news, Ranger!

I think I'm going to go with the Denon. Seems as if it has the better image and the sound department is no slouch.

Brent, I will call you between now and next week.

Wow! That's great news about the 5900. Whsh mine did that. Now I need to wait hopefully for a firmware update to address this on the existing machines. Thanks for letting us know!

Chad

Well, I just wanted to chime in with the results after calibration on the HD2+ upgrade. Yes, I do believe there is a little more contrast, even in the Dwin, with the new HD2+ chip. The SDE is much better. The other and most apparent benefit in my setup has been color purity. Even calibrated to D65 previously, I often noticed a green hue to dark scenes and most yellows. This was quite bothersome. I had my dealer out twice, and they were not able to calibrate it out. The Phillips analyzer confirmed D65, but we both still noticed the green hue. Please understand, most people didn't even notice it, but I have another tube based display unit in the house, which is also calibrated, and both I and my dealer were able to confirm this. With the HD2+ chip this "effect" was either eliminated or greatly reduced. I think I may have noticed it in one scene today, but it may have also just been lighting in the movie. I'll have to double check on the calibrated monitor. Anyway, as I said before, this upgrade seems to have smoothed out a couple of rough edges, but the overall benefits are quite imperceptible to the casual viewer. My wife indicated that the picture seemed to be more like "real life". Her words, not mine. The other benefit seems to have been in the solarization area. Solarization/quantization seems to have been reduced by this upgrade as well. Please understand that these changes are very minor and that I'm trying to describe them to you. In the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't recommend this upgrade to anyone but the die hard perfectionist.

How many hours were on your bulb when you did the changeout and can you tell if the HD2plus is any brighter than the HD2?

I am planning to add screen control to my TV3 scaler. Has anyone done this yet with the included relays? My screen is motor driven for up / down only so the setup will be simple one relay control.

Randall, I had @ 700 hours on the bulb, but please remember the projector was gone for the upgrade for almost 2 weeks. Based on memory, I can tell no difference in brightness after the setting the output levels based on the DVE pluge patterns. I'm still investigating all the Avia pro discs, and just found it easier to use DVE as I'm familiar with were all the test patterns are.

Hey Don,

Typically you'll need the screen manufacturer's low voltage contact interface to work with the projector. If you've ever controlled your screen with another projector, then you likely already have it. Stewart's is called the STI (Screen Trigger Interface), Draper's is called the VIC12 (Video Interface Control 12 Volt) and I can't remember what Dalite's is called, but they are all about the same.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Brent, Thanks. Yes, I knew that. I got into it today and had to build my own interface controller. Nice to have a well stocked junk box. :)

The screen is a Dalite with a PB control for up down and stop. I bought that with the screen. The remote control interface was very expensive as I recall so I didn't buy it.

What threw me for a wasted 2 hours of work was I saw the specs in the manual labeled RY1 and RY2. I didn't look further so I thought those were just Relay contacts. Big mistake! They are 12 volt DC outputs. If I would have read further in the manual I would have seen that. Anyway I wasted time building up a simple 12DC powersupply to power my relay that I control the PB Dalite switch from remote. I discovered the TV3 was switching the output 12 VDC on and off so had to toss the Power supply project back in the box and just wire my 12 VDC relay SPDT direct to the TV3. I also had to add a toggle switch to switch the neutral wire on the PB screen switch on the wall for remote contacts (my new relay) and local wall switch control. Using a momentary toggle I hold the toggle to local and operate the Dalite PB switch as normal. Let it go and it defaults to remote control. Had to run a 3 wire cable to the SPDT relay that I have fixed to the back of the TV3 box.

It works great with RY1 selected to power.

I think I can add a motorized traverse curtain rod and make that work for 4:3 and 16x9 for the side masks but that will be another Sunday project!

My wife is now working on a black cloth extension for the screen bottom (she sews) so my bottom mask will be rolled up with the screen. I used to put it in place manually before.

Now for the quandry-
4:3- I suppose that works for true wide screen vs SD is showing 4x3 upconverted with black or gray bars from the program, right? I think this would fail in the auto AR setting. Maybe I need to have a manual switch for the side curtains because I believe the TV3 would get confused, don't you?

Yes Don, you are correct. As far as I know, whenever you you send a broadcast that comes with side gray or black bars (common for SD material from the major networks displayed on their HD channels) to the TV3 or any other projector it will think it is receiving a 16:9 source. This is good for maintain proper aspect rations for the broadcast material within the projector, but bad for automating masking systems. What's even worse is when the networks put gray bars instead of black (like the new HD feed of CBS on DirecTV) on the sides. They are much more difficult to hide with masking. The real solution is to watch SD material on an SD channel so that your projector maintains control of the aspect ratio and masking. I understand the networks are all likely going to be using gray bars in the near future so that they don't get sued for burn-in on plasmas, etc.

I hope that helps.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

I spoke to Bob Ross, VP of Engineering, CBS about this at CES. Right now the only network that is doing it is CBS but even they are only doing it at the local level for NYC as in WCBS. I'm not sure about west coast but Bob discussed the WCBS in particular. I was actually complimenting him on a recent NFL broadcast where they put up an animation of some side curtains that looked quite good (compared to the bars, black or gray) He then told me that I would not be seeing that again because the exec VP told him to never do that again and to put gray up so that it was obvious. Bob understands how we feel about those gray bars but his hands are tied as long as this exec is in charge of the NYC local, which also happens to be the national feed for Dish and DirecTV now. Just for FYI- Our local CBS is still using black side panels. :)

Anyway, until I figure out a motorized travers rod, I'm sticking to manual side masks for now. The screen up - down is working great and my wife really likes it because she gets the use of a passage door behind our screen again. Me too! :)

If you ever need a circuit for the Dalite PB switch that the TV3 can control, let me know as the design took some head scratching to make work. It's not obvious logic.

So I flipped on my projector today and guess what I didn't see? I didn't see one of the pixels working. Man I wasn't happy but it doesn't really surprise me. I've already decided that everything that CAN go wrong with this projector will go happen with mine. It's a black pixel near the top of the screen about 1/5th of the width in from the right side. Very noticeable when watching. I'm coming up on my 1 year warranty ending and really wish it would have been a stuck on pixel so I could have it fixed before the warranty is out. One year and I am still well under 300 hours and have a dead pixel. Add that to the list of problems.

Toxarch, the pixel being stuck, either on or off, should be a valid warranty issue. In fact, being this is a DMD issue, Dwin's warranty with TI should cover this. I would call it in immediately, and don't let Roger talk you out of a replacement chip. As Dwin is "supposedly" all out of HD2's, you should get a HD2+ chip. Also, remember that if you want your scaler and "TV3" to be well calibrated, it is beneficial to send back both units. When I had my upgrade performed, they told me only to send the projector. When I got it back, the projector was "calibrated" internally, but my ISF settings (which are stored in the scaler) caused serious color problems. When I called to complain, they said that it should "be in the ballpark" and that if I wanted it right I should have sent the scaler with it. I repeated that THEY told me NOT to send the scaler. Needless to say, my scaler has since been sent back and the units calibrated together.

Dwin's pixel policy is to replace it if it has 4 or more stuck off pixels or 1 stuck on/unstable pixel. They are one of the few companies that has a specific policy.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

Right. So if it were a stuck on pixel, then I could get it fixed under warranty. Since it is a dead pixel, I can do nothing but stare at it and hope 3 more end up the same way in hurry. But it won't happen if I don't use the projector. And I don't use it often as you can tell from the 250 hours on the unit in 1 year. The way it's going, I'll have a really expensive boat anchor by the time this projector gets to 1000 hours.

Why don't we get DWIN to buy it back? They've offered.

Brent Huskins
Media Design

For anyone using the Denon DVD-5900 on the Dwin TV3, does the DVD-5900 stretch a 4:3 image into a 16:9?

I hate that on my Samsung 931.

And I play a not of concert DVD's which are still 4:3.

Problems like this are why we purchase through dealers. I would bet that if you got your dealer involved and calling other individuals at dwin than Roger, you could get this problem handled under warranty. I would emphasize that the unit has not been overtaxed (noting the 250 hour usage), and the purchase amount of the unit.

As the wise old man used to say, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease".

I'll tell you what, tell them that they can use the HD2 chip they kept when they performed my upgrade on my TV3 to a TV3+. It won't cost them anything but labor that way.

I think though Ranger67 that the only thing DWIN is willing to do is purchase back his projector, which is not a bad idea seeing how badly Toxarch dislikes his TV3. He could always buy a TV3+ with the money he gets. :)

Brent Huskins
Media Design

If they are willing to buy it back, then how about they just swap it out with a new one? If I can get a new TV3+ for the same price that they are willing to buy mine back for, then I would do it in a heart beat.

Toxarch, I wish you all the luck, but I would bet that though Dwin is willing to buy it back, Dwin will want to charge you a 15% restock fee. Just my guess.

Guys,
I was wondering if you think that this is a good price for my TV3?
I am planning on eventually getting a TV3+, but during this next 7 months(when I am finishing up school) I wont be able to use it much:(

http://avsf.videogon.com/cgi-bin/buy_cl.pl?projdlpa&1082657553

I appreciate your opinions.

Thanks,
Fred

Fred,
Say it isn't so! Your review/rec was the major reason I got the TV3! I understand the need for cash. My TV3 is at 475 hours and I love it. I think that is a fair price.
Good luck
FREAK!

Please don't hold back guys, I value your opinions!

Freak, I see another TV3 in my future:)

I lowered the price to 7K which included the 45 foot DVI cable and the mount.......What do you guys think?

Thanks again,
Fred

My TV3+ was $7500 new. I wouldn't pay 7000 for one that had been used even a "little". Sorry.

I plan to keep my TV3 until I can afford one of the new 3 chip Dwins. I still am totally satisfied with my dust protected, light spill corrected TV3.

2300+ hours and picture gorgeous! I wouldn't take less than $8000 for mine! I could sell it and buy a used one but I might end up with Toxarch's.
:(

Have you changed bulbs yet Don. I have 2293 hours on original bulb. Mine is working perfectly also. I will probably change the bulb in the next week or two but it still doesn't look too dark on the High Power. I probably won't sell it even after I upgrade, probably later this year. If I were to get another Dwin i could use the dual outs for a 2 projector setup.

Fred. Dealers are selling their demos with fully factory warranty for $5K.