what's the consensus on the 7700 lamp issue ? is it a fault in the conception of the 7700 and thus lamps will continue to die and die ? or was it Osram manufacturing being deffective (ballast) ??

My thought is that it was a bad manfacturing of the bulb (wrong spec), so they were blowing early. BenQ realized this eventually and had them make a more reliable bulb to fix the issue (since the symptom seemed to indicate it was at the tip of the bulb that was causing the problem, so they redesigned it).

That still didn't work, and they realized that it would take an actual modification to the way the projector was handling the bulb. Whether this was a firmware upgrade, or firmware and hardware (and they didn't tell us it was hardware), I don't know. I do know that there is only one person who reported a bad bulb after the firmware upgrade, so it seems to have worked, at least for now. I won't be convinced until I've gone a year without seeing many problems (obviously there will continue to be blown bulbs, but there should be far less).

It doesn't seem to be much of an issue anymore, though.

hi
thanks for the info. that's what i heard too.

otherwise it's a nice projector, punchy (rare with dlps), at a very good price, with a great remote.

I do know that there is only one person who reported a bad bulb after the firmware upgrade, so it seems to have worked, at least for now.


The one guy who reported the problem was a relative newbie here and hasn't posted since. I was curious about whether he actually had confirmation his blown lamp was after the firmware upgrade so I sent him a private mail -- no response.

Good info.. I was skeptical as well. Of course it's still a possibility, but even with one reported, that's within the margin of error of even one standard deviation anyway.

Knowing what you know now would you buy this projector again?

I owned the Toshiba MT700 (PE7700 clone) until the 3rd lamp failed mid March. Toshiba has no "firmware fix" as BENQ does, and is refunding the purchase price.

I've been researching my options, and all potential replacements have their strengths and weaknesses. In the end I find myself considering the PE7700 due to its "0" degree offset, OK fan noise, out of the box greyscale & color accuracy, easy implementation of an ND2 filter, full picture controls on the HDMI input, use of the 720 HD2+ chip v. 768 HD2+ chip, 3 year warranty, and price.

Other than the pesky little lamp issue the PE7700 fits the bill. Am I nuts to consider it?

No. I love this Projector.

I'd buy another one if I needed it.

Knowing what you know now would you buy this projector again?

Yes. With 300 hours on the new firmware and bulb, I am happy. I had three blown bulbs in less than 250 hours before. I am glad that the problem is apparantly behind us.

Great picture. Everybody that sees it in my home theater comments about how spectacular it is.

Hey Dennis, what kind of screen are you using?

At first I thought you (Steve) were asking whether I'd have bought it from the beginning again (to which I'd say, no, I'd rather not have gone through this process). But based on your later statement that you can start from scratch right now, I guess I'd say that you should look at the difference in cost between the PE7700 and the Optoma H78DC3 or H79 and decide.

Personally, I would buy this one again right now, though I'd probably try to justify an upgrade. :) Especially with 1080p around the corner in this price range, I think my 7700 will last just about the right amount of time (another couple years). If your budget is strictly $2.5K or less, then I wouldn't hesitate to get the 7700. Just expect to get the firmware upgarde after a quickly burned out bulb at some point, unless it arrived with the upgrade.

There's nothing quite like the pe7700 in that price range with the exception of a few LCDs, and I think I like the colour better on the benq. However, most machines in this range now all perform well and have relatively minor differences. IMO, what seems to be really important is how well Benq has supported their customers. This is especially important because it appears many new projectors are experiencing issues of one sort or another. With the 7700, it is now about a year old and the lamp problem is the only issue of consequence. Hopefully that's behind us. Maybe we'll know more in a couple of more months. There has been a lot of owners now with direct experience with benq support and we have read all their reports here on this forum. I would say in almost all cases, service has generally been excellent. If we can get 3 years of this level of service, and there's no reason to expect otherwise, this is a great purchase in this price range. I'm pretty sure that if I do develop a problem I can make a phone call and expect to be fixed up pronto. That's worth something. The best PQ in the world is nothing if you get an issue and no one wants to help.

P.S. For my next PJ I think I'm going to wait until the machine has been out for a year prior to buying it.

Yes...I would buy the 7700 over again. I posted some issues with the customer service, but in the end BenQ rectified the situation to my satisfaction. Other companies have failed to go the distance to help the consumer. I am sure part of my difficulties with BenQ was the crunch of defective units, now that returns have slowed down I am confident customer service will be good. If not, I will once again email a nasty gram to the American President of BenQ (troublesome..but paid off in the end).

Yes. With 300 hours on the new firmware and bulb, I am happy. I had three blown bulbs in less than 250 hours before. I am glad that the problem is apparantly behind us.

Great picture. Everybody that sees it in my home theater comments about how spectacular it is.


Dennis:

That's great news!

What screen and DVD player do you use?

Rich

I love my 7700. I too had troubles, but found their support excellent. They gave me a brand new projector after I had mine like 9 months. That is a good deal. With over 400 hours I feel the problem is fixed now. I would buy again. I am kinda tempted to get a second one to do 3D.
Some day my Silverstar will get here and I will be really happy.
Warren.

Hey Dennis, what kind of screen are you using?
A Da-Lite Cinema Vision High Contrast 110" fixed wall mounted screen. If you don't know, it is slightly grey and enhances blacks well. It was recommended by Jason at AVS.

The projector is mounted right up near my low 7.5 foot basement ceiling using a Chief mount, which allows mounting right below the ceiling so the center of the lens is at the top of the screen. I continue to be amazed that the 16:9 ratio is exactly my screen size with no overlap anywhere. Awesome!

What screen and DVD player do you use?
Wow. Questions come faster than I can post.

See screen info above.

I use a Panny S77 upconverting DVD. Works very well, but I do need to change the projector settings going from my HD Tivo to the S77 to keep the black levels looking correct. I seem to be the only one to have made this comment, but it is very clear to me that I need to do that.

Wow. Questions come faster than I can post.

See screen info above.

I use a Panny S77 upconverting DVD. Works very well, but I do need to change the projector settings going from my HD Tivo to the S77 to keep the black levels looking correct. I seem to be the only one to have made this comment, but it is very clear to me that I need to do that.


Thanks! I was thinking about going with DaLite's High Power and the Oppo player.
The High Power because it's retro reflective and my HT is a multiuse room and has light beige walls and ceiling and I needed to mitigate ambient reflected light.

Oh, I forgot... I might even spring for Toshiba's HD-A1 player, as suggested by Kevin Anderson, instead of the Oppo.

Rich

Thanks! I was thinking about going with DaLite's High Power and the Oppo player.
The High Power because it's retro reflective and my HT is a multiuse room and has light beige walls and ceiling and I needed to mitigate ambient reflected light.

Oh, I forgot... I might even spring for Toshiba's HD-A1 player, as suggested by Kevin Anderson, instead of the Oppo.

Rich

I really like my high power in my multi-use room as well. For this type of room, it is a substantial upgrade compared to a matte white. The relative improvement is like going from the X1 to the 7700. Images just look more colourful and alive. If you can get the PJ mounted no higher than about 6.5 ft then it would be worth it.

I really like my high power in my multi-use room as well. For this type of room, it is a substantial upgrade compared to a matte white. The relative improvement is like going from the X1 to the 7700. Images just look more colourful and alive. If you can get the PJ mounted no higher than about 6.5 ft then it would be worth it.


Hi Basement:

It just so happens my mounting height will be approximately the same as yours so I'm glad to hear it will work! I'm planning to get a 92" screen. How large is yours?

Hi Basement:

It just so happens my mounting height will be approximately the same as yours so I'm glad to hear it will work! I'm planning to get a 92" screen. How large is yours?

I'm sitting back about 14' with a 92" model b manual pull down. I'm hoping that with this size and screen material lamp dimming is not going to be so much of a problem. I haven't tried this yet but I also heard that if you make the back wall dark with this screen it will noticeably lower black levels on the screen.

I'm sitting back about 14' with a 92" model b manual pull down. I'm hoping that with this size and screen material lamp dimming is not going to be so much of a problem. I haven't tried this yet but I also heard that if you make the back wall dark with this screen it will noticeably lower black levels on the screen.


I've heard so many horror stories about manual pulldown screens. Does yours work reasonably well?

It depends how picky you are. I have a manual pulldown screen, and though it's the best thus far in my system, I know it's temporary. My setup is currently in my living room, and I didn't want to mount a fixed screen on the wall (though I leave my screen in the down position 24/7 anyway). The mounting was very easy though. Mine is starting to show slight waves, especially when viewed severely off axis from center, but it's barely noticeable when displaying video (i.e. probably none of my friends or family would notice).

It depends how picky you are. I have a manual pulldown screen, and though it's the best thus far in my system, I know it's temporary. My setup is currently in my living room, and I didn't want to mount a fixed screen on the wall (though I leave my screen in the down position 24/7 anyway). The mounting was very easy though. Mine is starting to show slight waves, especially when viewed severely off axis from center, but it's barely noticeable when displaying video (i.e. probably none of my friends or family would notice).


Yeah, waves would bother me. I would have thought constant pulling and retraction would create waves but your screen is kept down all the time!

The model C (with a larger roller) with Hi-Power material (thicker than usual) is supposed to be resistant to waves.
I origionally intended to get a pulldown, but to test sizes, and 2.35 setup, I put up some blackout cloth. We ended up using the projector pretty much every day the last year, so I talked the wife into a fixed screen.
Warren.

A Da-Lite Cinema Vision High Contrast 110" fixed wall mounted screen. If you don't know, it is slightly grey and enhances blacks well. It was recommended by Jason at AVS.

The projector is mounted right up near my low 7.5 foot basement ceiling using a Chief mount, which allows mounting right below the ceiling so the center of the lens is at the top of the screen. I continue to be amazed that the 16:9 ratio is exactly my screen size with no overlap anywhere. Awesome!

Thanks Dennis, your set up is almost identical to mine. Except that my basement is around 7 ft. high. I was thinking of changing my matte 1.0 screen to a Da lite high contrast screen. I think I might just do that!

I'm sitting back about 14' with a 92" model b manual pull down. I'm hoping that with this size and screen material lamp dimming is not going to be so much of a problem. I haven't tried this yet but I also heard that if you make the back wall dark with this screen it will noticeably lower black levels on the screen.

How long have you had yor screen, and are there any waves? I have the Elite electric screen, but it does have some minor waving on both sides, although its very minimal and only noticable when scenes are panning across the screen. I have had it for 1 1/2 years but it seamed to have waves right from the start.

Chris

I also had a model B and took it back because of the waves. Great price and good quality, but the waves drove me crazy.


Carl

How long have you had yor screen, and are there any waves? I have the Elite electric screen, but it does have some minor waving on both sides, although its very minimal and only noticable when scenes are panning across the screen. I have had it for 1 1/2 years but it seamed to have waves right from the start.

Chris

I've been using a Hi-Power model "C" with csr since december. It is 133" diag. One of the great features of this material is that due to its design you do not see the waves. With all pull down screens especially one this large waves are bound to be an issue. With mine, if a light is directed across the screen surface, some waves are noticed. But fire up the pj and you just don't see them. I gather it has to do with the retro-reflective nature of the material. I used blackout cloth for a few weeks before purchasing the dalite. Wanted to make sure I was not going a little too far with 133". With the BO cloth waves were very noticeable to the point of unacceptable. And I was careful in stretching it taught and even.

I am very happy with this screen. There is great "pop" to the image. Colors are very neutral and with my original pe7700 bulb at 530 hours when it died output in economic mode was still plenty bright enough. And oh, do I love, a 116" x 65" image! On top of all that the price is very reasonable.

Joe

I concur with Bronco's assessment of the high power. Waves are there physically but when the image lights up you don't notice it. On my Draper matte white pull down, waves were there physically as well as in the image, especially noticeable on panning scenes with vertical image elements. I've had my model b high power for about eight months now.

I also had a model B and took it back because of the waves. Great price and good quality, but the waves drove me crazy.


Carl

Is this with the high power material? The choice of material make a difference on whether the waves affect the image or not. Again, I've had a matte white which visibly shows up in a bad way in the image. The high power does not.

I cannot remember the gain of the screen, but I do remember that it was not the matte white though. I also did not like the shimmering effect in the bright areas. I know all wisdom says that a white wall is not the best choice for a screen, but that is what I am using now( with a black border), and actually prefer it to the screen that I had. I know there are better screen materials out there, but my white wall works fine for me for now.
I should mention too, that I am using an ND .6( factor of 4x) filter to give me better blacks. 7700 is plenty bright to keep my whites bright. I also have an ND.3 to use when my lamp gets older(hopefully) and dimmer. At $16 each , they were way cheaper than buying a grey screen.


Carl

Carl,

I'm no expert but I think that the grey screen in addition to reducing blacks also rejects ambient light. It would be a good choice with some lighting in the room or with lighter colour walls. The ND filter would also reduce whites as well which in my situation, in an ambient light environment didn't work so well. If your environment has good light control the ND would be a good choice. To fight ambient light, a grey screen works better. The high power has some ambient light rejection properties as well. I can run my projector now in lighting situations where it would not have been possible with my matte white.

Regards

Yep, what he said. Where did you get your ND Filters? I am getting a silverstar and think I may want to put a filter on at night.

Woah, getting the Silverstar with the 7700, huh Warren? You like the plasma look then.. ;)

That does beg the question though, why you would dim and a bright screen? Especially since high gain screens are more susceptible to hot spotting.

Woah, getting the Silverstar with the 7700, huh Warren? You like the plasma look then.. ;)

That does beg the question though, why you would dim and a bright screen? Especially since high gain screens are more susceptible to hot spotting.

Dim for night and bright for when there's light?

Basement, I can understand there might be an advantage as far as ambient light rejection is concerned. We don't watch much in the daytime and I have pretty good light control as well. Eventually I might go with a fixed screen instead of a pulldown. I live in an apartment in the Glebe. The screen( aka. white section of wall) is above a non-functioning fireplace. Honestly , it is too high and limits my screen size, but is the only room layout that works. I don't want to buy a screen that might not be ideal size for my next digs.
I bought the ND filters from a local photosupply store. They are not HOYA but work well. I believe they were 56mm and screw into the lens, not perfectly, but tight enough not to fall out. I bought a ND.3 and ND.6 so I can get 2x,4x,8x combinations. I am currently using a 4X with a new bulb. As the bulb ages, I can change to the 2X. If I had a totaly black room, I would try the 8x and use HIGH lamp mode to keep my whites bright. For the money , they are a fairly cheap way to experiment with different black levels. I know there are better ways to enhance contrast, but for me, it is all about the level of black.

Carl

Bright for Sunday Ticket (go Broncos!,) and when the lamp dims. Filter at night to reduce hotspots. I thought about the Supernova, but that was just a bit steep for my budget. My next projector will be a Sim2 with the 120 watt bulb that lasts. They are dimmer so they will match up with the Silverstar better.
Warren.

Basement, I can understand there might be an advantage as far as ambient light rejection is concerned. We don't watch much in the daytime and I have pretty good light control as well. Eventually I might go with a fixed screen instead of a pulldown. I live in an apartment in the Glebe. The screen( aka. white section of wall) is above a non-functioning fireplace. Honestly , it is too high and limits my screen size, but is the only room layout that works. I don't want to buy a screen that might not be ideal size for my next digs.
I bought the ND filters from a local photosupply store. They are not HOYA but work well. I believe they were 56mm and screw into the lens, not perfectly, but tight enough not to fall out. I bought a ND.3 and ND.6 so I can get 2x,4x,8x combinations. I am currently using a 4X with a new bulb. As the bulb ages, I can change to the 2X. If I had a totaly black room, I would try the 8x and use HIGH lamp mode to keep my whites bright. For the money , they are a fairly cheap way to experiment with different black levels. I know there are better ways to enhance contrast, but for me, it is all about the level of black.

Carl

Great! I tried an ND2 for a while as well just to try it out. In high lamp mode with an ND2, it did look great. However, I wanted to run it in low lamp mode to extend it's life (with luck :-). BTW, how long have you had the PJ?

Cheers

This talk about ND2 filters seems interesting.

I currently have my benq7700 projecting on a matte white screen. I use high lamp at night - always - because I think the picture is considerably better. I realize, however, that I am also reducing the lamp`s life at faster clip than the low lamp. But I think I deserve the best image, despite future costs.

Anyway, would a filter like the ND2 help me??? At night, my room is very dark. I have a white ceiling and cream colored walls that do, however, light up when I turn on my benq7700.

What would a filter like this do for me? Would see more details in the black? Would my colors still be fine, or would they be dimmed?

Thanks for any feedback. If the picture will improve considerably, then I will try to order a filter as soon as possible.

If it is a good filter colors should remain the same. It would be just like turning down the brightness on your TV. Your eyes adjust quickly and the reflections wouldn't light up your room so much. You may find that increases apparent constrast. It is a cheap test anyway.
Warren.

Warren,

Are you using any filter with your benq????

Not yet. I have been shooting on Blackout Cloth for the last year. Didn't need a filter with that. My Silverstar is hopefully going to be delivered today.

Warren.

This talk about ND2 filters seems interesting.

I currently have my benq7700 projecting on a matte white screen. I use high lamp at night - always - because I think the picture is considerably better. I realize, however, that I am also reducing the lamp`s life at faster clip than the low lamp. But I think I deserve the best image, despite future costs.

Anyway, would a filter like the ND2 help me??? At night, my room is very dark. I have a white ceiling and cream colored walls that do, however, light up when I turn on my benq7700.

What would a filter like this do for me? Would see more details in the black? Would my colors still be fine, or would they be dimmed?

Thanks for any feedback. If the picture will improve considerably, then I will try to order a filter as soon as possible.

My room setup is similar and I found that although the blacks were lowered the ND2 didn't allow me to see more detail, I think because it also reduces white level as well. Now, when I switched to high lamp mode with the ND2 it looked a lot better. However, I didn't analyze it at the time when I had it up. I didn't look to see what high lamp mode does to the black level. I would expect that switching to high lamp mode would increase both white and black levels equally so relative contrast should stay the same. I'm going to try it again and make a better observation. I'm running on low mode without a filter now. I'll compare it to high mode with a filter and see what looks better.

From a personal preference standpoint you may be like me. I like it bright. I really like what the high power did to my setup, although it also raised the black level slightly.

I believe the best thing to do if it's possible is to have the room as non-reflective as possible, i.e. dark walls and ceiling. That way, light reflections from the room back to the screen would be minimized. Once that is done, an ND2 would lower black levels and whites would not be washed out from ambient light reflections. Failing that then a grey screen may work. A grey screen reduces the amount of light leaving the screen, which in turn reduces light reflections off walls and ceilings.

However,repainting the whole room is not really an option for me. I'm also using a high power screen which reflects most of it's light back to the PJ and the back wall (about 13 ft from the screen), to be subsequently reflected back onto the screen. I wonder if I would get a significant improvement if I just painted the back wall a non-reflective dark colour as a compromise?

The front wall is the biggest improvement you could make from that standpoint. Push for it, and maybe the WAF will allow..

Kevin,
Tweaked the PE7700 for HDMI using your settings and looks great. Hope you can post the settings for component, as am loooking forward to it.

Just received the PJ yesterday and am as pleased with the PQ as I was with the MT-700.

re Kevin's settings for the HDMI.

Brightness on the component inputs might have to be tweaked a bit. I was watching 'We Were Soldiers' and the Colonel's wifes dark hair had no definition at all, so I turned up the brightness to -4 from -8 and that seemed to do the trick without making everything else bleed. I haven't tried AVIA or DVE yet.

Maybe its just that particular DVD, but i have it set like that now - we'll see. Seems okay on other material.

yeah, glad everybody is so happy now...i can only look here every other week now....thank you all for your patience and patronage! CRS59, every time i check here it is too late to call, I will make the effort this week!

Hi, I've had a PE7700 for a little under a year, had lamps replaced twice like most it seems. But today I had a new problem. Since tech support isn't open, I was hoping someone here could help.

When I turn on the projector, it turns on normally and displays a picture for about 2 seconds, but then it turns off and the temp and lamp lights blink red. According to the manual this means "the fans are not working" but I opened the front and turned it on again, and they are spinning normally when it turns on. I've turned it off and on a few times and the problem persists. Anyone have any experience with a problem like this?

Thanks.

Until you can contact the support center the best advice is take the lamp housing out and reseat it back in the unit(this will make sure it's not a contact problem)

I had three bulbs go bad before the new firmware and new bulb was installed (you did not mention what firmware # yours has now ) a 2 second bulb fire is not a heat problem............it's a contact problem, ballast problem or a bulb problem well thats my non professional oppinion anyway.

Keeping fingers crossed for you. :)

Until you can contact the support center the best advice is take the lamp housing out and reseat it back in the unit(this will make sure it's not a contact problem)

I had three bulbs go bad before the new firmware and new bulb was installed (you did not mention what firmware # yours has now ) a 2 second bulb fire is not a heat problem............it's a contact problem, ballast problem or a bulb problem well thats my non professional oppinion anyway.


I haven't had the firmware updated yet, and I got it last June. I don't know what firmware number that is. Also I did try removing the lamp and replacing the lamp, and that didn't change anything.

I suppose there could be a contact problem wherever its sensors for the fans are, but I don't know much about the wiring inside it.

Ouch!!!! sorry to hear the reseat did not work, sounds like you might have the old firmware and a bad bulb, it needs to be updated. The new firmware in combination with the new bulb seems to have solved the bulb problem.

Good luck

Hi, I've had a PE7700 for a little under a year, had lamps replaced twice like most it seems. But today I had a new problem. Since tech support isn't open, I was hoping someone here could help.

When I turn on the projector, it turns on normally and displays a picture for about 2 seconds, but then it turns off and the temp and lamp lights blink red. According to the manual this means "the fans are not working" but I opened the front and turned it on again, and they are spinning normally when it turns on. I've turned it off and on a few times and the problem persists. Anyone have any experience with a problem like this?

Thanks.

Hi Zakul,

Sounds like you had an original, early build, with the defective first lamp. So lamp replaced twice? When was the last one installed? That dating would tell us if you went through a FW upgrade. How many hours were on your current lamp? The problem you are having seems atypical, usually it was just lights out and a restart yielded no image to the screen at all. Another question, you "opened the front", what did that entail? The only thing else that I can come up with is a check of the filter. I would have to go to the manual but do believe a dirty filter results in the same indicators.

Give some feedback and the great folks here will help. As an example those of us who have taken advantage of Mr. Kevin R. Anderson's work and postings of grey scale settings are enjoying the best PQ ever out of this PJ. Last night the family watched, no better yet; screened, An Unfinished Life. My wife marveled at the look on the screen of supposedly Wyoming, US. "We have to go there, it's so beautiful" . That was a big thumbs up for PQ. Did not explain that the film did principal photography in Canada.

Regards,

Joe

Basement,

I bought mine in Nov 05( Oct 05 build date). First bulb went in Feb. Sent projector for firmware and bulb. Came back, new bulb, old firmware( Canada didn't know how to upgrade yet). Projector did not work at all. Benq replaced with brand new one( same Oct 05 build date). Bulb went in April. Sent for ugrade and bulb. Came back new bulb and firmware. Adjusted CW delay, installed ND filter , adjusted to Kevin's grey scale settings, tweaked brightness and contrast. Been working great for about a month now.


Carl

PS. The filter I use is a TIFFEN ND.6

Kevin,
Tweaked the PE7700 for HDMI using your settings and looks great. Hope you can post the settings for component, as am loooking forward to it.

Just received the PJ yesterday and am as pleased with the PQ as I was with the MT-700.
So, you got rid of the 700 only to get the 7700, exact same model? Didn't you just jump out of the frying pan and into the other side of the frying pan?

Support for BenQ is much better. Toshiba still has people saying there is no problem.

I got the Silverstar up. It is less ambient light rejecting than I hoped. I looked at the video on their website (after I installed it,) and it shows the difference well. The blacks aren't as good as a grey screen, but the brights are much brighter, so the contrast is good, assuming bright material. Darker movies are still unwatchable in the daytime, but TV shows are awesome now, which is really what I wanted anyway. Daytime football should be great now, which was my main objective. I watched The Lost World at night and it looked really nice, I didn't notice any hotspotting, just a nice bright picture. No obvious viewing cone at all which really suprised me.
Warren.

Spiky,
Am gambling that the latest firmware and lamp solved the problem. Since January I can't recall anymore complaints from 7700 owners. Would like to see reports of over 500 hrs though, to be sure.

Besides I got a great deal and didn't want to make any modifications to my custom setup. The BenQ went up without a hitch.

Sounds like you had an original, early build, with the defective first lamp. So lamp replaced twice? When was the last one installed? That dating would tell us if you went through a FW upgrade. How many hours were on your current lamp? The problem you are having seems atypical, usually it was just lights out and a restart yielded no image to the screen at all. Another question, you "opened the front", what did that entail? The only thing else that I can come up with is a check of the filter. I would have to go to the manual but do believe a dirty filter results in the same indicators.

Okay, I went out to the movies last night since my projector wasn't working, but when I got back it mysteriously worked again. So I don't know what the problem was, but to answer your questions:

The last one was replaced maybe 4 months ago, and I didn't send the projector back, they just sent me a new lamp, so the firmware wasn't updated. I only sent it back once, and they didn't update the firmware, they told me so.

Also the lamp had about 1300 hours on it, all on economy mode, but it still works now.

As for opening the front, I unscrewed the bottom screws on the front grill so I could watch and make sure the fans were spinning, which they were. As for the filter, I did clean it and replace it a few times while trying to get it working.

But thanks for your responses! If I find out what the problem was I'll post it.

Zau

1300 hours in 4 months??? Wow, you watch a lot of movies. I hope you reset the timer when you replaced the lamp.

Warren.

1300 hours in 4 months??? Wow, you watch a lot of movies. I hope you reset the timer when you replaced the lamp.

Warren.

It's not just for movies. It's for TV shows and video games too. It's my primary TV. Also until 2 months ago I had no job, so every day was sitting home watching TV! I miss those days...

It's not just for movies. It's for TV shows and video games too. It's my primary TV. Also until 2 months ago I had no job, so every day was sitting home watching TV! I miss those days...

Hi Zau,

From what you report you have had your pj since June 05. With no Firmware upgrade that means you are running the original v.0.44. That BenQ simply sent a new bulb to you back in, perhaps January?, would make sense. As I remember the history BenQ had the redesigned bulb in all builds after September, 05. With continued failings after that date they acknowledged that a firmware upgrade was also required. I believe this was announced in late Jan. 06 with the v.0.48 build available in Feb. 06. Will not even touch on the issue of the reported 0.49 version.

Warren poses a very good query. 1300 hours in 4 months or almost 11 hours per day, did you reset the lamp timer with the last bulb? If the answer is yes than you have the record with FW 0.44. Thought I was close with 530 or so but there was one owner with 600+ hours.

Only have 195 hours on my current setup. All looks great. My real question to all who have been through this "ownership experience", do you hesitate to turn on the pj? Wonder if the problem is really solved? Keep the hours down until someone posts 1500+ hours? Even consider installing a ps3/BD unit and put some serious hours on the lamp with the kids and their games?

Hope this does not come across as a rant. The frustration with this product is evident, but when it's on and throwing that image, well we are happy, yes?

Thanks,

Joe

I don't hesitate in the least. If it's going to fail again, I'd rather it fail again sooner so I know it's still a problem, than wait until past some (expressed or implied) warranty period.

Well, he may have me beat in hours, but I have the longest time! :clings to useless status symbol..... tightly:

in case this is needed: ;) :D

I don't hesitate in the least. If it's going to fail again, I'd rather it fail again sooner so I know it's still problem, then wait until past some (expressed or implied) warranty period.

Yep. That's me too. Babying the machine doesn't help, imo.

I am well over 400 hours on new design. Very happy and comfortable. I am a forgiving type though. My 01 Mustang has had an amazing amount of problems (~20 service trips,) but I will buy another cause what else is there.

I am a forgiving type though. My 01 Mustang has had an amazing amount of problems (~20 service trips,) but I will buy another cause what else is there.
How about a Honda S2000 or Camaro or 3000GT (used obviously) or Supra or.... (i.e. one that you don't have to Fix Daily... ;)) Okay, so maybe I started a flame war.. :)

BEN Q DUDE

Please ck your PMs, trying to make contact. Thank you:)

Camero? done that a few times, but the new one isn't a convertible. Sweet looks though. 3000GT or Supra? I don't do front wheel drive. Gotta have a covertible anyway. S2000 is really nice, but the style is a bit old and it just doesn't have the va-voom of the Stang. Best transmission ever though. The Saturn Sky Redline may be a contender. If I didn't ever want my money to come back to me I would probably go for a Lotus Elise. Almost awesome style. Just a little too bug-eyed.

Oh, on topic, I don't think I need the filter with the 120" Silverstar and the 7700. Watched Batman Begins last night. It looks awesome. Maybe using the max throw distance on the 7700 helps reduce hotspots. I am very happy now. Well... just need HD DVD... then I will be happy.... I am sure....
Warren.

Warren

I bet your combo with the silver star looks like one big plasma:)
Regardless how good your display looks now, HD DVD and Blue Ray will make your projector look like a 7700 on steroids:)

It is nice and bright. Not too much though. I really see no negatives. I heard about viewing cone issues, but Vutec claims none and I verified that. I have a door on the wall the screen is on so I can get to 89.9 degrees off axis and it is still bright. I stuck to BO cloth too long. I do have slight tinges of regret leaving 2.35 behind.
Can't wait for HD movies. I like the Blu-ray catalog better now but you can buy a HD DVD player and 20 movies for the price of just the BR Player. Not sure how many people are going to like that.
Warren.

It is nice and bright. Not too much though. I really see no negatives. I heard about viewing cone issues, but Vutec claims none and I verified that. I have a door on the wall the screen is on so I can get to 89.9 degrees off axis and it is still bright. I stuck to BO cloth too long. I do have slight tinges of regret leaving 2.35 behind.
Can't wait for HD movies. I like the Blu-ray catalog better now but you can buy a HD DVD player and 20 movies for the price of just the BR Player. Not sure how many people are going to like that.
Warren.


Warren:

What is the gain on your Vutec? I would think you'd have to wear sunglasses to see the movie... :cool:

They claim 6 gain, but it is clearly well below that. I would guess 2 if I had to. I saved the BO Cloth so I could compare, but haven't gotten around to it.
When I get HD DVD should I send 1080 to the iScanHD+ and have it convert to 720 for the 7700 or should I set the iScan to send the 1080 straight to the 7700? I am thinking about dumping the iScan and getting a good hdmi switching amp since everything I have is HD now.
Warren.

They claim 6 gain, but it is clearly well below that. I would guess 2 if I had to. I saved the BO Cloth so I could compare, but haven't gotten around to it.
When I get HD DVD should I send 1080 to the iScanHD+ and have it convert to 720 for the 7700 or should I set the iScan to send the 1080 straight to the 7700? I am thinking about dumping the iScan and getting a good hdmi switching amp since everything I have is HD now.
Warren.


In the "real" world, it looks like the Vutec and the DaLite High are about equal in gain. Since I'm new to FPs may be Tryg can comment.

They claim 6 gain, but it is clearly well below that. I would guess 2 if I had to. I saved the BO Cloth so I could compare, but haven't gotten around to it.
When I get HD DVD should I send 1080 to the iScanHD+ and have it convert to 720 for the 7700 or should I set the iScan to send the 1080 straight to the 7700? I am thinking about dumping the iScan and getting a good hdmi switching amp since everything I have is HD now.
Warren.


If you read the HD-DVD First look forum they discussed whether to output a 720p or 1080i signal to a 720p device. Conventional wisdom says that 720p would be best, however, many found the 1080i to be better due to the internal scaling on the Toshiba. If you get the Toshiba I would out put the 1080i to the iScan and then let it send 720p from there. There were a few posts where folks had an iScan so you may want to do a search to see what type of results they got, but I would definetely output 1080i from the player.

Kemical

I had over 700 hours on my 3rd original style lamp in my MT700. Not a record, but pretty good. Got new firmware and new style lamp when that one died. The new one lasted 2 months, 170 hours. Currently in the shop to get that replaced.

It's weird that you should say BenQ's service has been better. My impression from reading these 2 threads was the opposite, except that BenQ has admitted more. Tosh seemed faster and more willing to replace lamps for no charge. At any rate, my PJ should be back tomorrow or Thursday. I warned Tosh this was the last time I would be asking for repair. With Wimbledon just around the corner, I'm sure I'll have plenty of hours on it in no time.

Warren

I bet your combo with the silver star looks like one big plasma:)
Regardless how good your display looks now, HD DVD and Blue Ray will make your projector look like a 7700 on steroids:) I'll agree with that Alan! The 7700 throws a great picture with the Toshiba A-1! Glad to see you take a "look" in our thread:) And a personal thanks for the greatest AV forum on the internet!

My only hesitation with getting the A-1 is that the iScan HD+ does such a good job of upconverting I am afraid the performance increase won't be as noticable. The wife was hesitant about the projector but likes it. The cost of the screen was only justified by our daughters graduation. I said we could show her video on the Silverstar much better. ;) She is quite impressed with it now.
I am just not sure she would be as impressed with HD DVD. Especially since there are no movies she would like for it yet. Maybe that will be my request for Father's Day. Universal probably has more of my favorite movies than any other studio. If they would just release them faster it would be nice. For being in HD DVD's camp they are really shooting them in the foot there.
Warren.

The PE7700 forum has gotten really quiet! I guess everything is hunky dory!

I do have one problem with my 7700 now that I got the Silverstar. My daughter is staying up late watching movies now instead of going out to her friends houses. Oh, wait. I guess that is a good thing.

Warren. 450 hours.

I do have one problem with my 7700 now that I got the Silverstar. My daughter is staying up late watching movies now instead of going out to her friends houses. Oh, wait. I guess that is a good thing.

Warren. 450 hours.


Whoa! You and your family must be really piling on the hours!

My only hesitation with getting the A-1 is that the iScan HD+ does such a good job of upconverting I am afraid the performance increase won't be as noticable. The wife was hesitant about the projector but likes it. The cost of the screen was only justified by our daughters graduation. I said we could show her video on the Silverstar much better. ;) She is quite impressed with it now.
I am just not sure she would be as impressed with HD DVD. Especially since there are no movies she would like for it yet. Maybe that will be my request for Father's Day. Universal probably has more of my favorite movies than any other studio. If they would just release them faster it would be nice. For being in HD DVD's camp they are really shooting them in the foot there.
Warren.

So my personal opinion, based on my own personal experience was that the A-1 was good, but not great. Now let me explain. I was using the A-1 with a 52" Mits DLP Rear Projection connected with HDMI. I viewed the Last Samurai and Serenty. I could see the difference between the regular DVD upconverted using the A-1 and the HD-DVD version, but only if I really looked for it. Yes, there were definetely better details in the HD version such as the details on Tom Cruise's buttons on his uniform that were more blurry in the standard upconverted version, but again, this was something I had to look for. My biggest gripe with the A-1 was that the audio was outputed through the optical or coax out as DTS. You can read more about this on the forum. The only way to get Dolby Digital is to have a receiver that excepts HDMI or use the pre-amp outs and bypass your receiver's internal decoding. Both solutions were unacceptable for me and that is why I took it back. I figured I would wait until different brands come out to see if someone else does this differently. Now, I don't want you to get the wrong impression, this unit is pretty awesome and if you were buying an upconverting DVD player then this would be a viable option for a few hundred dollars more since you get the HD capability. For me it came down to the audio portion, which threw the justification into the "No" column for me.

One last thing, if you are looking for that "WOW" factor that you got the first time you saw HD versus standard TV, I seriously doubt you will get it. On paper you would expect it, but since DVD is already a great format, it's hard to get it. Throw in on top of that your iScan and you are really making it hard to justify it.

Remember, this is all just my opinion. You could always buy one from Wally world and try it out for 30 days and form your own opinion. And yes, the one they sell is the same as the A-1 that Best Buy and the rest sell, just different packaging. Hope this helps,

Kemical

P.S. If you do decide to get one, just about everyone agrees that setting the output to 1080i was the best resolution even for a native 720p set. This was due to the way the unit down-converted then upconverted the signal, remember, you are starting with a 1080p signal.

can benq 7700 support 720p 50hz and 1080i 50hz ? thanks.

My guess is the amount of benefit from the A1 is directly proportional to the quality, resolution, and especially size of your display. You're hardly going to be able to see the difference on a "little" 52" TV. Put that on a 140" 2.35:1 cinemascope screen w/lens via 720p or 1080p projector, and I imagine you'd see quite a difference, especially from 1.0-1.5x screen width.

Bought mine from them too have had no warranty problems. Last time I looked their no longer in business.

Mark

That sucks. I was trying to contact them b/c my 2nd bulb went out early again, and I didn't want to deal directly with benq b/c they are so freaking slow. Guess I have no choice now :(

That sucks. I was trying to contact them b/c my 2nd bulb went out early again, and I didn't want to deal directly with benq b/c they are so freaking slow. Guess I have no choice now :(

I doubt they would have done anything for you anyway. When my lamp went out after 45 days all they did is give me BenQ phone number.

When did you get your 2nd lamp? If it was last year you should get a new lamp and new firmware anyway its free. I've found them good to deal with haven't had any problems with them. But if you get a hold of CSR that gives you a hard time mention this forum and known problems PE7700 lamp. Good Luck

Mark

Hello,

I have been using my PE7700 for 6 months and it works great. But recently I am having problem with its color. The picture quality looks like when the video card is set to 256 color (my video card is actually set to 32 bit color). Also from time to time, the picture will blink slightly. Does anybody know what could be the problem? How could I fix it? I am sure it's not my PC problem because it works fine on a different projector. Thanks in advance for your help.

Steve

This has been discussed earlier in this thread, and it's called macroblocking.

It could be a result of the disc, or the player, or the PJ settings. Search in this thread for "macroblocking" for more info..

Well my Samsung SP-H710 projector (the Joe Kane model found in the +$3,500 forum) just exploded its bulb after only 55 hours, so it looks like BenQ and Optoma are not the only ones with bulb problems.

Luckily, I still had my PE7700, so I popped it on to the mount and was back in business in a few minutes.

I was watching Serenity on the Toshiba HD-DVD player, so a good chance to compare PQ between the Samsung and BenQ. While I think the Samsung has the edge on sharpness and color accuracy (it should -- a year ago it was $12,000), the BenQ is no slouch and still produces a very satisfying image (and is a lot of fun to watch) even in direct comparison to the Samsung.

Since I'll be using the BenQ for the next little while, I should finally be able to do the component calibration and post the numbers for those who are interested.

If anyone is wondering if the PE700 is a good match with HD-DVD, I say "absolutely!"

Well guys, I too now belong to the blown bulb club. I was on the original bulb with original firmware at 290 hours with a October 2005 build date and out she went!!! Any tips or names or numbers that anyone can share to make my bulb and firmware update go a little smoother and faster? Thanks!

Well guys, I too now belong to the blown bulb club. I was on the original bulb with original firmware at 290 hours with a October 2005 build date and out she went!!! Any tips or names or numbers that anyone can share to make my bulb and firmware update go a little smoother and faster? Thanks!
I called BENQ, got an RMA and my projector was only gone 11-days. (shipping from Illinois to Irvine, Ca and back)
Call 949-255-9500
Make sure to mention that the warranty says BENQ will pay RMA shipping both ways during the first year of the warranty. I should have looked more closely at my warranty (and BENQ service won't mention it either) and it cost me $66.00 to ship my projector.

Interesting.. with my RMA, they emailed me a packing label to ship it to them.

Kemical, what we are looking for in audio is HDMI 1.3. Last I heard the spec is supposed to be out this month.
I paid 400 bucks for my Panny 97 less than a year ago, so the 500 for the A1 seems like a good deal. It is just that if HDMI 1.3 equipped stuff comes out shortly it would be smarter to wait.
Sahara would be a good test for HD DVD. Besides being a great movie, the intro has lots of panning across newspapers and stuff. Even with the iScan the text on papers takes little steps across the screen. It does this through the whole intro too, so you have lots of time to be bothered by it.
Warren.

Kemical, what we are looking for in audio is HDMI 1.3. Last I heard the spec is supposed to be out this month.
I paid 400 bucks for my Panny 97 less than a year ago, so the 500 for the A1 seems like a good deal. It is just that if HDMI 1.3 equipped stuff comes out shortly it would be smarter to wait.
Sahara would be a good test for HD DVD. Besides being a great movie, the intro has lots of panning across newspapers and stuff. Even with the iScan the text on papers takes little steps across the screen. It does this through the whole intro too, so you have lots of time to be bothered by it.
Warren.


Warren:

Does the A1 also do the same "little steps" across the screen?

It is an interlacing artifact. It shouldn't be there on HD DVD. That is why it would make a good test. I don't have the A1 yet, nor is Sahara out on HD DVD.

Warren.

BEN Q DUDE

Please ck your PMs, trying to make contact. Please call me. Left several voice mails. Thank you :)

Interesting.. with my RMA, they emailed me a packing label to ship it to them.
Here's more on the BENQ Digital Projectors warranty: see bullet on RMA shipping-

BenQ Projector Standard Limited Warranty
• Three (3) years from purchase date or 2920 HOURS within any 12-month period as follows (except for lamps and refurbished units as specified
below):
• 1st year QXchange -- Advance replacement unit will be shipped via 48 hour courier by the
following business day after an RMA number is issued for the first year. ( The only exception to the 48 hour
rule is no deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays and shipments to certain remote areas may be
delayed due to the shipper's practices.)
• 2nd and 3rd year parts and labor.
• Lamp Warranty: Lamp is 90 days or 500 hours, which ever comes first.
• Refurbished units: Units purchased as refurbished carry a ONE (1) YEAR parts and labor warranty.
• Demo or Open Box: Demo and Open Box units purchased directly from BenQ carry a full 3-year parts and labor warranty.
• RMA Shipping: BenQ will pay for both ways shipping in the first year.
Each party will pay one way shipping freight after the first year during the warranty period.
• DOA (Dead On Arrival): Must be reported within 30 business days of purchase. A RMA number must be
issued in order to process the replacement. BenQ will replace the DOA unit with a brand new replacement.
BenQ will cover the freight charges both ways. The customer's credit card number must be obtained before a
replacement is sent. BenQ will ship out a advance replacement once receiving the customer's credit card and
charge the credit card the MSRP amount of the unit. A immediate credit to the credit card will be issued upon
receipt of the faulty product.

oldavman,

Thanks for the info, it is much appreciated. Anyone else have any tips or info?

Thanks, Steve

If anyone is wondering if the PE700 is a good match with HD-DVD, I say "absolutely!"

Kevin - I don't (yet) own the HD-DVD player but do have an MT700 PJ. In your set-up, did you output 720P or 1080i from the player? I've seen reports suggesting the higher resolution results in a better picture but I also remember reports that the MT700/PE7700 handled 1080i by descaling it to 540 and then rescaling it to 720.

Follow up on my blown bulb. I called BenQ and was on hold for less than 2 minutes. Doug the csr I spoke with was helpful and friendly. BenQ is taking care of the cost of the shipping both ways without me having to tell them it was their responsibility. It stinks I will be without my projector for a while, but it is comforting to know that BenQ is standing behind their product. I will report back when the projector arrives back at my home. (Hopefully Soon!!!)

Thanks to all for the advice.

BEN Q DUDE

Trying to make contact. Please call me. Left several voice mails. You have all but dissapeared

BEN Q DUDE

Trying to make contact. Please call me. Left several voice mails. You have all but dissapeared. Hope all is well.

i just sent in my PJ7700 for a firmware upgrade and i must say it came back in five days with a green sticker underneath with 0.49 written on it. i have put on the projector but am unable to see any change from the picture that it had earlier before the upgrade.

anyway i have read on the forum about the rebate bulb. what is the procedure to get the rebate nwe bulb? is everyone who has had an upgrade entitled to it? i was for whatever reason unable to clame the rebate bulb on the initial purchase. will it automatically arrive on the mail?

could someone help please? :rolleyes:

i just sent in my PJ7700 for a firmware upgrade and i must say it came back in five days with a green sticker underneath with 0.49 written on it. i have put on the projector but am unable to see any change from the picture that it had earlier before the upgrade.

anyway i have read on the forum about the rebate bulb. what is the procedure to get the rebate nwe bulb? is everyone who has had an upgrade entitled to it? i was for whatever reason unable to clame the rebate bulb on the initial purchase. will it automatically arrive on the mail?

could someone help please? :rolleyes:

The free lamp rebate promotion was offered for purchases from 10/01/05 to 12/31/05. The rebate form had to be sent in within 30 days of purchase.

Joe

Well my Samsung SP-H710 projector (the Joe Kane model found in the +$3,500 forum) just exploded its bulb after only 55 hours, so it looks like BenQ and Optoma are not the only ones with bulb problems.

Luckily, I still had my PE7700, so I popped it on to the mount and was back in business in a few minutes.

I was watching Serenity on the Toshiba HD-DVD player, so a good chance to compare PQ between the Samsung and BenQ. While I think the Samsung has the edge on sharpness and color accuracy (it should -- a year ago it was $12,000), the BenQ is no slouch and still produces a very satisfying image (and is a lot of fun to watch) even in direct comparison to the Samsung.

Since I'll be using the BenQ for the next little while, I should finally be able to do the component calibration and post the numbers for those who are interested.

If anyone is wondering if the PE700 is a good match with HD-DVD, I say "absolutely!"


Thanks, Kevin, for your comments and comparisons between the Samsung and the BenQ. Someone on the AVS forum in another thread asked whether a projector costing $1000 more gets his money's worth. Interestingly, that's the difference between the Samsung and the BenQ. So is the Samsung worth $1000 more than the BenQ? What percentage quality is the Samsung better than the BenQ? 5%? 10%?

That's my quandry at this moment. I can't decide whether to wait for the Samsung to resolve it's problems or go for the BenQ which has been beta tested by it's users.

But for only 1000 more than the samsung you can get the BenQ 8720. That would be a really good step up in quality.
Warren.

But for only 1000 more than the samsung you can get the BenQ 8720. That would be a really good step up in quality.
Warren.


Yeah, but it's $2000 more than the BenQ! :eek:

If $1000 doesn't matter, how can $2000? ;)
The point is that is a bigger step up in quality than the 7700 to Samsung. I would take the 7700 and save the $1000 for 1080p next year.
Warren.

Questions of value are difficult because they are so dependent on how much worth one places on the differences between the two choices.

Fortunately, I have the means to regularly upgrade my projector, so money is not always the deciding factor. Also, being an ISF calibrator and a disciple of Joe Kane since "A Video Standard" came out on Laser disc (I think in 1994), the color accuracy of the Samsung was worth the extra $1,000 to me. Having shown people both projectors, most casual observers are hard pressed to tell the difference (to them, they are both big, bright and colorful and that is all they want).

Those who are familiar with how a properly calibrated display device should look and who have seen and appreciated the higher end projectors like the Runco or Videokron, will, like me, feel that this projector comes very close to the best 720p projectors for a very reasonable price.

If coming up with an extra $1,000 is an issue, I would not hesitate to get the PE7700 - especially if this is an upgrade from your existing display device. While I am admittedly missing the Samsung, I would not be at all unhappy if I had to go back to the BenQ for the next year or so (or until 1080p projectors become affordable).

But for only 1000 more than the samsung you can get the BenQ 8720. That would be a really good step up in quality.
Warren.

Hey Warren: I was within days of buying the 8720 (I had seen it a couple of times at CES) when the Samsung came along that I saw demoed on the HT Cruise by Joe Kane himself.

I have to admit that the prior problems with the PE7700 played a role in going with the Samsung.

Sometimes you can't make the right choice no matter what.

I would pay a lot to get a projector that I know would last 2,000 hours without a problem and then only require a bulb change. The anxiety of wondering when my PE7700 would fail and then going through the same thing with the Samsung has taken away a lot of the "fun" of using my home theater. As a result, I find that I use it less and less.

i agree with kevin totally. in fact i would not mind going in for a little inferior picture quality but a reliable projector which i know will only require a bulb change after 2000 hrs and nothing more.

now even with a new upgrade i am always on the edge as to when something could go wrong with the 7700.

That is why I have been thinking about a Sim2. Lot's more money, but that 120 watt bulb seems like a really good idea. 8000 hour bulb life helps offset the projector cost a bit.
Warren.

Questions of value are difficult because they are so dependent on how much worth one places on the differences between the two choices.

Fortunately, I have the means to regularly upgrade my projector, so money is not always the deciding factor. Also, being an ISF calibrator and a disciple of Joe Kane since "A Video Standard" came out on Laser disc (I think in 1994), the color accuracy of the Samsung was worth the extra $1,000 to me. Having shown people both projectors, most casual observers are hard pressed to tell the difference (to them, they are both big, bright and colorful and that is all they want).

Those who are familiar with how a properly calibrated display device should look and who have seen and appreciated the higher end projectors like the Runco or Videokron, will, like me, feel that this projector comes very close to the best 720p projectors for a very reasonable price.

If coming up with an extra $1,000 is an issue, I would not hesitate to get the PE7700 - especially if this is an upgrade from your existing display device. While I am admittedly missing the Samsung, I would not be at all unhappy if I had to go back to the BenQ for the next year or so (or until 1080p projectors become affordable).


Coming up with the extra $1000 isn't a problem but coming up with an extra $2000 for the 8720 is. As it was, I was looking at the BenQ since all the teething problems seemed resolved when I noticed that the Samsung's price dropped quite a bit and it became very appealing from the glowing reports by Jason and Projector Central. Now, with the Samsung having problems and not knowing how soon they will be resolved (plus the football season fast approaching) has led me back to the BenQ. Decisions, decisions... :confused:

BTW, this will be my first FP which replaces my Sony 41" RPTV, currently dead.

Ignoring the reliability problems for a moment, another factor to consider is the room environment. I'm using my 7700 in a multi-purpose room. From my perspective, even if I were to upgrade to a PJ with better contrast numbers I would probably not realize the benefit.

There is a good point. Can't wait for football. Do what I did, go with the 7700 and get a 120" Silverstar. Same blacks and twice as bright brights. That will bump up your contrast ratio, and it is one mighty nice looking screen.
Warren.

There is a good point. Can't wait for football. Do what I did, go with the 7700 and get a 120" Silverstar. Same blacks and twice as bright brights. That will bump up your contrast ratio, and it is one mighty nice looking screen.
Warren.


My HT is also a multipurpose room so I need to have a retractable screen and besides, the SilverStar is out of my price range. Since my projector will be inverted and high shelf mounted I'm thinking seriously about the 92" DaLite High Power Model C which should put "pop" in the viewing.

I figured you could put the $1000 you saved by getting the 7700 into the screen. ;) The high power will be nice for you though. Mine is a multipurpose room too (our family room.) The wife intended for me to get a retractable screen too, and put up fancy girly junk to cover it. I put up some blackout cloth to test sizes (just taped to the wall,) and for the last year we watched the projector pretty much every day on the blackout cloth. This made the fixed screen an option, knowing it would be used all the time. She still had doubts till she saw it. It is a thing of beauty.
Warren.

I recently purchase a pe7700 and I had a question with the inputs. I have a media center pc when I connect it to the hd-rgb input everything looks good but a tiny bit fuzzy but still very good. when I connect it to the hdmi input all the text instantly gets razor sharp but movies get alot of distortion. The hd-rgb input is so much better for movies. So now when I connect my starchoice hd reciever to the hdim input, well say a soccer or hockey game things look great and then for no real reason everthing gets very blocky then goes back to being sharp. I was wondering is there somthing I am overlooking.

I figured you could put the $1000 you saved by getting the 7700 into the screen. ;) The high power will be nice for you though. Mine is a multipurpose room too (our family room.) The wife intended for me to get a retractable screen too, and put up fancy girly junk to cover it. I put up some blackout cloth to test sizes (just taped to the wall,) and for the last year we watched the projector pretty much every day on the blackout cloth. This made the fixed screen an option, knowing it would be used all the time. She still had doubts till she saw it. It is a thing of beauty.
Warren.


Glad to hear your WAF worked out okay... :D

I recently purchase a pe7700 and I had a question with the inputs. I have a media center pc when I connect it to the hd-rgb input everything looks good but a tiny bit fuzzy but still very good. when I connect it to the hdmi input all the text instantly gets razor sharp but movies get alot of distortion. The hd-rgb input is so much better for movies. So now when I connect my starchoice hd reciever to the hdim input, well say a soccer or hockey game things look great and then for no real reason everthing gets very blocky then goes back to being sharp. I was wondering is there somthing I am overlooking.

You might want to check your CW Delay setting, mine was blotchy until I changed the setting from 70 to 58. I followed Kevins advice and checked it against the gray scale and it seams that for this PJ a good setting is betwen 56 & 59. 58 looks the best on mine after using DVE. Good luck!

P.S. Not much activity on this forum lately, that must be a good thing, what a difference from 5 months ago!! Hope all of you are enjoying your PE7700! I want to thank all who have contributed advise, especially when in came to getting calibration and settings.

Well, some more good news about Benq customer service. I called about my 2nd dead lamp on monday, and they had a replacement projector with updated firmware to me by Wednesday. Thats a nice turn around time.

Well, some more good news about Benq customer service. I called about my 2nd dead lamp on monday, and they had a replacement projector with updated firmware to me by Wednesday. Thats a nice turn around time.

Congrats,

You must have gotten the first "hot swap" from Ben in a long time. It should indicate very good news. The problem is truly solved, they are finished with upgrading most customers and, perhaps the 7700 will remain in production, indicating their belief in long term reliability with the pj. 48 hour turnaround! Indeed back to great CS.

Joe

Yeah. They did a hot swap for me in February when my third bulb blew just before the superbowl. Replacement came just in time! Good service. BTW, I now have about 350 hours running on normal and high altitude.

They fed-ex'ed mine on the overnight/Saturday delivery right before the Superbowl. That was real nice, and had to cost them big too. I am quite happy with them.

A question about setup. When you display the color pattern should the
top right bars be orange, or just dark red. Thanks.

FYI-
My non-upgraded pe7700 (November build date) finally blew the bulb so the waiting is over.
Called benq today and had 0 wait time, which I thought was very surprising for a Monday. Anyway, it took me a little bit to explain why I was sending in the PJ. It didn't sound like he was familiar with the "recall" but he didn't question me about it at all. I did have to remind him that he needed to send me a shipping label but he didn't question that either just said I would get it in my email today. I would say my total call time was right at 5-8 minutes and most of that time was spent by me unpacking the pj to get the serial number. I had written it down wrong of course.

I was quoted a 5-7 day turnaround and my pj is going to "gasp" New Jersey?

So far my first tech support dealings with benq gets 4 out of 5 stars. (.5 star deduction for seeming lack of knowledge of recall and .5 deduction for not being open on Saturday when I called the first time.)

OK so when the pj came back from Benq with a new lamp
I changed the cw setting from 70 to 58 like others who said
the picture was improved. The problem is with the color bar pattern.
The last few top right bars turn orange. I put it back to 70 and it's
red again. Anyone else have this happen.

That isn't a fixed number that should be set. Every projector is different, that is why it is a setting, not hardcoded. My projector looked awesome without touching that.
Warren.

Warren, are you saying you left your color wheel setting around 70? Where you able to calibrate properly?

OK so when the pj came back from Benq with a new lamp
I changed the cw setting from 70 to 58 like others who said
the picture was improved. The problem is with the color bar pattern.
The last few top right bars turn orange. I put it back to 70 and it's
red again. Anyone else have this happen.

So are you saying that you do not have any blotches in the picture at 70, but your colors are off? What problems are you actually experiencing with the picture?

I checked color bar pattern. My color is also orange on the right hand side of the top (red) color bar. My CW is at 59. Also discovered all the colors are very dark on the far left hand side as to almost make them indistinguishable. Anyone know if this is normal or how to fix it?

Update on my BenQ tech support experience. I recieved my UPS packing slip via email today and it was for the wrong address. I called Benq and got right in again. They are emailing me a new packing slip. I am glad I called because in the words of the benq rep "That would have screwed everything all up". Sp check your lable before you ship your PJ

I checked color bar pattern. My color is also orange on the right hand side of the top (red) color bar. My CW is at 59. Also discovered all the colors are very dark on the far left hand side as to almost make them indistinguishable. Anyone know if this is normal or how to fix it?

I'm wondering how bad is the picture because of this or how is it affected?

My color is also orange on the right hand side of the top (red) color bar. My CW is at 59. Also discovered all the colors are very dark on the far left hand side as to almost make them indistinguishable. Anyone know if this is normal or how to fix it?
In performing an analysis of this issue, it would really help if you could post a photo. This certainly does not sound normal, and it might be a CW issue, but as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

When I put mine back to 70, as it came back from benq, the orange
turned back to red. I did not watch a movie at both settings.

CRS59,
The picture looks good, have not noticed anything unusual. Will play with the CW settings and look for changes in color bar pattern.

Kevin,
Will try to post a picture.

Kevin,
Here are some screen shots of the color bar pattern. Shows orange on right side of red bar and color fades to dark for all colors on the far left.

Kevin,
^^^ Screenshot one and three show color bars fading to dark along the left side. #2 did not come out.

Color bar with cw at 70

Color bar with cw at 59

Red ramp at 59

Lynch1j2,
Exactly how color bar pattern looks on my PJ for CW on 70 and on 59. Thanks.

Just got my projector back from BenQ for bulb replacement and firmware upgrade, and now I have a new problem. The projector will not sync up to my cable box, Oppo player, or my Panny S97 player over HDMI. The picture just turns from the original blue to green. I am using a Gefen switch and Ram HDMI cables. I have changed nothing since I sent the projector in and all HDMI connections were working perfectly before the firmware upgrade. I tried bypassing the Gefen switch and hooking direct with a different HDMI cable than the one I was using and the problem still remains. When I am hooked up through the Gefen switch and I change inputs from to component to HDMI on the projector, I get a picture for about 3 seconds, then the picture goes to green screen again. Please help if ypou have any info. Thanks

I had to change resolutions on mine to get it to sync.

I am in the process of looking at upgrading my receiver. My question: Would I be well-served going with a scaling receiver (i.e. Denon 4306 or Yamaha 2600) that can trancode/scale 720P to the PJ regardless of the source? Or should I go for transcoding only (Denon 3806 etc.) and let the PJ do the scaling?

Has anyone here used a "scaling" receiver with the 7700?

I was debating the exact same question, but then found out HDMI 1.3 is coming soon. It would be silly to spend money on a receiver now. We finally will have 7.1 sound. It should be out later this year.
The 7700 does an excellent job of scaling I hear, so I wouldn't worry about the reciever doing it, it won't be long till there is nothing to scale anymore. HD shall rule the world.
Warren.

UPDATE
I tried changing resolutions on my projector and still have the same problem. I called BENQ and they are saying they need to put some kind of chip in it for the HDMI connections to work. They say this is a side affect of the new firmware. My customer service rep said they are only putting the chips in the units that absolutely need them because they are in short supply. I just wish they would have asked me if I was using HDMI, then they could have put this chip in to start with. It sucks that I just got it back today, and now I will be shipping it back to them tomorrow again, but what are ya gonna do? LOL I don't know if this whole chip thing is for real or not, but I wanted to put it out there for others, so they can avoid this issue if possible. Maybe Kevin Anderson could shead some light on this chip issue??? Please Kevin??? LOL

Hmmm.... First I have heard of this. I have the new firmware and use HDMI and don't have any synch issues other than the ones that can be attributed to D*. Wonder if they screwed something else up, know it and are just making an excuse.

I don't know the details of the chip issue, but it seems to be hit and miss. Mine came back and worked over HDMI without any problems. One client got his back when the upgrade first became available, and he had the HDMI problem that was fixed on the second trip back to BenQ. Yesterday, I just got a projector back for another client that I was going to calibrate tonight or tomorrow, so I will see if it has this problem.

My "wild guess" is that somehow the HDMI chip is shorted or corrupted as part of the upgrade process, so not everyone has a problem.

I've seen the dreaded "HDMI Green Screen" many times on other systems and it is always a challenge to determine if it is the source device, the switcher, the cable, or the display device.

Hopefully they will get it back quickly. So far, all of my customers that have had the upgrade have not had any further problems with the bulb, and some are over 500 hours with the upgrade.

Kevin,
Don't forget the question Lynch1j2 and I have about the color bar pattern.
Thanks :) :)

BTW, cool about PE7700 owners with over 500 hrs w/ new firmware. Consider this a milestone. Feel more comfortable about my purchase.

Thanks Kevin, I appreciate the info.

I sent my projector back in this morning. I hope turn around time is as fast as last time. I will update you guys when I get it back.

Well after reading all the horror stories about the bulb issue for the past 6 or 7 months I was hoping that I would be excluded from the club.

But I wasn't....

I got my PJ in late October (June 05 Manu date) and I put about 500 hours on it.

Tonight, all of a sudden while it was on, POP, and blank screen. Bulb is blown, infact I removed the bulb and glass was falling out if it all over the place.

I tried to shake as much glass out of the PJ as I could, hope they vacuum the unit out when they get it in.

So of course this has to happen at 11pm on a Friday night so tech support won't be open until Monday. Honestly, what consumer manufacturer doesn't have weekend tech support?

Anyway, I guess I will call and see what they will do. Lately have they been doing advanced replacements or the standard repair?

However from reading some other posts, it looks like some repairs are going to IL which I am in so that might make for a faster turn around.....

Thanks!

More than likely BenQ will clean up the PJ, install new lamp and firmware rather than replace projector, if nothing major is wrong.

More than likely BenQ will clean up the PJ, install new lamp and firmware rather than replace projector, if nothing major is wrong.

Cool, thanks for the info Jeffcom!

Knowing that the lamp is out of warranty, that would make me happy if they did that to make up for the blub issues.

After a long and extensive research in the PJ market to build my first HT, I finally bought the PE7700 about a month ago. Being fully aware of its past issues, I made sure to ask the vendor to get one with firmware 0.48. I read here 0.49 is now released but, oh well, 0.48 is all I really need.

So, my PJ has now cumulated about 40 hours of usage, I am very happy with the PQ and all those details such as general construction quality, menu ergonomics, etc. I am projecting on a 110" precision "brilliant white" carada screen, and sit at 1.3x screen width, watching mostly SD DVD movies, or using it as a computer monitor from time to time. The PJ is connected to a linux media server via a DVI<->HDMI cable, and the media server outputs a 720p video signal, in order to use the PJ in its native resolution and benefit from the more advanced scaling features of the applications I use to play DVDs (actually my DVD library is ripped on the media server itself so I don't have the inconvenients usually associated to physical discs: no storing, no losing, no scratching, no long loading time, etc).

This setup (digital video link + native PJ resolution) means that it is possible to test the PJ accuracy and quality at the pixel level when it is feed with non-compressed video data (ie. not movies). I was very curious about doing that, so I have created a graphical test pattern (see attached file pattern_mrb.png) of about 64x128 pixels, and displayed it via a computer connected to the PJ at a zoom level of 1:1, so that one pixel of the PNG file corresponds to one one micromirror on the PJ's DMD chip. I took a few pictures of the result. I tried to make the pattern in a way that could exhibit any possible problem. It is made of vertical, horizontal, and diagonal bars of various colors (red, green, blue, white, black) on two background colors (white and black).

The first picture (whole.jpg) shows the whole pattern. Since it covers a very small screen area just a little bit larger than the pattern itself, one can easily notice the screendoor effect. I think that this kind of pattern is quite good to detect whether digital or analog cables are being used. In my case (digital, DVI<->HDMI cable) each pixel can be discerned individually, especially in the diagonal bars so it's very good. I have not tested it but I suppose that with any analog cable (component, s-video, or composite) the pattern would look very soft.

I have noticed one problem, though. When watching very closely to the pattern, a small refraction effect due to the projector's lens could be noticed. It was the most visible in the white diagonal bars on a black background (see this close-up: refraction.jpg). The longest wavelengths (red) are shifted upward while the shortest wavelengths (blue) are shifted downward.

This refraction effect is kind of interesting because it means, that even with a 100% digital setup, and perfectly focused PJ, the resulting image will still severely suffer from refraction. I never thought it could be that sever. I have spoken about this to a friend who is in the movie industry and he told me they have the same problem with camera lenses. Manufacturers are trying to build lenses reducing refraction, but such lenses are very expensive.

Which makes me think, are all projector lenses similarly susceptible to refraction, or are there huge differences between PJs ? Are the very expensive projectors using particularly refraction-reducing lenses ? Do manufacturers care at all about refraction ? Or do they consider it to be so imperceptible that they ignore it ? In my case I can notice it when displaying white text on a black background when sitting at 1.3x screen width. It's not annoying, but it is slightly visible.

This is also called Chromatic Abberation, and is very commonly discussed with regard to anamorphic lenses (see the 2.35:1 Constant Height forum). I've never really noticed it on mine, though I've not looked specifically for it. Many talk of Carl Zeiss lenses for their exceptional quality, etc, and is one of the benefits of moving up to the Optoma H78DC3/H79. I can't remember if that has a CZ or not, but is supposedly a superior lens. Just one example that it is definitely considered.

Great pictures showing a problem common to essentially all projectors under $20,000.

You can minimize chromatic abberation by making sure that the projector is at a distance that is in the middle between the min and max point (e.g., the zoom control is in the middle); that the projector is absolutely level, that the screen is exactly at the height required by the projector's offset; that the lens is dead center to the screen; that the screen is precisely 90 degrees to the lens; and last but not least, that the lens is clean.

My experience is that the PE7700 is certainly above average in this department (for similarly priced projectors) and that the images you posted show more abberation than I've observed after installing a number of PE7700 projectors.

Since DLP projectors use essentially the same chip, the quality of the lens is one way manufacturers can distinguish their product and create a sharper image than their competitors, but they have to balance that against additional cost. As a practical matter, it is very difficult to get consumers to pay $10,000 for a projector that has the same DLP chip as a $3,000 projector.

Having seen all the major competitors in this price range, and many of the most expensive projectors (Runco & Videokron), I can tell you that the PE7700 is an extremely high-value performer and that you would have to spend a lot more to see a major improvement in PQ.

Hi all,

I just sent my unit in to get the upgrade (original lamp blew at 750 hours with the old FW). Got it back in 5 days, which was nice, with .49 FW and a new bulb.

Of course , I lost all of my ISF settings. I went into the service menu to try and set them back, but all of the gain and RGB setting adjustment controls are locked (greyed out). Any idea on how to get them turned on so I can edit the fields?

Thanks for any info,

Chris

Tim & Kevin, thanks for your informative posts.

Kevin, you guessed it right. The center of the lens is perfectly located, but I was running the PJ at almost the max zoom level. Here is a picture (see reduced_aberration.jpg) of the same close-up, but this time while having the zoom setting on the middle position. Chromatic aberration is indeed much less visible. And as you predicted it, I also experimentally verified that it is the optimal zoom level to reduce aberration. You're the man Kevin ;)

Hey All,

I just spoke with Benq tech support about my blown bulb. The lady I talked to was very nice and knew exactly what I was talking about and without issue setup everything to get the unit firmware upgraded, bulb replaced, and HDMI chip added/replaced(?).

The thing I found puzzling is that she reported to me that it wasn't a bulb issue, it was a firmware only issue.

She said they are using the same bulbs, however the firmware is the cause of/for the blow. Can anyone confirm that?

Also she sounded very surprised when I told her the bulb actually had shattered and not just stopped working. Is that normal with other experiences? The bulb actually shattering?

Thanks!

It is a firmware problem even though they did try to change the bulb a bit. My pj had the new bulb and it still went out.

The bulbs don't usualy shatter either.

I hope they fix this HDMI issue for me as well. I just sent mine in and didn't mention anything about HDMI. The person I talked to didn't sound like he knew what I was talking about at all either.

Usually they just die, but some do explode.

On my other projector (the Samsung H-710), the bulb exploded like yours (see, BenQ is not the only one having problems with blown bulbs). I understand that there is a potential health hazard from the bulb debris, so I didn't even take a look (I could hear the shards rattling around inside), I just sent it in for repair.

Dude, these lamps have mercury in them. You really shouldn't touch them if the glass is broken. Shaking it out of the projector sounds like a really bad idea too. BenQ will take care of it.
Warren.

Dude, these lamps have mercury in them. You really shouldn't touch them if the glass is broken. Shaking it out of the projector sounds like a really bad idea too. BenQ will take care of it.
Warren.


Yea, I knew that, I did it outside at the back of my property I didn't want to do it inside.

With the small amount in there, I wasn't too concerned, but I didn't stand around licking it..:)

Hehe you don't have to be concerned with eating as you do with breathing it. Mercury fumes are HIGHLY toxic.

HDMI Connection

I purchased by PE7700 last September. I've only racked up 180 hours use but am very happy with picture quality out of the box.

I have it hooked up to an LG DVD player via the HDMI port and using a 10m Belkin PureAV HDMI cable. Worked fine until a couple of weeks ago when all of a sudden HDMI stopped. I also have a 10m Belkin PureAV component cable installed and just swapped over. Couldn't get HDMI working again after many attempts including cycling power, checking connections, etc - projector would just sit there with a "HDMI Searching" message.

After borrowing my friends DVD player I soon proved that my player was not the cause. Could only be the cable or the projector. The former had me sweating since I had "built the cable in" as part of my home theatre construction (ie. chasing cable through wall cavities etc). I'd been very careful in not damaging the cable during installation.

I then read somewhere (perhaps in this thread) that someone had a similar issue. I did the same whereby I connected a short HDMI cable between player and the projector. Bingo - HDMI worked again. I then connected my longer cable and this too worked again. Thankfully it wasn't my cable! Seems like the projector HDMI port locks up and needs a "stronger" signal to unlock - all very strange!

Here is a post from the previous page, maybe you are having the same issue with your HDMI, the chip might need replacing, good luck!

I tried changing resolutions on my projector and still have the same problem. I called BENQ and they are saying they need to put some kind of chip in it for the HDMI connections to work. They say this is a side affect of the new firmware. My customer service rep said they are only putting the chips in the units that absolutely need them because they are in short supply. I just wish they would have asked me if I was using HDMI, then they could have put this chip in to start with. It sucks that I just got it back today, and now I will be shipping it back to them tomorrow again, but what are ya gonna do? LOL I don't know if this whole chip thing is for real or not, but I wanted to put it out there for others, so they can avoid this issue if possible. Maybe Kevin Anderson could shead some light on this chip issue??? Please Kevin??? LOL

That was my post, and I can tell you that trying a short HDMI cable did not solve the problem. I tried 3 different cables and no luck.

I just got off the phone with a supervisor (jesse dossey) over at benq i called about having a hdmi chip or somethin replaced and dont i feel like a fool i called and raised hell, they didnt know what i was talking about !there is no chip replacement for that unit he tell's me ! This remindes me of some post's from before about replaceing components inside of our P.J's to fix the issue with our lamp's blowing early it is just nonsense it's probally just a mistake when flashing firm ware or somethin simple like that anyways its nice that my lamp is still going strong @ 700 hours........

Hey BenQ-ers,
Just a quick question:

How big of an image are you running?

I am about to move (Actually we are in the selling our place looking to find a new place stage). I am hoping to get some dedicated space for my HT fun. I am currently at 82 and 110 inches (depending on the screen I put up). The 110 is at max zoom onto BO cloth and looks surprisingly good for HD, GC and DVD.

How much bigger do you think I can get by moving the HT to a cave ;) ? I think I remember reading somewhere that this pj could do 140. Has anyone taken it that big.... bigger?

I took mine to 144" on BO Cloth for a while. I thought it was fine. I have backed off to a 120" Silverstar and have to admit I like the extra brightness more than the extra size.
Everyone is different of course, and I don't have a cave. I would wait and setup the BO Cloth in your cave first. I had to add a seam to get to 144" but it wasn't too distracting for testing.
Warren.

I'm at 133" Da-Lite High power and it looks great. And yes a completely light controlled room.

Joe

I just got off the phone with a supervisor (jesse dossey) over at benq i called about having a hdmi chip or somethin replaced and dont i feel like a fool i called and raised hell, they didnt know what i was talking about !there is no chip replacement for that unit he tell's me ! This remindes me of some post's from before about replaceing components inside of our P.J's to fix the issue with our lamp's blowing early it is just nonsense it's probally just a mistake when flashing firm ware or somethin simple like that anyways its nice that my lamp is still going strong @ 700 hours........



Why would you call BenQ and "raise hell" when your projector is still working? It has always seemed that no matter who you talk to, you get different answers. Who is right or who is wrong, we may never know.

How much bigger do you think I can get by moving the HT to a cave ;) ? I think I remember reading somewhere that this pj could do 140. Has anyone taken it that big.... bigger?

I use a 142" Criterion BW with my MT700 (in a cave) and it is plenty bright; even on economy.

Why would you call BenQ and "raise hell" when your projector is still working? It has always seemed that no matter who you talk to, you get different answers. Who is right or who is wrong, we may never know.



Well when i said raise hell it was a figure of speech,I just want the newest stuff in my projector and i hear that there is somethin being replaced then i want it.... is that wrong.so i called and spoke with several people that didnt know what i was talking about then finaly some transferd me to there supervisor (jesse) and this kid knew his stuff and told me there is " no chip's or boards are being replaced in that unit" he went on about some firmware upgrade that is all that they are doing... i just hate people that will post stuff that is speculation or hearsa... that is not at anyone person but this is a "fact based forum" right ?

Well when i said raise hell it was a figure of speech,I just want the newest stuff in my projector and i hear that there is somethin being replaced then i want it.... is that wrong.so i called and spoke with several people that didnt know what i was talking about then finaly some transferd me to there supervisor (jesse) and this kid knew his stuff and told me there is " no chip's or boards are being replaced in that unit" he went on about some firmware upgrade that is all that they are doing... i just hate people that will post stuff that is speculation or hearsa... that is not at anyone person but this is a "fact based forum" right ?



Sorry, I didn't know you talked to Jesse Dossey the PE7700 guru. LOL I have heard everything he says is 100% factual! LOL Come on, I spoke with several different people at BenQ also, and they seemed to know about this so called chip replacement. If you read my earlier post, I said "I don't know if this whole chip thing is for real or not, but I wanted to put it out there for others, so they can avoid this issue if possible." I stated the facts as they were given to me from BenQ, just the same as they were given to you. Like I said before, "Who is right or who is wrong, we may never know".

Just bit the bullet and picked up a 7700 here In Australia (finally time to retire the ol' Panny AE100 !) and will check the firmware as soon as I get home from work. I understand the newest FW is .49 (hoping it has it - manufactured in March 06), and I should obviously by striving for that FW, but is the previous FW sound (.41?). Im in the process of reading all 123 pages but figured this question may be answered before I finish!
Thanking you guys in advance.

Im from australia as well bought mine has sept 05 on it. Is the firmware ok and the lamp issue ok?

Just bit the bullet and picked up a 7700 here In Australia (finally time to retire the ol' Panny AE100 !) and will check the firmware as soon as I get home from work. I understand the newest FW is .49 (hoping it has it - manufactured in March 06), and I should obviously by striving for that FW, but is the previous FW sound (.41?). Im in the process of reading all 123 pages but figured this question may be answered before I finish!
Thanking you guys in advance.

A march '06 man. date should have the 0.48 FW which was the "upgrade" fix that most of us got. v 0.49 came after march. 0.41, the original FW was not sound. So far 0.48 seems to have solved the problem.

Joe

Just got mine back from Jersy. .49 is still the current FW. My hdmi is working fine through a 25' cable.

BTW this sounds crazy but when I got mine back the black level was set to 0 IRE. I changed it to 7.5 and it significantly improved the black levels. I guess when I say improved I mean its now back to how it was before I sent it in. The black masking bars were literally grey before I changed it. I am using an oppo dvd player through HDMI. This should make absolutely no difference but it did. This is not the kind of difference that needs abx testing. I do not perceive a small difference it’s a huge difference. I know that IRE is a representation of voltage and there is no voltage in a digital signal but I also know I am not crazy.

What I am wondering is. When I calibrate my pj should I set the IRE back to 0 and then calibrate or leave it at 7.5. I am guessing I need to leave it at 7.5 but I wanted to get some opinions. I will be using Mr. Andersons old numbers. I can't do the calibration myself by eye because I am red/green color blind and with a baby on the way my wife would club me if I tolder we need to pay for an ISF right now.


BTW Kevin do you have those new settings :) I need to calibrate my pj again and you numbers are the best way for me to do that.

Ok, Keven explained the IRE thing back a aways in this thread. I changed mine and found the same results you did. His HDMI numbers are still in this thread. Remember each projector needs to be calibrated differently, or they wouldn't need to be calibrated at all, the factory would have them all set to the perfect numbers. That is why Kevin said he was hesitatant to post them. I tried Kevin's settings for the last week and just went back to the default Home Theater setting and like it better. It doesn't hurt to try them though.
Warren.

I did a search in this forum for IRE and didn't find anything that mentioned why 0 vs 7.5 would make a difference with hdmi but I could have over looked it.

I used the numbers back on page 114 previously and they looked good to me but he mentioned he was going to repost some new numbers when he got a chance. I was just trying to poke him a bit :D

He said he is going to post the numbers for component connections.
Here is the IRE comment he made (sounds like your devices must be set properly too.)

Originally Posted by Kevin R. Anderson
The standard black level for HDTV and DVD is 0 IRE and your projector should match that. Most DVD players have an adjustment for black level from 0 IRE to 7.5 IRE (some call it “normal” vs. “enhanced”) so that the DVD player can match the 7.5 IRE setup of an analog CRT. However, the BenQ is a digital display device and doesn’t require the 7.5 IRE setup.

I will check the oppo forum and see if there is a way to change it. I am at work right now so I can go look. Thanks

Yeah, I was going to try to fix mine too, but I figure if it looks good why bother. Once I get an HD DVD player it would be nice to have it calibrated right.
Warren.

I don't know anything about the technical aspects of IRE but I think I read a previous post that recommends to use IRE 0 and calibrate for brightness/contrast. I tried that and it produces a result that to my eye looks like setting it to IRE 7.5.

Hehe you don't have to be concerned with eating as you do with breathing it. Mercury fumes are HIGHLY toxic.

I know that, I was being sarcastic... :)

Well when i said raise hell it was a figure of speech,I just want the newest stuff in my projector and i hear that there is somethin being replaced then i want it.... is that wrong.so i called and spoke with several people that didnt know what i was talking about then finaly some transferd me to there supervisor (jesse) and this kid knew his stuff and told me there is " no chip's or boards are being replaced in that unit" he went on about some firmware upgrade that is all that they are doing... i just hate people that will post stuff that is speculation or hearsa... that is not at anyone person but this is a "fact based forum" right ?

I am not sure what the fix is (a new chip or something else) however when I sent in my projector last week to update the firmware because the bulb issue, the rep at Benq (I can't remember her name) asked if I was using HDMI and I told her yes, and she said "there is a fix they need to apply as well along with the firmware for the HDMI".

She said that the firmware upgrade *sometimes* causes issues with HDMI so if I was using it, they would apply the fix.

Unless you are having issues, why worry about it?

You have to realize that with any piece of electronic equipment, if you buy the same device 6 months after your purchase, the inside components *could* be different. The Xbox 360 for instance, I got mine the day it came out, however if I buy one today the parts inside are going to be tweaked based on failures in the field(and other reasons). However I am not going to send my 360 to MS to have these new components put in. That is a little unrealistic.

Now if something is potentially broken during a repair of another issue, then I would expect them to correct it as well, but if I would have been one of the first ones to get the .49 firmware and wasn't having any problems with the HDMI, I wouldn't send it back in.

Great pictures showing a problem common to essentially all projectors under $20,000.

You can minimize chromatic abberation by making sure that the projector is at a distance that is in the middle between the min and max point (e.g., the zoom control is in the middle); that the projector is absolutely level, that the screen is exactly at the height required by the projector's offset; that the lens is dead center to the screen; that the screen is precisely 90 degrees to the lens; and last but not least, that the lens is clean.

My experience is that the PE7700 is certainly above average in this department (for similarly priced projectors) and that the images you posted show more abberation than I've observed after installing a number of PE7700 projectors.

Since DLP projectors use essentially the same chip, the quality of the lens is one way manufacturers can distinguish their product and create a sharper image than their competitors, but they have to balance that against additional cost. As a practical matter, it is very difficult to get consumers to pay $10,000 for a projector that has the same DLP chip as a $3,000 projector.

Having seen all the major competitors in this price range, and many of the most expensive projectors (Runco & Videokron), I can tell you that the PE7700 is an extremely high-value performer and that you would have to spend a lot more to see a major improvement in PQ.


This brings up this question because I'm a little confused. When I use the projection calculator provided by Projector Central for the BenQ PE7700 and I enter the size of the screen (in this case it would be 92" diagonal) I get a numerical throw distance of 12.4 ft. However, looking at the document itself, on the throw range I see a blue bar which extends from 12.4 ft down to 9.1 ft. Am I correct to assume the optimal throw range is in the middle between 12.4 ft and 9.1 ft, which also corresponds to the middle of the zoom lens? But if I'm wrong then where is the middle of the zoom lens, numerically?

Using the same Projector Central, put the zoom midway at 1.18. For a screen of 92" it shows a throw of 10.5 with seating between 9 to 15 ft. I have just purchased the BenQ PE7700 and a Da-Lite High Power 106" screen. The screen will take 2 weeks to arrive, and I will be away until 29th July when I will set it up. I can report back how it looks then.

Using the same Projector Central, put the zoom midway at 1.18. For a screen of 92" it shows a throw of 10.5 with seating between 9 to 15 ft. I have just purchased the BenQ PE7700 and a Da-Lite High Power 106" screen. The screen will take 2 weeks to arrive, and I will be away until 29th July when I will set it up. I can report back how it looks then.


Thanks, Frodo77. If follow correctly the mid range of the 1.36:1 zoom lens is 1.18 and you multiplied that by 9.1 to get 10.5?

I just set the zoom to 1.18 with a screen 92" and the program did the rest. You can play around with various set ups. Mine will not be perfect for my room dimensions, but close enough.

I just set the zoom to 1.18 with a screen 92" and the program did the rest. You can play around with various set ups. Mine will not be perfect for my room dimensions, but close enough.

This may sound stupid but how do you set the zoom at 1.18? I'm unable to change the 1.00 zoom on the Projection Calculator. It seems to be locked on 1.00. Am I missing something?

Just above the "throw distance" and "image diagonal" bars (these are at the bottom) and to the left is the Zoom. Click on the blue pointer and as you move it the zoom indicator at the top changes the values. Hope this helps.

Guess I should have checked this Fourumn earlier. I've had my 4th lamp go out!! on my 7700, Benq has replaced the bulbs but I had never been informed about a firmware problem. I have been attempting to contact Benq at 18666002367. Was on hold for 78 minutes with 1st 20 minutes with buzz on lin, then I got blank open line. I then E mail complaint and received response to call cust support at the above #. What a laugh. I have now been holding for 97 minutes and the buss with there monotonous Benq song in the background. Now to the point does anyone else have another contact # for Benq Support

Just above the "throw distance" and "image diagonal" bars (these are at the bottom) and to the left is the Zoom. Click on the blue pointer and as you move it the zoom indicator at the top changes the values. Hope this helps.

Oh, I see what you did... :rolleyes: Thanks! :)

Bohunk I wonder if they are even open. They might have forgot to change their pbx or they might be horribly understaffed. I know about half the people at my company took today off.

I don't think they are open. I haven't even heard the BenQ music... Try back Wednesday.

Can confirm I have the .49 FW on board my machine. I notice when I switch it on (and locked on to a 720 source such as Xbox360) I get the image but all green. Changing inputs on the RXV2600 or source inputs on the BEnQ (I have HDMI and component connected) solves the issue. No biggie, just a little issue. I'm hoping thats the worst thing Ill ever encounter with this PJ! I remember when I bought my Panny AE100 all those years ago (that I just retired) and remember the common problem with that machine was PSU issues. I guess I was lucky tho'.

Yeah, trying to get anything done on July 3rd is hopeless. My work was off, including customer support. I am sure you will get through today, but it might not be too fun yet. A lot of people take the whole week off.
I thought the longest throw was the way to minimize CA. Longest throw = Smallest angle for light to bend out of the lens to hit the top and bottom of screen. I guess I should move my projector

I had the same problem, moved the hdmi cable around device(s) connected and bam! color.

Gah! We've been unstickied!

Anyway... We are moving. I've had to take everything down so that the house will show better. We don't have a "regular" TV. We went from watching movies on a 22" WS LCD to a 82" WS FP down to a 15.4" WS Laptop.

Ooooooh Imagine the raw power.

Sorry guys about not posting settings for the component connection. I’ve not done so because the results on the one projector were unsatisfactory for the lower luminance levels (20 to 40 IRE).

There was just too much red offset on the component setting. If I turned up green and blue offset enough to compensate, I couldn’t get black to its lowest level (e.g., if I set brightness to 0, I could still see the DLP mirrors oscillating). Putting up a luminance step pattern, it looked great from 50 IRE and above, but there was a distinct reddish tint for 40 IRE and below. I compensated somewhat using the gain, but the best I could do at 30 IRE was around 5,900 Kelvin (the target is 6,500).

I don’t know if this was a problem unique to this particular projector or what since the HDMI input calibrated to a very flat D65 from 30 IRE to 90 IRE. Fortunately, the client primarily uses HDMI since component is for his kid’s gaming systems.

I’ve got another PE7700 that I’ve calibrated for HDMI but not component since it is not used. I will experiment on that one and see if it has a similar issue. There are some other tricks and settings in the service menau that have come to mind that I will experiment with to see if I can get a flat gray scale using component.

Just because I had this problem doesn’t mean your projector is doing the same thing, so don’t panic – it just means I can’t provide reliable settings right now for the component input. But I will keep working on it.

Ive noticed in some panning shots what I consider a little bit of solarisation, particularly on people's faces and skin in general. Any ideas what I could change to minimise/get rid of this effect? I have inputted Kevin's HDMI settings.

I'm starting to lose that loving feeling for my PE7700!

I sent my 7700 in for the firmware upgrade back in March. (see message # 2869 in this thread!) Horrendous experience back then. BenQ screwed it up so badly they had to send me a whole new projector after almost a *month* out of the game.

Hey, a new projector isn't a bad thing I thought, along with a new bulb and new firmware. Hopefully I'm set, right?

Well, no.

Last night I had the dreaded red LAMP light come back on, and no picture. I didn't hear the bulb explode internally this time, just no picture.

I've been religiously blowing out the dust filter about once a week to keep the airflow around the bulb up. To wit, the PE7700 spins the fans up, then *slows* then down after about a minute of viewing. (i.e. I'm not having a "clogged filter" problem!)

In any case, I took out the filter anyway, blew it out (not much on it), and put it back in. The red LAMP light was still on, but I hit the power button anyway. Fired right back up.

So far so good, but now I'm *really* nervous because this is almost the same exact set of events that happened when my *last* bulb burned out on the old firmware. I essentially had a 'warning shot', then a few more hours, then *kaboom*.

I've definitely lost that loving feeling with the PE7700. Fingers and toes crossed!

MarkH,
You probably need to adjust your color wheel timing in the service menu. Each unit varies slightly, so you will have to experiment a little to get it perfect.

TheKorn,
How many hours do you have on your new lamp/firmware combo?

Ive noticed in some panning shots what I consider a little bit of solarisation, particularly on people's faces and skin in general. Any ideas what I could change to minimise/get rid of this effect? I have inputted Kevin's HDMI settings.

I have a loaner unit (which was new from the factory) from my dealer while mine is getting upgraded. It is .49 firmware and I am seeing the same thing on HDMI.

I probly won't adjust the color wheel on this unit like bubbawilly suggested because it isn't mine and I don't want to waste time adjusting something I am only going to use another week or so.

However is it good to know others are seeing it and my eyes aren't going!

On my Xbox 360 through HDMI (up converted from Component through my receiver) fast moving games separate the red colors during fast pan shots, it looks like one of those old 3D movies..:)

Just got my PE7700 all sized up the way I want and now I've gained access into the service menu and ready to do some tweaking. Decided I should check out the forums to see what to change and not to change.

Damn google led me all the way to some German site with the code into the SM and after reading this post without Google's help, I found it right here.

All I'm doing with it is watching movies on Component in from standard progressive scan DVD player. I love it!

Anyone have any tips for initial setup and basic settings to change from the factory??

Thanks all.

Steven

Just got my PE7700 all sized up the way I want and now I've gained access into the service menu and ready to do some tweaking. Decided I should check out the forums to see what to change and not to change.

Damn google led me all the way to some German site with the code into the SM and after reading this post without Google's help, I found it right here.

All I'm doing with it is watching movies on Component in from standard progressive scan DVD player. I love it!

Anyone have any tips for initial setup and basic settings to change from the factory??

Thanks all.

Steven


Yes, read this thread from start to finish!

MarkH,
You probably need to adjust your color wheel timing in the service menu. Each unit varies slightly, so you will have to experiment a little to get it perfect.

TheKorn,
How many hours do you have on your new lamp/firmware combo?

I have adjusted the colour wheel to about 60 (from memory), but cant remember exactly if I noticed any changes. What does colour wheel timing do/affect anyways? Is it similar to clock and phase you see on programs like PowerStrip?

TheKorn,
How many hours do you have on your new lamp/firmware combo?

Just over 700. My previous two bulbs blew around the 800-850 mark. (Somewhere in there...)

Just over 700. My previous two bulbs blew around the 800-850 mark. (Somewhere in there...)

This is what has prevented me from jumping back into the 7700. Now that a few folks are getting past the 150-300 hour mark, it's very tempting to believe that BenQ has the lamp problem resolved. Will it be acceptable if the lamps end up lasting 400-700 hours?

I hope that your problem is just an isolated glitch, and not another lamp failure.

Keep us posted!

This is what has prevented me from jumping back into the 7700. Now that a few folks are getting past the 150-300 hour mark, it's very tempting to believe that BenQ has the lamp problem resolved. Will it be acceptable if the lamps end up lasting 400-700 hours?

I hope that your problem is just an isolated glitch, and not another lamp failure.

Keep us posted!

700 hours is better than 300 but still not good enough imho. My X1 is at 1300 hours and still going well, albeit dim. For me, if it reaches about 1500 hours I would be happy.

Anyone have more than 1000 hours yet? I have ordered the pj but its on back order so I have time to cancel.

Anyone have more than 1000 hours yet? I have ordered the pj but its on back order so I have time to cancel.

I think we are all in a waiting mode to see a post reporting 1000 or more hours. Don't believe anyone has ever gotten there. I got 520 on the old FW and am just about to go over 400 on the new setup.

Once we start seeing 1000+ hours reported then we can get to a whole new topic. As in hours versus lumen output. There is so much discussion out there about working lamps with significant dimming in relatively few hours. The Sony Ruby comes to mind. What do we have in store with the 7700? The economics of these type lamps leaves something to be desired. I measured the light level on my screen with the new lamp/FW, in a somewhat crude way, but it should provide some idea what we have when I repeat the measurements under the same conditions at 500 hours.

In any event my PJ will start racking up some serious hours with D* NFL Sunday ticket Super Fan viewings.

Joe

Well after playing around with the service menu CW timing settings, I found the solarisation I was experiencing disappears if I put it back to factory default (Which is 70 BTW). At 60 it was terrible!

Over the past week I've been running measurement and calibration experiments on my PE7700 using a new calibration tool called CalMAN. This has been a very enlightening endeavor. I will summarize my findings including attached pdf's of my current CalMAN calibration results in Cinema and Home Theater modes.

As everyone here is aware there have been a number of qualitative / subjective reviews published but I have not seen any in depth quantitative reviews. So, I was anxious to see what I could learn from measurements that would support (or alter) the subjective reviews and my own experience. Plus, I wanted to see how much the picture could be improved through calibration.

The video chain used for the experiments was an OPPO OPDV971H DVD player with DVI output to HDMI input on the PE7700. The GetGray calibration DVD was the test pattern source. The test data was collected with CalMAN v2.0 with Spyder2 in emissive mode against a 97" diagonal screen. The projector has the original firmware and about 780 hours on the bulb.

For those who don't want to read the all the details, here are the nuggets I found:

1 - The Warm color temperature setting is by far the most accurate for 6500K and overall color balance. Even without further calibration it was nearly within the normal calibration standard of Delta E at 4 or below. Normal color temperature is nominally 8000K with Delta E's approaching 20.

2 - Cinema mode yields the most accurate color across the the entire luminance range and Home Theater is very good until you reach 90% stimulus and above. Both of these can be tuned to a quite accurate gray scale.

3 - Shadow detail has always been a concern with this projector and measuring the low stimulus gamma shows why. The gamma at 10 and 20% stimulus was 3.1 and 3.0 respectively and probably even higher below 10%. This effectively crushes the near blacks and dark grays toward invisibility. The really golden nugget: gamma can be adjusted! I moved the gamma down to 2.8 and 2.7 (at 10 and 20% stimulus) and shadow detail (e.g. more stars on the into to Star Wars) popped out. For really dark movies you can go a tenth or two lower without loosing blacks. How do you change gamma? In the service menu (and you go here at your own risk) look under Gamma and Color Temperature for White Balance Tuning and under there for Red, Green and Blue Gamma. Mine were set at 66 as I think is the default. Increasing these setting lowers gamma. I tried settings all the way up to 76 (changed equally) and have tentatively settled on 71 but am still experimenting. You can see the effect immediately if you pause a dark scene and play with the settings. To save the settings you like, you need to create a User color temperature. You can copy the gains and biases from the Warm preset to the User 1 or User 2 color temperature, then go into the service menu to adjust the gamma, and then back to the User menu to save the User 1 or User 2 color temperature. This will save the gamma adjustment along with your gains and biases. You could even set up two custom gammas and instantly switch between them by just changing color temp between User 1 and User 2.

Now the rest of the story..............

PRESET MODES

There are five preset modes that preset the basic functions of the projector including the gamma curve, brightness, contrast, color, tint, etc.

Cinema (C) - The best looking gamma curve with no red clipping but the lowest overall brightness. Sets "Film" in the DLP Degamma service menu.
Home Theater (HT) - The second best looking gamma curve but with red clipping beginning to show up at 90% stimulus and about 16% greater light output. Sets "Graphic" in the DLP Degamma service menu.
Family Room (FR) - Red clipping begins around 80% and green is starting to show some clipping at 90% but the light output is 36% greater than cinema. Sets "Factory 2" in the DLP Degamma service menu.
Photo and Gaming - Ignored for now.

COLOR TEMPERATURE

There are five color temperature presets including two that are user settable.

Normal - This preset is centered around 8000K with red around 80%, green between 105-110% and blue between 110-115%. The curves are fairly flat from 20-90% stimulation across the three presets measured.
Warm - This preset is centered around 6500K with all three colors well balanced from 20-50% stimulus and some fall off in red beginning above 50% stimulation dropping by as much as 10% in C and HT modes and 20% in FR mode. This is clearly the most accurate OOTB color temperature setting with all gamma corrected Delta E's running under 6 for C and only exceeding 6 at 100% for HT and 90/100% for FR.
Cool - Ignored for now
User 1 and User 2 - I used these to store the best color gain and bias setting I found during calibration.

CALIBRATION

Brightness and Contrast - I used GetGray to determine these setting for the C and HT preset modes and checked them throughout the calibration process to make sure they were set correctly.
Gray Scale - I used the Warm preset as the basis for calibration since it was by far the closest to accurate. After adjusting the RGB gains and biases, I ended up with slightly different user setting for C and HT that I stored in User 1 and User 2 color temperatures. I also used the contrast settings in the DLP service menu to slightly tweak red and green. The end results were all Delta E's under 2.6 (ave of 1.02 for 1994 DE) for C. All the HT Delta E's were under 3.0 except for 100% stimulus which peaked at 5 due to the beginning of red clipping. There are some small remaining lumps and sags in the RGB level tracking curves, but I think I've just about reached the limits of this projector.
Gamma - This projector has a problem with shadow detail and this is evident when you look at point gammas. They are around 3.1 and 3.0 for 10 and 20% stimulus respectively. Fortunately, I found a setting in the service menu that moves the gamma curve. After experimenting I tentatively landed on a setting of 2.8 and 2.7 for 10 and 20%. For really dark movies a setting of a tenth or two lower might be better. The really good news is this problem is correctable and shadow details are now as visible as you want them to be though going too far tends to wash out the blacks. It's now just a matter of deciding on the right balance.
Primary and Secondary Colors - After gray scale calibration the CIE chromaticity for cinema mode looks looks pretty good with red over saturated by 6.4, green unsaturated by 6.8, BCMY close at between 2.5 and 3.8, and white closer at 2.2. I could not find any ways to move the primaries.

BOTTOM LINE

This was a VERY worthwhile exercise. First the CalMAN tool made all this quite easy to do, even for a novice calibrator. I now have a considerable better looking display and the confidence that I know why it looks good and the ability to keep it that way as the bulb ages and is eventually changed. The single biggest improvement came from finding the gamma adjustment settings and then tuning them to optimize the shadow detail. Second was getting the gray scale corrected and set into user selectable color temperatures. Next was quantitatively understanding the differences between the Cinema and Home Theater modes and then optimizing both.

If you are interested in calibrating your projector, I encourage you to visit the CalMAN site and forum to learn more. This is a very affordable tool that produces professional results with a fairly quick learning curve and great support. Here are the links:
CalMAN Site: http://www.datapopuli.com/ht/
CalMAN Forum: http://www.datapopuli.com/forums/

Wow, that is some phenomenal, in-depth information, Chuck! Thanks a ton for taking the time and effort to run these tests and post them! These will be put to good use.

BenQ 7700 Pip or Pop question.
Here is my question? I have the BenQ PE7700 with the new firmware and after 350 hours, all is good. In addition, I have the new T* HD XA1 DVD player and a D* HD 250 DVR. Currently, I have everything going into my D* AVR2807 thru HDMI and then out one cord to the projector. Therefore, I cannot use the Pip or Pop on the projector because of the one HDMI cord. Can anybody point me in the right direction on how I can use this feature? Can I I run a swith or something to resolve this opportunity. I really need to get this to work out, because football season is right around the corner. Please help. Thanks!

GREAT info Chuck!

What screen do you use and what colors are your walls etc?

thx

BenQ 7700 Pip or Pop question.
Here is my question? I have the BenQ PE7700 with the new firmware and after 350 hours, all is good. In addition, I have the new T* HD XA1 DVD player and a D* HD 250 DVR. Currently, I have everything going into my D* AVR2807 thru HDMI and then out one cord to the projector. Therefore, I cannot use the Pip or Pop on the projector because of the one HDMI cord. Can anybody point me in the right direction on how I can use this feature? Can I I run a swith or something to resolve this opportunity. I really need to get this to work out, because football season is right around the corner. Please help. Thanks!
The easiest way would be to run an additional s-video cable to your pj from either the T* or the D*.

GREAT info Chuck!

What screen do you use and what colors are your walls etc?

thx

Jim, the screen is a DIY Wilsonart Laminate Mat White. The walls and ceiling in the room are medium gray ... not the best for light control, but an asthetic compromise. There is a dark oriental rug on the floor below the screen and the room is otherwise free of all ambient light.

Over the past week I've been running measurement and calibration experiments on my PE7700 using a new calibration tool called CalMAN. This has been a very enlightening endeavor. I will summarize my findings including attached pdf's of my current CalMAN calibration results in Cinema and Home Theater modes.

The video chain used for the experiments was an OPPO OPDV971H DVD player with DVI output to HDMI input on the PE7700. The GetGray calibration DVD was the test pattern source. The test data was collected with CalMAN v2.0 with Spyder2 in emissive mode against a 97" diagonal screen. The projector has the original firmware and about 780 hours on the bulb.

For those who don't want to read the all the details, here are the nuggets I found:


Hey Chuck, how did you set up the Spyder2 to read the projection screen? I'm not familiar with this product, but what I have seen it has suction cups for attaching to a regular screen. Did you just hang it up in some way?

Hey Chuck, how did you set up the Spyder2 to read the projection screen? I'm not familiar with this product, but what I have seen it has suction cups for attaching to a regular screen. Did you just hang it up in some way?


Yeah, I'm curious too. When used with a RPTV the Spyder faces the TV so I'd suspect the Spyder now has to face the projector. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I'm curious too. When used with a RPTV the Spyder2 faces the TV so I'd suspect the Spyder2 now has to face the projector. :rolleyes:

For this calibration I was most interested in the accuracy of the projector, so I placed the Spyder2 against the center of the screen facing the projector lens. There are at least a couple of ways to do this: 1) use the tripod mount provided with the Spyder2Pro or separately from Colorvision, or 2) hang the Spyder2 using its cord from a support, e.g. a microphone stand with boom. I used the latter method.

I'm about to rerun these calibrations taking reading from the screen to see what impact the screen has on color accuracy. In this configuration, the Spyder2 is positioned 30-45 degrees off screen axis about 12 inches from the screen such that the Spyder2 is not "looking" at its shadow cast by the projector.

CalMAN is designed to operate in either of these modes (emissive or reflective). CalMAN can also calculate the screen offset (i.e. the difference between emissive and reflective readings for a particular screen) and automatically apply a screen correction factor to emissive readings.

Hi,

I searched around in the service menu recently and noticed that the colour wheel speed is selectable. Default is '5x without SLR'. What is 'SLR'? I also took note that the wheel speed can be pushed up to 6x. Shouldn't that be the default speed to reduce rainbows? I also noticed the picture ever so slightly improved at this setting (steadier, less jumping and 'solarisation').

In the end I put everything back to default as I'm pretty new to this calibration stuff and I wasn't sure if I could do some 'damage' to my PJ by leaving it the way it was.

Does anyone out there know about this kind of stuff???

Cheers.

I am placing the projector on the ceiling. What size are the screw to connect to the mount and where can I buy them from? or what size are they?

gtrr34,
They are M6 - I used 6 x 19mm. Worke a treat. Good to see you on the other side of the world!!!!

Well I just received my PJ back from Benq after the bulb replacement and firmware upgrade to .49.

Just FYI, they did NOT clean out the PJ from when the bulb physically blew apart. I can hear glass and other bits ratting around inside the PJ even though I told them it needed cleaning out.

<sarcasm>Nice to see they do a top notch job.</sarcasm>

I hope that doesn't cause any issues down the road..

Hi,

I searched around in the service menu recently and noticed that the colour wheel speed is selectable. Default is '5x without SLR'. What is 'SLR'? I also took note that the wheel speed can be pushed up to 6x. Shouldn't that be the default speed to reduce rainbows? I also noticed the picture ever so slightly improved at this setting (steadier, less jumping and 'solarisation').

Does anyone out there know about this kind of stuff???

Cheers.

The "SLR" question has been asked lots of times and TTBOMK no one has offered an authoritative answer. The 6X speed increases the wheel noise more than I can stand. 5X seems to be sufficient to eliminate rainbows for most people. As a note, Family Room mode runs at 4x. My advice: keep the defaults.

Well I just received my PJ back from Benq after the bulb replacement and firmware upgrade to .49.

Just FYI, they did NOT clean out the PJ from when the bulb physically blew apart. I can hear glass and other bits ratting around inside the PJ even though I told them it needed cleaning out.

<sarcasm>Nice to see they do a top notch job.</sarcasm>

I hope that doesn't cause any issues down the road..


Hehe... reminds me of the time when my car was brought in to have the front passenger window replaced when it was bashed in by vandals. I told the dealer to make sure all the glass shards were vacuumed out from the interior of the door... well, it wasn't completely done and I could hear the pieces of glass rattling around whenever I closed the door. :mad: They eventually got all of the broken glass out.

I worked in a body shop for many years, till I got sick of breathing paint fumes and inconsistant money. Getting all the glass out of a door is very very hard. My own van had the window broke and I tried my best, but a few pieces of glass leaked out of it for a month. Some morons wanted to steal my stereo, so they broke the window. The door wasn't locked. Then they didn't bring tools to get the stereo out. This has happened twice now. Both times they could have simply stole my tools that were in the same van and used them to get my stereo out. Stupid theives.
sorry..rambling.
Warren.

Well I just received my PJ back from Benq after the bulb replacement and firmware upgrade to .49.

Just FYI, they did NOT clean out the PJ from when the bulb physically blew apart. I can hear glass and other bits ratting around inside the PJ even though I told them it needed cleaning out.

<sarcasm>Nice to see they do a top notch job.</sarcasm>

I hope that doesn't cause any issues down the road..

Well after closer inspection of the projector I noticed that the entire back of the projector is scratched up (with a few on the top). When I carefully packed it up and shipped it back to them, it was in mint condition!

It is like they had the PJ on a table to work on it and didn't put a mat down. They aren't light scratches either they are deep ones, with wear spots (where it has worn through the grey color and you can see the white of the plastic).

So I called Benq to ask about the glass in the PJ, to see if they wanted it back to finish the job of cleaning it. I didn't feel right about plugging it in and firing it up with loose stuff in it.

The rep said that it should have been returned with *no* glass left in it and said they must have missed some.

When I mentioned the scratches she said it should have been returned in the same condition as when I sent it in.

She issued a new RMA number and sent me a UPS tag. She said this time they it was going to CA instead of the repair shop in NJ so they could address both issues.

I am assuming that the repair shop in NJ is a 3rd party company. ??? Anyone know?


Thanks!

The "SLR" question has been asked lots of times and TTBOMK no one has offered an authoritative answer. The 6X speed increases the wheel noise more than I can stand. 5X seems to be sufficient to eliminate rainbows for most people. As a note, Family Room mode runs at 4x. My advice: keep the defaults.
Chuck,

From all that I've read now, it appears that maybe only the gamma settings are worth changing??? (Especially for a novice like me). Oh, and the links to your PDF's don't seem to work.

Oh, and the links to your PDF's don't seem to work.
They are working fine for me (yes, I'm lurking). We also have copies posted on my site.

Later,
Bill

They are working fine for me (yes, I'm lurking). We also have copies posted on my site.

Later,
Bill
What is your site?

What is your site?
Ignore that... I've got it.

What does the PE7700 'auto' button do? It's located on the top of the unit. Does it automatically adjust picture settings or is it to do with image size adjustment (keystone correction)?

What does the PE7700 'auto' button do? It's located on the top of the unit. Does it automatically adjust picture settings or is it to do with image size adjustment (keystone correction)?
It adjusts frequency and clock values for the VGA and Component inputs. This helps to center the image and to maximize resolution -- it does not adjust parameters such as color, brightness, keystone, etc.

I finally got around to calibrating my PE7700 on the Component 1 input (which I don’t use), and had much better success than with the other 7700 I calibrated (I’m going to have to revisit that calibration).

Here are my values based on the Accupel signal generator (your DVD player likely makes some changes to grayscale). As always, your mileage may vary – especially as to the values for brightness, contrast, color and tint, but those can be easily adjusted for your system using DVE or AVIA.

Contrast 2
Brightness 1
Color 0
Tint 0

Red Gain 512
Green Gain 450
Blue Gain 455

Red Offset 11
Green Offset 12
Blue Offset 11

Chuck,

From all that I've read now, it appears that maybe only the gamma settings are worth changing??? (Especially for a novice like me). Oh, and the links to your PDF's don't seem to work.

jmtheo, based on my experience (my projector only) and on HDMI input, the two settings that made the most visible difference were "Warm" color temperature and changing the RGB gammas from 66 to somewhere between 71-76. I would say this got me roughly 80% of the way to my final calibration. The next 18% was gray scale tweaking using the RGB gains and biases. The last 2% (probably not worth the effort) was some DLP RGB contrast tweaking. You will need a calibration tool to do the gray scale tweaking, or you can try Kevin's or my settings and "see" if you like them!

BTW, did you get the pdf links to work? They will not open directly for me into Adobe Reader. I have to save them first and then open them with Adobe. Or you can right-click and "Open in New Window". This seems to be a behavior unique to the AVS Forum as they open elsewhere just fine.

I had my Pe7700 in for repair ... they told me they replaced the bulb and the "FWR2Z" ... does anybody know what a "FWR2Z" is?

I'm gonna guess that it stands for firmware revision 2z.

Check your firmware version in the service menu. Should be either .48 or .49.

I've searched using pe7700 service menu but do not seem to locate it. Would someone be so kind as to post how to obtain access. Thank you

Press Menu, then Up Down Up Down Up Down

then press menu again.

lol that was funny :p

So has anybody noticed any "solarisation" of any sort during fast panning shots? Its too hard to grab a pic as my digital camera takes close to a second to grab an image. But it looks almost like a black and white solarisation effect. Hard to explain. Ironically, adjusting the CW timing back to its shipped default reduced the effect.

jmtheo, based on my experience (my projector only) and on HDMI input, the two settings that made the most visible difference were "Warm" color temperature and changing the RGB gammas from 66 to somewhere between 71-76. I would say this got me roughly 80% of the way to my final calibration. The next 18% was gray scale tweaking using the RGB gains and biases. The last 2% (probably not worth the effort) was some DLP RGB contrast tweaking. You will need a calibration tool to do the gray scale tweaking, or you can try Kevin's or my settings and "see" if you like them!

BTW, did you get the pdf links to work? They will not open directly for me into Adobe Reader. I have to save them first and then open them with Adobe. Or you can right-click and "Open in New Window". This seems to be a behavior unique to the AVS Forum as they open elsewhere just fine.
Thanks Chuck, the 'right click' did the trick and i've been able to look at the pages. To be honest, since I'm very much a novice all those figures are a bit confusing! :) It mostly made sense though and is a good read. I'm getting myself a DVE disk so hopefully that will assist me!

So has anybody noticed any "solarisation" of any sort during fast panning shots? Its too hard to grab a pic as my digital camera takes close to a second to grab an image. But it looks almost like a black and white solarisation effect. Hard to explain. Ironically, adjusting the CW timing back to its shipped default reduced the effect.
Yeah, I've said before to you MarkH that i've experieced a similar thing (solarization) - i think the auto setting helped (???) since Kevin said it alters frequency and clock values for the VGA and Component inputs. It didn't fix it for me but maybe it reduced it? I don't know anymore though, maybe i just imagine improvements now! :) I think i mess around with my PJ too much...