I need to know what size to cut the plywood to that will attach to the bottom of the 7700??

11.5" x 15"

Waxxie,

The 118" version of the Carada screen is exact 5.1' tall. given the zero offset of this projector and your mounting of the projector the bottom of the screen would need to be roughly (not exact but as close as possible) to that same 4.5ft. Given the 4.5ft starting height plus the ~5ft screen height that would put you at the least needing to have a ~9.5ft ceiling in the mounting position you have chosen. Please keep in mind these are the dimensions of the 118" version of the carada not the 120" you are hoping for.

I think with a 7 ft ceiling the best you could hope for on a 120 is to do a ceiling mount with the top of the screen frame right at ceiling level. Never mind the throw/possible keystone issues of using a zero offset. Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot, Ches. Yes, this does help me a lot. I was hoping I would not have to ceiling mount, but I guess if I want this PJ then that is what I am going to have to do.

I'll have to research some mounting options.

you REALLY want to ceiling mount. Trust me. I had mine table mounted for a month or so and my chair was right beside it. While the fan is much quieter than some other projectors, having it right beside your ear is still distracting. Then the heat coming off the thing would fry my leg if I had it in the wrong spot. Then you have to worry about people spilling their beer in the projector or stumbling over the cords laying on the floor. I am much happier now that is it up there out of the way. The only thing I miss is that when it was sitting on the table I could move the projector over to the window where I put up some frosted film so I could rear project stuff and we could sit out on the patio and watch. My wife didn't like me putting up frosted film on the window, but she was pretty happy to watch the game outside on a big screen.
Warren.

So let me get this straight. The very bottom of the screen is level with the lens of the pj?

Also, how long is the supplied power cord?

Thats all I got for now.

Thanks again.

If you ceiling mount, the top of the screen is level with the center of the lens. Table mounted, it's the bottom of the screen.

Since you only have a 7' ceiling, ceiling mounting is no problem. In my case, I have a 10' ceiling, so I mounted the projector off the back wall to avoid a long drop from the ceiling.

Sorry for the ignorance ... but another dumb question ...

If I want the very top of my screen to start 6" from the ceiling then the PJ should be mounted 6" from the ceiling. Correct? Will the optional ceiling mount made for this PJ shrink that small?

If by "PJ should be mounted 6" from the ceiling" you mean the center of the projector's lens is 6" from the screen, then yes, you're correct.

A typical projector mount will probably not be small enough.. you either need to use the mount and be slightly below the screen (and angle the projector slightly up), or build a DIY mount that can accommodate being very close to the ceiling (about 2" or so).

... or just have the screen closer to the ground.

It is my understanding that if you are using a Zero Offset PJ like the PE7700 then your optimum position from the ceiling would be the center of the lens dropped from the ceiling to the height of where your viewable area of your screen starts not the frame itself. So if the top of the frame is 6" down from the ceiling and it is a two inch frame the "BEST" location for the projector is the center of the lens lowered from the ceiling to 8". Also you want the lens to be as close to center on the horizontal as possible. Folks please correct me if i am wrong as i am not yet an owner just a long time reader/geek.

Waxxie,

For table mount you would have to have the projector at roughly the height of 1.8' off the ground with the screen dropped 6" and assuming a frame width of ~ 2.5".

Whats the diff between "frame" and "screen"?

Yeah, it's pretty clear to me now that table mounting is not going to cut it.

"So if the top of the frame is 6" down from the ceiling and it is a two inch frame the "BEST" location for the projector is the center of the lens lowered from the ceiling to 8". "

I see what your saying now (had to read it again). That is what I was getting at.

Totally up to you, but "recommended" placement for the screen is eye-level (when seated) hitting 1/3 the height of the screen from the bottom of the screen. Any higher and you may be looking up at the screen more than you want (like sitting toward the front of a movie theater).

A 120" diagonal screen is 59" tall. 1/3 of 59" is roughly 20". So you want eye-level when seated (usually ~4' depending on the person and the seating) to be level with 20" up from the bottom of the screen.



Not sure if this ASCII diagram will work on these boards, but here goes (assuming 120" diagonal, 59" tall screen):


====== Ceiling

------------------------------------------
|
| 40"
|
|
--- eye level (~48" from floor)
|
| 20"
------------------------------------------

====== Floor


Hope that helps. Mine is a bit above eye-level (register blocked it from going any lower) but I'm glad its not any higher than it is.

You guys have been SUPER helpful. Thanks very much.

Hey Smooth,

Waxxie is a little limited on that because the height of the room is roughly 7' so 48" or 4ft + 40" or 3ft 4in is already at 7ft 4in. Again it is just me but the six inches from ceiling would look good, and be probably the best you could do. Please keep in mind that a 7' ceiling minus 8+ inches makes the projector vunerable to the heads of your taller friends. Someone 6'2 would likely catch it in the head so placement of seating to prevent that would help.

Good point Ches. A 5' tall screen on a 7' tall wall doesn't leave much room to play with ;)

Also, as an install tip, estimate the distance from ceiling to screen you want and try to get close with a ceiling mount (e.g. I wanted 12" down and with my chief mount, that required an 8" pipe extension...). I then mounted the projector and shined it on the blank wall...this gave me the top of the picture marked on the wall and I then used that as a reference to hang the actual screen. the top of the picture does not change when you zoom in and out...the other three sides change...so that is fixed based on ceiling mount distance. MUCH easier than trying to adjust the projector and mount to an already mounted screen.

Jim

I'm a new PE7700 owner - received it today from projectorpeople. I had a Philips 55" RP and am now converted to FP. Am I happy?

Well......

I am not wowed yet.

1) I am temporarily projecting onto a dark pink wall (just bought the house, not my choice)

2) I am using HD cable source through component cables. I need yet to get a DVD-HDMI adapter. In addition, an on-demand HD of Shark Tale that I ordered tonight is so compressed and noisy I can't believe it. Network HD looks ok.

3) DVDs are not that great (progressive scan through component), my Panasonic S97 is on order. Hopefully this will help?

The image looks VERY dark and contrasty. So dark that I have no details in the shadows. My firmware version is 0.43,A00 of Jun,27,2005. The Black IRE is set to 0, but grayed out.

I am hoping a real screen will make ALL the difference. I was really hoping to be wowed by this projector. Yes it is quiet. Bumping the brightness (black levels? has helped somewhat)

We'll see!

I am not wowed yet.

1) I am temporarily projecting onto a dark pink wall

How could you be ?

smithsonga : thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I need to suspend my screen from the ceiling because I removed my wood burning stove and the pipe reamins but I don't this that this will be much of an issue.

Thanks for the advice

Hey All,

I've been eyeing up this projector (and the toshiba version) for a while, and am getting ready to pull the trigger. I've just noticed that benq is offering a "rebate" good for a projector mount. Does anyone have any details on the mount? in particular the turn around time on delivery, and what kind of mount it is?

thnx


*edit*

Here is the link to the rebate form:

ftp://12.145.38.159/promotions/us/benq-projector_pe7700_freemount-usa_200508.pdf

I have noticed that ABC (OTA) does have two narrow green lines on the right side of the screen, at least on HD programs. It is not a big deal. I have the projector set to exactly fill the screen with the grid pattern borders just touching the black edges of the screen.

Since you are using HDMI, you probably have overscan set to zero from the factory, that's what I found on mine. This is why there are green lines, they are part of the signal that is not supposed to be onscreen, so you need a little overscan to get rid of them. It is available for adjustment from the service menu, although you should be careful in there.

cmonaghan76, with the s97 over hdmi shooting on ANY thing but a pink wall will look much better. If you got 16 bucks to spare get some BO Cloth to shoot on till you get a screen, or to test what size screen you want.
Warren.

Hi Gang!

My order just arrived after 2 months of waiting. Just wanted to share a few thoughts and ask a few questions.

Right out of box, the image looked great. I haven't tried any CALIBRATION yet, and colors, contrast seem on the money.

I am using video component progressive scan via my Sony DVP-NS900v player. No jaggies, pretty sweet picture, albeit a tad soft. I think its seems soft because of the limitations of the DVD source. On my flatscreen tv, it seemed a bit sharper, but then again I was standing 3x-width back. Blowing it up to 84 inches, while standing at 2x -width, the image seems to lose a little sharpness. (Of course, if I stand 3x-width from the projector screen, it seems just as sharp as my tv.)

Anyway, I am VERY happy with my purchase. But I am writing to see if you could give a fellow owner some tips on how to maximize his new toy.

1. Would a Hoya ND x2 filter 67mm help in my situation? I am running video component progressive scan on an 84 diagonal Matte-White screen. I will be using it almost exclusively at night, so ambient light isn't much of a problem. I read that this filter greatly improves black and details, while reducing brightness. Sounds interesting.

2. I read somewhere in the last 60+pages of this forum that projector sharpness seems best at -0-. That is what is on my projector now. Any other suggestions for calibration using VIDEO COMPONENT? I will try later using my AVIA disk to improve things, but it looks pretty darn good out of the box!

I also read setting 0 for IRE. I will take a look to see what is currently in the menu.

3. What dictates the picture - the projectors menu (color, contrast, sharpness, etc) or the DVD players menu, or is the final picture a combination of the two? How do you guys rectify this? Should final PROJECTOR menu calibrations vary from user to user because of different dvd players and their settings, not to mention different screen types (white/grey/ and dedicated rooms? If so, I guess there isnt any universal settings that I could use...

4. Tougher question, should I trade in my Sony DVP-NS900v-SACD player for a less expensive model that performs upconversion at 72Op? My Sony plays music well and doesnt show any jaggies/artifacts. Would an upconversion model give me a SHARPER image??? If so, I would be quite interested. Otherwise, I would prefer to save my money for the release of HD Blue-Ray.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments!

1. I just did the filter and I think I like it in a darkened environment. The picture loses it's punch though when there's some ambient light. If you don't have a screen yet I've heard good things about the Optoma Graywolf. I'm kind of curious to hear if others are using it, the 7700 and ND2 together.

2. Check for the 0 for IRE

3. You're right. Everything.

4. A lot of people like the upconverting players. Others have said that a player like the Oppo is very nearly the equal of a PC. Before doing this try to feed it a DVI (or VGA for that matter) signal at 1280x720. This may give you a taste for the difference. ATI's and I'm sure Nvidia should support this from their current driver sets. I'm driving mine with a PC on DVI-D. For me, there's no comparison with my Panasonic RP62, although I don't know anything about your player.

I'd look at a gray screen before an ND2 filter. But with that relatively small (84") screen and complete light control, it may work well with both. It depends on what kind of picture you like, as well.

So... how long is the supplied power cord? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

About 6 feet.

So basically you need an aftermarket power cord if you want to mount it in any reasonable fasion.

I guess you can just go to any computer store and get a standard IEC type power cord that is longer?

I know for my power amp, it's just an IEC type power cord but that one was $500 and it was their cheapest one!

I don't want to spend that on this. I'd be interested to see if a super hight quality cord would make a diff in the picture though.

It depends what you consider a reasonable configuration. I installed an outlet in my ceiling, and plug the projector into a single-outlet surge protector which plugs into the outlet. You could also use an extension cord added onto the end of the stock cord. Or you could buy a longer computer-type power cord, but I certainly wouldn't spend over $50 for one (most likely less than that).

I'm not sensitive to the rgb-effect at all.
Entered the service menu and decreased the color wheel to 4x.
The noise must have dropped like 3dB or something.
Excellent!

Your next task then, Tor, is to get it to stay that way after shutting it off and back on... (or even resyncing, according to Spiky).

I found the S97 panasonic to be a major improvement in DVD performance over standard progressive player. For some reason, it is a major improvement over the S77 player....

regarding power cord length....I would expect 99% of configurations put the projector near an outlet...maybe on a table in the middle of a room would require an extension cord to get to the wall....but any ceiling mount typically/needs an outlet there....I wish the cord was <2 ft myself as I have to wind it up with a zip tie to make it neat.

I cant imagine any projection looking good on a pink wall..........

Jim

Well got my 7700 today (props to ProjectorPeople for quick shipment). Ceiling mount went pretty good, just have the cord hanging now, wanted to get it fired up and make sure all my measurements were good and the picture was where I wanted it.

Just firing on a light yellow wall right now as I decided to do a another coat of primer and some sanding on my homemade screen. Even on the yellow it looks pretty darn good right out of the box I would say it looks better than my Sony GW and with a much larger picture(110"). Can't wait to get my screen up tomorrow and see what it looks like.

Any recommendations on final top coat color for the screen. Right now a have a can of Behr silverscreen that I am leaning toward or I might just leave it ultra pure white. My room has pretty good lighting control with dark carpet, but has a white ceiling.

Thanks for all the info on this forum about this pj, I was really leaning toward a Lcd(Sony hs51 or Panny 700). I was just worried about rainbows and all that other stuff you hear so much about. So far really glad I went with the Benq and I know my daughter loves it as I cannot pull her away from it.

That is the nice thing about paint, cheap to try different things. You might try half and half to see which you like. In the end it is your eyes that must be happy. Some would like the silverscreen, while others would prefer pure white.
I thought I had good light conrol but didn't realize with all the light this projector puts out it lights up the whole room on its own. My next HT room will be all black with black furniture.
Warren.

Consider Mmud 1:1:1 mix w/ 2-4 oz silver metallic (SM), preferably sprayed w/ HVLP. Works great in my bat cave setup. Compares to a Stewart Greyhawk.

Grey screen vs ND2 filter.
My understanding is that both give improve blacks/contrast. However, isn't an additional advantage of the ND2, the ability to remove it when the projector (bulb) light output decreases significantly...thereby getting back to higher perceived light output, during the last phase of bulb life?

mregis, you can also swap out screens when the light output dims, which is cheaper in a DIY painted setup, where you can paint it white, etc. But you're correct, that it is very easy to take it off to gain that light output.

miltimj,

I remember you toying around with the idea of a 2.35:1 setup. Did anyone either confirm or deny if the BenQ7700 with an anamorphic lens is enough to accomplish this? I remember rumbles of an off-board scaler or a HTmac needed and didn't want to get that complicated.

My DVD player is a Denon 3910 that will only do 16:9 or 4:3, so I know that won't do it. But it does appear that the BenQ has some aspect ratio and zoom controls. Found anything out? If I could get away with just the projector and a lens (be it vertical or horizontal) that would be great.

Thanks in advance!

As far as I know, you need the lens and a scaler/HTPC. Very few DVD players, and definitely not the BenQ 7700, will perform a vertical crop and scretch that's necessary for constant height.

Note also that due to the short throw of this projector, you'll need a decent enough lens that it will minimize chromatic abberation. If I had the cash and was ready for 2.35, I'd have gotten a Prismasonic H-1000 up until this week, when Prismasonic released new versions (H-600 and H-1200) of their lenses, including the option for remote controlled lenses, which you could program in a macro, with your HTPC, etc, for the best ease of use you could imagine.

See the 2.35:1 constant height forum FAQ for more detailed explanations...

My current plan is to continue using this projector, and add a constant height setup once I build my dedicated HT sometime next year. It's a convenient time to modify the setup, and get a screen that fits the new space.

Hey Tim, nice job on the plex/mount, due to an error (on my part) my adjustable mount pole is centered with my screen, I did not allow for the offset for the lens from the center of the case.Doh!!! I'll use a plex plate to shift my 7700 back to center so I don't have to use any keystone.

Thanks it really helped me design my plex offset mount, seeing your plex mount action. Thanks again Dave :)

Thanks -- I don't know if I'd offset the projector that far with just the plexiglas... I think I'd just move the top pipe flange over to the location it should be, or move the screen, whichever is easier. Actually, I think either of those would be easier than refitting the plexiglas to allow that offset. But whatever works for ya...

I need about a 2 1/2 inch offset, my flange mount was installed above the drywall, you can only see the pipe coming out of the dry wall. I plan on putting the pipe on the lens center line and use 2 or more layers of plex to help carry the off center weight of the PJ

If not I have to do some dry wall cutting and patching "not fun"

I am running 2.35 using an iScan HD+. The projector won't do it itself. I could find no use for any of the zoom settings. The upper end Samsung's do the stretch, and would be a lot cheaper than the iScan, but the iScan is really nice, and the auto source switching is awesome. Put in a dvd and it automatically switches input for the projector and stereo. The new iScan coming out with hdmi switching would be awesome.

My 2 year old son just knocked over a large glass of soda over the PE7700 remote. I tapped it like crazy to remove as much of the soda as I could that seeped into the remote. After all the effort, the remote is not working. Does anybody know how to pry open the remote without defacing it so I can clean it out?

Sincerely,
snooktarpon

That's almost as bad as coffee on a keyboard. You might try washing it off with distilled water to wash the sticky stuff out. Then rinse it off with denatured alcohol (not booze), and blow it dry (air, no heat -- you can used the canned dry air for computers). I would try that before trying to pry it apart. That trick worked great on my computer keyboard.

About the filter:
You should get a 52mm, not a 67mm. And it's less than $30 for a good one. Even if you do try a grey screen, this is a very reasonable tweak.

About the remote:
Follow Claus' advice with some additions. The first thing you should do when this happens is to remove the batteries instantly. The electricity is what will kill it. Then you can follow what Claus said. Once it is totally dry, put them back in. Give it many hours, maybe a day to be sure it is dry.

For those with the Panasonic S97 or S77 with the 7700...

I'm having the HDMI cable I ran replaced and am stuck using component until I receive the replacement. Since there's no HDMI, my only options on the player are 480i and 480p. I set it to 480p and the projector picks up the picture but says 525p on the bottom right corner of the screen. That wouldn't bother me, but while watching a DVD, it pops up intermittently (off for 4 or 5 seconds, back on for 3 or 4) during the entire movie. Sometimes it just randomly stops popping up all together during the course of the movie.

Any clue why its losing sync constantly? I'd assume thats whats causing the 525p to pop up all the time.

I've got a S77 but I use HDMI (50 foot cable) only. Can't comment on the component as I don't have a long cable.

Hey. I STILL haven't bitten the bullet and bought the projector yet (mainly due to the house still being built.) There is an offer for a free BenQ projector mount on one of the forum sponsors. The mount is the BenQ 59.J0C02.001. Has anyone seen or used this mount? Does it come with a extender (or have the range to go from 6-12" or something)? Is the build quality ok? I have looked on the internet and not been able to find any info or, more importantly, pictures of the mount. Any help would be appreciated.

Smooth317 -- The report of 525p for a progressive scan component signal is OK. The total number of lines, including the blanking intervals, for a 480p picture is 525. It sounds like you may have a bad cable or bad connection (try the "Y" cable first, it carries the sync, IIRC).

Interesting, I'll try that. I've run the same component cable to my cable company HD DVR with no sync issues, nor when running the cable to an Xbox. That made me skip the cable as a suspect.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'm gonna change my projector choice to the Optoma 77 then. I really want to go with the 235 setup and it will do the vertical stretch needed (then I can use the prismasonic H-600). No need for a scaler. My DVD player is already excellent. I wish I could use the BenQ, but the Optoma will fit better in the total budget right now since I won't have to get a scaler.

Check on the 78 before you buy. Sounds like a good improvement over the 77.
Warren.

What upconverting DVD player would you guys recommend for this PJ? I'll be ordering equipment this week... ;-)

Need a DVD player to go along with the DirecTV HD Tivo unit I'll be getting.

How much do you want to spend? The Onkyo SP1000 (1300-1500) gives a great picture with a lot of pop. Sony's 975 with HDMI is supposed to be decent (200). Pioneer 59avi and the Denon 3910 (900-1200) are very good as well. I would try to find somewhere to demo some. And make sure you test them at 720p (since that's where your optimal setting is) the pjs native resolution.

I was looking to spend less than $300... I don't care about SACD or DVD-A. There are some quality/design issues on the Sony 975... and from what I've read, there are some overscan issues with the Panny S97 at 720P resolution.

So check out the Oppo DV971H. It's got a lot of good reviews & it's well under your price maximum.

The latest firmware update fixes possible lip-sync issues.

The Oppo is a DVI machine, right? Are there any DVI/HDMI problems? I know some players are experiencing black/white crush due to some 10 bit vs 8 bit interface issue between HDMI and DVI.

There should be a few more options next month when the new released units come out. I would try and stick with a HDMI player. I know, there really is not much difference than DVI. I just prefer trying to keep everything the same when possible. HDMI on my SP1000, HDTIVO, JVC HM5u DVHS, and TX1000 have never produced any problems whatsoever. Why take any chances?

I'm of the same belief... I'm trying to keep everything HDMI since that's what the PJ has.

I too would be interested in hearing from readers that are using HDMI with their PE7700 projector, especially if they think the image is much better than when using video component progressive.

I am thinking of upgrading my solid performing DVD player, but not sure which model to choose. It would be great to hear from someone who already did the comparison using video progressive component from a good player, vs HDMI on one of the newer models.

I have a Panny S77 using HDMI and the picture is great. I haven't had time yet to tune it with Avia. Also haven't used component because the projector in the ceiling is on a 50 foot cable from the equipment. I use a Gefen HDMI switcher to switch between my HD Tivo and the S77.

So the Panny S77 doesn't have the same problem as the S97? Interesting...

I too will be using a switcher between the DVD, HD Tivo, computer, and possibly a DVD recorder.

Sorry for asking, but what is the difference between the Panasonic S77 and the S97. Here in Europe I think we only have the S97?

There exist rumors the S97 is discontinued. The S77 is a newer model that some feel isn't as good as the S97. Some think it is better. In any case I am very sure almost everyone would be happy with either. My S97 was a huge jump in quality over my Poineer.
Warren.

I too would be interested in hearing from readers that are using HDMI with their PE7700 projector, especially if they think the image is much better than when using video component progressive.

I am thinking of upgrading my solid performing DVD player, but not sure which model to choose. It would be great to hear from someone who already did the comparison using video progressive component from a good player, vs HDMI on one of the newer models.

I am using an Oppo DV971H with my PE7700 and have no problems with the DVI source to HDMI Display. It seem the only DVI to HDMI problem comes when the display is DVI, it looses the below black level.

I have tested with 3 DVD players a Samsung 480I a Samsung 480P (component) and I do not see much if any difference in the too, when I switch to the Oppo 480I component not really any change between the 3. It's when I switch to HDMI the picture quality improves, it's noticeably sharper and has more depth to the picture.

I can't tell you if it's the all digital path of the HDMI cable, or if the Oppo player is making the difference in sharpness/depth and it's not subtle it's a big change. I feel the Oppo is a vary good match for the PE7700. :)

I fed the 7700 a 720p source through VGA on a computer as well as through DVI from the same computer. Both look great. With my untrained eye I really couldn't tell if there was a difference between the two connection methods. However I wasn't doing an A/B on it though.

I suspect that a diet of 720p from any compatible source would work great.

Here in Scandinavia it BenQ Support i CRAP! Real CRAP!!

Bought the 7700 13th of june.
It doesn't pass BTB (blacker than black) on the component input. It actually clips a great deal for detail in the black area on that input. Playing Halo2 on XBox is impossible due to the fact that I can't se anything in the dark corridors.

Contacted my dealer. He was on the case. Got back to me. "They're working on new firm. Available next monday. They won`t let customer or dealer do the upgrade. You have to contact BenQ Support".

I email support and Henry Peters was glad to announce the new firmware had arrived. I'm instructed to call the RMA-centre.

At RMA-centre I talk to a woman with NO knowledge at all.
"BenQ, which model. PE7700 projector. Oh yes. When did you purchase it? 13th of june this year?"

It was just launched here in Europe a month before, and she did't know which year it was produced. She didn't know there was a new firmware either. After I read the mail from Henry Peters she gathered all the information on my model, my name and address. A replacement projector would be sent to me, and I was to put my projector in the box and return it when I got the new one.

Waited for several weeks. Nothing turned up. Called the BenQ logistics centre.
They looked into the matter. The projector was lost in shipment. Norwegian Post Service took the blame and would pay BenQ the insurance money.

Got a letter today from BenQ representatives in Norway.
"We have not gotten your BenQ projector in return, and will now send you a bill to pay for the brand new projector we sent you over a month ago!"

I call the BenQ representatives in Norway. The phone gets picked up, but no one is at the other end. Just office noise.
Call again. Get customer care. He seems majorly unfocussed. Suddenly I'm talking to the answering mashine telling me the opening hours, which I'm well in between opening and closing hours.
Call again, third time.
-BenQ, how may I help you. Oh, you should talk to customer care in that matter. Just a moment.
BLIP! and I'm talking to the answering machine again.

It's been over a month since I first got in touch with BenQ support.
My matter has not been corrected, I've received nothing other than a threat letter telling me to gather money for the bill they'll send me next week.

BenQ-Support Scandinavia equals CRAP!

How is it going TorOve did you get your 7700 back?

I'm waiting for a new one here in Sweden as well as I have major problems with Dithering and reciving 720p and 1080i at 60Hz.

I have also been in contct with the benq helpdesk and they suck! I had to spell HDMI because she had no clue what so ever what it was.

What is your firmware?

/O

How is it going TorOve did you get your 7700 back?


Nope.
So far they have agreed to hold back on the invoice. Each time I call them, I get a new phonenumber to contact with a new guy who allways will be back next week.
I have also sent an email to European BenQ support telling them my whole story.
It's been a week now, but no answers so far.
I honsetly belive that I'll never get any BenQ-support. Never will get a replacement projector, and will just have to "hack" it my self if I ever get hold of the firmware I need.

BENQ SUCKS BIGTIME!!

I got something new to report.

I'm getting a bit of light leakage between a couple of pixels in the lower center part of my display image. I first noticed it with a still image I put up. Viewed when seated, it shows as a bright pin point of light on the screen. It's so bright it's immediately noticeable.

Looking at it close up you can see the light leakage between two pixels. I need to double check again but it only shows if your viewing position is in a particular spot. If you move off about six inches you can't see it. Without looking for it it's only ever shown itself to me twice with ~200 hrs of viewing but am wondering if this is something worth checking into with Benq. It's always in the same spot.

Sure it's like leakage and not a stuck mirror?

Gary.

Sure it's like leakage and not a stuck mirror?

Gary.

I'm pretty sure although I've never seen a stuck mirror before. Pixels all around it look fine and have the proper colour from the image. When you look at it right you can almost believe you can see the light from the lamp. I'll see if I can take a picture of it.

No chance I would deal with support over that. I still haven't got my projector back either. I sent it August 1st. On the 9th I was told it would be shipping the next day. On the 10th I was told it would be shipping within the next two days. Now it is the 17th and still no projector. They haven't responded to my last email for two days, so I may need to call them. I was really happy with the quick response to start, but things have gone downhill quickly.
Ascend Acoustics is a different thing. They are awesome. My neighbor kids, who is a walking disaster area, knocked my CMT-340 speaker off the stand. The two woofers have these giant magnets so I guess the momentum was enough to break both of them when they hit. I guess I shouldn't have used such high stands. Well I asked Ascend Acoustics for replacement woofers and they said they were worried something else might be wrong and said if I sent it in they would test it and not charge me labor. Very nice. I got my speaker back and here they covered it under warrenty for me. That is an awesome company. Also the speakers sound so much better than any I have had before. Amazing sound from a medium sized speaker. Much more WAF than the Klipshes I was looking at and just as good sounding. Of course the wife wanted Bose, but she lost that one. It was really sad to be missing my speakers and my projector at the same time.
Warren.

I'm pretty sure although I've never seen a stuck mirror before. Pixels all around it look fine and have the proper colour from the image. When you look at it right you can almost believe you can see the light from the lamp. I'll see if I can take a picture of it.

Light can't leak through the DMD as it's a solid item with mirrors on top. If the pixle is stuck on, then you will see pure white as the RGB will be full on for each colour, so if you can see a bright white light between other pixels, it's likely to be a stuck mirror. Will be interesting to see the pics though.

Gary.

I seem to be getting strange vertical bands of artefacts via DVI - HDMI from 6800 ultra GPU. I have a 4m DVI - HDMI cable and I've manages to almost get rid of them by tweaking random settings before I tweaked too much and it went all bad again! This must be a video card setting or something, but I would appreciate some input if anybody has any information.

PS This is my 3rd BenQ 7700 and it seems a lot of people are replacing faulty units now.... not good.

I really think I could have just used a bulb. It is just that my bulb was on it's last day of warrenty (and the new bulb gets the remaining of the firsts warrenty, so zilch) so I think she was doing me a favor just exchanging the projector.
Warren.

wnielsenbb,
Should anything happen to the replacement bulb w/in 90 days I would insist it be covered under warranty.
I recall a post or two in the MT-700 forum and my own experience talking with Toshiba, that the warranty starts again. BenQ should do the same. Of could reality could be different.

I have a S97 with my 7700 and love it.
I had the S77 and I notice a big quality improvement with the S97...seems sharper...same movie, same scene...I was annoyed by what seemed like lack of focus...figured it was DVD at such large screen size. Well, do not have the same issues with S97. Very happy with it.

Jim

Hello all,

I have pretty much decided to use the PE7700 as my FP in my HT. I also have to get into my new house and run cable as soon as possible. Was wondering what cables you folks ran to your PJ? I am thinking that I will have two main sources for my PJ. The HTPC via a DVI to HDMI cable or d-sub 15 VGA to RGBHV breakout cable I also will have a Dish 942 sat rcvr via HDMI to HDMI. I will use the HTPC for DVD playback so no DVD player. I have read this thread extensively and am curious as to all your setups?

Which cables did you run and did you run anything special for future use?

HDMI, component, and S-video (so I can PIP/POP)... if I were building dedicated with this PJ, I'd of course put in conduit as well.

First, the lowest costs per foot of cable are for SVGA and HDMI cables, with component cables running a close third (good quality cables in all cases). The HDMI cable will give you the best PQ.

Right now, I'm running a 25' SVGA cable from my D* STB to a SVGA to RGBHV (BNC) adapter to my MT700 (same as PE7700). My PC is hooked up via a DVI to HDMI cable and my RP91 DVD player is connected over component cables. That combination works fine (the D* TV is watcheable on the "big screen" if the source is good). The DVD player puts out a very good picture (a toss up between 480i and 480p, but the progressive is a tad better). My PC gives me a really sharp picture, but it's not giving me a 1280 x 720 picture (problem with my video card and/or its software not the cable or PJ). S-Video, BTW, is not all that good; I’m using that for my laser disk player and the PQ is about the same as SD TV.

I’m debating on getting an up-scaling DVD player (Oppo DV971H) or getting a different video card (they’re about the same price). Whichever direction I go, it will use the HDMI PJ input for the best PQ.

Regardless of what cables you finally decide to use, you should definitely include a HDMI cable for the best PQ and future proofing. {Tim has a good suggestion too, although I haven't used the PIP/POP feature on my MT700 yet.}

Tor & Warren – I sure hope you guys get your BenQ problems sorted out. It sure sounds like BenQ is having some problems right now (and they’re not admitting it). I hope they get their act together or there will be a lot of very unhappy owners and they will lose out in the long run (as other companies have discovered).

I ran conduit....and since have used hdmi and component. I can run others if need be, but have not.

I bought my 25' HDMI to HDMI cable last night. I also purchased a Gender bender to go from HDMI to DVI. I also purchased 20' VGA to BNC RGBHV last night too. I am thinking those will be my main sources. I had already planned for conduit from my media closet to the projector. I will probably run a couple extra pull strings as well. Not sure if am going to run component yet. Kind of a bummer cause the Yamaha does component video switching but that source has kinda gone by the way side.

Thanks for the replys.

Does the 7700 have a removable power suppy and is it the same type as you plug into a computer or monitor? I found an inline power supply with surge protector that plugs into a computer or monitor. If that fits I could just run the power cord out of the ceiling and avoid the outlet with a surge protector plugged into it.

It has a removable cord, which is the same as a computer cord. What you have will be nice if it is good quality. I have had far more computer failures from backup powersupplies failing than from electricty outages. Kinda voids the point of them. I just use really good surge protectors.
Warren.

First, the lowest costs per foot of cable are for SVGA and HDMI cables, with component cables running a close third (good quality cables in all cases). The HDMI cable will give you the best PQ.


I'm trying to figure this statement out. Where do you see this pricing for HDMI vs component?

Tim Sly -- No, the PJs do not have removeable power supplies likle computers. The power supplies are an integrated part of the PJ assembly. Some of them do use the same type of AC power cable, however.

Spiky -- Go to any of the cable vendors, like the AVS Forum Alliance Members (or recommended cable sources on other threads), and compare cable prices for a given length of cable (example 25'). Make sure you select similar quality of cables.

Sorry, I meant power cord not the actual power supply. It is good to hear that the 7700 has the standard power cord like a computer.

Guys, whats the best thing to do to avoid having shades crushed into black. I am getting the feeling that I can get pretty good blacks, but I can see that the shades, and shadows do not show any detail.

Thanks for your help!!

maxkoz

I found that my 7700 had a "pretty good" set up from the factory.
However use a calibration disk, like DVE or similar and check that you have a correct grey scale. And also check the brightness setting. If you do not have a calibration disk, you can also use one of the Star Wars disks, they have a THX optimizer as bonus material.

I suppose you use the HDMI input? The units which were produced "early" did not show BTB with component input, at least not here in Europe. Anyway if you use the DVE test pattern, this will be revealed.

Good luck.

what configuration do you have in gamma, gain and offset in service menu? (march firmware)

actually I have gamma 66-66-66, gain 504-487-485, offset 11-11-11, but maybe a little yellow over component

thanks.

maxkoz

I found that my 7700 had a "pretty good" set up from the factory.
However use a calibration disk, like DVE or similar and check that you have a correct grey scale. And also check the brightness setting. If you do not have a calibration disk, you can also use one of the Star Wars disks, they have a THX optimizer as bonus material.

I suppose you use the HDMI input? The units which were produced "early" did not show BTB with component input, at least not here in Europe. Anyway if you use the DVE test pattern, this will be revealed.

Good luck.

Thanks,

I am currently using component, within the next year I will move to HDMI, it is a very complex change because my cables are inside the wall, and it is covered with sound absorbinbg materials, and fabric.

Anyway, even with the calibration I have the problem, I was thinking that maybe some changes within the service menu could improve things, but I dont know exactly what.

Thanks again.

Maxkoz - unless you've done the USA/Japan NTSC Mode switch or a newer FW, you've got the black clipping defect. Search for "NTSC Mode" in this or MT700 threads to see the fix.

maxkoz.

I think you should call BenQ service dept, and ask for a replacement / new projector. I bought one form the first shipment to Europe (produced in march), which did not show BTB on component input. I received a new projector (FW dated 27 june) which shows BTB on compnent input. So sure BenQ has done something about it (at least on the European units).

I have one of the first produced model (purchased in april). Yesterday while i was watching a movie picture went black. I shut down the PJ and restarted it, lens start making noice and flicker., then the LAMP light came on. Tried multiple times , same thing.

Looks like LAMP is gone, but i only had 250 hours on it, i am not happy.

Trying to contact Benq rep is also a pain, no one picks up the phone and emails looks like does not go anywhere.

will update you guys

Good luck. Your lamp is out of warrenty. 3 months only. They might exchange the projector, but I have waited weeks for that. I am afraid if I were you I would just buy another bulb.
Warren.

I got a rep on phone after 45 mins of holding time. He told me to take the lamp out and see if i see any physical signs (brown/burn signs) on the lamp. he wants to confirm its the lamp. He mentionsed that lamp sign could be on for other reasons also.

So tonight i will take it out and lets see, he opend a case for me (that was nice). will let u guys know... later

How much are the bulbs for the 7700?

You can put European BenQ-support in a sack.

As of today, I've been waiting 7.5 weeks for my replacement projector.
Latest news tell me it will be sent tomorrow.
(As if I have not heard that promise a couple of times already).

lamp is aroung $370 to $400.

Wow 7.5 weeks is long, i don't know yet what i am going to do, if my lamp is really the case and they offer to replace it free then i might go that route.

if not free then i am going to buy it and replace it myself (that sucks)

I can only agree with tor ove, the European BenQ customer service is really poor :( . It took a long time to get any response from them, and e-mail is something they do not answer, not in my case anyway. They have outsourced the repair / exchange service to another company. Therefore you first have to register your request at BenQ helpdesk, and then they have to transfer it to their service partner in your country. This of course takes a lot of time. For me it took some four weeks just to pass my request for repair from BenQ to their service partner? And when that finally happened they did not have a replacement projector to send out because they waited for a new shipment. However, I got a completely new projector with lamp, when they finally reacted.

BTW. BenQ have changed the lamp warranty in Europe. They have now 6 months lamp warranty, if you bought the projector after the 1. of July. Before that it was only three months. Mine had passed the three month limit, when it went black, but I still got a new projector with a new lamp. Sorry, "a slip of the pen", should be from 1. of July.

My experience is same as yours CameratJoe, (though I haven't received the replacement projector yet).
Poor email response, BenQ helpdesk gives an outsourced company control of the RMA. And it is completly messed up.

I wonder about one thing CameratJoe.
Isn't the date after 1st of July for the longer lamp warranty?
I bought mine in the middle of June and thought I missed the extended warranty, but if it's 1st of June, then I'm well within the new warranty.

You are returning your whole projector, that has a three year warrenty. One year exchange. The lamp warrenty has nothing to do with it then.
Warren.

Yes, but for future reference?

Ahh, I would guess you would get the newer warrenty process since you are getting a new projector. I really really hope you won't find out.

Just wanted to give thanks to one of our members for allowing me to come into their home and view their setup. Got to view the PE7700 in action on a 110" High Contrast Grey Screen from Da-lite. The setup was very nice especially when you add in the X-10 setup as well.

Colors were crisp and accurate.

Thanks again,

Ches111

Howdy folks. Lots of great information here. So great in fact that I went out and bought one of these puppies yesterday. Played with it all night but had some issues:

Equipment:
BenQ PE7700 June 27th 2005 firmware fed by Sony NVP665P 5-disc changer (480p) via component cables. Kenwood 6070 receiver. Throwing a 119" image onto a Behr Ultra Pure White wall.

I also have an infocux X1 so this is what I'm basing some of my comparisons against.

Once I fired up the projector the first thing I noticed was the Sony DVD player's logo (idle screen) was not very smooth. The image is a drop of water with water ripples (so lots of gradiant between dark blue and light blue). After searching the forum I discovered that what I'm seeing must be banding. I plugged my X1 back in and the same screen is very smooth and what I would expect to see. I then watched some movies, Spiderman 2 Superbit. On the 7700 i noticed banding everywhere. It was horrible. I thought, okay, maybe this is what happens when you up convert so I switched over to 'real' aspect ratio ( no up converting here). I could still see the banding. Just on a smaller scale. Again, plugged in my X1 for reference, no banding. Something must be up with the projector. Read more stuff on the matter in the forum and got the idea to go into the service menu and reset everything to factory default. When I hit [enter] for the "load factory default settings" menu item, I am put into a sub menu with more options. I was expecting the "Load factory default settings" menu item to just load all the defaults and be done with it. Anyways, back to the problem at hand. While in the service menu I noticed the color wheel speed, it was set to 5x with SLR. No difference between 5x SLR and 5x without SLR BUT, once I dropped it down to 4x, voila! Banding is gone, everything seems to be just fine. However, I'm no longer using factory defaults as my colorwheel is only running at 4x :(

Now, this is great, but is this normal? I would expect that out of the box the image should be what it looks like at 4x color wheel speed, but this is not the case for me. My first suspect was the DVD player but plugging my X1 into it does not reveal any banding issues. Tonight I will try a samsung 850 (720p via hdmi) and see if there's any difference. I guess what i'm after is confirmation that this is a good reason for an exchange.

Thanks for listening..er.. reading.

K.

The Toshiba MT-700 clone by default is 4x color wheel and has the same CW options as the OEM BenQ.

This CW issue is baffling to me and don't recall anyone coming up with a clear explanation. Possibly 5X is for PAL?

Anyway doubt is reason enough to return. What is upsetting is that both PJ's are marketed as 5X.

keener,
It will probably reset to 5x once you shut off the PJ. Or even possibly when you change inputs. The "w/SLR" setting appears to only turn on the White setting a couple items up the menu. If you change that you may see a difference, although I'll be damned if I can tell what it is.

Sorry for the lack of vocab, but what is banding?
Does anyone have the access code for the service menu?
What is the latest firmware available, or which one does not pose any problems?

Thanks,

Just a side note, I wasn't happy at all with the picture quality from a Samsung HD950 (pretty much the same as the HD850 you mentioned). I wouldn't use it as a judge of the 7700's potential. The Panasonic S97 I switched to was much better using the user settings I got from the S97 master thread in the DVD player forums. The 7700 doesn't suffer from the macroblocking when using Faroudja chips, from what i can tell. As a true test, though, getting a good HD signal will blow you away :)

Okay, so I just spent the last 6 hours playing with my projector and two up converting dvd players (sony 975 and samsung 850).

So ya, once I turn off my projector my setting for 4x color wheel speed is reset to 5x without SLR and my banding issue comes back. The best way I can explain banding is like looking at a picture that has millions of colors (32bit) but you've set your video card color quality to 8 bit. The image isn't smooth. Rather, it is pixelated inbetween color transitions.

I first tried out the samsung with HDMI upconverted to 720p. Banding still exists and is worse! Went into service menu to switch to 4x color wheel speed. WOW! What a nice picture. Okay, so then I plugged in the Sony player. Banding still exists and is worse yet! Went back into service menu and again set color wheel to 4x. WOWx2. [aside: the samsung 850 had the crappier image of the two players so I boxed it back up for return].

So anyways, spent a few more hours tinkering with settings on both the DVD player and the projector and no matter what I do, the only thing that will eliminate my horrific banding is a 4x color wheel speed. I will be exchanging the 7700 tomorrow as it clearly has an issue. I'll also pick up a panny 97 as suggested.

thanks for the replies.

K.

Does everyone on this thread run their PJ at 4x ?

Is there a way to keep the 4x speed permanent or does everybody cpmstamtly reset the projector?

Shelly

Everyone?? I still am using my 7700 out of the box with a Panny S77 through HDMI at 720p. Picture is superb. Still plan to use AVIA but have been too busy.

Dennis- This is exactly the set up I plan on using. How big is your screen?

regarding Shelly's question: Does anyone _need_ to run their pj CW at 4x? Shelly, your question suggests to me that you either have to or want to change your color wheel speed to 4x. Is there a reason for this other than just to get the projector to quiet down a bit? I guess that might be reason enough if the noise bothers you.

I would run it at 4x if it would stay at that setting.. :(

I've thought about setting up a macro on my Harmony 880 for when the projector comes on, to set it to 4x, but it's not really worth it, unless I end up experiencing what keener is, which I haven't.

Keener, is there a particular screen in Spiderman2 (SB) that you can see it especially? Have you tried sending 480i to the projector? (Or another resolution, like 1080i, etc) Perhaps the deinterlacer in the projector will fix it somehow.

I have the capability to send 480i (via old Samsung player) and 720p (via TheaterTek on HTPC), and will try the same scene(s).

regarding Shelly's question: Does anyone _need_ to run their pj CW at 4x? Shelly, your question suggests to me that you either have to or want to change your color wheel speed to 4x. Is there a reason for this other than just to get the projector to quiet down a bit? I guess that might be reason enough if the noise bothers you.
Given that you just posted how 4x fixes your problem, wouldn't that answer your question? :confused: :)

Waxxieman: Screen is a 110 inch Da-Lite Cinema Vision High Contrast which is a grey screen with a 1.1 gain. Blacks are great. I posted a review of my setup a few pages back.

I guess what I was getting at was, is Shelly or anyone else for that matter doing the 4x CW thingy for the same reason I am :-) Or if she (and other people) were doing the 4x CW thingy for other reasons.

As for clips to check out, man I don't have to look for it, it is everywhere from faces, lights, shadows everywhere. It really jumps out at me in the openning sequence though. The part after the marvel comic book sequence is done. A big red cylinder, maybe it is supposed to be a string of web, i dunno, but it shoots through the screen and eventually reveals the spiderman 2 logo. That cylinder isn't very smooth. I can cleary see the transition between the different shades of red that compose it. The red smoky atmosphere around it is also very pixelated. Further when the spiderman logo shows up there is a transition with some light and a sort of aura around it (the logo). The aura is very pixelated not very smooth at all.

As for trying different inputs, yup. Tried 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and with all 3 different DVD players. This is clearly an issue with the projector. Getting a new one today so I'll update tonight after I plug the new one in.

Thanks,
K.

Question / Thought, why does slowing down to 4x quite down the PJ? Maybe setting the PJ to high altitude sets it at 4x as it needs to keep the PJ cooler?

Max

keener, Interesting -- I'll check that out tonight and let you know what I see (or don't see...).

maxkoz, the color wheel slowing down means that it will be slightly quieter. If you slow it down enough (off), it will be completely quiet. ;) The high altitude setting only increases the fan speed as far as I know.

Hrrmmph. Maybe I should trade with someone. The Tosh version is set at 4x and I often up it to 5x to reduce RBE just a bit more. When I first change it to 5x, it gives a color weirdness that could be called a reduced palette like saying 8 bit (or just plain wrong colors), but it is gone within 3 seconds. I haven't noticed a color difference between the 2 speeds on mine. I'll try that Spidey2 spot, also.

Coming from the Toshiba side of this unit I can say this, I had very similar problems with my unit exhibiting the 8bit color looking shades etc. it turns out for me the "mainboard' is bad, I have been waiting a week to see if Toshiba can even provide a part number to the repair facility :(

At this point I if I had to buy one of these units, I would have opted for the Benq because Toshiba as a company has the worst follow-up and service disposition I have run in to.

I pray it comes back within a month ( no high hopes) and that it is truly fixed...I can't imagine the drama with a return for repair again.....


I am pleased with the unit while working, very satisfied other than the slight panning issue, but I developed problems before I could even enter the service menu and settings to tweak and reduce some effects if possible.


On a side note, you may find it interesting that TI has issued an update for the DLP formatter board in HD2+ equipped machines, Guitarman is looking into performing the upgrades for the Optoma crowd, he has stated the rev may be applicable to all HD2+ equipped units, most manufacturers don't recognize the issue and won't even perform or implement it into an upgrade option





How much is that h78dc3 going for? :) :)

TJ

So, I just got back from my dealer guy and we fired up my projector. I showed him all the banding in my reference Spiderman 2 disc. We popped in The Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring just for good measure and saw the 8-bit color depth problem/banding in all its glory.. er gory right away with the New Line Cinema logo. When the NLC logo is being composed there is a blueish glow around it. That bluish glow is very pixelated and looks like an 8bit picture. You can also see it during dark scenes where there is a light source like a candle, fire or lamp. The glow around the light source in the dark is again, very pixelated.

So anyways, as a second opinion he totally agrees that the projector is messed up and that the pictures are horrible and shouldn't look like that. We were projecting onto his demo DaLite high power screen being fed by an LG dvd player via the BNC connectors. As an aside, unless you are looking for it, on a smaller screen you may not notice it. Or you may pass it up as just an artifact of the DVD compression itself or maybe just a subpar projector image in general. However blow it up (say 100-120") and it is clearly more than that. I say this because it took me a little bit of explanation and pointing out the difference between what it should look like (with 4x CW setting) versus what it was showing (default 5x CW) before my projector guy clued in to what I was seeing. After that though, it was like pulling open the blinds.

tehotaone: sounds like you're looking at the same problem I'm having, 8 bit color depth.

Unfortunately, my projector guy is all out of 7700s so I have to send mine to BenQ. I called BenQ support this afternoon and the guy I spoke to wants me to send a screen capture (with digital camera) of what I'm seeing. I'll do that tonight and post it here as well so you can clearly see what I'm seeing.

UPDATE: As I was writing up this post my projector guy called me and told me that he too called BenQ about the issue and as he tried to explain it to the benQ guy, the benQ guy knew exactly what my projector guy was talking about. The benQ tech guy described it as a blocky picture like lego where there is a color transition from light to dark. The BenQ guy confirmed that this is a known issue and has asked my projector guy to send my 7700 to BenQ for a replacement. Well, I'm relieved now knowing that someone at benQ knows that I'm taking about. Hopefully this will expedite things.

FedEx won't be picking up my projector until tomorrow so I still plan on taking some screen captures for all to see.

cheers!
K.

That's definitely great news that they knew what you were talking about! It also seems like something that is firmware related... what version do you have? (It's in the service menu) At least, I'm assuming as much since they wanted to take it back and replace it. I'm also assuming then, that I don't have this issue or I would've noticed by now in 200+ hours of viewing.

But, uh.. I still need an excuse to watch Spiderman2 superbit tonight... :) At least a few minutes of it anyway (I have lots to do). Anyway, that's good news -- hopefully it will be a quick turnaround.

Keener:

Here are some pics I sent with my projector to service, I wish they would just replace the unit, because it also would cause the bulb to pulse here and there if on for 2 hrs or so....It is definitely a lemon.... Toshiba does not even have the parts yet, and can't communicate the fix to the service center...Could you ask your vendor to ask the Beng rep if the "mainboards" are the culprit and if they are available as a separate part yet?

I am sorry to be so forward, but I am really getting nervous that my 2500.00 purchase is going to be worthless without an exchange or finite repair :(

MJ:
I do not believe it is firmware related at all, due to the fact that I did not have the issue at all initially, it seems heat/time/cycle related, sometimes terrible
sometimes just noticeable, it varies...indicating to me, an irregularity in a electronic component. If I were a betting man, I would bet it is in the ram/decoder section of the pJ... most likely heat stress related, possibly voltage.... indicated by it's companion bulb pulse symptom as the condition develops, at least in my case.

I just re-read Keener's earlier post about 4x wheel speed removing the issue, funny thing is my projector at default 4x as Toshibas come ( weird?) has the issue?

I have a feeling, and maybe I am just pessimistic, but I think these 7700s and MT700s are going to be an issue.. at the very least a few unlucky early adopters have a couple of skids worth of some bad PJs.

Keener:
When you take the pics please check your color bar test pattern and see if it resembles my pic at all? If so could you post a pic of it?

It does not seem right that Benq recognizes the issue and can't support Toshiba as an OEM partner with immediate fixes for Toshibas "repair" policy....... :(


I have a good mind to call Benq to get the "fix" so the service center does not spin our collective wheels with board replacement fixes?
Maybe Benq can shed light on the severity of the issue and the consequence of the issue and peripheral components for us Toshiba guys that will be getting these little gems back after a repair?

PICS (click for a larger version)

http://x2.putfile.com/8/23516483958-thumb.jpg (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=8/23516483958.jpg&s=x2)


http://x2.putfile.com/8/23516485741-thumb.jpg (http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=8/23516485741.jpg&s=x2)

"correction aberration" duh?!?!? :)


TJ

I have had 3 7700s briefly. 1 firmware April, 2 on May. All defaulted CW at 5x. All do not have the banding problems and that color bar anormalities.
Looks like there are indeed some QC issues on this model.

Okay boys and girls, here goes. Fired up the projector again and took some screen shots this time. Camera is a canon S230 on a tripod. I tried to choose scenes that didn't have too much action. I paused these scenes and switched the colour wheel speed from the default 5x (without SLR) to 4x. No other settings on the projector are changed from factory defaults. I'm viewing with the Home Theatre preset. Output device is Sony 975 upscaled via HDMI to 720p. Again, all other inputs (component, BNC, SVID, Composite, 480i, 480p, etc.. etc..) into the projector and from all (3) dvd players that I've tested yield the same result.

Oh, before I get into that, my firmware is 0.43,A00 Release Date Jun,27,2005.

Let us start with exhibit 'A'. Here is a shot of the DVD player's idle screen I described in my first post: Sony Screen 1 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/sonyscreen1-4x.jpg)

Now here it is at 5x color wheel speed: Sony Screen 1 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/sonyscreen1-5x.jpg). Pay close attention to the left half of the screen. In case you don't see it, here is a closeup (I moved the tripod closer to the screen): Sony Screen 2 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/sonyscreen2-5x.jpg). What's that you say? Not sure what you're looking for? Here it is with the camera right up to the screen:
Sony Screen 3 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/sonyscreen3-5x.jpg). Here is the same image with a 4x CW speed: Sony Screen 3 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/sonyscreen3-4x.jpg). That behaviour is what we'll be looking for in the following pictures.

Marvel Logo (notice the gradiant rings around the logo at 5x CW Speed:
Marvel Logo 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/marvellogo-5x.jpg) vs Marvel Logo 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/marvellogo-4x.jpg)

Peter Parker in ally (Notice the bottom right corner of the smoke):
Alley 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/peterparker-5x.jpg) vs Alley 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/peterparker-4x.jpg)

Peter Parker on the street (notice the pavement):
Street 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/street-5x.jpg) vs Street 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/street-4x.jpg)

The Two Towers (Notice the mist around the mountains):
Mountains 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/twotowers-5x.jpg) vs Mountains 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/twotowers-4x.jpg)

Isengard (notice the smoke):
Isengard 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/isengard-5x.jpg) vs Isengard 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/isengard-4x.jpg)

Okay, well, you get the picture. This here is by far the worst scene out of all the DVDs I've sampled. Banding galore: Elrond 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/elrond-5x.jpg) vs Elrond 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/elrond-4x.jpg).

One thing I noticed while I was pausing all these scenes was that even at 4x I could inspect the image and still see signs of banding. Not as bad as with the default 5x colour wheel speed but there none the less. I also noticed that it was worse and most noticable in darker scenes. If you're not looking for it and you're viewing on a smaller screen, it is possible this behaviour could go unnoticed so it might be worth while to scrutinize your projector, just in case. As I posted earlier, BenQ has identified it as a problem so I am kind of surprised no one else (other than tehotaone and myself) has brought it to light.

tehotaone asked me for a screen cap of my colour bar test. I did just that and found out why I'm having these issues. You can clearly see from my 32 Colour Bar test pattern errors in some of the colours, mostly in the gray scale.

32 Colour Bar Test Pattern 5x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/32colourbars-5x.jpg) vs 32 Colour Bar Test Pattern 4x (http://www.kien.ca/photos/2005-benqpe7700issues/32colourbars-4x.jpg).

The other colour (Red, Green, Blue) bar test patterns revealed errors as well. I would dare to guess that because my colour bar test does not look like tehotaone's, we are in fact experiencing different issues.

Anyways, there you have it. I will ask about the mainboards tomorrow when I talk to the BenQ rep again. He is supposed to call me back to let me know where and how to send my defective unit back. In the mean time, he is in the process of having a new one sent out to me.

Again, thanks everyone for listening in.

Cheers!
K.

excellent job keener!

&wow, these two (Benq,Tosh) 720p pjs are starting to show and/or reflect the technical issues of the 1st generation of low cost HD DLP projectors, which I assume will get better over time.

thanx for that informative post...

This is exactly the type of behavior I've been complaining about in the Toshiba MT700 thread. The MT700 is set to 4X by default and I really only see it in dark scenes (with the occasion blue sky being a guilty culprit) on my 101" screen. This behavior only occurs on my component and RGB inputs and not my HDMI. It seems likely that BenQ will address this problem through firmware but that Toshiba will not, thus screwing the people who bought the Toshibas.

Nothru,

I sent in my projector for this reason as well as some others as you can see, but if you want to get it fixed tops is aware of the issue but can't service it without Toshiba's help.

In reality, Benq needs to provide the "fix" to Toshiba as the OEM supplier before the Toshiba camp gets any result. i am at work all day, but a keen clear call to Benq may help shed some light on how/when they will alert Toshiba and how/when they will provide the fix.


I am seriously disappointed at this point, All the positives of these units are really fading fast for me... one of the reasons I upgraded was for a design flaw in my older unit, now i have inherited the same issue ( possible early bulb failure) and even more with the pixelation.....



TJ

Hi everyone,

I have been the owner of a PE7700 for almost 3 months now, I bought it here in the Netherlands for 2649 Euro.
It was in fact so new to the Dutch market, I had to drive to the BenQ importer to test-view it.

Until now I am very impressed by the picture quality, but then again, I don't have a Sim2 H300 or some other expensive projector to compare the picture.
I can only use my own subjective impression of the picture quality.
The projector sits 5m from my viewing wall and throws a 3.24m (diagonal) 16:9 picture.
I sit about 3m from this wall, and although many say this is too close, I find it very nice indeed. In fact anyone who has ever watched a movie, all agree it's a lot better than what they see (and hear :-)) in the cinema.

Until now I haven't seen any problems you guys describe here, maybe because my PE7700 is still too new (I have about 50 hours on it now) or maybe because I'm lucky.

But just for reference, my firmware says: Version: 0.37,A00 Date: may 20, 2005
I heard there is a new firmware from june 2005, has anyone got it yet?

Belgarath

regarding Shelly's question: Does anyone _need_ to run their pj CW at 4x? Shelly, your question suggests to me that you either have to or want to change your color wheel speed to 4x. Is there a reason for this other than just to get the projector to quiet down a bit? I guess that might be reason enough if the noise bothers you.

Thanks Keener.

I am still trying to decide on which new projector to get to replace my aging Sony 10HT.

The 7700 is on my short list and I am just trying to explore possible problem areas. If I did want to run at 4x, and the pj kept resetting to 5x each time I powered up or changed inputs, then this would be a big concern for me.

Whether it is imporant to run at 4x insstead of 5x is unknown to me at this tiem.

Shelly

Growing pains for sure. Contouring can look nasty. In U571 theres a good scene for this (Triggers Job)

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/palcontour.jpg

That shot was a early H77 in Europe, took a while for the engineers to devise a firmware to fix it, but they did fix it.

Guitarman:

I thought the 77 fix initial was to change the CW speed to 4x or offset something of that nature? I read about the fix for the OEMed Mitsu h79 clone?

How about that formatter board upgrade..? shhh I know...but if I am going to be stuck with this for a while PM me with any details you may have on that subject..


My unit has the contour and a erratic mirror color symptom (lucky me)



TJ

Keener, don't send it in. I have been without my projector a month now. I am very sick of it. BenQ has no 7700's to send out in replacement. If you have credit card room I would make them send a replacement out first before you send yours in. It might be a pain to switch the wheel all the time, but at least you can watch it instead of a blank screen.
Warren.

Wow. Great job, Keener. Lucky me, I do not have this problem.

Guitarman:

I thought the 77 fix initial was to change the CW speed to 4x or offset something of that nature? I read about the fix for the OEMed Mitsu h79 clone?

How about that formatter board upgrade..? shhh I know...but if I am going to be stuck with this for a while PM me with any details you may have on that subject..


My unit has the contour and a erratic mirror color symptom (lucky me)



TJ

There was allot of work done on the firmware fix from Optoma. Mitsubishi went their own route on a firmware. They always had the 4x 5x option, pretty sure it didn't totally help at first.

Guys seeing the coutouring on the BQ take a look at that U571 scene, see now the BenQ can handle it.

PM sent

Hi,

Just bought the PE7700 with firmware dated June 27... when I enter into the service menu, on the sub-menu where I can change the color wheel speed, there is many other options in there. One of it labeled 'CW Delay' .. I guess that mean ColorWheel Delay... When running at 5X, I saw exactly the same problem as Keener describe ... look like 8 bit dithering ... however, when I adjust the default value for CW Delay from +70 to +55, those dithering gone and the picture look very very good!!! .. there is also an option to select the 'de-gamma' (perhap Default Gamma Curve?) (choose are FILM, VIDEO, DATA).. of course, I choose film and the PJ do look more FILM-LIKE...

Just would like to confirm if what I am doing is correct or not... Thank!

Well I'll be a monkey's uncle. OTS, I tried the colour wheel setting at 55+ and sure enough, the dithering, banding, 8-bitting, or whatever we're calling it today was gone! So, default colour wheel speed (5x without SLR) and a Colour wheel Delay of 50-55 eliminates the effect (for me anyways). And yes, the image is sweet. I dare say better than the default CW delay of 70 with my CW speed at 4x fix. Again, viewed all the usual suspect scenes and all my colour bar tests. Seeing those amazing scenes gave me a new appreciation for my lemon of a projector.

As for sending it back and getting a new one, my BenQ tech dude says there is like, 1 projector left in the entire North American BenQ inventory. I won't know until tomorrow if I was lucky enough to snag that one to have sent to me. If I did get that one, obviously I'll be sending my projector back but in the meantime I'm quite enjoying the projector with the CW delay (@55) fix. The beauty of it is that this setting actually saves!! Unlike the CW speed fix. As to the question of whether or not this is the right thing to do, I don't know. I still consider my projector defective and would like a new one. It does seem though that after all this tinkering about that this issue could be fixed by firmware. I don't know, just a guess.

Oh, and my BenQ guy did not have the information as to what it is that is wrong/faulty with the projector to cause this problem. Sorry.

Cheers!
K.

HI,
you can store your factory settings incl. CW speed in one of the user menu presets.
Make your settings in the factory menu, go back to the user menu and save the settings in one of the 3 memories.

BTW, I'm lucky, I have one of the first 7700's, bought in march (260 hours till now) and dont have any problems.

BTW, I'm lucky, I have one of the first 7700's, bought in march (260 hours till now) and dont have any problems.

Most likely your unit doesn't pass blacker than black on the component input.
Mine is also march, and it clips pretty much detail in black making it useless with XBox Halo through component.

So.. it seems that the CW Delay should be set to +55 in order to eliminate those dithering artifact... I just don't understand why Benq not making it right when the unit shipped? Or did we miss something? I suggest all owner of PE7700 , no matter you THINK the unit is ok or not, do try to adjust this parameter... maybe what you think is ok was indeed, having dithering...

OH, BTW, what is the different between 'without SLR' and 'with SLR' and what is SLR? Thank for any info

I just check my BENQ PE7700 with Firmware 0.43, June 27. My default is set to 5x without SLR and CW Delay is default +55. So it's kind of strange why some of the owner have a different value. Maybe my unit is ASIAN version straight from Taiwan. Anyway, I stay in Malaysia, one of the country in South East Asia.

I'm sure there are drawbacks to the +55 setting but I will try it out on my Toshiba MT700 tonight. Thanks for the find!

mine firmware 0.37 A00, 20 May 2005, and it defaults to 5x without SLR and a CW delay of 51. It does not have any of those problems.

Most likely your unit doesn't pass blacker than black on the component input.
Mine is also march, and it clips pretty much detail in black making it useless with XBox Halo through component.

Ahhh, I'm using HDMI only, so I have not notized this. I will check this soon.

Mine is set at +52, and if I change it either higher (70+) or lower (30) I get the banding pretty bad. So it just seems like the default setting was incorrect -- you'd think BenQ would just say, "go into the service menu with the following sequence on the remote... ...then change the CW delay to 52" (or whatever)...

I just checked mine....may 20 date....my default was 4x speed, 58+ delay...so I changed to 5x w/o SLR and 55+ delay...will report the comparisons when I have more time with it...although it seems as good or better so far.

Hrmm, I'm starting to wonder now if I/we just happen to have a bad firmware. Or at least a firmware with a bad CW Delay setting. Hearing that other people with firmware that has a CW Delay setting to something in the 50s suggest to me that this is the correct value. However, myself, OTS and perhaps others with some versions of the Jun 27th 0.43, A00 have the CW Delay setting entered incorrectly by some nob, er.. noob at BenQ. Either that or someone at BenQ thought it would be a great idea to torture us and cranked the Delay to 70 for fun :mad:

Another theory I have is that there are different manufacturing runs of these projectors, and each run has hardware that behaves slighty different. Let's say that there is a January run of projectors. Some tech would have to fire this projector up and tweak the factory settings to get the correct image and found a CW Delay of +55 was just right so had that written in the firmware. Now let us say there is another run of projectors from the manufacturer in June. Again, someone at BenQ fired this projector up and found that the 55 setting didn't work anymore so set it to what does work for that run, the 70 value. Now, I'm wondering if somewhere in between the two runs that there were projectors from the first run that got the new firmware but weren't supposed to. I know I'm just pulling this out of my arse but it would explain a few things and does help me sleep at night. I heard that BenQ is not letting users change their own firmware like they did with the previous model? Well, maybe they really don't want you to because your projector needs a particular firmware and you can't just simply upgrade it. Or if your firmware is upgraded, maybe this (and perhaps other) settings need to be tweaked on the fly before being saved to your projector. This would explain why this value is different for a lot of people. Also, if this was a completely bad firmware for any manufacturing run, then I'm smelling recall since I'm sure they shipped out more than just two, but that doesn't sound like the case (yet).

At this point I'm happy enough to hear that others are using a CW Delay setting of 50-55. The image looks like it did when I demoed the unit at my vendors site and there doesn't seem to be any other issues with it. So now I'm leaning towards hanging on to it and waiting until there's a new firmware for my unit or it really goes kaput before sending it out as suggested earlier. Even though the benQ guy said that there was 1 unit in inventory I'm not a betting man so I'm not going to count on it.

K.

My original run MT700 came set at 4X and 59 cw delay. I've tried 5X with that and other delays, but there's no noticeable improvement in the PQ. There is a noticeable increase in color wheel noise though. How does the 7700 sound between the two settings?

Hi,

Just bought the PE7700 with firmware dated June 27... when I enter into the service menu, on the sub-menu where I can change the color wheel speed, there is many other options in there. One of it labeled 'CW Delay' .. I guess that mean ColorWheel Delay... When running at 5X, I saw exactly the same problem as Keener describe ... look like 8 bit dithering ... however, when I adjust the default value for CW Delay from +70 to +55, those dithering gone and the picture look very very good!!! .. there is also an option to select the 'de-gamma' (perhap Default Gamma Curve?) (choose are FILM, VIDEO, DATA).. of course, I choose film and the PJ do look more FILM-LIKE...

Just would like to confirm if what I am doing is correct or not... Thank!

Good catch I was thinking there might be a CWI option in the service menu. Euro members used this with the H77 to help fix the contouring. Good catch.

My original run MT700 came set at 4X and 59 cw delay. I've tried 5X with that and other delays, but there's no noticeable improvement in the PQ. There is a noticeable increase in color wheel noise though. How does the 7700 sound between the two settings?

I can hear the difference between the two speeds but the extra few dBs at 5x doesn't bother me at all. Especially when the projector is shackled to my 9' ceiling. Even in low noise scenes I don't notice the projetor fan, unlike my X1 which I did notice frequently. So ya, 4x was quiet, but I would only tell the difference if the projector was the only thing making noise in the room and the projector was a foot from my ear. At 4x I notice more rainbows (not bad, just more noticeable) but at 5x, hardly noticeable at all unless I was actively looking for munchkins (get it? Munchkins, somewhere over the rainbow? Yes, a sad attempt at movie metaphor.. oh nevermind!).

K.

Thanks for the reply, keener. In my case, the difference is quite noticeable as an audible buzz is added by going to 5X. Combined with the fact that the projector is not very high above my head (due to the zero offset, a necessity if you don't want to use keystoning), I'll guess I'll be staying with 4X.

I have the same thoughts about the color wheel change from 4x to 5x, Mike. A slight buzz going to 5x, and slight increase in noise level. The PJ is about 2' above my head. To me, it is quieter, and I see absolutely no difference in PQ, or RBE (because I don't see RBE, even with my X1 w/2x CW, nor does anyone who's seen either PJ. So it's worth it to be 4x in my situation; however, since the setting doesn't stay, it remains at 5x (it's certainly not worth the effort to change it every time I turn it on).

Edit: Nevermind about the setting not staying. I see you've referenced a post about saving the setting via the user memory options. I'll try that and keep it at 4x..

Hi,

I have another problem.... tonight I try to connect my DVHS deck to PE7700 via its Component input (3 RCA), the 1080i picture is completely bearing a greenish trend... when I press the AUTO button on the projector, it produce a color correct picture for around 2 second and then return back to the greenish picture. I then connect it to a DVD player with progressive output... same result (greenish trend). Then I turn off the progressive scan function and let it output 480i and strangely, the greenish gone and the color become correct again.... did I miss anything? Is that the RCA component input is for 480i input and the 5 BNC (I see 3 of them mark as Y, Cr, Cb) is used for HD signal (480P and up)??

Urgently need help here!! Thank in advance!!

OTS:

When playing around with my PJ and different DVD players I tried all the inputs into the 7700 and various outputs (480i/p, 720p, 1080i) and none of them had that green push you are describing, just my 8 bit dithering problem. Once I changed my CW Delay to +55 and tested all the inputs and output formats again everything was just fine.

Sorry, not much help here but at least confirms that it shouldn't behave that way since we both appear to have the same projector (firmware wise).

K.

You can put European BenQ-support in a sack.

As of today, I've been waiting 7.5 weeks for my replacement projector.
Latest news tell me it will be sent tomorrow.
(As if I have not heard that promise a couple of times already).

Yiiipee!?
To the day it's been 8 weeks since I reported my BenQ 7700 to support regarding it had the old firmware from march not passing btb on the component input, and likely some other minor stuff as the firmware has been updated a couple of times.

Well, on this day of the 8 week the replacement projector arrived.
I was quick around, got the "old" pj down from the mount, put the new one up.
Looked through the paperwork regarding the return shipment of my old pj....
Then it HIT ME.
This new BenQ7700 was only 14 units later/newer than my "old" unit.
Oh yes..... a quick check of the firmware, I now have a "new" projector as useless as my "old" one hanging from the wall. Both projectors with the good old firmware of jolly 21st of March.

BenQ-supports sucks big time beyond my world.
IS IT POSSIBLE?

Calling support 8 weeks ago wanting to upgrade the firmware.
- no no. Can't do at home. Must contact RMA-center!

No projector shows, and after more than 10 phone calls, a couple of mails, a big mess, a threat letter, lost in mail, 4 different people to juggle between at BenQs out sourced company, and so on...
it finally arrives in the exact same state as my "faulty" unit is.

To all the people out there considering BenQ 7700.
Go for the Toshiba MT 700, or pray to god you'll never have to use BenQ support.

Now...
Do anyone have a email address to some one higher up in the BenQ customer care?
I'd like to make a written complaint, and since the mails going through BenQ.com don't seem to be responded to me anymore, I'd like to have an address going straight to the top.

As for now, my association with BenQ will be - Bend over and Quit! :mad:

(If anyone wonders, yes this is the European support. Sure hope the other continents have better customer care.)

I think I'd rather take some support (even bad, though yours is not necessarily representative of all instances), than possibly no support at all (Toshiba getting out of PJ biz)...

Still, it sucks what you've had to endure...

Mike

Yes, I switched today from 4x to 5x...first thing I noticed was noise. I am going to further evaluate the PQ to see the tradeoffs. My projector is 8' from the floor....so the PQ may override the slight noise increase.

Jim

Wow!!!! it's hard to believe the poor service the European side of the warranty seems to be getting. I had a 7700 replaced and a bulb twice both times BQ handled everything, including calling UPS/Fedx to pick up my old units and it was handled on a 2 day air ship basis, 2 days their 2 days back. They paid for shipping both ways.

I have been impressed with the service (USA) so far, but would like to add the American dealer has been involved from the start, I think my dealer being in the mix helped a lot.

My local dealer is nothing but amazing. He tried everything to either letting me update the firmware or to get it upgraded in his store.
BenQ insists that it is handled by the RMA-center.

You got lucky Checklst. I haven't had my projector for over a month waiting for a BenQ replacement. Maybe I should have avs get involved.
Warren.

The black crush on HD Component was there on the 8700's when they shipped initially as well.

I sent several default setting adjustments to BenQ service after my calibrations, including these CW settings but seems that they were either not iniatiated on later model firmware or that they weren't addressed during the factory QC set up if planned to be performed manually.

tor ove.

I believe BenQ have sent you one from the exchange pool and not a new unit?
Strange that they do not read the "service message", and check that the exchange unit is upgraded with the newest firmware and is working correctly? This is just terrible. You can check if the lamp timer has been reset in the service menu? - Or maybe they have a way to erase it, if the lamp timer has been reset?

As I mentioned earlier I also had poor experience with the service department, but at least they sent me a new unit with the latest firmware and a new lamp.

Anyway good luck.

keener

BTW. I have checked some of the issues you addressed.
I cannot see any of the problems on my unit. Greyscale just fine. No gradients seen so far. What bothers me the most, with this unit, is actually the dithering which can be a pita some times.
Firmware dated June 27, version 0,43.A00.
I checked the CW delay, and it was set to +52. (on both 4x and 5x CW speed).

CameratJoe, servicepool was my thought also, as there is some debris inside the pj.
When I tilt it, I can hear a small part move around.
Wondered if it could be a pj with a former lamp-explosion and leftovers still inside.
Anyway, I sent the return unit back today and kept my original one.

Most likely your unit doesn't pass blacker than black on the component input.
Mine is also march, and it clips pretty much detail in black making it useless with XBox Halo through component.

At least on the MT700 this can be remedied with the NTSC Mode: US/Japan switch. Does the PE7700 have this setting?

On my I have a Black Level adjustment. 0 and 7.5ire, but it's locked to 0ire.
As I understand the new firmware after 21st og March will unlock this adjustment and BTB is possible at component as well.

Tor, if your dealer was so amazing, he should give you a new one and take the old one off your hands.

You all should be using the HDMI input instead of component. BTB comes thru fine and IRE levels are irrelevant.

On my I have a Black Level adjustment. 0 and 7.5ire, but it's locked to 0ire.
As I understand the new firmware after 21st og March will unlock this adjustment and BTB is possible at component as well.

I purchased one of the first shipments of BQ to hit the market hear in the US, I can choose the 0 or 7.5 IRE on component RGB and have had mine on O IRE for some time. It will hold this OIRE as you switch to HDMI you just have to set it in component first as it will not allow a remote control change in HDMI mode. :)

Tor, if your dealer was so amazing, he should give you a new one and take the old one off your hands.
You all should be using the HDMI input instead of component. BTB comes thru fine and IRE levels are irrelevant.

I don't see why he should take the blame for something BenQ-support has messed up.
He has done everything he can.

My XBox doesn't support HMDi. Just component progressive.

Hey guys, I'm planning on getting the PE7700 soon and was wondering how much this "dithering" affects the picture. I know what it is...but does the benq look bad or something? Is there a way to fix it? Ugh, I've read great reviews all over for this projector, so I'm kinda stuck. Can someone advise me what they would do? People with the 7700 please let me know how you like it so far..


Thanks.

on a related note...

I would love to get a Optoma H78DC3 as an alternative, but I'm sure they are too expensive for my budget. Does anyone know the Canadian price for the optoma? Maybe PM me. Thanks

Remiji,

I have not purchased one of these 7700 PJs yet but will as I near completion of my HT remodel. I have been following this post for a long time now and it has taken many turns.
The last few weeks it has been filled with people's problems with the projector but it seems to be only a handful of unfortunate souls rather than the majority. It seems those in Europe have terrible customer support but in the USA generally have great support.

From my observations: some have had early lamp failure, some replaced under the 90 day lamp warranty others have had other technical picture quality problems and many have had their PJ replaced under warranty.
I don't know if this is a normal amount of problems with a new PJ as compared to other makes and models?
But I still feel this is a heck of a PJ. There have been many posts from new owners who love this PJ and witness to its bright, beautiful picture and good black level. HDTV looks awesome, DVD looks great, Standard Def TV looks OK. Maybe we need you happy owners to speak up again to share your pleasure with this PJ. We really do feel for the guys having problems, but I think their is a majority who are having a good experience with this PJ. At least that is what I believe or I would change my mind about getting this model.

One of the forum members was kind enough to let me come over and view his 7700. I was impressed. It did look as I described in the above paragraph and what impressed me was that even Standard def TV looked better than I expected. I viewed 480i DVD and that looked real good. HDTV was awesome.

Thanks Tim, I really appreciate it.

i've had a benq pe8700+ for about a year now and love it. i had a dust blob about 6 months ago and i contacted benq. they are about 15 minutes from my job so i drove it there. the benq people are very nice and friendly. they had my projector cleaned and ready in less than a day. i picked it up the next day and have not had any problems since. my experience with benq customer service (Laura and Merko) was great. i would not hesitate recommending their product to anyone.
sorry about going off topic but just wanted to let you know there are happy benq customers out there.

muncey

Remiji,

I have not purchased one of these 7700 PJs yet but will as I near completion of my HT remodel. I have been following this post for a long time now and it has taken many turns.
The last few weeks it has been filled with people's problems with the projector but it seems to be only a handful of unfortunate souls rather than the majority. It seems those in Europe have terrible customer support but in the USA generally have great support.

From my observations: some have had early lamp failure, some replaced under the 90 day lamp warranty others have had other technical picture quality problems and many have had their PJ replaced under warranty.
I don't know if this is a normal amount of problems with a new PJ as compared to other makes and models?
But I still feel this is a heck of a PJ. There have been many posts from new owners who love this PJ and witness to its bright, beautiful picture and good black level. HDTV looks awesome, DVD looks great, Standard Def TV looks OK. Maybe we need you happy owners to speak up again to share your pleasure with this PJ. We really do feel for the guys having problems, but I think their is a majority who are having a good experience with this PJ. At least that is what I believe or I would change my mind about getting this model.

One of the forum members was kind enough to let me come over and view his 7700. I was impressed. It did look as I described in the above paragraph and what impressed me was that even Standard def TV looked better than I expected. I viewed 480i DVD and that looked real good. HDTV was awesome.


I have had mine for about 3 weeks now and am very happy with it. I am suprised at how well SD looks, I was under the impression that with a 110" screen it would not look very good. DVD's look fantastic and HD looks even better. I was looking at getting one of the new DVDO scalers, but am now re-thinking that purchase and might just upgrade my receiver instead as for me the picture is very good.

I am also running a DYI screen so I am sure the picture would be a little better if I had one of the expensive screens.

Hey gang,

I have about 15 hours put in on my new PE700. I love the picture, but have noticed during DVD playing that sometimes the image gets SCRAMBLED for a split, split second during the movies. For example, I just watched the DVD, 13 Turning 30, and it happened a couple of times. Last night, I watched Kill Bill and it happened as well. I am beginning to think that it happens all the time.

I dont recall this happening at all with my DVD player when hooked up to my flat screen tv. So I am pretty sure it has to do with the projector and how it handes progressive scan video component from my Sony dvd player.

Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? Any suggestions? It is becoming a slight nuisance, as even my wife is picking up on it!

As for information, I am using a 3 meter Monster Cable video component cable connected to the Projector. I am using progressive scan. No upconverting.

Thanks!

There was allot of work done on the firmware fix from Optoma. Mitsubishi went their own route on a firmware. They always had the 4x 5x option, pretty sure it didn't totally help at first.

Guys seeing the coutouring on the BQ take a look at that U571 scene, see now the BenQ can handle it.

PM sent

Sorry for the hand held 1/4 second,not as steady as I use to be. The movie U571 was great and I will put in on my growing list of movies that look good on my PE7700. Sorry for the poor digital photo it was at 256K res, hand held 1/4 sec at f2.8 on a brown/green painted wall called toast, I don't think the conditions could get much worst.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/checklst/PICT0115.jpg

Regular guy, unless you've got a loose cable somewhere, what you're describing sounds like an issue with DVD player. I know you said it didn't happen before. However, maybe the discs themselves got dirty and need to be cleaned, or perhaps the player is on it's last leg?

Need Help Fine Tunning PJ!

OK, I ran the Avia disc, and it improved contrast and brightness. However, when checking the color square screen, I cannot get the squares to match. (Hue and Tint). I am sure that going in to the service many any playing around with that could help, but I am not sure which controls to work with. Any Ideas? Have any of you guys worked with the internal controls to tweak color? How did that go'

Thanks,

Hey gang,

I have about 15 hours put in on my new PE700. I love the picture, but have noticed during DVD playing that sometimes the image gets SCRAMBLED for a split, split second during the movies. For example, I just watched the DVD, 13 Turning 30, and it happened a couple of times. Last night, I watched Kill Bill and it happened as well. I am beginning to think that it happens all the time.

I dont recall this happening at all with my DVD player when hooked up to my flat screen tv. So I am pretty sure it has to do with the projector and how it handes progressive scan video component from my Sony dvd player.

Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? Any suggestions? It is becoming a slight nuisance, as even my wife is picking up on it!

As for information, I am using a 3 meter Monster Cable video component cable connected to the Projector. I am using progressive scan. No upconverting.

Thanks!

It is possible there could be an issue with the BenQ but very likely that the DVD player might have an issue. Recently my Philips 985 DVD player/recorder started skipping or locking up on different discs. Now it has progressed to the point were it will not recognize 75% of my discs. After cleaning the discs and using a DVD player cleaning kit it has not improved and is bound for the repair shop or replacement.

At least on the MT700 this can be remedied with the NTSC Mode: US/Japan switch. Does the PE7700 have this setting?
See, now I'm confused. I thought before that you and others were claiming that US setting was actually around 15IRE and Japan was around 7.5IRE instead of 7.5 and 0, respectively. Now you say it is accurate? I have seen moments when I thought it was losing black, but I haven't really sat down and tried testing it, I guess I should try to do that.

Oh, btw. My Tosh has been set at 52 Delay on the CW for both 4x and 5x speeds from the beginning. Must be why I've seen no problem, that fits right in with everyone's findings.

See, now I'm confused. I thought before that you and others were claiming that US setting was actually around 15IRE and Japan was around 7.5IRE instead of 7.5 and 0, respectively. Now you say it is accurate? I have seen moments when I thought it was losing black, but I haven't really sat down and tried testing it, I guess I should try to do that.


I don't know who referred to the US setting as being at 15IRE, but I don't think it was me. Here's my main post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5364790&&#post5364790) on black setup.

The black clipping is very obvious if you have access to a gray ramp, like the DVE reverse ramp or the HDNET test pattern.

so is there any way to fix this crush with the 7700?

Could someone with the Oppo 971H player and PE7700 please do me a favour and test PAL (50Hz) at 720p and 1080i. My screen goes blank as if the BenQ loses the signal. The player works fine with plasma and I have tried 5 different DVI-HDMI cables including the GEFEN fiber optic DVI. I’m in a dispute with Benq Scandinavia about this issue so it would be much appreciated if someone could help.

/Oscar

Changing to Japan will indeed result in 0 IRE as evident in the service menu.

Ok, thanks FG and Jeff. Mine has always worked on IRE settings as it should from what I can tell. Maybe I just set it to 0 IRE early and never looked back, don't know. I have looked at a ramp on 480p before and it looked just fine so I've been wondering about the discussion here.

I saw some clipping last week and that put it back in my mind, but it must've been the source. I think it was Shawshank in HD from HDNet or UHD. I don't recall seeing any clipping ever other than that on DVD or HD sources.

Does anyone have some screenshots, where they can direct me to view of their Benq7700? Can you also put what size screen you are using. Thanks.

Does anyone have some screenshots, where they can direct me to view of their Benq7700? Can you also put what size screen you are using. Thanks.
Ditto. :D

-

-

Does anyone have some screenshots, where they can direct me to view of their Benq7700? Can you also put what size screen you are using. Thanks.

Hear are a few sorry for the hand held at 1/4 second but I have not seen my tripod in years. LOL

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/checklst/PICT0134.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/checklst/PICT0131.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/checklst/PICT0126.jpg

Opps forgot the 7700 has not be calibrated right out of the box and the screen is a beige wall. I am using 106 diag on the wall.

Anyone have the "summary" of PE7700 settings best for a matte white 1.3 gain screen? I'll d/l the thread later and read through all of it when I have time.

Anyone have the "summary" of PE7700 settings best for a matte white 1.3 gain screen? I'll d/l the thread later and read through all of it when I have time.

Zilla, what screen do you have? I havent calibrated my PJ yet, but I can see that greens and yellows are exagerated, and a bit of reds. How large is your screen?

MK

Fellow PE7700 users.

I have been unable to use my Scientific Atlanta 8300HD Settop box via HDMI cable. The error message I get is "your HDTV is not HDCP compliant." I have also been unable to use my sony upconverting DVD player. I think these two issues are related. The BenQ is HDCP right??? Anyone had similar problem.

My Firmware is dated May 20, 2005 (I believe the version is A30)

Thanks in advance for any help or insight.

Mark

Maxkoz, I have an Elite 120" screen.

Mark, I have the same exact cable box, but I am connecting via component as my S97 is connected via HDMI. NO issues with connectivity. Same firmware.

Jim

Thanks for the pics checklst. Could you PE7700 owners tell me what size screen you find the best for your viewing experience? I have better than 20/10 vision, so I can't always get as close as I would like, or I see things that take away from picture quality. I've mocked up a 100 inch diagonal screen in my room. Thats about as large as I can fit. From the first row at 10' the screen looks pretty big and from the second row of 15' it seems better to me. Of course I need the pj:) I'm wondering if I'll see the picture unfavorably from those distances? I can't move the seating back any further. One way to find out. Get the pj! Just curious how the rest of you feel about screen size (and picture quality) and distance from the screen with your 7700.

I'm still just slightly better than 20/20 but it failing fast!!!!!! My seatingis at 10ft front row and 15 back, Like yours. I can see a little flash of SD on certain DVD's(mostly older stuff) at the 10ft but never at the 15.

I'm sure the texture of most screens, would make the 10ft distance imposable to see sd, I am projecting on a smooth wall, and a slight digital gray would make it even harder to find(and boost the blacks as well)but as you can see from the poor screen shots, the blacks and contrast are nice anyway. The DVD picture is much sharper and color is better live, than the digital photos I took.

Jim, since you're using component you won't have an issue (no HDCP used).

Mark, do you have any kind of switcher (including receiver) between your cable box and the projector? That must be HDCP compliant as well.

Blaast, 100" seems like a good size for 10' and 15' seating. I use 106" for 12.5' seating, and I'd go slightly larger if I had more front wall space.

7700 owners that are using the Panasonic S77 DVD player:
I have been reading all the posts at the S77 thread regarding the macroblocking problems using HDMI with certain displays. Is the BenQ having this problem over HDMI?
And how does that player look with this PJ?

Hello everyone,

Funny thing happend to me today. I went into work as normal but what wasn't normal this morning was the benQ PE7700 box sitting in my office. The replacement actually arrived! I never did hear back from the tech guy at BenQ about whether or not they truely had any projectors in stock (although he claimed there was 1 left). He also did not get back to me with the information to send my defective projector back to. Anyways, I simply assumed that I wasn't going to see a new one and that I'd have to hang onto mine until they received more in stock. I was somewhat fine with this since the discovery of the CW delay settings.

However, I plugged in the new projector and ran my usual tests. All I can say is, holy crap batman. What a difference. The new projector is so much better. This whole time I thought my projector (with the CW Delay fix to +55) was what I should expect from the BenQ PE7700 because it was a pretty darn good image. I even had some people over this past weekend and watched some movies. They were all as impressed as I was, life was good. Now I truely know what people are talking about with all the praise they are giving this unit. I can only describe the images as more vivid, crisp and with more accurate colors, tones, a little less dithering in cloud/halo scenes etc..

I was curious, so I checked out the difference in the settings between the two. What I noticed first was the obvious colour wheel delay, it came from the factory with a setting of +52 (5x CW Speed without SLR). My last one came with the defective value of +70. There were a couple other settings that were different but I've forgotten what they were now, d'oh! Anyways, I changed all the settings that I could so that both projectors were exactly the same. I was expecting both projectors to throw the exact same image but I was wrong. The new projector was still by far the superior image!

Both projectors have the same firmware (.43, A00) and manufacturing date of June 27th. Using the same DVD player (Sony 975 via HDMI) feeding the projectors and throwing into a Behr UPW screen.

The moral of this story is (in my case anyways), if you are not quite happy with the images you are seeing, it might be worth your while to try to get it replaced (er.. unless of course you've had the unlucky case of getting a 2nd or 3rd bad unit.. :( ). I still find it quite odd that with the same firmware, they would have different factory default values! Very very strange..

Thank all for following.

Off to home movie viewing nirvana.
K.

Mark, do you have any kind of switcher (including receiver) between your cable box and the projector? That must be HDCP compliant as well.


No, no switch or anything. The fact that it's happening on my cable box and DVD player leads me to believe its a projector issue. The only thing I can think of is the HDMI cable is too long or I have to step something special in the project menu. This is wierd. I can see the cable box menu screens when I connect, so I know the HDMI cable is working, but I wonder if I need to adjust the frequency, or offset, or something else in the BenQ Service Menu. Anyone else out there using 40' HDMI cables with the BenQ??

Running a 30' with no problems. The projector will search for the last input signal that it was on, component hdmi ect.......... You can select it on the remote.
Sorry but I am only running from my Oppo DVD scalier right now it searches and finds the HDMI form the remote control activation

If you have a DVD player that has out puts from RGB and HDMI see if the 7700 will accept that without the cable box HDTV.

Last thing their is a menu access to the Frequency adjustment clock that captures the signal on DTV-RGB. I think you got have component or composite connected to access this menu. Page 27 line 7 of the manual.

Hope this helps

No, no switch or anything. The fact that it's happening on my cable box and DVD player leads me to believe its a projector issue. The only thing I can think of is the HDMI cable is too long or I have to step something special in the project menu. This is wierd. I can see the cable box menu screens when I connect, so I know the HDMI cable is working, but I wonder if I need to adjust the frequency, or offset, or something else in the BenQ Service Menu. Anyone else out there using 40' HDMI cables with the BenQ??
Have you tried a hard restart of the cable box? Unplug it from power, (with HDMI still connected to 7700) and plug it back in, power and the PJ should find the STB if the HDMI output has been activated by the cable co.

How do I know if I am asking too much from the PJ picture quality, or if I have a defective unit? Are there any obvious things say in the service menu, in settings or other that can answer this question? How is it that Keener had a huge difference in quality when both PJs had the same firmware? I am concerned because I havent had the WOW effect some of you guys talk about, and I can see that colors are not as accurate as they should. Then again, Im no expert, and I could be expecting too much.

Thanks,

Max

From what you're describing, I'm guessing you either have a defective unit, or it's very far from calibrated for your environment. I'd try calibrating it first (to at least get it close), and if it still doesn't blow you away (other than perhaps brightness or contrast), it's probably defective. The colors should be accurate, and there should be minimal artifacts with a high quality HD source.

Miltimj, What is your throw distance for your 106" diagonal screen? I downloaded the 7700 owners manual, and they don't list a minimum or maximum for 106" screen. I figure the throw distance for a 106" screen to be from 10'-13.5' or so. I can still fit a 106" instead of a 100" screen if I need to. Man what a dilemma:)

From what you're describing, I'm guessing you either have a defective unit, or it's very far from calibrated for your environment. I'd try calibrating it first (to at least get it close), and if it still doesn't blow you away (other than perhaps brightness or contrast), it's probably defective. The colors should be accurate, and there should be minimal artifacts with a high quality HD source.

HD seems pretty good, but I have seen better in plasmas. I calibrated colors to reduce green gain, and a bit of red to get colors a bit better. I have a 123" 1.4 gain screen, and the room is 100% light controled. Unfortunaly I have no where to go and compare, so I guess I wont know for sure.

Thanks,

Blaast, check out the projection calculator for the 7700:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-PE7700-projection-calculator-pro.htm

My throw distance is the same as my viewing distance (12.5').

For a 106" screen, throw distance for the 7700 is between 10.2' and 13.8'.

I think a lot of people forget to set the zoom lens at the mid point before they use these calculators. Well that's what I do anyway then I dial in the screen size I want ,and it tells me what distance the PJ should be at for the MID range of the zoom lens. This gives me plenty of lens zoom range on both sides of my screen size.

Most important most zoom lens have a sweet spot for the sharpest image in the middle of their zoom range.

The Cal's always default to the Min zoom range.

I read a article today in The Perfect Vision on the Benq7700 and the Infocus 7205. The reviewer felt the 7700 had a soft picture in HD. Since I don't have my 7700 yet, can any of you 7700 owners tell me how your HD picture looks. Thanks

Blasst – As I implied in my review, the picture on the MT700 (and by relation, the PE7700) is just as good as the 7205 and it doesn’t have the motion blur artifacts that I observed on the 7205. After putting on 120+ hours on my (used) MT700 that observation has been reinforced.

The HDMI input will give you the best, sharpest, picture. Remember, too, that the PQ is strongly dependent on the source material. Not all source material is of equal quality.

Most important most zoom lens have a sweet spot for the sharpest image in the middle of their zoom range.


checklst,

I am interested on this pj and I find your comment somehow puzzling for my install, is it possible to elaborate why this occurs ? I always thought that the best install should be with zoom x1 for better contrast / focus.

Rgds

checklst,

I am interested on this pj and I find your comment somehow puzzling for my install, is it possible to elaborate why this occurs ? I always thought that the best install should be with zoom x1 for better contrast / focus.

Rgds


I was puzzled by this comment as well.... I was under the impression that NO ZOOM was preferable and the 'sweet spot' was projector dependant..


????

Thinking about photography, where most lenses are used....Any zoom lens will have 2 sweet spots that can affect sharpness. One in dealing with the zoom and one for the aperture/iris. If you play with an SLR camera and a low-end zoom lens, you can watch the corners get sharp/unsharp right through the viewfinder as you play with zoom and aperture. Maybe even the whole picture, not just corners. (which would be a pretty poor lens)

Now, in PJs, the iris is usually either fixed or automatically variable in some of the newer ones. So, presumably, sweet spot is not an issue for the iris.

The lens zoom is more of an issue. But from my playing with the MT700, I would say the zoom is so limited on these models that they've made sure it is all sweet spot. It appears to be sharp corner to corner no matter what the lens is zoomed to. And I could never see any CA. (chromatic aberration, another zoom lens artifact) Another point in favor of these PJs: The picture only goes through a small portion in the center of the lens. This makes it even easier to build a sharp lens.

Put another way:
If you take a halfway decent 4x camera zoom lens (around $500 let's say), it will be unsharp only at the extremes. Everything in probably the middle 90% of the zoom looks sharp, maybe even all the way to one end of the zoom. The MT700/7700 lens is only a 1.37x zoom, easily can be sharp the whole way if made correctly, "in the middle". And appears to be sharp to me, don't know if others have a differing opinion. Perhaps a larger zoom like the AE700 would have more issues at the extremes, but I don't know.

The issue about "no zoom" or "1x zoom" doesn't really work that way. Any zoom lens is always better in the middle. This isn't like a digital zoom, done in software, where "no zoom" is vastly superior. Optics typically are best in some middle ground. Although it does depend on how they are made.

Have to agree Spiky; from my experience with photography lens the zoom always seem to have the sweet spot around the middle zoom range on my old Nikon lens. I may have gotten carried away stating the BQ is sharper in the middle because I have no data to support this only past experience and like RC51 says it proably is pj dependant anyway.

Staying in the middle of the zoom range sure makes set up, from a construction stand point a lot easer.

Geons, you are correct in your thinking that AS the PJ’s lens get close to 1x it should show a little better contrast(not because of lens optics) but because of reflection angle. The 1x cuts down on the projection light angle and reflects more light back towards the center of the room this cuts down on the light scatted at the sides of the screen. Less light scatter can control ambient light bounce back. This light reflected bounced back to the screen lowers contrast!!!!!!

Now! can the human eye see the difference in a 1.0x vers my 1.18x angle not sure but a sensitive light meter might.

The eye/brain does perceive contrast as sharpness, so it could make a little difference but I believe controlling the environments paint color, carpet color, furniture, screen, and screen border (black) can make more of a difference to contrast than what zoom setting is being used. :)

Spiky, checklst, Thanks setting a common ground in a subject sometimes help to understand certain thinks...

Cheers ;)

Perhaps someone can help me with this. Or maybe it's not fixable.

For testing, I unplug my PE7700 from any input and select the "grid" pattern from the projector's OSD menu. It displays a white grid on black background with lines 2 pxls wide. On my projector, there's a slight blue trail above the horizontal lines and a slight green trail just below them. Very small, like half a pixel. I notice it only when I'm standing up by the screen. Changing the CW settings didn't seem do anything to it.

Any clues on whether this is something I can fix?

-M

Perhaps someone can help me with this. Or maybe it's not fixable.

For testing, I unplug my PE7700 from any input and select the "grid" pattern from the projector's OSD menu. It displays a white grid on black background with lines 2 pxls wide. On my projector, there's a slight blue trail above the horizontal lines and a slight green trail just below them. Very small, like half a pixel. I notice it only when I'm standing up by the screen. Changing the CW settings didn't seem do anything to it.


I have something similar. I have slight red trail above and green trail below. < half a pixel. Vertical bars are gd. But if I change the zoom , I can also seem some green trails on the vertical bars at some zoom positions.

I think it's the quality of the lens. Looks like CA to me. I doubt if we can do anything abt it. It doesn't bother me though.

Could someone with the Oppo 971H player and PE7700 please do me a favour and test PAL (50Hz) at 720p and 1080i. My screen goes blank as if the BenQ loses the signal.
/Oscar

I have the oppo and 7700 and experience the same problem. Screen goes black when I select 720P 50Hz. When HDMI is selected on the remote the bottom right hand corner shows HDMI (720P x 50). It's a pain as most of my DVDs are PAL. I don't know what is happening here but the 8700 has a similar problem (see "Benq 8700+ - problem with PAL and DVI" thread)

Hi all,

I've been putting off getting a projector b/c of a move. Now I'm ready, but more options have opened up. I'm wondering what you guys thought. I was ready to get the BenQ (the reviews sound great overall) with a 96" Diagonal HDTV screen. Then I saw that the Optoma H77 is selling for slightly more right now, but has an 8 segment color wheel as well as some other bells and whistles. Finally, I currently own a Sammy DLP HDTV 50" 720p and a Sammy 42" plasma EDTV. I turns out that they just released their DLP 1080p sets and I was looking at the 61". It would be a smaller screen, but better resolution (but more expensive than the other 2 options as well). I suppose it wouldn't give the same "movie-theatre" experience either. I plan on pretty much only watching DVDs, maybe some HDTV, but doubtlful. 96" screen I figure seating distance to be 1.25x diagonal for the 1st row and 2x width for the second row. Any thoughts? Thanks for all opinions in advance, they are much appreciated.

Anybody mind helping a newb with set-up? I have a 106" screen, i read what spiky had to say, but am still a lil confused about where to best mount the pe7700...Thx in advance for any help.

Anybody mind helping a newb with set-up? I have a 106" screen, i read what spiky had to say, but am still a lil confused about where to best mount the pe7700...Thx in advance for any help.

My 7700 is in the middle of the zoom range and I am using a 106 diag screen and my mount is at 12' ft with the front of the lens at 11.6 approx. This middle zoom method gives me a little adjustment on both sides of the screen.

Hope this helps :)

Thank you very much for your help checklst.

I have the oppo and 7700 and experience the same problem. Screen goes black when I select 720P 50Hz. When HDMI is selected on the remote the bottom right hand corner shows HDMI (720P x 50). It's a pain as most of my DVDs are PAL. I don't know what is happening here but the 8700 has a similar problem (see "Benq 8700+ - problem with PAL and DVI" thread)

.. I have no problems playing PAL (1280x720 50Hz). I'm using an Asian version of Pio dv59avi. I think I tried a Denon 1910 before and it worked fine also... Maybe it's Oppo....

.. I have no problems playing PAL (1280x720 50Hz). I'm using an Asian version of Pio dv59avi. I think I tried a Denon 1910 before and it worked fine also... Maybe it's Oppo....

Does the projector display HDMI(720P x 50) when you press the HDMI button on the remote? I do get a picture playing PAL at 60Hz

I have the European version of the Pioneer (868). Display says; HDMI 720p 50 hz for PAL and HDMI 720p 60 Hz for NTSC. No picture problems.

I have the European version of the Pioneer (868). Display says; HDMI 720p 50 hz for PAL and HDMI 720p 60 Hz for NTSC. No picture problems.

I belive this to be a Oppo/BBK(europe version) problem with some displays. The early version firmware for the Oppo did not work with 1080i at 60Hz either, but it was fixed with new firmware. Oppo had a note about not working with some displays at 1080i early this spring. I have tried some other dvd-players and they work fine at all resolutions and update frequencies. Sorry for OT but I belive this to be a Benq problem as well. Will get back when I recive my new 7700 this week to see if it works.

/Oscar

Does the projector display HDMI(720P x 50) when you press the HDMI button on the remote? I do get a picture playing PAL at 60Hz


I believe many dvd players can pick the output as either NTSC or PAL. My Samsung will output 720p 50Hz if set to PAL and 720p 60Hz if set to NTSC, regardless of what DVD (PAL/NTSC) you play. My 7700 has no sign of any sync problem (480i/p, 576i/p, 720p 50/60, 1080i 50/60) to any input (hdmi or component) so far.

I've completed reading this thread. Thanks to all of you, your insights are worth all the time it took.

I purchased the 7700 4 weeks ago and sent it back last Friday for black level problems on the component and S video inputs (0 IRE switches to green). (I now believe it is the same problem attributed to delay settings on page 47 of this thread). It also pushes a lot of green in low light settings.

Had I completed the reading of the thread before I sent it off, I may have been able to diagnose the problem on my own (darn, could have saved a lot of time)

One interesting observation, If I turn on POP, with component input, the problem is eliminated! Same is true with PIP active.

Since I hadn't completed reading the thread I didn't know how to get into the service menu and look at settings or revision level of the firmware.

I'll call my contacts at the dealer today and discuss this with them. Thanks so much for this thread. :)

So you are without a projector too Dogorbit? It has been five weeks for me now. A few e-mails and my support girl is sending me a referb one till the new ones get in. Wish I had known that was an option a long time ago. Now I must be mad at Keener for getting one when his was still functional. :)
Warren.

I was asked on the MT700 thread to cross post the following link to this thread. It is the current bulb-life poll for these PJ's.

Bulb Life Poll (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=576422)

Any 7700 owner in Seattle willing to 'demo' for beer of your choice?

I'm trying to decide between 7700 (great value, PIp * POP) vs. 78DC3 (more $ but darkchip 3, no POP I don't believe..). I'm really leaning towards the 7700 but would like to see in person if possible by someone who has purchased it and lived with it's strengths and challenges..

Thanks,

I am currently using component, within the next year I will move to HDMI, it is a very complex change because my cables are inside the wall, and it is covered with sound absorbinbg materials, and fabric.



One of the devices I saw at Infocomm, that no doubt will be at Cedia, is a laser system for DVI signals. (it might have been from DVIGear?)

Put the receiver up with your projector, and the transmitter, above your gear. If you have line of site, you should be able to transmit digital, up to 1080p at distances of 100 feet plus. Now, earthquakes notwithstanding that might be an alternate solution to opening all your walls again.

I think the projected price was about $1000, but all that time, wire running, drywalling and painting, probably costs at least as much. -art

Speaking of cables etc....my HDMI cable just went bad. I did have to move some components which required a slight tug on the wire...but NOTHING of any consequence. But now my PE7700 will not pick up the signal...says 'Not Supported' and keeps cycling trying to pick it up. My S97 DVD player ends up with an error code U70-3. Which the manual says means a damaged HDMI cable.

Are these REALLY fragile? has anyone else had this issues? I now have to order a new 30ft cable and run it back thru my conduit....so my old 30ft HDMI cable becomes an expensive pull string to feed the new cable.

Just Lovely
Jim

Hey Jim,

At least you ran conduit.... That is the beauty of early and thorough thought. But yeah an expensive pull string indeed. I just ran 1 3/4" conduit to my projector location and put my initial cables in. I have capped the ends so construction dust/debris does not get in. I am hoping that i ran the right size to accomodate future needs. The HDMI cable i bought was (or appears to be) very sturdy.

Wish you better luck with the new cable..

Run an external cable just to be sure. I did not think they were that fragile but I could be wrong!!

My cable does not look fragile....looks like 3/8" thick at least....my worry is something else is amiss not cable related.....maybe with the DVD player, not sure.

The PE7700 still works perfect using the component input from my HD cable box....using the HDMI for this resulted in an extremely statically picture....noise...probably the damaged cable.

I will definitely use/test the new cable BEFORE fishing it thru the conduit.

sigh
Jim

It depends on where you "tugged" on the cable, the cable may be Ok, but you may have a broken a connector joint in the PE7700 (or at the source end).

I remember someone (I don't remember the thread) saying that they had a damaged connector in their PJ from pulling (or wiggling) on the connector. Apparently, the connections inside some units (PJs, DVD players, etc) are not that robust.

One of the devices I saw at Infocomm, that no doubt will be at Cedia, is a laser system for DVI signals. (it might have been from DVIGear?)

Put the receiver up with your projector, and the transmitter, above your gear. If you have line of site, you should be able to transmit digital, up to 1080p at distances of 100 feet plus. Now, earthquakes notwithstanding that might be an alternate solution to opening all your walls again.

I think the projected price was about $1000, but all that time, wire running, drywalling and painting, probably costs at least as much. -art

Thanks Art, its not really opening up the walls, its just the fabric. I can probably get it done for less than 100 bucs + the new cable. The probelm is priorities and waiting in line for this. If I was serious I could probably do it within a week. 1k is too much compared to the alternative.

Thanks anyways

Max

I got a replacement Gefen HDMI switch a couple of weeks ago. When I plugged in my HDMI cables, I got a very snowy picture. The problem was an incomplete connnection. Contact cleaner fixed it. You might try that.

My 45 ft HDMI cable is very sturdy.. about 3/8 of an inch thick.