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!

I have the DVE disk (which provides a nice set of color filters to adjust color, tint and more), but my personal favorite for calibration is GetGray. You might check it out here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=586139 . And it's down-loadable (you burn the CD).

BTW, if you are not aware, the PE7700 has a built-in blue filter in the service menu for adjusting color and tint. It's under "Scaler" then "General".

Let me know if you have any questions about the calibration pdf's.

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





Kevin,

Thanks for posting your calibrations using component.

Question: Was this done using component nonprogressive signal, or component PROGRESSIVE signal? I think that the projector automatically changes some of the adjustments based on if you feed it progressive vs nonprogressive signal.

Also, are your adjustments done with the projector using warm, cool, or normal settings?

Are they done using cinema, hometheater, or another mode? Or does it matter?

Another user mentioned changing "gamma" to 71? Did you do this? I could not find this in my menu setup. Perhaps my menu has it listed with a different name???

Anyway, I am definitely going to experiment with your figures. Thanks a lot for your help again.

I have the DVE disk (which provides a nice set of color filters to adjust color, tint and more), but my personal favorite for calibration is GetGray. You might check it out here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=586139 . And it's down-loadable (you burn the CD).

BTW, if you are not aware, the PE7700 has a built-in blue filter in the service menu for adjusting color and tint. It's under "Scaler" then "General".

Let me know if you have any questions about the calibration pdf's.
DOH! i just bought DVE online! Getgrey seems to cost too ('donation'). I just bought the other one so i won't worry about it for now - DVE should be ok.

regular guy: Another user mentioned changing "gamma" to 71? Did you do this? I could not find this in my menu setup. Perhaps my menu has it listed with a different name???
regular guy,

Unfortunately, the PE7700 has the gamma adjustments in the Service Menu rather than the User Menu (as its sister the Toshiba MT700 does). However, once in the Service Menu, they are easy to change. Just be careful and don't accidentally change anything else you don't intent to.

. . . I just got informed of a class action on my GE refrigerator it has been repaired 4 times for the same problem, the bad news is I the customer have to prove all 4 repairs (I only kept 3)the first I can not find the paper work,and the refund can only be applied to a new GE of the same quality :o or if you only have 3 repairs they will extend the warranty for however long you own it.........so it looks like if I can't find the first repair ticket I am going to hav't to put up with the repairmens butt crack for the next 10 years :( :( :( :( :(


WHOA! You're misinformed about the GE Class Action (and by the way, the deadlines have been extended to September but you need a new claim form). If GE did the repairs, they have the proof. All the information you need (including a new claim form) can be found at a consumer website that I can't post because I'm new to this board. But if you google the phrase "bring good things to life" (typed as one word) with the 'organization' extension, you'll find the site.

Good Luck!
LindsMom

I have a question and propose a survey of 7700 owners. Given that it's best to install a projector at the middle of the throw range to minimize optical distortion how many of you actually do that? If not, then how far off the middle is your projector installed?

But if you google the phrase "bring good things to life" (typed as one word) with the 'organization' extension, you'll find the site.
You don't need to use Google, but anyway, here's a link for the lazy (http://www.bringgoodthingstolife.org)...

Rich, mine is about in the middle of the throw.. not exactly, but I didn't calculate it exactly either. I just made sure it was about in the middle, and then mounted it. I obviously chose the middle so that it would ensure that it would fill my screen without having to measure carefully.

You don't need to use Google, but anyway, here's a link for the lazy (http://www.bringgoodthingstolife.org)...

Rich, mine is about in the middle of the throw.. not exactly, but I didn't calculate it exactly either. I just made sure it was about in the middle, and then mounted it. I obviously chose the middle so that it would ensure that it would fill my screen without having to measure carefully.


Thanks, Tim. BTW, the link to your HT doesn't seem to work. So I need to ask this question: What size screen are you using? I plan to use a 92" 16:9 screen approx. 12' from the PJ. That distance is a little more than half way away from the screen.

Hmm, that's interesting. I thought it took posts that haven't been to replied to in a year. I know I've replied and updated it even in 2006. Unfortunately, I can't find it in the archives either... :confused:

Anyway, my screen is a 106" 16:9 with an approx. 12' throw, which is right about in the middle. For a 92" 16:9, 12'4" is minimum zoom, so you're on one end of the spectrum. Good for use with certain anamorphic lenses in a 2.35:1 setup, though (longer throw).

Hmm, that's interesting. I thought it took posts that haven't been to replied to in a year. I know I've replied and updated it even in 2006. Unfortunately, I can't find it in the archives either... :confused:

Anyway, my screen is a 106" 16:9 with an approx. 12' throw, which is right about in the middle. For a 92" 16:9, 12'4" is minimum zoom, so you're on one end of the spectrum. Good for use with certain anamorphic lenses in a 2.35:1 setup, though (longer throw).


I used the Viewing Distance Calculator (VDC) and discovered that I can move a little closer to the screen - as close as 10.3' for a 92" screen. According to the VDC 12' for a 106" screen is ideal. Can you see SDE on your screen at 12'?

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

My SDE disappears at about 8 ft, but I have pretty good eyes (with glasses ;)). The only issue at my 13 ft viewing distance has been resolution, with slight edginess with very small dark letters on a light background, like for sports scores. It's a very minor complaint, though.

My SDE disappears at about 8 ft, but I have pretty good eyes (with glasses ;)). The only issue at my 13 ft viewing distance has been resolution, with slight edginess with very small dark letters on a light background, like for sports scores. It's a very minor complaint, though.


To be honest, I'm still waffling and trying to decide which projector to purchase. I can't decide between the 7700 or the Mits HC3000 or the Samsung 710. Have you seen a well calibrated Mits or Samsung for comparison? I know Kevin Anderson has high praise for both the 7700 and the Samsung with the edge towards the Samsung but I wonder if there is a $1000 difference.

I know Ive brought this up before but can anybody confirm if they are getting this solarisation effect on panning shots? As mentioned previously it appears like an intense black and white solarising effect, particularly evident on peoples faces and exposed flesh (not porn!!!). I must confess I havent checked to see if its evident on the Component in, as I predominantly use the HDMI input. So will do that later. Settings seem in line with most other owners, and am using the current .49FW.
Anybody help? Kevin? Anybody?
Regards,
Mark

Can anybody confirm if they are getting this solarisation effect on panning shots?
This is not normal. Have you adjusted colorwheel delay? This is the general cause of solarisation in DLPs but not the only cause. Let me know and I will post what I think is the best way to adjust this parameter short of a light sensor and oscilloscope.

Kevin, I'd be interested in seeing your procedures on adjusting color wheel timing as well.....including, if you don't mind, using an oscilloscope and light sensor. Thanks!

I know Ive brought this up before but can anybody confirm if they are getting this solarisation effect on panning shots? As mentioned previously it appears like an intense black and white solarising effect, particularly evident on peoples faces and exposed flesh (not porn!!!). I must confess I havent checked to see if its evident on the Component in, as I predominantly use the HDMI input. So will do that later. Settings seem in line with most other owners, and am using the current .49FW.
Anybody help? Kevin? Anybody?
Regards,
Mark
This could also be "clay face", which is an artifact of not having enough bandwidth in the mirror controller to properly dither the image. However, if you have mucked with the color wheel timings, my bet is that the issue lies there, as well.

I installed mine at max distance for a 2.35 lens, which I have since removed. It was also convient that I had a wall to mount to at that distance. I will have to get a mount and move it closer. Then it will line up with my window out to the patio so I can swing the projector around to display on a translucent white screen for rear projection on the patio. That rules.
Warren.

To be honest, I'm still waffling and trying to decide which projector to purchase. I can't decide between the 7700 or the Mits HC3000 or the Samsung 710. Have you seen a well calibrated Mits or Samsung for comparison? I know Kevin Anderson has high praise for both the 7700 and the Samsung with the edge towards the Samsung but I wonder if there is a $1000 difference.
No, unfortunately I haven't seen either of those other PJs. I can say that I'd buy the PE7700 again in a heartbeat if it had a longer throw, only due to my next move of going with a 2.35:1 CIH setup in the future. But for the price, the image is amazing.

I would love to know how to adjust the CW delay.
If you saw my post I changed it to the same value as others
here and the red turned orange. I think I put it back to where
it came from the firmware upgrade, but it would be great to
make sure it's as good as I can get it. Thanks.

No, unfortunately I haven't seen either of those other PJs. I can say that I'd buy the PE7700 again in a heartbeat if it had a longer throw, only due to my next move of going with a 2.35:1 CIH setup in the future. But for the price, the image is amazing.



To be honest, I keep telling myself I've never seen the Samsung or the Mits (or the 7700 either) and I wouldn't miss not knowing if I selected the 7700. :confused:

This is not normal. Have you adjusted colorwheel delay? This is the general cause of solarisation in DLPs but not the only cause. Let me know and I will post what I think is the best way to adjust this parameter short of a light sensor and oscilloscope.


Thanks Kevin,
I originally adjusted colour wheel down to about 58-60 as per comments in this thread, but this made the problem much worse. Its currently set at 70, and is minimised, but obviously Im still noticing it, so would like to minimise even further. Is there any major issues in going higher with colour wheel delay, as in long term damage?

To be honest, I keep telling myself I've never seen the Samsung or the Mits (or the 7700 either) and I wouldn't miss not knowing if I selected the 7700. :confused:
That's one way of looking at it. Similar to not listening to really nice speakers because you don't know what you're missing... Sometimes ignorance is bliss, particularly if you've heard that a difference in upgrading is quite a bit in cost compared to the relatively small increase in quality. Price to quality in HT equipment seems like a logarithmic scale.

A good example is receivers. You spend a lot more money as you go up and would not be able to tell the difference. There is a level in speakers where you really tell the difference over cheap speakers, but over that there are pretty diminishing returns. I got some Ascend Acoustic speakers for less than half what my 7700 cost, and they just made an amazing difference. I have listened to some much much more that just weren't that much better sounding. Much more impressive looking to be sure though, but I really like what I got.
Warren.

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.


Hi Chuck,

I went into the service menu and adjusted the RGB gamma to 71. Shadow details improved. The only problem is that I'm not able to save the RGB gamma settings. I tried using your method of initially saving Color Temperature to User 1 in the user menu, then set the RGB gamma to 71 in the service menu, back to the user menu and select the Save Color Temperature to User 1 again. If I off and on the projector, the gamma revert back to 66. Am I missing something here?

kaydee6,

I'm away from home for a couple of days but can double check the exact save sequence on Sunday. It definitely can be saved.

A couple of thoughts in the interim:
1) be sure you have User1 or User2 color temp selected in the user menu
2) set the RGB gamma in the service menu
3) return to the user menu where RGB gains and biases are set (don't recall the exact nomenclature, so I won't guess) and save the color temp to User1/2 depending on what you selected in step 1

I'll confirm (or correct) this on Sunday.

does anyone have powerstrip settings for 1080i to output to 7700? thanks.

kaydee6,

I'm away from home for a couple of days but can double check the exact save sequence on Sunday. It definitely can be saved.

A couple of thoughts in the interim:
1) be sure you have User1 or User2 color temp selected in the user menu
2) set the RGB gamma in the service menu
3) return to the user menu where RGB gains and biases are set (don't recall the exact nomenclature, so I won't guess) and save the color temp to User1/2 depending on what you selected in step 1

I'll confirm (or correct) this on Sunday.

Hi Chuck,

The settings can be saved! I need to select User 1 from the Picture menu for the saved settings. Thanks for the help and your calibration settings!

One question though, You set your brightness to -8 as stated in the pdf file (cinema). I can only go to -2 without crushing my black. -8 for me is unwatchable. I suspect my screen is not a high gain screen.

How was the calibration for the master brightness done on your projector? Is your screen a high gain screen?

After the 0.49 firmware upgrade, I had to change my HDMI settings on my cable box and Panny S97 to RGB. They were always set on the YCC444 setting before. If I leave them on the YCC444 setting the colors are off in a weird way. Has anyone else had this problem?

Hi Chuck,

The settings can be saved! I need to select User 1 from the Picture menu for the saved settings. Thanks for the help and your calibration settings!

One question though, You set your brightness to -8 as stated in the pdf file (cinema). I can only go to -2 without crushing my black. -8 for me is unwatchable. I suspect my screen is not a high gain screen.

How was the calibration for the master brightness done on your projector? Is your screen a high gain screen?

kaydee6,
Are you using HDMI? or component? My calibrated component brightness is -1 and contrast 7. Another potential variable is the source which could have its brightness maladjusted. I'm also using a very early firmware which might introduce some difference. Lastly, my bulb has 800 hours on it and is surely dimmer than new, though I don't know how much. So, in general, my settings (or anyone else's) will likely get you in the ball park, but probably not squarely on home plate. I would suggest you use as as minimum a calibration DVD to correct the basic settings, and if you want the last 15-20% think about getting some calibration SW and an appropriate sensor.

I calibrated master brightness, contrast, color and tint with Get Gray, thought any of the popular calibration DVD's can do the same. I set brightness so that video 16 shows as close to black as the projector will get, i.e. there is zero "noise" (think white speckles) in the darkest gray the projector can produce. On the PE7700 in a dark room this is very evident; one click on the brightness takes you from dark gray with zero noise to dark gray with a small amount of noise.

My screen has somewhere around unity gain though I haven't measured it yet. However, all my calibration measurements were taken in emissive mode (from the projector) which eliminates any screen variations. I did it this way to get the actual performance of the projector and eliminate screen variations. I also took the next step to measure the color change introduced by the screen which allows me to make any final adjustments to compensate for the screen color. This last step requires a calibration tool (like CalMAN or similar), but in my case the variation was so small as to be almost negligible. YMMV based on your screen.

So at the risk of sounding like a broken record, anyone any ideas on my "solarisation" problem?

i am watching dvds via component video. a flashing yb something or other comes up every thirty seconds at the bottom of the screen. how do i turn that off? thanks in advance. i did a few searches to no avail.

kaydee6,
Are you using HDMI? or component? My calibrated component brightness is -1 and contrast 7. Another potential variable is the source which could have its brightness maladjusted. I'm also using a very early firmware which might introduce some difference. Lastly, my bulb has 800 hours on it and is surely dimmer than new, though I don't know how much. So, in general, my settings (or anyone else's) will likely get you in the ball park, but probably not squarely on home plate. I would suggest you use as as minimum a calibration DVD to correct the basic settings, and if you want the last 15-20% think about getting some calibration SW and an appropriate sensor.

I calibrated master brightness, contrast, color and tint with Get Gray, thought any of the popular calibration DVD's can do the same. I set brightness so that video 16 shows as close to black as the projector will get, i.e. there is zero "noise" (think white speckles) in the darkest gray the projector can produce. On the PE7700 in a dark room this is very evident; one click on the brightness takes you from dark gray with zero noise to dark gray with a small amount of noise.

My screen has somewhere around unity gain though I haven't measured it yet. However, all my calibration measurements were taken in emissive mode (from the projector) which eliminates any screen variations. I did it this way to get the actual performance of the projector and eliminate screen variations. I also took the next step to measure the color change introduced by the screen which allows me to make any final adjustments to compensate for the screen color. This last step requires a calibration tool (like CalMAN or similar), but in my case the variation was so small as to be almost negligible. YMMV based on your screen.


Hi Chuck,

I'm using component. Borrowed the AVIA disc from a friend and calibrated my brigthess of -1, contrast +6 and Color +5. Looks very good after the calibration but I would say the biggest improvement in the picture is setting the gamma to 71. The rest of the settings just make the picture quality better! Thanks!

I hate to bring up the old lamp issue but I have been out for some time and I am wondering if anyone has any updated info. on the lamp situation. I have the Toshiba model.

Hi Chuck,

I'm using component. Borrowed the AVIA disc from a friend and calibrated my brigthess of -1, contrast +6 and Color +5. Looks very good after the calibration but I would say the biggest improvement in the picture is setting the gamma to 71. The rest of the settings just make the picture quality better! Thanks!

kaydee6, glad to hear the gamma change worked for you, and together with getting the basic settings right, makes for a very good picture from the PE7700!

Toshiba is finally admitting there is a problem. You should check that thread.
As for us 7700 owners we seem to be a happy bunch. Back to calibration discussions instead of lamp discussions.
Myself, i have ~600 hours on mine. Room temp close to 80. 120 outside these days. I cleaned the filter once. Quite happy now.
Warren.

has there been a poll regarding firmware upgrade? sounds like some people are disgruntled with their "upgraded" pjs. i'm curious to see what the raw numbers on this subject are. the pic looks good (aug 05 with bulb replacement on less than 100hrs new bulb doing well), but i don't want it coming back nosier, scratched, or looking worse.

That was a third party place that scratched someone's projector. Just make sure you are getting it sent to BenQ in california.

i am watching dvds via component video. a flashing yb something or other comes up every thirty seconds at the bottom of the screen. how do i turn that off? thanks in advance. i did a few searches to no avail.

I had that happen when I first got my machine. I don't have a precise explanation for what caused it but for me it was fixed with getting proper cables. Prior to that I was using cobbled together cabling using VGA to component adapters in order to temporarily extend my cable lengths. With that setup it would intermittently get into the flashing sync message mode. Since I got a proper length cable, I haven't seen the problem since.

Toshiba is finally admitting there is a problem. You should check that thread.
As for us 7700 owners we seem to be a happy bunch. Back to calibration discussions instead of lamp discussions.
Myself, i have ~600 hours on mine. Room temp close to 80. 120 outside these days. I cleaned the filter once. Quite happy now.
Warren.

Is there a difference between the Toshiba and the BenQ units?

Nobody knows how much they differ mechanically, very little surely. They obviously have different firmware as all the menus and settings are different. I suppose it was just enough different to make debugging much more difficult, since it was a combination of hardware and software that needed to be fixed for BenQ.
Warren

After the 0.49 firmware upgrade, I had to change my HDMI settings on my cable box and Panny S97 to RGB. They were always set on the YCC444 setting before. If I leave them on the YCC444 setting the colors are off in a weird way. Has anyone else had this problem?


Can anyone help me out on this one???

Where is YCC444? Is that in the service menu? If so what under?

Nobody knows how much they differ mechanically, very little surely. They obviously have different firmware as all the menus and settings are different. I suppose it was just enough different to make debugging much more difficult, since it was a combination of hardware and software that needed to be fixed for BenQ.
Warren

Do you know why they have not recalled the Toshibas?

Like I say, the different firmware probably made solving the problem more difficult. I am not sure they have a fix yet. Hopefully when they do they do what BenQ did, which isn't really a recall, but a free fix.
Warren.

Where is YCC444? Is that in the service menu? If so what under?



The YCC444 HDMI setting is in the dvd player or cable box menu. It is not in the service menu for the projector. I am just looking to confirm that everyone else has to use the RGB settings on their dvd players and cable boxes or else you get the screwy colors, like I do.

Kevin Anderson, are you out there??? LOL Any info is appreciated. Thanks!!!

My Panny S77 is set to 4:4:4 and I have no picture quality issues.


Carl

Guys,
Last night after about 10 mins of firing up my PE7700, my bulb flickered to the point where I thought it was gonna blow! However after about 5 more mins it came good again. Anybody have this experience recently? Running .49 FW and only 89 hours on globe.

I don't really have a theory on this but RBG should be the correct setting for HDMI and and I would think that YCC444 would have always given inaccurate colors. Are you using an HDMI/DVI converter plug in any part of the signal chain? This might give me some ideas.

I don't really have a theory on this but RBG should be the correct setting for HDMI and and I would think that YCC444 would have always given inaccurate colors. Are you using an HDMI/DVI converter plug in any part of the signal chain? This might give me some ideas.


Thanks for jumping in Kevin, its nice to know your here when we need you!!! I am using a 4 in and 1out Gefen HDMI switch, with a Panasonic S97 dvd player via straight HDMI connections, a Oppo 971H dvd player via a Monster DVI to HDMI adapter, and a Motorola DCT3412 Cable Box via straight HDMI connections. So to answer your question, Yes, I am using a HDMI/DVI converter plug in the Oppo portion of my signal chain. Can this adapter be causing the problem of only being able to choose RGB on my dvd players? I always had all of my dvd players and cable box set to YCC444 before the firmware upgrade and had no problems at all. I guess I just want to make sure that this problem is not just with my PE7700, but a firmware upgrade problem with all PE7700 units. Its nice to know that I should be using the RGB setting in the first place. Do you know if their are any dvd players that only have the YCC444 HDMI setting to choose from, so I can avoid purchasing a unit like this in the future? Any info is much appreciated. Thanks!!! By the way, I had the 0.49 firmware update recently installed on my unit. Thats when this problem started. Thanks.

My Panny S77 is set to 4:4:4 and I have no picture quality issues.


Carl


Carl,
Do you have the 0.49 firmware installed on your PE7700? Stupid question, but, you are using a HDMI connection, correct? Sorry, I had to ask. :)

Steve,

yes I have v49 installed and I am NOT using an HDMI-DVI adaptor. I am using the HDMI-HDMI cable that came with my S77.I have my S77 set to upconvert to 720P. If I recall correctly, I tried to vary the setting to RGB during set-up ,to see what happened but noticed no difference. I am however ,running the cable through my Yamaha RXV1600 for switching. Maybe that is the difference?

Carl

I REALLY can't wait for HDMI 1.3. I spent half and hour debugging a hdmi connection problem. I have an iScan HD+ which is sadly DVI, so I covert hdmi to dvi with an adapter plug and dvi cable and then have a DVI - HDMI cable to my projector. I tried switching all my devices and finally just put it back together the way it was to start and it just started working.
Warren.

Steve,

yes I have v49 installed and I am NOT using an HDMI-DVI adaptor. I am using the HDMI-HDMI cable that came with my S77.I have my S77 set to upconvert to 720P. If I recall correctly, I tried to vary the setting to RGB during set-up ,to see what happened but noticed no difference. I am however ,running the cable through my Yamaha RXV1600 for switching. Maybe that is the difference?

Carl


Thanks Carl, I appreciate the info. Hopefully Kevin Anderson will read my post and shed some more light on this subject. I just want to make sure my projector is not screwed up. It is weird that yours works on both settings and mine does not. Like you said maybe you going through your receiver has something to do with yours working on both settings. I suppose it really does not matter that mine only works on RGB, but these type of things drive me nuts until I figure them out. :)

I REALLY can't wait for HDMI 1.3. I spent half and hour debugging a hdmi connection problem. I have an iScan HD+ which is sadly DVI, so I covert hdmi to dvi with an adapter plug and dvi cable and then have a DVI - HDMI cable to my projector. I tried switching all my devices and finally just put it back together the way it was to start and it just started working.
Warren.


I understand how you feel Warren, it took me a considerable amount of time to figure out that my PE7700 would only work with RGB. It is very frustrating when things work a certain way one time, then the next time they do not. Like I said, I am one of those people that needs to know why these things happen to make me feel better. I know its stupid to waste time on things you probably can't change, but I NEED TO KNOW WHY!!! LOL :)

I am having so much trouble with my PE7700. I have sent it back three times so far and sending it again for the fourth today. The first time was with the bulb replacement. The three other times is due to overheating. How can it over heat when I just truned it on for a minute. Deosn't even have time to get to display the movie credits. THey have already swapped it out once. It sound like a design problem to me. Has anyone see this problem? I know others have 600 hours on theirs. It time to get a refund.

No issues for me. Where is it mounted? Mine is on a ceiling mount and has run for many hours at a time (during football season anyway) w/o any heat issues. Sounds like you might have just gotten a bad unit.

I am close to 600 hours without problem on my 7700. I am very happy. Can't wait for football.
Warren.

As mentioned recently by me I noticed a few days ago that after 10 mins of being switched on, the bulb began to flicker really really bad for about 5-10 mins, then righted itself. Following night no such issue, but for about 10 mins there was a flash roughly every min, which I doubt was HDMi issue as I was on component at the time, and switched over and appeared on HDMi too. Last night switched it on and again the bulb flicker thing happened again, its so bad that it looks like the bulbs gonna blow, then all of a sudden, fine. Anybody had this happen to them or any ideas? Running current firmware .49.

Mine is mounted on the ceiling. The last time they worked on it they relpaced the motherboard. Its only 75 deg. in my room at the most. Now we are swapping it out again so this wil be my third unit. All I have attached to it is power and either a Sony DVD player DVP-SN7OH or my comcast cable box. I use the HDMI port for both. How many of you use the HDMI port? Maybe there is software bug that my settings cause this? Does anyone know how to reset the unit back to default with out the display?

MarkH
Myself and others have had a similar problem but I don't think it was as intense as what you are describing. In fact all lamps can have a flicker no matter what pj it is. Usually this can be rectified by switching the lamp mode full/econo to the opposite setting you are currently using. Run it for an hour or so and then switch back.

Blew the original bulb last night at around 800 hours. August 05 build, Sept 05 purchase. Off to Benq in Irvine this week. I thought it would make it to 1000 hours, but no go:) Heres hoping the firmware upgrade doesn't drop the picture quality from what I have had.

Blew the original bulb last night at around 800 hours. August 05 build, Sept 05 purchase. Off to Benq in Irvine this week. I thought it would make it to 1000 hours, but no go:) Heres hoping the firmware upgrade doesn't drop the picture quality from what I have had.

That's NOT what I wanted to hear. Mine is at 700+ hours on orig bulb, PJ bought 6/1/2005. I keep hoping since not ALL 7700's have the bad bulb (just a percentage of them according to some of your posts), that mine will be one of the lucky ones.

I have a surplus Chief RPA-118 Ceiling Mount (http://www.chiefmfg.com/store/detail/?product_id=76424) that is the custom fit for the PE7700 (or Toshiba MT700 clone) as well as a spare lamp with 66 hours on it. If anyone could use these, please PM me. (my MT700 went back to Toshiba for the last time)

MarkH
Myself and others have had a similar problem but I don't think it was as intense as what you are describing. In fact all lamps can have a flicker no matter what pj it is. Usually this can be rectified by switching the lamp mode full/econo to the opposite setting you are currently using. Run it for an hour or so and then switch back.

Hi BlakeN,
This flickering is not just subtle, this is in yer face Im about to shatter into a thousand pieces flicker! I have tried changing to full lamp mode, but no effect, the flickering still happens 10 mins after switch on and continued for another 10-odd mins and then bang, its fine! Im going to email BenQ Australia and see what they recommend. Bit worrying if this is a downhill tale, considering my PJ out of the box has the .49 FW that supposedly fixes lamp issues, unless I just have a lamp anomaly. Oh and I still cant shake the dithering/solarisation on panning effects either, no matter what I change in both menus.

For Kevin (or anybody who can help).
I am wondering, is everybody experiencing smooth, detailed panning with this projector? I know Ive brought up the B&W fuzzy solarisation Im experiencing in panning shots, so if people arent experiencing this, what are you seeing in panning shots?

I am interested in the bulb . Would be great for a spare.Let me know
Tom

I don't know anything about projector repair but from a computer tech stand point it sounds like a bad power supply or possibly a cold solder joint. It seems like one the pj heats up what ever component is going bad starts working.

I am wondering, is everybody experiencing smooth, detailed panning with this projector?
I have never seen anything close to the problems you are reporting -- pans are smooth and natural. Either you've got really bad source material or your projector is defective.

Thanks Kevin,
Would there be anything in the service menu apart from Colour Wheel Delay (which doent seem to affect it) , that you may feel could be contributing to this panning issue?

I just picked up my HD-A1 tonight and calibrated my PE7700 using Kevin's HDMI settings, popped in chronicles of riddick and I'm not too impressed! The picture doesn't have enough POP and contrast is just so-so. What can I be doing wrong?? I know I can get a better picture than this! My 8300HD DVR gives a better picture! I've set the projector to "Real Mode" and calibrated starting with Cinema and Film Degamma, then changed to kevins settings in the service menu. Outputing 1080i from the HD-A1 via HDMI. Could it be because I'm using the cheap HDMI cable that came in the box? What am I missing!! Maybe my expectations were too high :(

If you check the thread on the HD-A1, you will find that the best output for that projector is 720P, NOT 1080i. Even if you have a native 1081i TV, the best picture is with a 720p output. In the case of the 7700, 720p is native anyway. HDMI either works or doesn't, so the cable is not likely a problem unless you are seeing sparklies in the picture.

My settings are not exactly what Kevin has and I have to set it differently for my HD Tivo and my Panny S77 to get the best picture. I use Avia to set the DVD player and my eyes for the HD Tivo. YMMV. Good luck.

I was wondering if I could get an update as to what the date was for all the new "fixed" units. I may be recommending this projector to a friend, but if it is still having issues... I won't recommend it. thanks

If you check the thread on the HD-A1, you will find that the best output for that projector is 720P, NOT 1080i. Even if you have a native 1081i TV, the best picture is with a 720p output. In the case of the 7700, 720p is native anyway. HDMI either works or doesn't, so the cable is not likely a problem unless you are seeing sparklies in the picture.

My settings are not exactly what Kevin has and I have to set it differently for my HD Tivo and my Panny S77 to get the best picture. I use Avia to set the DVD player and my eyes for the HD Tivo. YMMV. Good luck.

That's funny, every single review from users in this forum along with every A/V publication have reported that the unit scales poorly to 720p, and that the player should always be set to 1080i and let the projector do the scaling instead. But I'll try that when I get home thanks! I'll have to look that up in the HD-A1 thread. I also just realized I left the black level enhancement feature turned off, maybe I should try activating it since I read somewhere that it sets the player to 0 IRE.

You want to send a 1080i signal from the HD-A1 my friends. I have been using mine since April, and you will get poor results sending a 720p signal from the HD-A1 to the 7700. AlexBPM, I'm not sure why you are not getting the "pop" you should be getting. You could try going back to factory settings, and see if there is any difference. You could try a couple of other HDDVD's titles and see what your results are. Don't give up on the HD-A1 yet:)

I would agree that 1080i gives the best results, even though this is counterintuitive to the usual rule of thumb that you set the source device (the DVD player) to the native resolution of the projector (which for the PE7700 is 720p).

Over HDMI, it is my understanding that the HD-A1 only outputs a 0 IRE black level, which is the correct level if your PE7700 is also set to a 0 IRE black level (as it should be for HDMI).

I haven't seen the Riddick HD-DVD, but the quality of the transfer makes a big difference. In my experience, The Fugitive is only slightly better than an upconverted DVD while Sahara blew my socks off last night, so perhaps try some other HD-DVDs.

I ran my HD-A1 with the 7700 for about a month and was very happy -- you should be seeing plenty of "pop" with the right settings and material. As indicated, your mileage may vary using my settings. However, I'm somewhat confident that the settings for RGB gain and bias will result in a better grayscale, but you need to make sure brightness and contrast are properly set to get the highest contrast ratio and therefore the most "pop."

I just finished a theater for a Parade of Homes show and used the HD-A1 with the PE7700 and have gotten rave reviews -- especially for the price (it was billed as a "value" home theater). I use Phantom as a demo for the women and Saraha as a demo for the men (you would be surprised how enthusiastic wives can get for home theater when they see a move they like as a demo instead of the usual demo of explosions, machine guns, and car chases).

You might try a different HDMI cable, but the supplied cable is so short that I doubt it will make a major difference (e.g., I wouldn't run to BB and buy their $100 HDMI cable).

That's funny, every single review from users in this forum along with every A/V publication have reported that the unit scales poorly to 720p, and that the player should always be set to 1080i and let the projector do the scaling instead.
My bad. Sorry. I had it backwards. After two weeks off on vacation, I think my brain is still on go-slow mode!

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm heart broken. I've only had the PE7700 for a month, and I even sent it off to BenQ for lamp replacement and firmware upgrade. And I still get better contrast out of my panny XP-50 via component than I do with the HD-A1 via HDMI. Is there a setting in the serivce menu that I'm unaware of that sets the projector to 0 IRE? Maybe I should go back to factory HDMI settings. Also, just to clarify. Should I be adjusting gain and offset in the regular user menu AND the factory service menu? It's confusing considering identical settings are found in both menus.

Go back to defaults for sure. Also "calibrated my PE7700 using Kevin's HDMI settings" isn't calibrating at all. :)
If your defaults don't work, then certainly try other peoples settings, but it would be best to have your personal projector calibrated to your screen and room conditions.
Sahara is really pushing me to buy HD DVD. I really wanted to wait for HDMI 1.3 players though.
Warren.

I agree that it is always best to get your projector personally calibrated.

Changing gains and bias in the user menu makes the same changes to the service menu, so just go with the user menu. I generally do not even access the service menu when calibrating the PE7700 except to check colorwheel delay (which so far has never needed more than a bump of +1 or -1).

I agree to reset everything to factor default. Set Preset Mode to Cinema; set Color Temp to Warm or Normal (look at a gray pattern for the most neutral result); set sharpness to 0; and set Black Level to 0 IRE. I like to use the "Economic" mode for the lamp setting because in a light-controlled room, it gives slightly better black levels. Set brightness and contrast using a calibration disc or the THX Optimzer menu.

Then you can experiment with gains and offsets in the user menu and save the settings to User 1 or User 2 -- that way you can always go back to default settings.

Thanks Kevin. Is there a way to check colorwheel delay with avia or dvi.
I think I put mine back where it was. Just want to make sure it's as close
as possible.

Blew the original bulb last night at around 800 hours. August 05 build, Sept 05 purchase. Off to Benq in Irvine this week. I thought it would make it to 1000 hours, but no go:) Heres hoping the firmware upgrade doesn't drop the picture quality from what I have had.

Ditto that (same dates, etc), although I had much less hours on my bulb (a movie every other weekend on average) than you did. Gotta get on the phone and take care of this.....

edit: just off the phone - the "gentleman" I talked to said I had to pay shipping to get the unit to them even though I told him I had this unit for less than a year. I went back to the manual and their website to verify that they pay shipping both ways the first year, which is the case. Called back, spoke to a nice lady who corrected the mistake and emailed me a packing label pre-paid.

Just wanted to share with everyone here so you have the facts in hand if they try the same with you.

I would still like to know what date the "fixed lamp" batch came out? Or what firmware fixes it? Can the firmware be updated by the user or does it have to be sent it? Can older projectors be fixed just by updating the firmware? If anyone could knows any of these questions that would be amazing for me! Thanks

I believe the date for the fixed firmware was Jan 16. You cannot update the firmware yourself... it has to be sent to BenQ. And all 7700s can be updated to the current firmware which is 0.49.

Call BenQ. They are good about taking care of this problem.

thank you so much!

I personally delivered my 7700 at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, and picked it up Tuesday (yesterday) around the same time! Hows that for service:) I had the firmware upgrade done along with the blown bulb replaced. I haven't fired it up yet to see if things are still looking good.

I agree that it is always best to get your projector personally calibrated.

Changing gains and bias in the user menu makes the same changes to the service menu, so just go with the user menu. I generally do not even access the service menu when calibrating the PE7700 except to check colorwheel delay (which so far has never needed more than a bump of +1 or -1).

I agree to reset everything to factor default. Set Preset Mode to Cinema; set Color Temp to Warm or Normal (look at a gray pattern for the most neutral result); set sharpness to 0; and set Black Level to 0 IRE. I like to use the "Economic" mode for the lamp setting because in a light-controlled room, it gives slightly better black levels. Set brightness and contrast using a calibration disc or the THX Optimzer menu.

Then you can experiment with gains and offsets in the user menu and save the settings to User 1 or User 2 -- that way you can always go back to default settings.


So i went back and restored factory default settings. Then proceeded to calibrate contrast and brightness with AVIA, leaving default settings on "Real" mode, Cinema, Warm Color temp, 0 IRE, economic lamp mode. HD-A1 via the HDMI cable that came in the box was still underwhelming. Again, with so-so contrast and only slightly better detail than upconverted DVD's. The only new discovery I made was that standard DVD's look much more detailed when setting the HD-A1 to output 720p. I didn't know this, but it really makes a difference ONLY with standard DVD's. HD-DVD's are the opposite as you all know (1080i is best, 720p a total mess).

Since "Real" mode is the only way to resolve full HD resolution on the PE7700, I wonder if the "Real" setting actually serves as a handicap for the projector in this scenario considering the HD-A1 only produces a pleasant HD image via 1080i not 720p therefore negating 1:1 pixel maping.

So I guess my expectations of this projector, or this player are too high. Because I have seen better. But it's going to be near impossible to find another projector with better contrast and a short zoom lens (I'm projecting 140" wide in a 14' room). As a final attempt I'm going to try hooking up the HD-A1 via component video and see if that produces better results (doubtful)

If you are feeding 1080i I dont' think you should be in real mode. Real mode is for if you are feeding it 720p.
Warren.

Alexbpm,

You're projecting 140" wide for 14' room. I don't have HD-DVD and please correct me if I'm wrong but that does seem pretty big for the room size. Mine's tiny by comparison at 80" with about 13' viewing.

AlexBPM, I"ll follow along with basement's thoughts. 140" is a very large screen size for a 14' room. But if it works for you then by all means don't listen to what I have to say:) And if you have great vision, that seating distance along with that screen size will show alot more imperfections my friend:) I'm using a 100" screen, sitting at 15' on the back row, and I could not sit any closer with my eyesight, even with HDDVD. A couple of other thoughts. Cinema setting is too dark for my taste, try the Home Theater setting, bump up the contrast a couple of clicks, and maybe the brightness also a tick or two, and try using the regular lamp mode. With that large of a screen, economic mode might not be the way to go. Keep trying and hopefully you can get a better picture from your combo.

Ok Ok maybe it's not 140"... more like 137". I just like a larger than life screen. I used to have 110" screen in a large room and one day I decided to expand to 133" and I never went back. I was using an X1 with panamorph at the time and it looked amazing. I remember thinking why I didn't just design it that way to begin with. Anyway, at my 14' seating distance I don't really see any SDE or artifacts of any kind unless the transfer is really bad. But I would consider going smaller if it could improve my contrast.

Blasst, I appreciate the feedback. Maybe I should try regular lamp mode and bump up the settings a bit to compensate for the large screen. I'll give that a shot tonight.

I like the imax experience too. I tried 144" at 14' too. Now I have a 120" Silverstar. I really like the brightness now.
Warren.

Is it possible in the service menu to override the factory defaults when resetting? In other words, is it possible to "delete" factory reset settings and apply your own factory default? Would somebody please be very kind and post ALL the default factory settings for both standard menu and service menu so I can be sure? I would really appreciate it if somebody could do this for me as the solarisation panning problem is driving me insane, and am still waiting on a reply from BenQ here in Oz, and would at least like to get back to "true" factory default and try one more time.
Thanking you guys in advance,
Mark

Mine is mounted on the ceiling. The last time they worked on it they relpaced the motherboard. Its only 75 deg. in my room at the most. Now we are swapping it out again so this wil be my third unit. All I have attached to it is power and either a Sony DVD player DVP-SN7OH or my comcast cable box. I use the HDMI port for both. How many of you use the HDMI port? Maybe there is software bug that my settings cause this? Does anyone know how to reset the unit back to default with out the display?

My saga contiues. I've done some more testing and found that the point of time that it switches from start up screen to the HDMI port is when the lamp shuts off and temp light comes on. What I did to get past this becuase I can't even display the menu was to power it up and when it was in the middle of the startup process unplug the AC. This reset something so when it switched to the HDMI port the lamp stayed on. At this point I switched video to s-video and its been running for three days. I'm still thinking there is a problem with the software. They have swapped the mainboard and unit already. I'm going to try to see if the problem follows my dvd player, Comcast box, and Attenna. I let you know more.

Okay, I've been trying to use a Xbox360 into the 7700 with a vga cable. I used the gender changer that comes with the vga cable for the 360. The Benq cable (vga end) then goes into the other side of the gender changer. I cannot get it to synch up correctly. I've set the resolution on the 360 to 1280X720, while having the 360 hooked up to a computer monitor. I get a picture that is clearly out of whack, and then lose it. On the component two display, it says not supported when that happens. Anyone else have any luck?

Okay, I've been trying to use a Xbox360 into the 7700 with a vga cable. I used the gender changer that comes with the vga cable for the 360. The Benq cable (vga end) then goes into the other side of the gender changer. I cannot get it to synch up correctly. I've set the resolution on the 360 to 1280X720, while having the 360 hooked up to a computer monitor. I get a picture that is clearly out of whack, and then lose it. On the component two display, it says not supported when that happens. Anyone else have any luck?

Try using the RGBHV input on the BenQ, not Comp 2. Not sure why it's not working on your computer monitor though.

My HDMI input suddenly stopped working this week. With 3 different DVI->HDMI devices (Oppo 971, Scientific Atlanta STB, PC with ATI vidcard) that worked previously through the Monoprice 5-1 HDMI switch, I now get "HDMI(unsupported)" on the projector at all different resolutions. I get the same behaviour whether using the switch or not.

The projector appears to attempt a resync after I change resolutions on any of the devices [switches to "HDMI(searching...)" then back to "HDMI(unsupported)"]. Switching from Component and then back to HDMI also puts it back into "HDMI(unsupported)". Anyone have any advice for me? I remember reading something about using a short HDMI cable with a device to "trick" it out of some bad synching state (maybe this was to resolve a different problem), but I can't seem to find the post. I have 0.49 firmware on my projector.

I'll probably have to call BenQ and send it in, just want to check if anyone has run into this issue before. :)

Try using the RGBHV input on the BenQ, not Comp 2. Not sure why it's not working on your computer monitor though. Yes, that is a good idea, forgot about that. It does work on my computer monitor. My rambling post earlier made it appear that it did not:) I'll report back.

s23, I know that sometimes I have to turn on the device I"m going to use, before I switch over , while using a monoprice 2 way HDMI switcher.

Guys,
I noticed way back in the thread some people mentioned dithering and false contouring during panning shots? Could this be what Im referring to as the "solarisation"? Am taking my PJ to service centre tomorrow and fear they wont notice the problem, although I'm sure they will see the flicker issue Im having.
Anyway, question is, would anybody have a pic or sample of exactly what false contouring looks like?
I also have a smaller, less annoying issue where, irrespective of firing up the PJ first or the sources, the image that presents itself on the screen is entirely green. Changing PJ inputs or receiver inputs and back again fixes the problem. Ideas?
Thanks guys.
Mark

I received my projector 4 days ago with a manufacturing date of February. Hooked it up today and guess what! Lamp light shows red after initial power up. Manual says this is a lamp problem. Called the salesman from where I bought it - he referred me to Benq. Called them and the tech told me it would be faster to arrange an exchange with the salesman. So I am going to call in morning. Just my luck to get a DOA.

Try using the RGBHV input on the BenQ, not Comp 2. Not sure why it's not working on your computer monitor though.
That worked. Thanks again for the reminder. I do like the component from the 360 vs. the vga though. Nice to have some options:)

I have a thin blue line arcross the corner of the image ... occurs without or with componenets attached ... also shows when switching between input modes ... any ideas what this could be?

Can you give us some screen shots of the blue line?

I've tried to photograph it ... however it does not show in a photo ....

How would I capture a screen shot?

I have a thin blue line arcross the corner of the image ... occurs without or with componenets attached ... also shows when switching between input modes ... any ideas what this could be?

Easy answer: It's the sequal to the "Thin Red Line". Starring Papa Smurf and the Smurfs in their last stand against Gargamel.

Update on my DOA projector. I called the salesman - Kevin Benton - the next day and he arranged for the bad pj to be picked up at no cost to me. The following day I received my replacement pj - another brand new one and its working fine. So for Canadians I highly recommend www.complete-it.ca and the pj was an excellent price.

s23, I know that sometimes I have to turn on the device I"m going to use, before I switch over , while using a monoprice 2 way HDMI switcher.

I played around a bit with the projector today and managed to get my HDMI input working again. :) It seems to cause problems if you have an HDMI source on when you hard power on the projector. Maybe this is covered in the manual or something, it's not the sort of thing I imagine would normally cause problems.

Having my STB powered on when hard powering up the 7700 caused the "unsupported" problem I described earlier. Having my Oppo powered on made the colours on HDMI really out of whack (white->purple, etc). I disconnected my HDMI cable, hard powered off and on the projector, reconnected it, and all was well again. Is this perhaps an HDCP issue?

Update on my 7700. Got it back from the local service centre today after 8 days - the bulb flickering/pulsing issue and the temporal dithering problem are still there, and to make matters worse, they retro-fitted the .48 FW on there, even though my machine came fitted with the .49! BenQ will be getting an earful tomorrow. Very unhappy after just a short time living with this projector.

I played around a bit with the projector today and managed to get my HDMI input working again. :) It seems to cause problems if you have an HDMI source on when you hard power on the projector. Maybe this is covered in the manual or something, it's not the sort of thing I imagine would normally cause problems.

Having my STB powered on when hard powering up the 7700 caused the "unsupported" problem I described earlier. Having my Oppo powered on made the colours on HDMI really out of whack (white->purple, etc). I disconnected my HDMI cable, hard powered off and on the projector, reconnected it, and all was well again. Is this perhaps an HDCP issue?

My Moxie HD cable box is always on. When I power on 7700 thru Monoprice HDMI switcher it never fails to work. Maybe different STB's are the problem. I thought I read somewhere the device should be turned on first then the projector.

mark

I also leave my STB on at all times, but I usually only put the 7700 in standby mode. It behaves perfectly then. It was only after hard power cycling the 7700 (hitting the power switch on the back, not just putting it in standby), that I got the strange HDMI behaviour.

I guess thats your answer I always leave mine Standby Mode. What was your reason for hard power off? Mine when I go away for few days I might, but usually I leave on.

mark

PS. I remember back a year so people were hard powering off their Panasonic projectors they thought it was getting rid of banding problems.

I guess thats your answer I always leave mine Standby Mode. What was your reason for hard power off? Mine when I go away for few days I might, but usually I leave on.

mark

PS. I remember back a year so people were hard powering off their Panasonic projectors they thought it was getting rid of banding problems.

Nah, I was just being paranoid during a particularly bad thunderstorm and unplugged everything. I'm surprised this hasn't happened to other people during initial setup or whatnot - maybe it's just my projector.

Nah, I was just being paranoid during a particularly bad thunderstorm and unplugged everything. I'm surprised this hasn't happened to other people during initial setup or whatnot - maybe it's just my projector.


I had this same problem with my PE7700. I solved the issue by changing the hdmi setting on my set top box and two dvd players from YCC444 to RGB. Don't ask me how this worked, but if I switch them back to YCC444 the problem reappears every time. So now I use the RGB setting full time. From what I have learned, the RGB should be the correct setting anyway for a HDMI connection. What I don't understand is, before I sent my projector in for a blown bulb and firmware updating, it did not matter what setting I used on my components. I guess the firmware upgade had something to do with this, but it works perfectly on RGB, so its not an issue for me.

My saga contiues. I've done some more testing and found that the point of time that it switches from start up screen to the HDMI port is when the lamp shuts off and temp light comes on. What I did to get past this becuase I can't even display the menu was to power it up and when it was in the middle of the startup process unplug the AC. This reset something so when it switched to the HDMI port the lamp stayed on. At this point I switched video to s-video and its been running for three days. I'm still thinking there is a problem with the software. They have swapped the mainboard and unit already. I'm going to try to see if the problem follows my dvd player, Comcast box, and Attenna. I let you know more.

Well its been two weeks since this last post. The problem had not reoccured since I change how I use it. After every time I use the projector I power off the main every time and so far its been fine. Of course I cross my fingers every time I turn it on.

I did experence the same problems as reported by S3 about an unsupported HDMI port. It happen on both my cabel box and DVD player. The HDMI is plugged into the device directly no switch. I fooled around by shutting the power off to all devices and restarting. I now wait for the projector to start searching for a device for HDMI then turn on the dVD player of cable box.

Update on my 7700. Got it back from the local service centre today after 8 days - the bulb flickering/pulsing issue and the temporal dithering problem are still there, and to make matters worse, they retro-fitted the .48 FW on there, even though my machine came fitted with the .49! BenQ will be getting an earful tomorrow. Very unhappy after just a short time living with this projector.
MarkH,
I had my PE7700 in for a firmware 'upgrade' and it came back as the original .48! I wonder what is going there??? Have you contacted BENQ yet? What was their response?

MarkH,
I had my PE7700 in for a firmware 'upgrade' and it came back as the original .48! I wonder what is going there??? Have you contacted BENQ yet? What was their response?

I have been in touch with BenQ and they are playing hardball. Looks like I'll be contacting the ACCC regarding this. They wanted to know how I know that the firmware is an older version, so they are trying to find out if I have been in the service menu myself (and therefore void the warranty I guess). Petty tactics if you ask me. I install projectors, work in the industry and have friends at the local distributors.
We'll see what happens.

I have been in touch with BenQ and they are playing hardball. Looks like I'll be contacting the ACCC regarding this. They wanted to know how I know that the firmware is an older version, so they are trying to find out if I have been in the service menu myself (and therefore void the warranty I guess). Petty tactics if you ask me. I install projectors, work in the industry and have friends at the local distributors.
We'll see what happens.
You're in perth right? Perth Digital (North Perth) is an authorised servicer and are talking to BENQ about getting the latest .49 software in. I'd say give them a go - if they bother to do this they might actually look at your PJ properly. Oh, and that dithering stuff on the pan shots - I get it too and seriously mate it is reduced when you hit 'AUTO' because this function sets the wheel timing and progressive scan/deinterlacing etc to give the PJ's best calibration. Oh, and I don't know if it's normal, but I get a better picture (smoother pan) from my DVD's when I let the PJ do the deinterlacing instead of my SONY player but that could just mean my player has a shite progressive scan.
Anyway mate, I feel sorry for you! There's nothing worse than spending your hard-earned doe and getting a lemon! :)

I have been in touch with BenQ and they are playing hardball. Looks like I'll be contacting the ACCC regarding this. They wanted to know how I know that the firmware is an older version, so they are trying to find out if I have been in the service menu myself (and therefore void the warranty I guess). Petty tactics if you ask me. I install projectors, work in the industry and have friends at the local distributors.
We'll see what happens.
I've just spoken to a guy at Perth Digital (BenQ service agent) and he told me .48 is the latest firmware version (he confirmed this with BenQ today) and the other version .49 is a beta version and has some bugs and is not ‘officially’ released by Benq to its service agents. Interesting that it was your original firmware. Anyway, not much help to you I guess but it explains why my unit had .48 when I got it back and not .49. :)

I also had/have the HDMI issue that when I hardpower off the projector, it was difficult for me to get it to find the DVD/cable/Monoprice switch. One day I decided that I'll try unplugging the HDMI cable from the projector, power on the projector, then plug the HDMI cable in, and it synced up right away. A little bit of a hassle, but nothing I'll complain about (I have .48 btw). I will have to check and see if I have RGB set.

Hope someone can give me a few pointers. I took the plunge and bought the PE7700. It was delivered to me in Aug. 2005. Now on my 1 year anniversary, and after about 400hrs usage, the bulb exploded. At least, I think so, as I heard a loud popping sound and now have a red light, with no image.

As I live in Brazil, I do not think shipping the unit overseas is an option. (I would probably pay at least $300 for shipping?) Lord knows if the projector would arrive and come back in 1 piece, nevermind taking a few months....

Anyway, I guess I need to buy a new bulb. Holy cow, the bulb now costs $400!!!!

Will Benq send me a new bulb, free of charge? All I have is the projector and manual. Do I need some other document???
Or is it too late for this? Must I pay $400 and hope the new bulb doesnt fail too soon???

Is it reasonable to assume that I will pay around $400 per year on bulbs? If so, perhaps I should cut my losses now and invest in a new projector????

Can anyone give me some advice? I tried calling Benq, but was put on hold, which is annoying but more importantly COSTLY since my call is international and there is no toll-free for overseas users.

Until now, I have been happy with the projector, but never expected to pay $400 per year on bulbs.

You should send PJ to BenQ for new bulb and updated firmware. Here in the US there is no charge. Since PJ is a year old, you may have to pay for shipping. BenQ will know by manufacturing date that firmware upgrade is needed. The firmware is v. 48 and have not heard of any reported bulb failures since becoming available back in January.

With around 300 hrs on my bulb, I just started to notice a white spot in my image today. It looks like dead pixels you would see on an LCD projector but its pure white. It's roughly 2-3 pixels in diameter. I cleaned the lens but it didn’t clear up. Any thoughts on what’s causing this?

Anyone know 100% FOR SURE if the lamps are exactly the same for the Toshiba MT700 and the BenQ PE7700? I have a PE7700 and I am thinking of picking up a brand new spare lamp, but it is a Toshiba lamp for a Toshiba MT700 with a Toshiba part number. If anyone knows for sure let me know. Thanks,

Steve

With around 300 hrs on my bulb, I just started to notice a white spot in my image today. It looks like dead pixels you would see on an LCD projector but its pure white. It's roughly 2-3 pixels in diameter. I cleaned the lens but it didn’t clear up. Any thoughts on what’s causing this?

Sounds like a few stuck mirrors to me!

steve4459 -- They are exactly the same lamp. Most MT700 owners bought the PE7700 lamps because the Toshiba replacement lamps were the old models (or not available). Get the PE7700 lamp! It's a better bet that it will be the new design and not old stock. Toshiba still hasn't acknowledged that it has a lamp problem.

Could anyone suggest me? WHAT CAN I DO ? i just got my new replacement 7700 firmware upgrade a few day ago. The new lamp life is only 43 hrs. I saw flicker time to time in the full lamp mode . I switched to the Econ mode i could not really see it .The old 7700 i saw it too. Im worry and getting anonny with this ! Can i do anything or it is all the same happened with 7700 out there ? i know i have very sensative eyes that i catched some little time to time.. i Do love this pj ! Please help .

Sounds like a few stuck mirrors to me!

Any way to fix it?

Could anyone suggest me? WHAT CAN I DO ? i just got my new replacement 7700 firmware upgrade a few day ago. The new lamp life is only 43 hrs. I saw flicker time to time in the full lamp mode . I switched to the Econ mode i could not really see it .The old 7700 i saw it too. Im worry and getting anonny with this ! Can i do anything or it is all the same happened with 7700 out there ? i know i have very sensative eyes that i catched some little time to time.. i Do love this pj ! Please help .

I had this behaviour when I got my machine back about six months ago. The good news is that the flickering condition was only apparent a few times and that it hasn't been a problem since. I don't really know what caused it at the time. I suspect it has to do with my initial attempts at calibration after I got my machine back. I was doing a lot of mode changes (Home Theater, etc.) and lamp power settings quite frequently during a viewing session. Also, when I got the flicker I ran it on the alternate lamp setting continuously for a few hours. Since I stopped tweaking it, the flicker never came back. Hope this helps.

Ditto to what Basement said. Haven't had a flicker in months.

Same here, flicker for a bit, changed modes, flicker has never returned. very close to 700 hours now.
Warren.

Any way to fix it?
Shake vigorously.

Just kidding! No way that I know other than sending it in for repair. :(

I thought I read that they sometimes they unstick themselves. You could run it a few days with flashy material, like MHD or something.
Warren.

steve4459 -- They are exactly the same lamp. Most MT700 owners bought the PE7700 lamps because the Toshiba replacement lamps were the old models (or not available). Get the PE7700 lamp! It's a better bet that it will be the new design and not old stock. Toshiba still hasn't acknowledged that it has a lamp problem.


Thanks Claus, I appreciate the info.

Steve

I had this behaviour when I got my machine back about six months ago. The good news is that the flickering condition was only apparent a few times and that it hasn't been a problem since. I don't really know what caused it at the time. I suspect it has to do with my initial attempts at calibration after I got my machine back. I was doing a lot of mode changes (Home Theater, etc.) and lamp power settings quite frequently during a viewing session. Also, when I got the flicker I ran it on the alternate lamp setting continuously for a few hours. Since I stopped tweaking it, the flicker never came back. Hope this helps.

Thank you for you suggest and support. i did the homework by searching the old thread in here they said to do as your suggest. :eek: i DID try few time last night but i feel i got it often in every 5 mins flicking was 10 secmins then and go away and back however i will keep doing on your suggest and i cross my finger i hope it will go gooooo away ... :o
Please forgive with my poor Englsih writting
tei THAILAND

Toshiba still hasn't acknowledged that it has a lamp problem.

Well they seem to be giving refunds to people who have "Multiple bulb failure".

Thank you for you suggest and support. i did the homework by searching the old thread in here they said to do as your suggest. :eek: i DID try few time last night but i feel i got it often in every 5 mins flicking was 10 secmins then and go away and back however i will keep doing on your suggest and i cross my finger i hope it will go gooooo away ... :o
Please forgive with my poor Englsih writting
tei THAILAND

Dear,friend here to support and help out about flicker !!!
i really dont know what to say but after all i switched full/econ mode and leave on econ for AWHILE then back to full mode then it seems go away i could watch flicker free for a few movies but just tonight i was watching swardfrish on HD a1 it was back!!!
i really upset and try to switched full/econ mode agian n agian and thearte etc i still look for luck I pray now! i hope this time this 's damn really need go away . I want to cry out loud here. :mad: :mad: :(

However, thank you for all if anyone can give any idea more please help me coz Benq in thailand is really S***K !!!
thank you
Tei THAILAND

Try a power conditioner.
Warren.

Try a power conditioner.
Warren.
Thank you i will do t i have one Isolator kind of very good power conditioner i will try it on that. Right now i use 7700 + UPS ( sine wave) but i think this UPS is make the problem..i beleive that .

I told the shop that i bought 7700 . i saw flicker on the old 7700 too. they carried it back to the shop and test a few day now and they could not see it .

And now, the new 7700( WF upgraded ) i worry about the same issued" flicker " before they set up in my bedroom. i let them test at the shop and run it nearly 30hrs befroe it set up in my house while we did the setup with lumagen and HD A1 and my 969 ( pioneer dvd 59avi USA version ) etc . i dont see it but then later i saw the flicker i really confuse and get lose
i will try with power conditioner and then i hope it work in this time.
Tei THAILAND

I have had my computer shut down by bad UPS's more than power outages ever could have.
Warren.

Well they seem to be giving refunds to people who have "Multiple bulb failure".

Not true. I have had two and I could not get a refund. I am on my third now.

I was yesterday into the factory menu don't touch nothing of the picture settings only touch in save current or other of this three options and go out and the picture change

I have now a problem of solarization like Markh.

Someone can help me to put the right combination for do a reset o put the picture exactly like the projector was after the set up the 0.49 firm.

I probe all the exits to the osd menu and not solved the problem

I do something like reset in both menus osd and service and the language and the menus back to the position of just right of the box but the picture stay bad

Sorry for my english.

Saludos

I have had my computer shut down by bad UPS's more than power outages ever could have.
Warren.
thank you Warren i tried and did manything but flicker is still there
i used UPS (sine wave) got flicker
conditioner got flicker
with/without ground still got flicker
:mad: :mad: :mad:
now dont know what do with it
Tei Thailand

thank you Warren i tried and did manything but flicker is still there
i used UPS (sine wave) got flicker
conditioner got flicker
with/without ground still got flicker
:mad: :mad: :mad:
now dont know what do with it
Tei Thailand
Have you tried leaving in the other mode (either full or econ) for several hours and then go back to see if it is gone? I had the flicker when I got the updated proj and put it in econ mode for a while (a day to two) and then went back to full and haven't had any problems. Changing modes has ALWAYS stopped the flicker for me.

Good luck!

Yes, it needs to burn the electrodes down a bit in the alternate mode, so it will take several hours for that to happen.
Warren.

thank you Warren i tried and did manything but flicker is still there
i used UPS (sine wave) got flicker
conditioner got flicker
with/without ground still got flicker
:mad: :mad: :mad:
now dont know what do with it
Tei Thailand

In my opinion I still think that the flicker happens because the projector has two modes and it does not completely lock into place on a particular mode, on some models, not all. That's why the flickering is there, I feel that it's trying to go between modes, eco and full, and it looks like a flickering. The only reason I feel that way is when I owned the 8700 it only had one mode and I never experienced any flicker at all, until I got the 7700. Maybe I'm wrong, but that seams to make sense to me due to my own experience! I feel it's strictly a computer level issue, that Benq needs to resolve.

It isn't a rare problem even on other projectors. Many of us had it go away completely, so it wasn't a computer problem for us. It could be a defective bulb though.

Thank you for all and very kind of your support and your help i did switch the mode cinema home photo when i saw the flicker and yes i did ful/eco mode but i leave NOT long enough i think on econ either mode. Maybe only one-two hrs then go back to full. at the time, i could not see the flicker for awhile then it was back and be the same. now my bulb is 54 hrs.
i will not give up i will try again today but i will leave it on econ longer hrs then. Would i ask do i have to watch and keep changing it when i saw flicker ? or do i just leave it on even it flicker and then back to full after many hrs? coz right now i did i watch the movies when i saw i keep changing full/econ/ user1-2-3 as i calibated /alternate mode some i left for 30mins or a hrs i think i will try again as Dennis suggests.

I would say to switch it over to Econ (or full if you normally run in econ.) and let it run there for 8-12 hours of use. If you were to switch it on and go to work, I would think that by the time that you returned from work that it should be fixed. I had the flicker one time and switched and haven't seen any sign of it since.

I would say to switch it over to Econ (or full if you normally run in econ.) and let it run there for 8-12 hours of use. If you were to switch it on and go to work, I would think that by the time that you returned from work that it should be fixed. I had the flicker one time and switched and haven't seen any sign of it since.
Thank you so much
i think i could see the good sign about "flicker free" last night ! :D i watched Janson Bourn afternoon on econ mode then turn it off and i was watching Riddick HD dvd on econ mode then i switched to Full mode many time, i could notic no flicker why it was on switching to full mode. Before i saw the flicker start right the way when i switched to full mode all the time but i could not see it last night
yes i will try as you advise...by leave it on for 8-12 hrs :D :D :D
thank you again... happy end .

I thought I read that they sometimes they unstick themselves. You could run it a few days with flashy material, like MHD or something.
Warren.
I'll give that a try... I dread having to send it in. It’s amazing how distracting one tiny mirror can be. I’ve used a ton of DLP projectors in the past and never encountered this problem. How common is it?

I contacted BenQ today regarding my dead mirror issue. Their stance is that one dead mirror is insufficient grounds for repair. Apparently it needs to be at least three dead mirrors or more. I suspect the odds of that happening are slim and nil.

I’ve purchased over 30 DLP projectors in the last 4 years from Infocus, Sharp, HP, and Dell. This is the first time I’ve experienced a dead mirror. Needless to say, I’m not very pleased with BenQ’s stance.

Since my mirror is stuck in the “on” position it projects a bright white pixel. This pixel happens to be almost dead center on the screen and is extremely distracting. I’m embarrassed to have friends over to watch a movie because everyone points it out and makes comments about DLP or BenQ quality.

This was my first BenQ purchase and from the looks of things will be my last.

Whatever you do, don't try jarring the pixel loose with a few solid blows from your hand, cause then the projector might break and be replaced under the warranty. ;)

Try calling the retailer you bought it from, they may have a different policy or advice. Having it stuck on is a bad thing. Off wouldn't be as bad.
Warren.

I contacted BenQ today regarding my dead mirror issue. Their stance is that one dead mirror is insufficient grounds for repair. Apparently it needs to be at least three dead mirrors or more. I suspect the odds of that happening are slim and nil.

I’ve purchased over 30 DLP projectors in the last 4 years from Infocus, Sharp, HP, and Dell. This is the first time I’ve experienced a dead mirror. Needless to say, I’m not very pleased with BenQ’s stance.

Since my mirror is stuck in the “on” position it projects a bright white pixel. This pixel happens to be almost dead center on the screen and is extremely distracting. I’m embarrassed to have friends over to watch a movie because everyone points it out and makes comments about DLP or BenQ quality.

This was my first BenQ purchase and from the looks of things will be my last.

I would just pay for the repair myself.If it is in the middel of the image you have to get it fix.Just ask them to fix it and bill you.Then say you will buy your next FP from a different company.BUDDA

Look on their web site for their written policy on "dead pixels." I remember reading it once, and I recall something about the location of the pixel (being in the center meant it was more likely that they would fix it) and whether it was on or off (I think being on would more likely result in a repair).

If you can't find it on the web site, ask for a written copy of BenQ's "dead pixel policy." It might give you some leverage in negotiating a repair -- e.g., maybe they cover the entire cost; maybe you pay shipping and they fix it for free; maybe they cover the cost of the part and you pay for labor; etc. It doesn't hurt to ask for some accommodation.

Hello all,

As mentioned in an earlier post, my 1st bulb blew around 400hrs. My PE7700
was fabricated in May 2005.

From reading earlier posts, I learned that those PE7700 models fabricated BEFORE Jan. 2006 have a firmware problem that leads to premature bulb failure. Benq has agreed to update the firmware and replace the bulb for those customers who bought pre-Jan. 2006 models.

Anyway, I have lost my store receipt from my purchase of 2005. Benq refuses to take back my projector for the updated firmware because of this technicality. I am therefore on my own.

Ok. My questions:

1. Do I really need to get a new firmware update?
2. Or was the problem not the projector, but the original bulbs? If so, I will gladly pay $400 for a new bulb and hope to get close to the 2000 hours promised.
3. Lastly, those of you who returned your projector to Benq, did you need to include your store receipt???
Sorry to ask these questions, if they have been addressed in earlier posts.

I don't believe anybody has been asked for a receipt before. Of course you wouldn't want to just volunteer that info. Call back and try again. It really should be done.
Warren.

Agreed - without the firmware update, you're running quite a bit more risk.

They didn't ask me for receipt either, and shouldn't need it. All they need is the manufacture date (month/year) on the PJ itself, and possibly serial number or similar (can't remember what they asked).

Serial number for sure.

If you by chance registered the PJ at the BenQ website at time of purchase they should take that into consideration. A printout of the registration you can send in with the unit should be helpful.

Just ask your dealer for a copy. BQ might be asking for a receipt if they think you are not the original owner, personal I don't think this should matter, but what do I know. :(

Any legitimate dealer will have a record of your purchase and can provide you with a duplicate receipt.

By the way, I rolled the dice and installed the BenQ in a "value" home theater for a Parade of Homes show (less than $10,000 for the entire THX system with installation). The projector ran 12 hours a day for two weeks with no problems (I had an extra bulb on hand just in case).

I calibrated the heck out of this projector and then used a Toshiba HD-DVD player and 720p demo material played over a computer. The few days I was there, many commented that the image looked better than the "high-end" home theaters that cost $50k plus -- I would agree.

Hey Guys,

Finally, good news.

I called Benq back and spoke to a 3rd rep. I gave him the serial number of my model and the mfg date, June 2005. He didn't hassle me about keeping my old invoice/store receipt and told me to send the model to Quality Serve Inc in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

He gave me an 8 digit code and told me to write in on 3 sides of the box.
I will go to UPS and tell them to send it. I will pay the shipping. I really don't care at this point. Anyway, do I need to do any special packaging? No, I threw out the original box. Hell, I bought it over a year ago. Any suggestions?

Lastly, how many bulb hours have users got on 2005 models THAT were updated with the new firmware? Has anyone reached a 1000 hours yet?

Thanks for everyone's support. I love my projector and can't wait to get it back in operation. I am even thinking of buying a Toshiba HD_A1 to use with it.

I love my projector and can't wait to get it back in operation. I am even thinking of buying a Toshiba HD_A1 to use with it.[/QUOTE]


It is really good thing to do. you love your 7700 more as i do now and thank you for all suport now i am flicker free :D in full mode only :rolleyes: coz when i try to use econ mode i will get it but only once and like 5 secmins. but never ever happened agian in full mode whatever i am happy now running full mode. :D

I have one suggestion, don't throw away the box on a multi thousand dollar item with a three year warranty. :)
The ups store can box it up for you nice.
Oh, yeah, also go get the A1. It is awesome.
I have over 700 hours on the new firmware, which many people were calling the "ok, it's good" point. Of course now that I have 700 hours they will be saying "Well I will wait till lots of people have 700 hours" then, of course, when that happens it will be 1000 hours etc. Easy to be a pessimist, but not a lot of fun I imagine.
Warren.

Thanks Warren for the feedback. And I'm very glad to hear that you reached the 700 hour mark!

Can't find this in our thread. Does the 7700 do the proper conversion from 1080i to 720p?
Does it do 1080i -->720p conversion or does it do 1080i --> 540p --> 720p? I'm just curious as this has to do with the Toshiba HD-A1 being set to 1080i out for best picture, even though normally we would set the output source to 720p coming into our 7700. Some projectors do the down conversion to 540p and then upscale to 720p. Kevin, anyone?

I used the HD-A1 set at 1080i, but that was before firmware upgrade 2.0, which is suppose to improve the 720p output. I can't verify this, but it sure appears that the 7700 does the proper downconversion from 1080 to 720.

HD-DVD looks very good on this projector.

I'm waiting on the 2.0 firmware disc myself. To my eyes the 7700 does look like it does the proper downconversion, but I just wanted to know anyway:) Any pics of your Parade of Homes project Kevin?

Can't find this in our thread. Does the 7700 do the proper conversion from 1080i to 720p?
Does it do 1080i -->720p conversion or does it do 1080i --> 540p --> 720p? I'm just curious as this has to do with the Toshiba HD-A1 being set to 1080i out for best picture, even though normally we would set the output source to 720p coming into our 7700. Some projectors do the down conversion to 540p and then upscale to 720p. Kevin, anyone?
Dear, Kevin
7700 will do converion from a1 1080i >down to 540p then up to native 720p as i know.
A1 is not really good on 720p ( old FW1.0-1.4version but the newest 2.0 i dont have any idea coz i have NOT updated yet )

i use Lumagen so i hook up a1 1080i> lumagen then 720p > 7700 at native 720p PQ is much much better than a1>7700 directly however PQ is the very good if i directly connect a1 to 7700
i hope this can explain and answer your question.
Tei from THAILAND

What is the current software version of the PE7700?

0.49

I just had the new firmware and bulb done in the last month or so. I've had one issue that really started to annoy me last night. The projector will start changing itself from memory 1 to memory two. It even shows memory two when it happens. Remote is NOT being touched! Happened at least 10 times last night . Ideas? Unless one of you guys decided to sneak up to my house with your remote and play tricks on me, I'd say the projector is getting a mind of its own.

I just had the new firmware and bulb done in the last month or so. I've had one issue that really started to annoy me last night. The projector will start changing itself from memory 1 to memory two. It even shows memory two when it happens. Remote is NOT being touched! Happened at least 10 times last night . Ideas? Unless one of you guys decided to sneak up to my house with your remote and play tricks on me, I'd say the projector is getting a mind of its own.



Weird stuff!!! Maybe you have the ghost of the PE7700 past in your house!!! :)

That it is. Did it again last night. Cycles from memory 1 then to memory 2, and then stayed on memory 3. I'll be giving Benq a call this coming week.

After i dont see flicker for a while and just yesterday it is back !!!!! i was busy and didNOT turn on my 7700 for few days and yesterday i turn it on to play some movies i saw it again Right at the beginning!!! when i truned on7700 then i watched Die another day i still saw flicker a few times i switched mode econ then back to full it likes going back at the beginnig to kill fllicer as you guys advised .... so i kept changing full/econ and some mode home /pic game / etc. and leave it for awhile also my sister watched some chiense series 5-6 hrs
At late last night Yes it seems work.
I am not sure but hope it will be gone forever. i feel very very depress with this flicker.

I HAVE TO WAIT coz my plan to upgrade to get the new projector 1080p will be next year and i want the 2G coz i just got the price from dealer in Thailand . IT IS TOO expensive at the moment i feel too early to be first adopter 1080p like to get Optoma HD81(about US$9200) will be in thailand this month also with Marantz VP11s1(about us$16000) and Sim2HT3000(about us$16000) Also it is silly to waste money to get another 720p why 1080p is coming right at the conner.
i just have to wait and hope it work to kill flicker in this time...
flicker free flicker free...
thank you again for all you support and help me out about the flicker ...

Blasst, keep us informed, I'm curious to know what the hell is causing that!!!

My temp light is coming on solid red right after startup and the projector shuts down. It did this once right after the firmware was upgraded (within a week). I resolved it then by turning it off at the AC switch, pulling the power and then retrying. It has been several months now and it is doing it again and I can't make it stop. I cleaned the air filter which wasn't really dirty and blew out the projector as well. Still not working. The room is air conditioned to 72 degrees F right now. Not sure what the issue is.

David

David,
Sounds like a malfunctioning component of the PJ. Suggest you call BenQ for service.

To all PE7700 owners,
Does anyone have over 1000 continuous hours on their lamp, using firmware .48 and new lamp design.

I have an updated design spare official Toshiba Mt700 bulb (same bulb that works in PE7700) still packed in the factory double box ..I did test for 2 hours to ensure that it was a good working bulb (and yes it is).

Please PM at quack724@yahoo.com if interested and make reasonable offer.

Hi guys, hopefully you can help. I live in Mexico and getting a reliable expert to calibrate my PJ seems impossible. I just got the new firmware and lamp, and am having trouble calibrating, picture seems OK, but I know it could be much better. I tried Kevins numbers but they didnt seem right for me.

My room is light controlled, I have a Stewart Studiotek 130 123". Beside the measurements already posted I have some doubts as to where the changes need to made (in the service menu, or in the regular menu). There are also so many things that can be changed that I believe that I need understand where I should focus. I have avia, and a blue filter, but no green or red filters. Hopefully you can help.

Thanks,

Max

Hi guys, hopefully you can help. I live in Mexico and getting a reliable expert to calibrate my PJ seems impossible. I just got the new firmware and lamp, and am having trouble calibrating, picture seems OK, but I know it could be much better. I tried Kevins numbers but they didnt seem right for me.

My room is light controlled, I have a Stewart Studiotek 130 123". Beside the measurements already posted I have some doubts as to where the changes need to made (in the service menu, or in the regular menu). There are also so many things that can be changed that I believe that I need understand where I should focus. I have avia, and a blue filter, but no green or red filters. Hopefully you can help.

Thanks,

Max


Did you try posting in the "ISF Calibrators, where are you located?" thread? Someone there may be able to hook you up with someone. Its worth a shot.

Steve

Did you try posting in the "ISF Calibrators, where are you located?" thread? Someone there may be able to hook you up with someone. Its worth a shot.

Steve

Sounds good, I will give it a try, however, I am looking for some help from you guys.

Thanks,

Max

You should be able to use AVIA to get the PE7700 calibrated very well. This thread and the PE7700 Tweek thread have discussions on using the service menu, and what precautions need to be taken. I have a MT700, and AVIA gave me a very good picture, just using the basic adjustments. I looked into the service menu, but found that adjusting those controls didn't improve the picture any (and they can make it much worse).

Unless the PJ has been modified (by BenQ) or otherwise, you can get a very good picture without ISF calibration. ISF calibration can make it somewhat better, of course. The amount of improvement, is "in the eye of the beholder", and depends on how picky you want to be (no PJ is perfect, even the $10,000 ones).

Max, I agree with Steve and Claus; you can make good progress using your Avia DVD to get the master brightness and contrast set correctly. From my experience calibrating my own PE7700, you should be using the Warm color temperature setting if you want your gray scale to be close to D65.

Now, if you are not satisfied with that, I suggest you take a look at the calibration forum and search there for the PE7700. You will find several threads of folks who have calibrated their PE7700's. And if you are interested in doing your own calibration, I suggest you take at look at this site to determine if you want to proceed: http://www.calman.tv/index.html. I have personally used the tools this site describes and can vouch for their effectiveness. You can see my results here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7967350&highlight=CalMAN#post7967350

My temp light is coming on solid red right after startup and the projector shuts down. It did this once right after the firmware was upgraded (within a week). I resolved it then by turning it off at the AC switch, pulling the power and then retrying. It has been several months now and it is doing it again and I can't make it stop. I cleaned the air filter which wasn't really dirty and blew out the projector as well. Still not working. The room is air conditioned to 72 degrees F right now. Not sure what the issue is.

David


I did call BenQ and open an RMA. However, when I pulled the projector down from the mount to ship it off, I decided to test it in my office. It worked fine in my office. The strange thing is my office has lots of computers running in it and it is much hotter than my theater room. Both rooms are air conditioned though. Anyways, I installed it back into the mount and it worked just fine. I have tried it every day for the past few days and it has worked just fine. I read a post earlier in the forum and saw that someone else had a similar problem and rectified it by removing the HDMI cable. I did remove my component video cables to take the projector down, I wonder if there is any relation.

The worst thing is I can't decide whether to send it out or not now. I am so tired of sending it off. It has almost been down with a bad lamp or at Benq more than I have gotten to use it.


David

To all PE7700 owners,
Does anyone have over 1000 continuous hours on their lamp, using firmware .48 and new lamp design.

Yes, I do; went over 1K this week w/ new firmware (0.48) and new bulb in eco mode.

Yes, I do; went over 1K this week w/ new firmware (0.48) and new bulb in eco mode.


Thanks Korn glad to hear it. The bulb post have really slowed down almost to a stop for several months now. I am only at 300 hours but have had none of the problems of the past, and the picture quality is still outstanding.

I am just about ready to hook up a HTPC I just built, and the hours should go up quicker now that summer is over for me. With all 160 DVD's on the hard drives I wont even have to get up and change the disk anymore(how Lazy can you get) now if I can only convince the wife for a beer tap built into the seats I'm set!!!!!!LOL :p

I am having the new HR20 from D*TV installed tomorrow in the theater. I just ran the HDMI cable and can't wait.

I will finally have HD on the PJ.

I have been waiting one year for this. I bought my projector in Oct. of 05.

Hello again everyone. Been a while since I've posted here. I picked up my PE7700 back in August '05. Got random massive black vertical patches in late fall, sent it back to BenQ, received it back within a week working as it should, however I never was able to get an answer from them on what exactly they did. No idea if the firmware was updated, but the lamp timer was reset. Again, not sure if they actually replaced the bulb or not at that point.

The saga continues. Recently split up with the soon to be ex-wife who originally was going to take the projector (out of spite). She took off with it when she moved her belongings out of the house. She then ran out of money and "sold" me the projector back in return for forgiving a small debt she owed me. Got it back, mounted it back in its rightful place and wham... red lamp light. Last I knew, the bulb had less than 1500 hours on it.

Now I'm reading here about the pre-Jan '06 firmware bulbs being replaced, etc. Just looking for a bit of advice on how I should proceed. Should I contact BenQ about them possibly replacing the bulb for the early failure? I suppose it's worth a shot. If, however, they say that they already replaced it during the fall '05 repair, I have some questions regarding purchasing a new bulb. I won't discuss street pricing, but are there knock-off generic brand lamps that are cheaper but just as good? Should I avoid them and go with BenQ manufactured lamps only at a higher premium? Tried digging through the thread but at 132 pages, searching for lamp on a PE7700 doesn't narrow things down much, as you can imagine.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm looking to place an order on a new lamp immediately to get the HD goodness back up and running asap, but would like to save money wherever possible (divorces are expensive ;)

Just done my tuning using 81c filter. To see the result, click on below thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8435041#post8435041

My verdict is using the filter I no longer lack red and able to get a very flat greyscale.

Chris, call them, they should fix it. The firmware wasn't done till jan 06. If they don't wait and call back. Different people there give different results. I am 98% sure they will take care of it. By the way, BenQ started double boxing these projectors. Your STB ex probably didn't.

itms1022, Don't get too excited about the HR20. I just got one and it is terrible. Doesn't record series, and no sound on HD channels. Yeah, sound would be good. The standard channels look MUCH worse than cable. I guess the tech (third level) thinks it isn't really downloading the new software. They are replacing it Tuesday, so no Sunday Ticket HD this weekend. Nice.

Warren.

Warren,

Thanks for the suggestion. I just got off the phone with BenQ. The CSR gave me an RMA number. I will be paying for shipping it to their repair center in New Jersey since I've had it more than a year (barely), but they will be updating the firmware and replacing the lamp unit. I believe it had in the neighborhood of 1200 hours on it when the red light came on.

Should be up and running again around a week's time if all goes according to plan.

I did call BenQ and open an RMA. However, when I pulled the projector down from the mount to ship it off, I decided to test it in my office. It worked fine in my office. The strange thing is my office has lots of computers running in it and it is much hotter than my theater room. Both rooms are air conditioned though. Anyways, I installed it back into the mount and it worked just fine. I have tried it every day for the past few days and it has worked just fine. I read a post earlier in the forum and saw that someone else had a similar problem and rectified it by removing the HDMI cable. I did remove my component video cables to take the projector down, I wonder if there is any relation.

The worst thing is I can't decide whether to send it out or not now. I am so tired of sending it off. It has almost been down with a bad lamp or at Benq more than I have gotten to use it.


David
I had the same problem, see previous report. I finally converted over to component and had no probelms for three months. There is definiatly a problem with the HDMI port. At the moment it stays in searching for siginal.
What a bummer this is.

Has anybody confirmed if the 2.0 firmware for the Toshiba HD-A1 improves 720p out going into the 7700? Hows it look via HDMi and component?

I'm still waiting for the 2.0 firmware disc to show up. I'll let you know how much improvement there is using 720P vs 1080i into the 7700.

Does anyone out there know the Phone # for the repair place in NJ? I am trying to find out when my PJ will be sent out after the repair and am having no luck with Benq. PLease let me know in a PM. if anyone has dealt with them directly. I would like to get it by this weekend, this will be the second week I will be without it, thanks!!

Does anyone have any suggestions on screens, particularly a High Contrast Gray 1.1 gain compared to a High Contrast Matte White 1.3 gain. Which screen would give me the best picture with the 7700. Any suggestions Kevin from your experiences, it would be appreciated.

I use a Da-Lite Cinema Vision High Contrast 110" screen. It is slightly gray and has a 1.1 gain. It was recommended by Jason at AVS. Blacks are great.

I considered a gray screen, but went the other way and got a SilverStar. It is quite amazing. Blacks aren't as good as a gray screen, but brights are amazing. Football with lots of light works fine. Dark movies don't work as good. The video on Vutec's site does a great job of showing the differences in screens.
* This is the screen Jason uses. Which is a pretty good recommendation in it's own right.
I have the 2.0 Firmware in my Tosh HD DVD and 720p looks amazing. I was going to try 1080, but don't seen the need.
Warren.

I've had my PE7700 since Aug '05 and gone thru the lamp replacement/firmware updrade from BenQ in Mar '06, also experienced(briefly) flicker problems and HDMI input failure. All is well currently.

I would like to buy a backup lamp, but I'm unclear how to assure that I'm getting the latest redesigned lamp - was it actually redesigned?, and how do I know that's what I'm getting? Also, where can I get the best price? Thanks.

John

I would like to buy a backup lamp, but I'm unclear how to assure that I'm getting the latest redesigned lamp - was it actually redesigned?, and how do I know that's what I'm getting? Also, where can I get the best price? Thanks.

John - the only way to ensure that you are getting the redesigned lamp is to visually inspect it.

old design: there is a crimp connection on the lamp lead immediately where it exits the top of the actual bulb

new design: the lead is longer and the crimp connection has been moved off to the side of the lamp

I would be surprised if there are any original design lamps out there. While going to the new design last Nov/Dec, the original lamps were sold out everywhere and some of us went without a PJ for ~1 month while the new designs were being manufactured.

Your best price will likely be to hang around this thread and the Toshiba MT700 thread. Many of us who have had Toshiba buy back our PJs wind up with an extra lamp to unload (the Toshiba and BenQ lamps are identical). PM me if you have any interest in a new design lamp with 66 hrs on it... :)

No. It isn't the dust filter

No. It isn't the ambient air temperature

Yes. The fans are coming on.

Here. Is the problem:

Starts up just fine with the BenQ logo but just when it goes to switch to the input image BAM! all black with the power light amber and the temp light is red. It of course begins the cooldown process and I can try to start it up again.

Sometimes it comes on (get's past the splash screen), sometimes it doesn't. If I keep at it, I will eventually get it to come on. The ONLY thing I have done differently is try and use the HDMI connection. Wasn't there something awhile back about faulty motherboards or something?

Anyway, the machine is just under a year old. I need to send it in. Luckily this will only be the second time I've had to send it back. But this is football season!

(FYI: the lamp has 183 hours on it)

Quick update. Sent in my 7700. It arrived at the NJ repair center Tuesday 9-19-06. Shipped out Friday 9-22-06. Got it back yesterday 9-27-06. with a new bulb and .49 firmware upgrade. Everything seems to be working well. Haven't had time to re-calibrate it but it looks good so far. No complaints here.

I was using my PE7700 when I heard a fairly loud pop and, suddenly, the projector started to make a loud rattling sound. Strangely enough, the picture was completely unaffected for all of the 30 seconds it took me to shut the thing off. (I wasn't about to leave it running from how it sounded.) I hit the power button twice, the picture cut out normally, and the rattling immediately stopped. The fans then went through their normal cool-down procedure. I tried turning it on again afterwards but, as soon as you would normally hear the color-wheel spin up, the rattling starts and the projector fails to start. It sounds like something happened to my color-wheel, although I would have expected the image to immediately go wonky if that were the case. Regardless, my PE7700 is now out of commission... again.

Has anyone else had this happen? I'm going to call BenQ tomorrow and send the sucker in... again. I've already been through 4 lamps and a firmware upgrade. It looks like I'm in for another month or two without a working projector, if I'm lucky.

Month or two?!?!

I sent mine in yesterday for what they think is a "failed termal sensor". She said they would have it back out in 5 to 7 days (plus a total of 4 [two down and 2 up] days shipping). Which is exactly how long I was without it for the firmware upgrade.

I think the turn around times have greatly improved.

Cor, you should qualify for the quick exchange, if you have had it less than a year. Ask about it.
Warren.

Things have been quiet here for the most part. Everyone must be doing well with the 7700. I'm just waiting for the 1080P projectors to come down in price. There are some great deals on the newer 720P projectors now, and better pictures?:) The 7700 still throws down a great image, so I'll just try to sit tight and fight the upgrade urge for now.

Well, since I'll be without mine for a few, I have nothing to do but talk about it:

I got it set-up in the new house and I have to say: Phenominal (again). I have it on a white wall (yes, I'm getting a screen) and even at 144" diagonal (10-1/2' wide! ) the image looks really good. That won't be the final size though. I am opting for a 134" screen for the space. I know: Going smaller. It's weird to me, too.

As far as the "new projectors" go. There are some that are tempting but it is hard to get upgrade-itis when the projector I have now looks so good.

I kinda did the same with my screen. Started 144, then 133, but ended up with a 120" silverstar. The brightness makes up for the smaller size. Football looks awesome in the morning with lots of light now.
Warren.

Things have been quiet here for the most part. Everyone must be doing well with the 7700. I'm just waiting for the 1080P projectors to come down in price. There are some great deals on the newer 720P projectors now, and better pictures?:) The 7700 still throws down a great image, so I'll just try to sit tight and fight the upgrade urge for now.

I know how you feel blasst, but I'm sticking to my plan I purchased my 7700 about 18 months ago and 1 of the reasons other than the outstanding picture quality was the 3 year warranty...........can't wait to see what prices and quality comes after next years CEDIA :)

Month or two?!?!

I sent mine in yesterday for what they think is a "failed termal sensor". She said they would have it back out in 5 to 7 days (plus a total of 4 [two down and 2 up] days shipping). Which is exactly how long I was without it for the firmware upgrade.

I think the turn around times have greatly improved.

I think "5-7 days" is their standard response to "how long", regardless of the situation. I was told it would take 5-7 days for the firmware upgrade, but it actually took them three weeks minus a day for overnight shipping there and two-days express shipping back. (Bear in mind that the 7700 has a RS-232 port. Unless their designers are idiots they can flash the ROM without even cracking open the case. It's probably a 10 minute procedure, including unpacking and repacking.) Still, that was better than the first time I had to get a lamp replaced. They told me "5-7 days" and took 6 weeks! In total, my PE7700 has now had close to 4 months of downtime. Unfortunately, I've had it for just over two years so I don't qualify for the quick exchange.

This time they're actually going to have to open the PJ and replace some parts so, in view of my past experiences with BenQ service, I'm expecting a *long* wait. It would certainly be nice if they surprised me, but I won't hold my breath.

hi
got two dust blobs on the right ofthe image, only visible on black sceen, screen.
can this be solved without going to after sales service ? i doubt it's onthe chip, must be in the optics somewhere.

thanks

Hi Everyone

Had my 7700 projector exchanged as I had some problems with the color space and got a complete new unit with a manufacturing date of June2006!. I think Benq have changed the firmware again as my new unit had firmware version 1.01 from Apr 28 -06.

/M

bump
anyone has had dust blobs and how to solve it ? or it goes to Benq...

Hi Everyone

Had my 7700 projector exchanged as I had some problems with the color space and got a complete new unit with a manufacturing date of June2006!. I think Benq have changed the firmware again as my new unit had firmware version 1.01 from Apr 28 -06.

/M


What kind of problems did you have with the color space?

What kind of problems did you have with the color space?

To make a long story short. With my first unit, I had the possibility to change color space (RGB, 4:4:2 etc) in my DVD player (S97). I had to exchange my 7700 as there were some problems with white vertical lines all over the picture due to play in HDMI contact/card. I received an exchange unit with 6 months older mfg date but newer fw, I think it was 0.48 or 0.49. With this unit there were no possibility to change colorspace, RGB was the only setting to choose. After a long discussion with Benq (about getting an older unit than I purchased and the color space problem) they sent me a new unit and everything is fine again. The unit I have now have the same possibility to change color space as my first unit, but it have a new fw version 1.01 from apr 28.

I dont know if the problem were solved with the fw update or if it was due to some hardware changes but I'm happy now. I think this unit throws a very good picture.

/M

Digital2004, I have what looks like a couple of small hairs, out of focus, fluttering slightly, on the upper left edge and really visible only on a white test screen. I, too, am wondering if there is a simple "fix" for this w/o sending it back to BenQ. I'll look forward to any responses from forum members.

Can anyone tell me if the "flicker" problem is gone on the PE7700's since Benq seemed to fix the bulb problem early this year? I have the Toshiba clone of the 7700, on its third bulb (but still first "new-design" bulb), and it is doing the "flicker" fairly often now. (The flicker on my MT700, at least, is an alternating between high- and low-brightness modes, and I can make it go away for a while as others do, by putting the projector in high-brightness mode for a few minutes each time.) Thanks.

To make a long story short. With my first unit, I had the possibility to change color space (RGB, 4:4:2 etc) in my DVD player (S97). I had to exchange my 7700 as there were some problems with white vertical lines all over the picture due to play in HDMI contact/card. I received an exchange unit with 6 months older mfg date but newer fw, I think it was 0.48 or 0.49. With this unit there were no possibility to change colorspace, RGB was the only setting to choose. After a long discussion with Benq (about getting an older unit than I purchased and the color space problem) they sent me a new unit and everything is fine again. The unit I have now have the same possibility to change color space as my first unit, but it have a new fw version 1.01 from apr 28.

I dont know if the problem were solved with the fw update or if it was due to some hardware changes but I'm happy now. I think this unit throws a very good picture.

/M


I have the same color space problem with my unit after the 0.49 firmware update. I never had this problem before the firmware update. It was explained to me that RGB is the correct setting to choose. Am I wrong on this? I wrote of this issue earlier in this thread and no one else seemed to have this problem.

Can anyone tell me if the "flicker" problem is gone on the PE7700's since Benq seemed to fix the bulb problem early this year? I have the Toshiba clone of the 7700, on its third bulb (but still first "new-design" bulb), and it is doing the "flicker" fairly often now. (The flicker on my MT700, at least, is an alternating between high- and low-brightness modes, and I can make it go away for a while as others do, by putting the projector in high-brightness mode for a few minutes each time.) Thanks.

I tried using the search function but I still couldn't what the flicker problem really was..... When is it present? When it is connected to component? HDMI? The reason that I ask is because when I connect my laptop via DVI-->HDMI, I get flickers occasionally. For me, however, I think it's due to the refresh rate or the resolution. When I set the projector to anamorphic @ 720p, it doesnt flicker, however when I set it to real mode, it'll flicker sometimes. I've yet to pinpoint the exact reason why it flickers from time to time. Is this is the same/similar problem you are having? If it is... then I don't think they fixed it because I bought my projector a month ago and it has firmware from Apr 06 (1.01). If this isn't the same problem, then can someone help me identify what kind of problem that I have? Thanks a bunch.

I have the same color space problem with my unit after the 0.49 firmware update. I never had this problem before the firmware update. It was explained to me that RGB is the correct setting to choose. Am I wrong on this? I wrote of this issue earlier in this thread and no one else seemed to have this problem.

As far is I know there should not be any big difference between the different modes for SD material. For HD material the difference could be greater as 4:4:4 provides more color information. For a DVI connection RGB should be the only setting.

It's odd that Benq first supported all three modes, then changed it to only RGB and after that they had support for all modes again. As I had support for all color spaces in my first machine, my exchange unit should also have it, anything else is unacceptable. Its like leaving your new car for service and when the car is fixed it is not the same car, its an old one with a lot fewer functions...

/M

Can anyone tell me if the "flicker" problem is gone on the PE7700's since Benq seemed to fix the bulb problem early this year? I have the Toshiba clone of the 7700, on its third bulb (but still first "new-design" bulb), and it is doing the "flicker" fairly often now. (The flicker on my MT700, at least, is an alternating between high- and low-brightness modes, and I can make it go away for a while as others do, by putting the projector in high-brightness mode for a few minutes each time.) Thanks.
This is a generic lamp issue, and not specific to these models. Try running it in High for several hours, maybe a day or two of normal usage. That should make it go away for awhile.

minshin-

I am not sure if you have the same problem as me, but if you can stop the problem by putting your 7700 in high-brightness mode (assuming that you are using low/economy mode normally), then it is the same problem and the same (temporary) "fix".

Spiky-

I have read the description by Bob of InFocus, but I am suspicious of whether at least my TDP-MT700's problem is really that "intermittent bulb hot spot" issue. The reason is that my flickering, at least, is very definitely a switching between the exact levels of the "high" and "low" modes. I would think if it was a "hot spot"-type condition, then it would not at all necessarily match the same levels as the two selectable modes. Strange...

Have you measured it with a meter so that you are sure it is matching those 2 levels? Your report of it going away in High suggests it is exactly that. I saw this occasionally on my MT700, and now on my AE900. It did not appear to have any impact on the failure of my MT700.

But Tosh has good service. If it is something else, they will fix it.

minshin-

I am not sure if you have the same problem as me, but if you can stop the problem by putting your 7700 in high-brightness mode (assuming that you are using low/economy mode normally), then it is the same problem and the same (temporary) "fix".

Spiky-

I have read the description by Bob of InFocus, but I am suspicious of whether at least my TDP-MT700's problem is really that "intermittent bulb hot spot" issue. The reason is that my flickering, at least, is very definitely a switching between the exact levels of the "high" and "low" modes. I would think if it was a "hot spot"-type condition, then it would not at all necessarily match the same levels as the two selectable modes. Strange...

That's pretty much how it 'looked' to me too. After a long period where I didn't see it, it's back again. For me changing modes, i.e. theater, etc. does it. Then I switch it to the alternate mode, run it for a while that way (hours), then switch it back again.

I tried using the search function but I still couldn't what the flicker problem really was..... When is it present? When it is connected to component? HDMI? The reason that I ask is because when I connect my laptop via DVI-->HDMI, I get flickers occasionally. For me, however, I think it's due to the refresh rate or the resolution. When I set the projector to anamorphic @ 720p, it doesnt flicker, however when I set it to real mode, it'll flicker sometimes. I've yet to pinpoint the exact reason why it flickers from time to time. Is this is the same/similar problem you are having? If it is... then I don't think they fixed it because I bought my projector a month ago and it has firmware from Apr 06 (1.01). If this isn't the same problem, then can someone help me identify what kind of problem that I have? Thanks a bunch.

Does anyone have any info on this new firmware 1.01? I just sent my unit in because the color wheel went out and when i received it back, only 2 weeks ago, I did not receive this new firmware upgrade. I wish they would just let us download it from the net.

Have you measured it with a meter so that you are sure it is matching those 2 levels? Your report of it going away in High suggests it is exactly that. I saw this occasionally on my MT700, and now on my AE900. It did not appear to have any impact on the failure of my MT700.

But Tosh has good service. If it is something else, they will fix it.
No, I do not have a light meter, but as you said, it does go away by using the higher-brightness mode, so it must indeed be the "standard" problem. I think I will run it in high longer next time so the flicker stays away longer as well. Thanks.

I was feeling lonely, so I joined the "Blown Bulb Club" yesterday, at 800 hours on a unit bought May 2005. I called BenQ and, with NO wait time, got an RMA. But I thought that they also paid for s/h to and from the warehouse? AAMOF, I thought BenQ even sent USPS or UPS to pick up the package? The cust. serv. rep. did not mention this!

I was feeling lonely, so I joined the "Blown Bulb Club" yesterday, at 800 hours on a unit bought May 2005. I called BenQ and, with NO wait time, got an RMA. But I thought that they also paid for s/h to and from the warehouse? The cust. serv. rep. did not mention this!
When I sent mine back for the same problem, they emailed the RMA to me and it included a UPS label that charged the shipping to their account.

You get different responses depending on who you talk to.
It could be the fact it is over a year old. Of course, I paid for my shipping with only a month on it, but the next two times they sent the label. You could call back if you don't get one. Getting an e-mail contact is nice for things like that.
Warren.

Ok, I called them back (again with NO hold time) and they issued me a UPS shipping label! I plan to ship it in the orig. box. Is that what you folks did? Did you get the same box back, or a comparable box?

**** Screen Question ****

For those of you that have screens, what are you using? With my "old" set-up at 110", I simply used BOC and it looked pretty good. However, I am going to be making the image 134" (33% bigger!) so I am looking at getting a screen with a little gain.

I am leaning towards the Elunevisions screens 1.4 white and 1.2 gray. Both seem to get good marks from the owners but from your perspective, should I get the white or the grey?

I am obviously leaning towards the white simply because I don't think blacks will be a problem. So let me know what you would/might/did do and that would be great.

Good news Zilla. They will double box it on the way back I am guessing. Pretty sure they will keep it in the same box, since it has your serial number, etc on it.

for the Screen- I shot on BOC for a year. Finally decided I liked a bright screen and went with a 120" Silverstar. I am very happy with it. Watching football with all the lights on isn't a problem now. If you look at the video on Vutec's site it gives an accurate representation of white vs gray vs Silverstar.
Warren.

Zilla,

So you have a unit with a build date prior to May 05, with the original lamp, and managed to get to 800 hours on the original Firmware? You may have the record!! After new lamp and 0.48FW I'm right at 800 hours and all is well.

Six Kinds,

I also used Black Out Cloth at first. Wanted to make sure that light output would be sufficient to throw a 133" diag. image. I recieved samples from DaLite of four of their screen materials. The Hi-Power sample looked great, with a lot more "pop" than the BOC screen. Have had the Hi-Power screen since last Dec. and I am very pleased. 520 hours on the original lamp and 800 on the replacement. All hours in econo mode. One concern that I had was lumen output over time. I measured output with the new replacement lamp, and plan on re-measuring at the 1000 hour point. Just from the "eyeball test", it is obvious that light output is down considerably. The image is still very enjoyable though. My point is that with the higher gain screen and the ability to go to full power on the lamp setting one can get to 2000-2500 hours on a lamp. With my rebate lamp on hand I hope to sit back and enjoy and at some point there will be a 1080P, dare I hope 3 chip dlp pj, for close to what the 7700 cost? Hope this helps.

Joe

Six Kinds,

<snip>

Joe

Cool. Just the kind of info I needed. Here's me... thanking you.

Zilla,

So you have a unit with a build date prior to May 05, with the original lamp, and managed to get to 800 hours on the original Firmware? You may have the record!! After new lamp and 0.48FW I'm right at 800 hours and all is well.



Yes, orig. bulb and f/w lasted 800 hrs., all except maybe 4 hrs on eco mode and high altitude.

Refurbished 7700s are available at reasonable prices, would they have the lamp issues fixed?

There should be a sticker on the bottom of the unit with the firmware number 0.48 or 0.49. If there is no sticker, it has NOT been upgraded and fixed.

The refurbs are projectors they swapped out before. I have one in that stack. I am sure they just kept them around till they got the fix. I wouldn't worry about them at all.
Warren.

People talk about light bursts. I dont have this problem yet . I use the economy lamp mode . Should I change it to Full ever so ofen so I dont get lamp burn in
Thanks Tom

No reason for that. It is just rare chance the electrodes burn in a way that makes that happen. You could run the whole time on normal and never experience it (some projectors only have one mode.)
Warren.

died with about 500 hours.

I think "5-7 days" is their standard response to "how long", regardless of the situation. I <snip>

This time they're actually going to have to open the PJ and replace some parts so, in view of my past experiences with BenQ service, I'm expecting a *long* wait. It would certainly be nice if they surprised me, but I won't hold my breath.

Hey Cor,
I called in yesterday to check on my pj and they said it had shipped already and that I'd get it today! So that follows the 5-7 days thing pretty good.

Do you have any news? I don't want to get your hopes up (it is Friday the 13th, afterall), but you might call... just for fun.

i have what i would consider pretty bad solarization.atleast thats what i think it's called.on some movies i find it almost unwatchable.does anyone know if this can be fixed and how?

thanks

i have what i would consider pretty bad solarization.atleast thats what i think it's called.on some movies i find it almost unwatchable.does anyone know if this can be fixed and how?

thanks

Is it happening on darker parts of the movie and when there is slight movement?

Guys as you may or may not remember I had some temporal dithering issues with my 7700. Anyway I recently got the bulb and video procesing board replaced, and while not as bad of before, I still notice dithering particulary in darker scenes and some with movement. Is there anything in the service menu that would contribute to eliminating/reducing this dithering effect? Anything I need to turn on/off or adjust?

Really need your help guys, Ive had this PJ since July and it has been repaired twice and parts replaced and still not 100%. Running .48FW (which over here in Oz is supposedly the current FW)
Mark

yes mostly in darker areas like dark clouds or sky.but also in areas like spot lights in a concert video or place that are dark and out of focus.

You could try the colour wheel delay setting- best setting varies for each individual projector- mine was set at 70 after firmware upgrade and I had to adjust it to about 56.

Chainenoble:

What connection are you using (HDMI or component)?
What source do you see it on -- DVDs, HDTV, SDTV?

To adjust color wheel delay, put up a luminance ramp pattern (see attached photo) and then adjust delay until you get the smoothest transition from 0 IRE (full black) to 100 IRE (full white). Digital Video Essentials and other "calibration" discs will have this or a similar "ramp" pattern.

component and dvd