It seems to me that because Hi Def television (I have DirecTV) delivers terrific blacks and razor sharp images the problem cannot be with the projector. This must be a standard definition DVD issue, one that will hopefully be corrected by the upcoming HD DVD technology.

Watching a DVD right after watching HDTV is always a bit of a letdown, in my opinion.

Was it something I said?

It seems to me that because Hi Def television (I have DirecTV) delivers terrific blacks and razor sharp images the problem cannot be with the projector. This must be a standard definition DVD issue, one that will hopefully be corrected by the upcoming HD DVD technology.

Watching a DVD right after watching HDTV is always a bit of a letdown, in my opinion.

What you said is correct, and therefore no need to respond I guess . HDTV is minimum 720P, or 50% better than DVD which is maximum 480P. Fifty per cent better on a 10 foot screen IS noticeable. The new HD and Blu-Ray DVD's will be just like HDTV, or better. That said, there will be good transfers to Hi-def DVD's and bad ones. Just like some current DVD's look very good, while others look bad.

I'm interested in this PJ. Please PM me a good place to get it. Also, pros and cons would be appreciated. I'm either getting his or the Z4, unless the Panny rebate is still valid. Has that been extended? Thanks in advance.

I tinkered with my DVD software and have been able to sharpen up the picture for DVDs.

I have to say that watching King Kong on this projector was absolutely amazing. First, it was a much better movie than I expected. Second, the projector did an amazing job with it. Dare I say that blacks were "inky" on this LCD projector? Dare I also say that the overall presentation was "film-like"?

I am liking this projector more the more I use it.

Lately my blacks aren't looking as nice as before. I calibrated it once using the THX optimizer on the Tron disc a couple weeks ago. Time for a real calibration.

Guys... please help(#754).

Guys... please help(#754).You have PM.

I'm interested in this PJ. Please PM me a good place to get it. Also, pros and cons would be appreciated. I'm either getting his or the Z4, unless the Panny rebate is still valid. Has that been extended? Thanks in advance.


PM from me too.

Thanks guys :) . I've PMed both of you.

I found this website regarding price japan dot com...

http://www.greengart.com/Columns/column021.htm

It is very interesting. The price differential at price japan dot com vs US is ~$1500 vs ~$3500. That is quite a difference.

I also found this seller on e-bay: yclub200

Just do a search for this PJ.

His prices look decent, his feedback rating is stellar with loads of posts... does anyone have experience with this seller.

This Japanese model idea seems kind of too good to be true...

I also found this seller on e-bay: yclub200

Just do a search for this PJ.

His prices look decent, his feedback rating is stellar with loads of posts... does anyone have experience with this seller.

This Japanese model idea seems kind of too good to be true...
I would be extremely leary IMO. His feedback rating is 98.3%, which is far from stellar for eBay sellers. He has had 15 negatives and a few neutrals filed against him. This is not good.

Of course the price looks good, but look at it this way. You are buying from Japan and subject to duty when it arrives. You have no US warranty. Your only recourse if something happens is to deal with a person in Japan you've never met and only know by his eBay handle. You will get no physical manual in English, just a pdf file.

To me, on a high dollar purchase, this has red flags all over the place.

Dvds deliver 10 Mbps. HDTV broadcasts can reach 19 Mbps. But HD and Blu-ray Discs whoops butt with 48 Mbps. Can you say looking at your tv and crying. Ha Ha Ha. Will be getting my Hitachi in about 6 months. My wedding day is coming in August all my money is going towards that.

Have a good one guys.

Adam :)

I would be extremely leary IMO. His feedback rating is 98.3%, which is far from stellar for eBay sellers. He has had 15 negatives and a few neutrals filed against him. This is not good.

Of course the price looks good, but look at it this way. You are buying from Japan and subject to duty when it arrives. You have no US warranty. Your only recourse if something happens is to deal with a person in Japan you've never met and only know by his eBay handle. You will get no physical manual in English, just a pdf file.

To me, on a high dollar purchase, this has red flags all over the place.

Most of his/her negatives are from purchases, not sales. But I still would be leary of such a large purchase on eBay.

If you buy from Japan, just stick with the regular sources. It is risky and warranty can be a hassle with shipping etc, but its up to you to decide.

I purchased a Panasonic AE500 from yclub2000 in early '04 and found him to be very honest and prompt with emails and the final delivery. He guarantees you will not pay any duty - I didn't and when a bulb went right at the 90 day expiry period the replacement was sent as soon as the original was received by him - took approx. 1 week turn around time. I just recently purchased a Hitachi HDP J52 ( PJX 200 ) from Eastporters here in Canada and the price is very close - they come from Japan as well - great to deal with but again - the pj would have to go back to Japan for any warranty work - they have a 10 day exchange progam in case you have any defects.

It has worked out well for myself but of course you would have to make your own decision on where to spend your money.

You can buy 1 and 2 year warranty and ship back insurance for a reasonable price, but just remember return shipping to Japan to have a PJ fixed or replaced under warranty you are looking at 5 to 6 weeks turn around. I did it once, and after 5 to 6 weeks I got a very good replacement TX100. The second time I did the 10 day exchange and got a much better TX200 than my initial unit.

I am still pissed about the vertical chroma bug. I guess I am one of the very people inputting 480p to the TX200 via DVI so I am nearly alone in experiencing the worst of it. I use VGA now but wish I could use DVI.

Does anyone have any experience with this projector versus the Optoma H27?

I have no plans to connect HDTV for at least 3 years and will only be watching SD DVD's until then. Hence the Optoma appeals to me as I can buy it for half the price of the Hitachi. Plus the Optoma will come with a screen.

I have viewed the H27 and the Hitachi TX100 in a bright display room and the H27 looked very dim in comparison but I had no chance to check out how the projectors were configured. The TX100 did seem to have a much sharper image.

What I'm trying to get to is just how much better is the Hitachi HDPJ52/TX200 versus the Optoma for SD DVD's. Is it worth the extra $$ ?

How does the PJ-TX200 compare with the PJ-TX100 in true lumen output? Are they the same or is one brighter then the other? Also, do each of these use the same relacement lamp?

~Josh

How does the PJ-TX200 compare with the PJ-TX100 in true lumen output? Are they the same or is one brighter then the other? Also, do each of these use the same relacement lamp?

~Josh

They use the same lamp so I guess that output would be very similar.

anyone have the oppo Here ... ive just got one and i need some input ... i have experienced some ghosting ... ive hook up the player using the DVI-HDMI cable and outputing at 720p ... it cause some black ghosting on the white ( like a little darker bar in the whites ) ... maybe its just because some DVD i have are TRanscoded ... i didnt check out lots of dvd yet ... and what configuration you guys use with the oppo and your Hitachi pj ...

Thanx for you input

Hi Guys,

I just got my TX200 this week, I'm very happy. I do have a wiring question though, I have my DVD wired via the component input and my Sat. (non HD) hooked up to my composite input, which as you could guess looks crappy. My sat recevier has s-video and component outputs also. I has wondering if running a s-video would make a noticeable diffence. I wish this thing had 2 component inputs. What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks in advance

Brian

Hi Guys,

I just got my TX200 this week, I'm very happy. I do have a wiring question though, I have my DVD wired via the component input and my Sat. (non HD) hooked up to my composite input, which as you could guess looks crappy. My sat recevier has s-video and component outputs also. I has wondering if running a s-video would make a noticeable diffence. I wish this thing had 2 component inputs. What do you guys think I should do?

Thanks in advance

Brian

I would do either one of two things.

The first would be to buy a component video switch. This would allow you to have multiple inputs fed through one output and you can switch between them. I have not researched this much, but it seems like this would cost about $100 or more.

The second thing that I might do would be to buy a DVD player with HDMI output. You could perhaps justify this $200 cost (for an Oppo) by reasoning that it is an upconverting player and you should get better PQ from it. Alternatively, one of those new HD-DVD players might be a nice investment.

projectorcentral.com has an article under the flat screens tab. Look for "Getting More from your HDTV". It says you can use a video switch box that has composite & audio L+R ins & outs & run the component video through those. I haven't tried it yet, though. I think Philips makes a cheap auto-switching unit.

I see Sound & Vision didn't like the TX200 because of screen door & lack of punch due to poor contrast. The reviewer didn't mention the auto iris, though. I'm pretty happy with the colours & black of my TX100. I would think the 200 would be better. He also thought it would be more suited to screens smaller than 80"!

projectorcentral.com has an article under the flat screens tab. Look for "Getting More from your HDTV". It says you can use a video switch box that has composite & audio L+R ins & outs & run the component video through those. I haven't tried it yet, though. I think Philips makes a cheap auto-switching unit.

I see Sound & Vision didn't like the TX200 because of screen door & lack of punch due to poor contrast. The reviewer didn't mention the auto iris, though. I'm pretty happy with the colours & black of my TX100. I would think the 200 would be better. He also thought it would be more suited to screens smaller than 80"!

I just went to Radio Shack, they had one for $30 Cnd. I'll have to give that a try, thanks.

As for the review from Sound and Vision, I think I'll stick to the review's from places like projectorcentral and places like that.

The Sound and Vision guy could be a DLP user bashing LCD's. The typical thing to say about lcd projectors is their "lack" of contrast. The TX200 is very well liked in the AV community, and I doubt it deserves the review it received at S & V.

Well boys, just purchased my projector from yclub on fleabay. He seems pretty trustworthy .....replying quickly to e-mails and is going to work me out a deal on duty charges.............I've been talking to him for about a week now and made the purchase today.

My question is about a ceiling mount ? Can someone post one that is made for the TX200 or do I get a universal one ? I thought I saw a nice one where all the cables were hidden into a pipe going to the ceiling but might be wrong. If it can't be posted on the site, please pm me.............thx.

Well boys, just purchased my projector from yclub on fleabay. He seems pretty trustworthy .....replying quickly to e-mails and is going to work me out a deal on duty charges.............I've been talking to him for about a week now and made the purchase today.

My question is about a ceiling mount ? Can someone post one that is made for the TX200 or do I get a universal one ? I thought I saw a nice one where all the cables were hidden into a pipe going to the ceiling but might be wrong. If it can't be posted on the site, please pm me.............thx.


I hope you enjoy your TX200. Keep us posted on how you like your projector. and how you wind up setting it up.

Every problem that I have encountered has not been with the projector but with the source material. The projector will give you as good a picture as is possible given the source.

I had struggled for some time with how best to play DVDs. I am using a HTPC and just keep in mind that not all software DVD players are created equal. I have a great picture now and couldn't be happier.

Let me know what ceiling mount you choose because I have yet to get one.

I haven't been able to find the HDPJ52 at any of the AVSForum sponsored sights. Do any of them carry it?

My question is about a ceiling mount ?

I used the Chief RPA-U (Universal). It worked fine.

Is anyone using the RS-232 port to control the TX200? I can't find any documentation on the pin-out. I have tried using a 2-3,7-8 crossover cable without any luck. Since Hitachi seems to use the same code set for all their projectors, I assume that info hasn't changed.

I haven't been able to find the HDPJ52 at any of the AVSForum sponsored sights. Do any of them carry it?

I don't think so which is why this PJ is not talked about much here.

Thanks for the response, Lawguy.

Can anyone PM recommended sources for the HDPJ52? I'm willing to pay a little more to be comfortable that I can exchange it if it has problems. FWIW I'm in Oregon (Sunny today!).

Thanks for the response, Lawguy.

Can anyone PM recommended sources for the HDPJ52? I'm willing to pay a little more to be comfortable that I can exchange it if it has problems. FWIW I'm in Oregon (Sunny today!).

Call Hitachi Customer Service at 1-800-Hitachi. They are very helpful. They had trouble locating a local demo and they referred me to jeff.fochtman@hhea.hitachi.com who is Hitachi's product manager. He set me up.

Hey guys,

I got a question for you, I just noticed that during light sences I can see what looks to be burn in where the 4:3 bars would be. It's faint but there, and now bugs me big time. I only have 60 HRS on the machine. I bought it from a busness as an open box model at 48hrs. I'm curious if you guys can see this on your projectors. You have to look hard. I've tried different disks and waited over night, still there.

Help

I noticed that effect when watching the featurette's after a 2.35:1 movie with my older Panasonic PT-L200. I could see the horizontal masking on the screen, like a faint burn-in line, from what was used for the 2.35:1 movie. I could see it while watching the 16:9 and 4:3 featurette's. It was gone the next time I used the projector.

I noticed that effect when watching the featurette's after a 2.35:1 movie with my older Panasonic PT-L200. I could see the horizontal masking on the screen, like a faint burn-in line, from what was used for the 2.35:1 movie. I could see it while watching the 16:9 and 4:3 featurette's. It was gone the next time I used the projector.

Ya I tried it today and it was just as bad. Could watching 3 hours of hockey have done this? I starting to think I should trade it in. It's to bad I was really happy with this projector.

Give it a few hours with a full 1.78:1 movie and see if it goes back. I must admit I have never seen this happen with my TX100 or TX200 though, only with the old Panny L200.

Has anyone on this thread bought the new Toshiba HD DVD player and seen the results on their HDPJ52?

Hey guys,

I got a question for you, I just noticed that during light sences I can see what looks to be burn in where the 4:3 bars would be. It's faint but there, and now bugs me big time. I only have 60 HRS on the machine. I bought it from a busness as an open box model at 48hrs. I'm curious if you guys can see this on your projectors. You have to look hard. I've tried different disks and waited over night, still there.

Help

I have never seen this on an LCD. See the link below which states that this could only happen if you actually abuse the lcd.

http://www.techlore.com/article/10099/

If the business that you purchased it from ran it for 48 hours straight with 4:3 material, I doubt that even that would do it.

This may be a sign that there is a more serious problem with your projector. I would call customer support or return it.

Has anyone on this thread bought the new Toshiba HD DVD player and seen the results on their HDPJ52?

Nope. Not yet. Over the weekend I saw it at Best Buy. They had it demoing on a 42" screen. HD DVD on a 42" screen is mostly wasted in my opinion. I don't know why they don't demo it on a larger screen.

Is there any way of finding out how many hours are on these machines. Since the lamp hours can be reset, I was wondering if there was a counter that couldn't be. Maybe in the service menu?

Hello All!! I have not posted in awhile as I did not get to finish my technical tweaking review of the PJTX200. When I was finished tweaking with colorfacts and about to take pictures for my site, the fan died. I then received a replacement about a month later, which developed a couple of bad dust blobs just after the first filter cleaning that were not able to be expelled by any means of air blowing method I used. So I could not finish the tweaking on that projector as I like to wait until the unit has at least 100 hours on it before I tweak. So with a heavy heart I have decided to abandon my PJTX200 and LCD projection projectors for my home theatre. I have decided to move over to the DLP boat!! I have grown weary of the issues around LCD, with VB, screen door, colour uniformity problems, dust blobs and filter designs not measuring up to claims.

I have now decided to purchase my first DLP projector in several years, based on my friends wonderful Optoma H77. I like his picture very much, smoother, no VB, no colour shift, no screen door(at least from my sitting distance) anyway. I do however find that my calibrated (using COLORFACTS ) Hitachi 200 was able to match shadow detail, and contrast ratios, but not absolute black levels with the 77. I also found my projector sharper and prefer a sharp picture as opposed to a fuzzy one. I was looking at the Optoma 7100 and the Samsung 710. I have decided to go with the Optoma, and it has been ordered already. It should be here in a week or so, and I can not wait.

So look for tweaks and review on the Optoma 7100 once I get a chance to play with it. Will hopefully be on my new site as well which is in development now.

Upnorth, I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. Your site was actually one that I relied on in choosing this projector! Does that mean that I have to return mine?

I have always been concerned with dust blobs and how to remedy them if I got them. No doubt I will be extra careful while cleaning the filter.

Do I understand correctly that your tx200 had issues with VB and color uniformity? I have none of that and I hope thaey don't show up. As for screen door, I don't really have that issue either although you can see it at times if you are really trying to.

Good luck with your new Optoma.

Hello All!! I have not posted in awhile as I did not get to finish my technical tweaking review of the PJTX200. When I was finished tweaking with colorfacts and about to take pictures for my site, the fan died. I then received a replacement about a month later, which developed a couple of bad dust blobs just after the first filter cleaning that were not able to be expelled by any means of air blowing method I used. So I could not finish the tweaking on that projector as I like to wait until the unit has at least 100 hours on it before I tweak. So with a heavy heart I have decided to abandon my PJTX200 and LCD projection projectors for my home theatre. I have decided to move over to the DLP boat!! I have grown weary of the issues around LCD, with VB, screen door, colour uniformity problems, dust blobs and filter designs not measuring up to claims.

I have now decided to purchase my first DLP projector in several years, based on my friends wonderful Optoma H77. I like his picture very much, smoother, no VB, no colour shift, no screen door(at least from my sitting distance) anyway. I do however find that my calibrated (using COLORFACTS ) Hitachi 200 was able to match shadow detail, and contrast ratios, but not absolute black levels with the 77. I also found my projector sharper and prefer a sharp picture as opposed to a fuzzy one. I was looking at the Optoma 7100 and the Samsung 710. I have decided to go with the Optoma, and it has been ordered already. It should be here in a week or so, and I can not wait.

So look for tweaks and review on the Optoma 7100 once I get a chance to play with it. Will hopefully be on my new site as well which is in development now.
You dont think the 32db fan noise would be too high do you on the HD7100?
Anyone had problems with RBE with this projector?
Not much reported on it that I can find?
Any leads in reviews etc would be gratful :rolleyes:

I guess I should clarify here, as I did not mean to panic anyone. First let me say that I like LCD projectors in general and still believe in the technology. However my past experiences with the Panasonic AE700 and both the Hitachi PJTX100 and current PJTX200 have frustrated me to no end.

On the AE700, there was fan noise and a very fuzzy picture (IMO), had trouble syncing with DVD player, dust blobs and with limited settings and tweakablity. (no posts on this one, did not have it long enough)

On the 100, I have had dead pixels, colour uniformity issues, dust blobs, VB, flat image and a dimming bulb. This model went out twice for service and replacement. (see past posts)

On the 200, I have had a dead fan, dust blobs and smeared picture. I did see less VB, colour uniformity, and screen door on the new 200 over the 100. However VB, colour uniformity, and screen door while not as bad, it was still there in light to bright scenes. This model has gone out twice as well. (see my review at http://frozen-toes-home-theatre.funtigo.com/?preview=y&cr=1&rfm=y and past posts)

I did mention that I liked the sharpness on the Hitachi 200 and only hope that the Optoma is as sharp. The contrast and shadow detail was very good on the 200 once calibrated (using Colorfacts) for an LCD projector; I managed about 2600:1 on/off (no filter). I hope that the Optoma is equal and better than this; as it should be. As far as fan noise goes 32db should not be too bad as this is measured in high mode as I understand it, so low mode should not be too bad. A little louder than my friends 77, will be barley noticeable. (see my postings now under Optoma 7100 thread..see http://www.projectorreviews.com/reviews.asp for the new review of the Optoma 7100)

So it is more out of my frustrations and my personal bad experiences with these LCD projectors that have lead to my switch to DLP technology. It is also in part to the evolution and growing of my home theatre demands and my discerning eye. I hope that most people have not had or every have these issues with the 200. I hope that everyone still continues to enjoy their 200 as it is a decent home theatre projector for the money and a very good LCD projector compartitive to the others in its league.

Hi All,

I have a question which hopefully someone can answer, or direct me to one. Or possibly direct me to the correct thread for this Q.

First... to qualify the posting here... I've been researching projectors now for close to a year, waiting for the right performance/price balance. The current generation of LCD projectors sound like they are just about there and I can't seem to wait any longer for the next gen (C2fine... D6 panels... whatever it may be). Hence I've been building a shortlist and the Hitachi HDPJ52 is at the top of that very very short list (I'm susceptable to RBE so no single chip DLP... and my wallet is susceptable to items that are way too expensive... so no 3 chip DLP or even LCOS for now).

Finally to the Q... I have been trying to rack my brain to figure out why I keep reading that a 1080p or 1080i signal to a 1280x720p projector looks better than a 720p signal? In particular, has anyone noticed this on the HDPJ52/TX200? Do 1080i/p signals actually look better than 720p on this projector?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but if fed a 720p signal, the projector should have absolutely ZERO scaling to do... simply pass the signal straight through to the screen... no? (only as far as scaling is concerned - there could be other processing such as auto iris, etc)

And in fact, a 1080i/p signal would actually have to be scaled down... so again the projector is doing work before actually displaying the picture.

Could someone PLEASE explain this phenomenon to me, or direct me to somewhere to find out. Thanks very much in advance.

Also... on the HDPJ52, is there a way to turn off the internal scaler and de-interlacer if you know full well that you'll be inputing a 1280x720p signal? Or do you pretty much have to trust that the projector bypasses that circutry if it detects its native resolution coming in.

Now I just have to wait for the right price on the HDPJ52 and I'll be able to offer something more constructive to this thread.

Thanks All,

-=K=-

Karcs -- You have no idea how hotly disputed the answer to your question is. To me this suggests that there is no clear answer. If the answer was clear there would be no dispute!

There are two schools of thought.

The first is that projectors are best off if there is perfect 1:1 pixel mapping where the source matches the projector's native resolution. The theory here is that you are watching material exactly as it was intended to be watched and there is no scaling which can introduce noise to the picture.

The second is that you are better off inputting higher resolution material and letting it scale to the projector's native resolution (provided you have a good quality scaler). The theory here is that you are better off having the extra detail in the source material even though your display can't use it all.

I think the answer depends on the projector and the source that it is trying to display.

For instance, the new HD-DVD player the HD-A1 does a bad job at downscaling the native 1080p material to 720p. People with 720p displays get better PQ with a 1080i signal (most display devices available today can't accept 1080p signals) than with a 720p signal. So, at least for the HD-A1 the answer appears to be clear - let the projector do the scaling, not the DVD player.

You see, there are a lot of links in the chain and any one of them can be a weak one that has to be compensated for. The source material may be bad. In that case, some high quality scaling or processing might be beneficial. Your DVD player or HTPC may do a better job of scaling than your projector. In that case, you would not want the projector to do scaling.

I have noticed that HD cable looks better on my HDPJ52 when input at 1080i than at 720p. This means that my projector is doing a better job of scaling than my cable box. The difference is incredibly subtle and I doubt that anyone but me would ever notice, but I have studied it very closely.

The big area that this really matters is in DVDs. DVDs are not HD so they have to be upconverted to be displayed on a HD device. To get the best results on a HDPJ52 you need either a good upconverting DVD player or HTPC that is properly configured. The Pixelworks chip does not do a great job here. If you do not have a good setup you will have a soft picture that you will be disappointed with. I went the HTPC route and am now very happy with DVD PQ. Most people would probably mistake it for a HD picture (but it clearly is not to me). In the case of DVDs, I believe that a HD display does a better job of displaying them than a native 480p projector does because the image processing and upconverting is actually useful.

There is no menu option on the HDPJ52 to turn off the scaler. I don't think that you would ever want to do this. Just input a 720p signal and there will be no scaling. The projector will display the 720p setting when it first receives the input. That way you know that there is no scaling going on.

Please keep in mind that scaling is not necessarily an evil. It is often helpful and quite necessary. In an ideal world where source material was always perfect, it might not be necessary. In the real world, it is unavoidable.

My goal is always to have good PQ. With HD source material, it is a no brainer and quite easy to produce a good image. With DVDs it is a challenge because the source material is lower res. There is no way that I know of to make SD TV look good because the source material is so bad to begin with. My advice in general is to get a good HD projector (like the HDPJ52) and get either a good upconverting DVD player (like the OPPO or perhaps the HD-A1) or spend the time to tweak a HTPC. You will not be disappointed with either setup.

I hope this helps.

Hi All,

I have a question which hopefully someone can answer, or direct me to one. Or possibly direct me to the correct thread for this Q.

First... to qualify the posting here... I've been researching projectors now for close to a year, waiting for the right performance/price balance. The current generation of LCD projectors sound like they are just about there and I can't seem to wait any longer for the next gen (C2fine... D6 panels... whatever it may be). Hence I've been building a shortlist and the Hitachi HDPJ52 is at the top of that very very short list (I'm susceptable to RBE so no single chip DLP... and my wallet is susceptable to items that are way too expensive... so no 3 chip DLP or even LCOS for now).

Finally to the Q... I have been trying to rack my brain to figure out why I keep reading that a 1080p or 1080i signal to a 1280x720p projector looks better than a 720p signal? In particular, has anyone noticed this on the HDPJ52/TX200? Do 1080i/p signals actually look better than 720p on this projector?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but if fed a 720p signal, the projector should have absolutely ZERO scaling to do... simply pass the signal straight through to the screen... no? (only as far as scaling is concerned - there could be other processing such as auto iris, etc)

And in fact, a 1080i/p signal would actually have to be scaled down... so again the projector is doing work before actually displaying the picture.

Could someone PLEASE explain this phenomenon to me, or direct me to somewhere to find out. Thanks very much in advance.

Also... on the HDPJ52, is there a way to turn off the internal scaler and de-interlacer if you know full well that you'll be inputing a 1280x720p signal? Or do you pretty much have to trust that the projector bypasses that circutry if it detects its native resolution coming in.

Now I just have to wait for the right price on the HDPJ52 and I'll be able to offer something more constructive to this thread.

Thanks All,

-=K=-


Karcs,

I agree with Lawguy, in that there is no easy answer to this question and there are many different opinions and solutions. One thing for sure, is that it does depend on your source and your display device and the combination of the two together, and the hookup method used that produces the difference between a sharp clear noise free image and a softer, and slightly noisier picture. Another argument is wether or not to let the source do the deinterlacing/scaling or the the display device. Depending on the quality and or capabilities of either device will decide as to which one may look better or be the one to use. It comes down to picture quality, so try using different methods with different equipment and see which one produces the better image.

In the case of the PJTX200(HDPJ52), the Oppo player works very well with this projector. I have tried both 720p and 1080i hooked up through HDMI and the 1080i wins hands down. While 720p looks very good at first, but when switching to 1080i the image immediately becomes more stable and sharper. HDMI looks better than component hook up on this projector, with the Oppo wether in 720p or 1080i.

There are different deinterlacing/scaling options on the PJTX200(HDPJ52), they are TV, film and Auto. Leave it on Auto, as I have not noticed the difference in picture quality watching Sat TV or DVD using either of the two other settings. It may even confuse the projector more trying to impart it's own deinterlacing/scaling on the image especially in the case of the up-converting Oppo. Let the Oppo deinterlace/scale the image and send to the projector.


Hope this helps!

As long as you do good de-interlacing, the scaling of the Hitachi is ok. I have used the 480p VGA from an iScan Ultra into a Hitachi TX100 and now my TX200 (J52) and it looks great. I suppose it may look better with other sources. I think an iScan HD+ and/or an iScan VP30 outputting 720p from an HD signal may look better than letting an HD player do the scaling (down?) to 720p. I can't remember if HDCP even allows this.

If you want true 1:1 mapping on this projector you must use 0 keystone correction. On the HDMI input that means keystone at "10". Put up some text and use the keystone correction to see the incredible difference it makes to clarity, focus, banding etc. I have installed at least 18 of these units in the last 90 days and I can tell you that a proper mechanical setup works wonders. It calibrates easily and the gamma correction is second to none.

Mike

If you want true 1:1 mapping on this projector you must use 0 keystone correction. On the HDMI input that means keystone at "10". Put up some text and use the keystone correction to see the incredible difference it makes to clarity, focus, banding etc. I have installed at least 18 of these units in the last 90 days and I can tell you that a proper mechanical setup works wonders. It calibrates easily and the gamma correction is second to none.

Mike


Mike

When you are refering to keystone at "10", do I assume correctly that you mean the overscan should be set to "10" which on the HDPJ 52 corresponds to zero overscanning?

Thanks all for your replies.

Of all the things I've read and heard about my question (from multiple sources) there is only one thing that actually makes "sense". Lawguy referred to this as well. And that is the there is more information in a true 1080i/p signal, and hence the picture might look better because of this.

This makes sense from personal experience. You shrink a large image to a smaller rez, it doesn't look too bad (sometimes you can't tell it started out larger). You blow up a small image to a larger rez and it usually looks pretty bad without some enhancing. Totally makes sense.

So the only real confusing thing is what upnorth has noticed (and I have heard from others). How can a smaller image (SD DVD 480), upscaled to 1080i, and then downscaled and de-interlaced by the projector to match 1280x720p - look better than - having the same image (SD DVD 480) upscaled and de-interlaced to 720p and fed to the projector without doing anything else to the signal. Less circuitry, less possible image errors... very odd. Also just based on the reviews that say the de-interlacer on this projector is not the greatest and that the Oppo de-interlacer is probably a lot better. I would have thought an Oppo de-interlaced 720p output would be the best from a SD-DVD.

Maybe de-interlacing a 1080i signal is much easier than a 480i? Or maybe upscaling and de-interlacing separately is easier than trying to do both at the same time? It's the smaller image blown up and shrunk again that bothers me. Unless the Oppo is so good, that it is adding extra information 8-)

I'm not doubting upnorth's observations in the least... I am just left scratching my head in wonder.

Thanks again for the responses and in particular how it relates to this projector. Didn't mean to steer this thread in another direction.

I'm very happy to hear that the Oppo player matched with this projector is very good. I do have a library of SD-DVDs and will in no way upgrade to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray giving the studios any more of my hard earned money until after this stupid format war dies down. Or a good player that plays both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray (which is coming out) is released.

Also, I've read in this thread that folks have used both a grey screen and a matte white screen and both look good. Has anyone had a chance to actually compare both? To see if the grey screen greatly improves the blacks without dimming the picture too much? Any screen feedback (gain, material) would also help with allllll the purchaces that come with this passion.

If I was still living in the States... I would buy this projector today. It is at the top of my short list. Admittedly, I haven't had the chance to demo other projectors in this price range, only last years models. And so far my only demo of HDPJ52 has been at 2001AV (local shop around here) and they don't have the best setup (split signals, lots of other light sources, etc). But, even with the crappy demo space, I was impressed with the picture. Hopefully Canadian prices will follow soon! (why did I move??? 8-)) )

-=K=-

Hey Karcs, The price of this projector is cheaper than it is in the States. Eastporters.com has it incredably cheap(over $1000 less the 2001), Or Quebec acqustics has it for around $500 less plus no PST than 2001.

Brian

Thanks Brian!

I thought about Japanese imports for the longest time... but after reading this and many other threads, I just wasn't comfortable with getting such a delicate piece of equipment that can't be serviced "locally". So many parts... so many different potential problems... just didn't feel like the risk. I'll admit I'm a bit more paranoid than others.

But thanks for pointing out QA... I was going to email them for a price quote... didn't realize they would be that much less than 2001.

On a side note... I can't believe there is one retailer in the States, bwayphoto and video, who actually sells BOTH the HDPJ52 and TX200... at $700 difference! So they are REALLY hitting us hard with a tariff or something for the North American version. Some global economy... why can't we just all get along? 8-)

-=K=-

Thanks Brian!

I thought about Japanese imports for the longest time... but after reading this and many other threads, I just wasn't comfortable with getting such a delicate piece of equipment that can't be serviced "locally". So many parts... so many different potential problems... just didn't feel like the risk. I'll admit I'm a bit more paranoid than others.

But thanks for pointing out QA... I was going to email them for a price quote... didn't realize they would be that much less than 2001.

On a side note... I can't believe there is one retailer in the States, bwayphoto and video, who actually sells BOTH the HDPJ52 and TX200... at $700 difference! So they are REALLY hitting us hard with a tariff or something for the North American version. Some global economy... why can't we just all get along? 8-)

-=K=-

$1620 USD incl. shipping to Canada on fleabay......pm me for contact.........very realiable person.........got mine a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks Brian!

I thought about Japanese imports for the longest time... but after reading this and many other threads, I just wasn't comfortable with getting such a delicate piece of equipment that can't be serviced "locally". So many parts... so many different potential problems... just didn't feel like the risk. I'll admit I'm a bit more paranoid than others.

But thanks for pointing out QA... I was going to email them for a price quote... didn't realize they would be that much less than 2001.

On a side note... I can't believe there is one retailer in the States, bwayphoto and video, who actually sells BOTH the HDPJ52 and TX200... at $700 difference! So they are REALLY hitting us hard with a tariff or something for the North American version. Some global economy... why can't we just all get along? 8-)

-=K=-
I have imported two from Japan without any problems at all. Only thing is you cant get the lovely BLACK model like they have in the USA. The import is anthrisite (very dark gray)

Karcs,

I agree with Lawguy, in that there is no easy answer to this question and there are many different opinions and solutions. One thing for sure, is that it does depend on your source and your display device and the combination of the two together, and the hookup method used that produces the difference between a sharp clear noise free image and a softer, and slightly noisier picture. Another argument is wether or not to let the source do the deinterlacing/scaling or the the display device. Depending on the quality and or capabilities of either device will decide as to which one may look better or be the one to use. It comes down to picture quality, so try using different methods with different equipment and see which one produces the better image.

In the case of the PJTX200(HDPJ52), the Oppo player works very well with this projector. I have tried both 720p and 1080i hooked up through HDMI and the 1080i wins hands down. While 720p looks very good at first, but when switching to 1080i the image immediately becomes more stable and sharper. HDMI looks better than component hook up on this projector, with the Oppo wether in 720p or 1080i.

There are different deinterlacing/scaling options on the PJTX200(HDPJ52), they are TV, film and Auto. Leave it on Auto, as I have not noticed the difference in picture quality watching Sat TV or DVD using either of the two other settings. It may even confuse the projector more trying to impart it's own deinterlacing/scaling on the image especially in the case of the up-converting Oppo. Let the Oppo deinterlace/scale the image and send to the projector.


Hope this helps!

I use the Denon 3910 with the TX200, hooked up with HDMI and also Component.

I have switched between 480, 720p and 1080i on the Denon dozens and dozens of times to find what maight look better but for "love or money" I just cant see anything better in image qaulity at all!!!! :mad: So what does that mean??? :confused: Is my expensive Denon a waste of money? Whats going on here?

The image on the Component through my Denon is SOOOO silky and clean (no image grain)
Sometimes the Component looks better than the HDMI as often the image is a bit grainy! Yet the HDMI does have a little more detail.

I'm considering the Hitachi and the Mitsubishi HC3000
What's everyone think about their Hitachi, good and bad, which do you recommend?
Thanks in Advance for any help or light you can shed
Frank

fsamuell - I believe that you would be happy with either projector. I would be guided by price. If you are prepared to pay more for the HC3000 (both upfront and lamp cost) you will probably get a slightly better experience with it.

Keep in mind that all projectors have flaws. If you are the kind of person that concentrates on flaws, you will find them in either and be unhappy. If you are the kind of person that can live with flaws, you will see them if you look for them, but you won't really mind. Keep in mind that my biggest complaint is bad source material. Most source material doesn't won't do either PJ justice, especially at my screen size of 106", which reveals the imperfections of the source material. I wishthe format war between HD-DVD and blueray would resolve so I would feel comfortable buying a HD player

I am very happy with DVD playback over my HTPC. After a lot of tweaking, I now have a very sharp film-like picture that most people would assume is HD. HD cable really looks great. HD Sports, especially Yankee games, are amazing. I find myself watching the prople in the stands eating hot dogs and drinking beer. One issue I have noticed after watching several epidodes of Law and Order in HD is that I get a really dark picture and lose a lot of detail in the black areas. This only appears to happen with Law and Order though. Movies like Sin City (which is mostly black and white and full of shadow) really look great. I can't figure out the Law and Order issue though and assume that it must be source-related.

I have not noticed any color uniformity issues at all. No banding of any kind either. The picture looks pretty much as good as it can. There is some screen door at my viewing distance of 1 1/2 screen widths, which is mostly present in very bright scenes. It does not bother me and is not much worse than you would see with a dlp projector.

My main complaint is that there is not enough HD material on the market yet. SD television is mostly unwatchable to me. I would rather watch it on a smaller regular TV so that I do not notice how bad it really is.

I advise you to take most of what you read here and elsewhere and look objectively. Some people like to complain and other like to brag. Figure out what kind of person wrote what you are reading. Some even try to be fair. There are quite a few myths that have been repeated so often that they are commonly accepted as true, when they are really not true.

Still, One thing that many people repeat (and probably is true) is that these classes of projectors would have cost tens of thousands just a few years ago. Another is that the quality difference between thesee clases and those that cost many many thousand is slight and probably would not be appreciated by most people who view them.

I use the Denon 3910 with the TX200, hooked up with HDMI and also Component.

I have switched between 480, 720p and 1080i on the Denon dozens and dozens of times to find what maight look better but for "love or money" I just cant see anything better in image qaulity at all!!!! :mad: So what does that mean??? :confused: Is my expensive Denon a waste of money? Whats going on here?

The image on the Component through my Denon is SOOOO silky and clean (no image grain)
Sometimes the Component looks better than the HDMI as often the image is a bit grainy! Yet the HDMI does have a little more detail.

I use my 200 with a Denon codefree PAL DVD1920 with a 15m long HDMI directly connected and a 15m component over my amplifier. With HDMI there is less grain and better scaling (tried 720p so far, heard 1080i might be better but have not tried yet) but jerky playback (best seen on end credits, it's not scrolling smoothly but has little jumps). Over component 480p and 576p it's grainier, the scaling is slightly less good but colors, sharpness and depth of image are better, and there ist absolutely no jerkyness.

I preferr component. Yet I could not test it with other HDMI sources.

Hello,
My tx100 has about 2500 hours on it and the fan has started making noise. It sounds like the bearings are going and the fan unit needs to be replaced. I contacted Hitachi, due to its age they referred me to a local shop to do the work. I was quoted $475 plus parts. I am trying to secure a fan. Has anyone replaced their fan? I am curious if it is an easy job or if it going to require to tear half of the unit apart.

Thanks
Ken

No matter how hard the job is, if you are remotely mechanically inclined, you would save a fortune by replacing the fan yourself. Can't say how easy you will find it, but its worth seeing if you can do it yourself.

I use my 200 with a Denon codefree PAL DVD1920 with a 15m long HDMI directly connected and a 15m component over my amplifier. With HDMI there is less grain and better scaling (tried 720p so far, heard 1080i might be better but have not tried yet) but jerky playback (best seen on end credits, it's not scrolling smoothly but has little jumps). Over component 480p and 576p it's grainier, the scaling is slightly less good but colors, sharpness and depth of image are better, and there ist absolutely no jerkyness.

I preferr component. Yet I could not test it with other HDMI sources.

BigRalf

I use a Denon 2910 with a 25 foot HDMI upconverted to 1080i: I find the picture better than 720p. I also noticed the jerky playback 1080i but it completely disappeared when I enabled frame lock in the projector menu.

John

No matter how hard the job is, if you are remotely mechanically inclined, you would save a fortune by replacing the fan yourself. Can't say how easy you will find it, but its worth seeing if you can do it yourself.

I agree. I am pretty handy and prefer to do things myself. I do admit, however that the thought of disassembling a prejector makes me nervous.

Does anyone know where to find the service manual for the TX200/HDPJ52?

Does anyone know where to find the service manual for the TX200/HDPJ52?I've had one back-ordered for the HDPJ52 for ages. I don't think a service manual exists.

BigRalf

I use a Denon 2910 with a 25 foot HDMI upconverted to 1080i: I find the picture better than 720p. I also noticed the jerky playback 1080i but it completely disappeared when I enabled frame lock in the projector menu.

John

Important observation. I will keep that in mind :)

I agree. I am pretty handy and prefer to do things myself. I do admit, however that the thought of disassembling a prejector makes me nervous.

Does anyone know where to find the service manual for the TX200/HDPJ52?


I think I might have found a source for the fan. I will have to open the projector in the next day or two. If I decide to replace the fan myself I will take pictures and document the replacement. I have the older TX100 but I wouldn't be surprised if the innards are very similar to the TX200

Bummer, I got the exploded diagram of the projector and it looks like there might be 3 fans. One for the Lamp, Lamp PBS, Panel. Does anyone know what PBS means. Also the three fans have a safety note that says,

".. have special characteristics important to safety. Before replacing any of these components, read carefully, the PRODUCT SAFETY NOTICE of this Service Manual. Don't degrade the safety of the projector through improper servicing."

Does anyone have a service manual?

BigRalf

I use a Denon 2910 with a 25 foot HDMI upconverted to 1080i: I find the picture better than 720p. I also noticed the jerky playback 1080i but it completely disappeared when I enabled frame lock in the projector menu.

John

I tried the frame lock and it worked! Thanks. :-)

Sorry for the earlier TX100 posts. Somehow I thought I was posting on the old TX100 tread. I almost bought a new TX100 on ebay last night, I forgot about it and by the time I was back to my computer there was on 13 seconds left and not enough time to sign into ebay. It went for $700, not bad considering the bulb is worth $250. I though it would make a good spare. Anyway I think I lucked out. I cleaned my airfilter last night and it appears that the fan noise went away. Maybe the filter wasn't properly seated and was vibrating.

^ Glad to hear everything's fine with your TX100 Kenrosencpa.

You bring up a good reminder point about cleaning filters and I couldn't find anything in this thread about that.

I have a PJTX200 with about 120 hours on it and everything is great, I'm loving it! Awesome projector.

Question:
The default setting for the filter cleaning reminder is set at 100hrs by Hitachi. Someone else told me not to worry about it, do it every 500 hours or so. (Example, this is the default on the Panny AE900, 500hrs)

The only options to set the filter cleaning reminder on TX200 are 100, 200, and 300hrs. What are you guys doing and what do you recommend? I'm on whisper mode, have it ceiling mounted in basement. Also have two little dogs and we're non- smokers.

Also, can anyone describe the best way to clean your filter. Are you using anything specifically, vacuum???

Thanks!

Sixer6 -

I would clean your filter every hundred hours just like Hitachi recommends. Proper airflow is extremely important in cooling the PJ and extending lamp life.

That being said, you should be very cautious in cleaning the filter. Some people have reported dust entering the projector and findings its way onto an LCD panel after a cleaning. To avoid this problem, I first dust the entire projector with a damp cloth being careful not to get any dust airborn. Then, I remove the plastic filter cover first dust all around it with a clean damp cloth to remove any dust that might be disturbed. Then, I vacuum the exterior of the filter with a brush attachment. Only then will I remove the filter. After removing it, I use scotch tape to tape the opening closed with a piece of paper. I then vacuum the inner part of the filter with a brush attachment and replace the filter. I may be paranoid, but I think that it is easier to stop dust from getting in than to get it out.

Every 100 hours or when it looks dirty enough to clean. Unless you are damaging the filter when you clean it, it never hurts to clean it often, within reason. I think I have 80 hours on my TX200 and I have cleaned mine twice.

Hey Lawguy and CPC thanks for your advice.

Lawguy, I'm alot like you in terms of being anal and will follow the same procedure you've outlined, thanks that's awesome and very smart! Seems like overkill, but I don't have money to spare, lol! Did I misread your post, did you say you replace the filter every time? If so, how much?

CPC, I don't think I'll be cleaning it every 50 hours, lol. That seems like overkill, but each to your own for sure dude. I have 130 hours and yet to clean. I'll do it shortly when I get a chance. It would seem to me even every 200 hours would be fine.

Why is that the Panasonic AE900 recommends every 500 hours to clean filter?

What's everyone else doing for cleaning filters in terms of timespan and who has the most hours on their Hitachi?

Yeah, well, mine is shelf mounted, so I always look at the filter every few weeks. It looks dirty at all, I clean it. I am not so keen on the TX200 filter vs the TX100. The TX100 had two filters while the 200 only has one. I already have a dust blob too. I think I should get that panty-hose and stretch it over the outside to pre-filter without suffocating it in terms of air flow for cooling.

I just got a copy of the service manual for this projector. It comes compressed in a rar format and I can't open it here at work. If anyone can assist in opening it, please let me know.

Sixer6, The filter should be replaced after about 2000 hours, or roughly the same time that you change the lamp. In fact, the part number for the replacement lamp, DT00665, comes with a replacement filter. Too bad that you can't get this anywhere in the states. You have to get part no DT00661, which doesn't have the filter included. The filters costs about $30 on its own, which seems pretty reasonable until you consider that it is essentially a small paper-like device.

The filter is electrostatic and does a good job of trapping dust and protecting the projector. In my opinion, the biggest threat of dust coming in the PJ is when you clean the filter!

I just got a copy of the service manual for this projector. It comes compressed in a rar format and I can't open it here at work. If anyone can assist in opening it, please let me know.
I will do it. I've sent you a PM.

The service manual contains the procedure to clean dust off the LCD Panels. It does not look too complicated, which makes me feel a lot better. You just need a screwdriver, canned air, a vacuum and a q-tip.

I'll have to run the powercord in the ceiling and the walls. Can someone tell me the length of the powerd cord please? Is it ok to use a power cord extender or is it better to find a 16' powercord?

Thanks to you all

I'm at work now so I can't check, but if I recall it was about 8' long...I installed a power outlet in the ceiling so I just need a short cord but I did recall it was longer than most cords I've gotten.

I'm not sure you can find an actual 16' power cord, but why not just get an 8' (or whatever) extension cord? Probably wont look that attractive though if you have to run the cables down a wall. If you had access to another wall outlet, it might be worth it to try and splice into it and run another outlet from it...

I'll have to run the powercord in the ceiling and the walls. Can someone tell me the length of the powerd cord please? Is it ok to use a power cord extender or is it better to find a 16' powercord?

Thanks to you all


Roussie

I used a 50 foot extension cord rated for inwall installation so a could plug the projector into my APC home theater power conditioner and UPS. Works like a charm.

John

The service manual contains the procedure to clean dust off the LCD Panels. It does not look too complicated, which makes me feel a lot better. You just need a screwdriver, canned air, a vacuum and a q-tip.

hi,
could you tell me where u got that manual? i have an english one too, but i dont find anything about cleaning the lcd panels, only the lens, and replacing the lamp... :confused:

Another newbie type question guys, will any other settings on this projector effect how long the bulb will last other than Whisper Mode.

Eg. If I have the Gamma setting at 'High' all the time, will this decrease the life of my bulb?

Will any other settings decrease the life of my bulb? Just curious as I find with the gamma at high, the picture looks the best.

Thanks.

ps. Cleaned the filter at 140hrs last night with vacuum. Everything went fine, followed your procedures lawguy. Didn't seem dirty at all. But will do every 100hrs from now on. Thanks guys!

Does anyone know if it is possible to program discrete access to the memory modes for a programmable remote? As I am using a scaler, I was hoping to have a one button macro to switch between a bright picture for TV viewing and a dimmer one for DVDs.

Oliver

Hello.

I tried to feed an HDMI signal from an LG DVX 9900H DVD player to the TX200, but I couldn't get it to work (I got a "no input detected" signal). To rule out various possibilities I connected the DVD with a Sony Bravia 32" LCD screen via the HDMI cable and it worked flawlessly, so no problem with the cable or the player. Next, I fed a Laptop signal (normal VGA) and it also worked. Next, I fed a component signal from the same DVD player and worked once more. So, I figure it has something to do with the settings?? I set up the DVD player to output a Component Signal (not an RGB one) and fiddled with the resolution, to no avail. The projector briefly recognises the HDMI signal and displays it on the screen and then flickers and gives out the "no input detected" message. Any ideas of which settings should I change?

Thanks.

soiram (Mario?), have you checked if the hdmi plug is fully inserted in the projector input?

I had a problem identical to yours and it was due to the HDMI plug being slightly too big to fit properly in the recessed input.
It looked like contact was made but it wasn't.

I used a Stanley knife to shave some of the plug off.
The plug now makes full contact with the HDMI input and the HDMI signal is now detected. :)

I'm running a 35' monoprice HDMI cable with a Sony DVPNS70H and no problems...Everythings set to auto and the projector picks up the sony hdmi connection fine.. I don't recall having to change any settings.

I read somewhere that the order you powerup things might matter... try dvd first, then projector or vice versa... for me it doesnt seem to matter...

Theres another thread about having 'frame lock' turned on for hdmi..but I think that was just for jerky playback....

soiram (Mario?), have you checked if the hdmi plug is fully inserted in the projector input?

I had a problem identical to yours and it was due to the HDMI plug being slightly too big to fit properly in the recessed input.
It looked like contact was made but it wasn't.

I used a Stanley knife to shave some of the plug off.
The plug now makes full contact with the HDMI input and the HDMI signal is now detected. :)

Thanks (again ;-) ) ddlooping. Will try to check it out tomorrow.

U4IA, I took the PJ and the DVD to the store and the guy tried them with another cable and the PJ worked flawlessly, automatically picking up the signal. It seems it's the cable, BUT I have checked it with a HD-REady TV and it worked :confused:

Will try the closest fit, or else I am swapping the cable...

Thanks.

You're welcome. ;)

Has anyone tried an HD dvd player with their Hitachi TX200 ? If so, how do you like it?

I stumbled across this review of the HDPJ52. They seemed to like it.

http://ultimateavmag.com/videoprojectors/506hitachi/

CPC - I just ordered an HD XA1 - just could not resist waiting and managed to get $50.00 off ( every bit helps at $1,000 cdn.) so if this unit arrives by the weekend I hope to try it out on the Hitachi, I'll only be able to try one title initially so I think it will be Apollo 13. The downside to all this is wanting to get a 1080 pj before too long to take full advantage of HD's potential. I was really going to wait for the 2nd generation since I bought the Sony NS75H to tide me over but it is almost a sure bet the build quality will not be as substantial - guess I'll have to live with the one somewhat annoying quirk ( load times ).

Cool. Let me know how the picture looks, both upscaling SD and HD-DVD's themselves. Best Buy and Future Shop have HD-DVD players for sub $1000 CDN as far as I knew.

Yes, the HD A1 is $700.00 and the place I ordered the XA1 from had some - it is by far the most popular of the two, but why pay less? I like the look of the XA1 and the funny thing is the only one they could get at this point was in Toronto - so if they ship it ground it probably will not be here until next Monday.

That's cool. I can't remember what the other HD-DVD player is. I only know of the Toshiba. I would be interested to find out how it looks on the Hitachi TX200. It is neat that you can go out and get a player that outputs 720p which is not just upscaled, but is actually 720p vs a SD 480p dvd. In my mind, I would think it should look quite a bit better, but it depends on how well they do the re-master, or the new transfer or whatever you want to call it etc etc.

enjoy your new toy and report back ;)

Could somebody give me some feedback about cleaning the insides of the TX200 of dust blobs? I did it with my Panasonic AE100 and L200 and it was fairly easy, but I am wondering if its similar for the TX200. I have a service manual, but its kinda lame regarding disassembly instructions.

Can someone tell me if the cieling mount holes are the same on the pjtx100 as the pjtx200? Is it the same chasis?
How about the interior air filter? Same for both units?
Thanks

Has anyone got any tips on calibration ?

Im a UK user and found the following on the AVForums

Color Temp:

Use 7500K as reference, then set:

Low RGB: +1, +2, +3
Mid RGB: -4, +2, 0
High RGB: 0, +1, -5

Gamma:

Use standard as reference, then set:

1: +1
2: +2
3: +3
4: +2
5: 0
6: -3
7: -3
8: -4
9:-3

Black: Auto1

Iris: 3

Sharpness: 5

however try as I might and spending AGES calibrating I find the colour is too red and warm - have found that the best greens and blues are obtained by the 9500k setting but red are always too high

I have to turn the coloyr setting down to get anything approaching acceptable but that leaves a washed out image

After watching Phantom Of The Opera, Apollo 13, The Bourne Supremacy and Serenity HD DVDs on the Hitachi all I can say is - if you can afford the present players don't hesitate - despite some minor issues with the Toshiba HD A1 & XA1 they sure make the viewing experience alot more involving. Even at the native resolution of 720P I could see so many advantages over SD dvds - color, detail, & depth to the image and of course even the Dolby Digital + was improved over the usual DD 5.1. I'd love to hear Dolby TrueHD! At present it will only send it ( TrueHD ) over the 2 channel Analog output so hopefully there will be a firmware update down the road. Now all we need are more titles - that is the downside at the moment.

Hi all,

I purchased this projector back in Feb. of 06. It has been great till today when it quit working. I turned it on and it was working fine for about 5 minutes when the screen went blank. I noticed the power light and temp light flashing and fan was on high speed. I read the manual and it said to let it cool down for 20 minutes then retry. It turns on and the LCD logo comes on for a few seconds then it does the same thing. The temp light flashes red and power light flashes red. Fan on high speed for a few minutes. Does anyone have any ideas as to what could be causing this? I have cleaned the filter. I am currently trying to get a hold of Hitachi to see if there is a repair center in my area. NOTE: lamp has between 400 and 500 hrs. thanks for any information you can provide me.

You are right that when the power and temp light are flashing that it is a sign that the PJ is overheating.

You hear the fan working that is a good thing. The bulb is also working, that is good.

How did you clean the filter? Have you cleaned it regularly? Are you sure that the filter and the filter door are seated properly?

If all of these thing are as they should be and you are still having trouble, I would recommend that you leave the PJ unplugged overnight and try again.

If this doesn't work, call Hitachi for guidance.

I'm new to the whole projector HT thing but I just bought the Hitachi HDPJ52 projector and couldn't wait to set it up. This is obviously just a tempoary solution, I plan on mounting the projector on the wall. I am extremely happy with the picture quality! For now here are some shots of my apartment HT in action. :)

Note: All these pictures are taken with my Canon SD450...I am a complete noob with camera's atm and am still learning how to take better pics.

Here's a shot of my room showing the screen, which for now is just a white board I plan on painting and putting a 2in black velvet boarder around. http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/2248/projector004mj6.jpg

Here's a shot of my aquarium which I plan to fill full of fishies! =P
http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/8135/shometheater002fs3.jpg

Pic of my component stand...nothing spectacular but gives nice sound for my apartment..and the DVD player is a LG upconverting player. http://img472.imageshack.us/img472/377/shometheater005vj4.jpg

And of course a picture of my lovely leather sofa including...OMG my projector! Again..this is a temporary solution LOL. http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/2731/shometheater004kx6.jpg

Next is a shot of some god awful blinds that will be switched out for something not green and more light blocking! (Landlord OK'd it) http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/9824/shometheater006lg4.jpg

Now are just a couple shots I got from my HBO Spawn DVD Series..I will upload more shots from different movies later. http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/805/projector006pr2.jpg http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/9513/projector008jb2.jpg http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/5725/projector010uo0.jpg

Overall, I am very pleased with my setup and I look forward to reading these forums and absorbing all of this useful information you guys can give me. Next to come is some acessories and posters.

peace

Nice pics Remij. Keep us posted on your experiences.

If you are looking for a screen to pair with your HDPJ52, I recommend the Dalite High Power screen, which I have found really complements this PJ, if your set-up allows for it.

If I were you, I would get some light blocking curtains for those big windows as well.

What kind of settings did the PJ have for those pictures?

Hi everyone.

I've owned a PJ TX 200 for about 4-5 months now and have been very satisfied with it up to a couple of weeks ago, when it started having this problem where about 30m-1h30 after I have it on the picture suddenly darkens a lot (and yes I have auto black off). I worry that I might have over used it and killed the lamp life? I'm currently at 330h lamp time. I've used it mostly for gaming and watched a lot of the WC games in it.

I was wondering if anyone could help me/share some insight as to what the problem may be? Do you think this is the lamp dying on me (despite only being at 330h) or could it be a more serious problem with the projector itself?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Please describe your problem in a little bit more detail. Has this happened once or does it happen each time that you use it after .5-1 1/2 hours?

What mode is your fan in - normal or whisper? Try changing this setting.

Also, clean you filter if you have not done so already. Also, just try toggling through iris settings for each iris and let us know what happens at each setting.

I would try calling Hitachi. They have excellent customer support.

N1N,

I don't think it is necessarily a case of overuse as these bulbs have a half life of around 1500 to 2000 hrs but it could be a case of power inconsistency as I had with a Dell projector two years ago.

I went through two dell projectors due to my bulb dimming once after about 50 hrs or so and the second time after about 100 hrs. My problem was that with lightinging storms where i would lose power and also power flickering from the A/C turning on among other things, the projector was not getting the power it needed.

The solution for me was a battery backup. They will handle two different kind of power problems. The first is when the power drops or spikes above or below the amount that it is supposed to provide, which is typically 120 volts. It uses the battery to provide the extra power if it is not receiving 120 volts and also removes excess voltage if the power spikes above 120 just as a surge protector would. Battery backups are usually much better surge protectors and will take a beating compared to the cheap $20 surge protectors. The second benefit is that when you lose power, like in a thunder storm, the backup will begin to run off its battery for as long as the battery can sustain. The life of this backup power depends on the model of battery backup and also the draw of power of the devices you have hooked to it. The switch from regular voltage to battery is seamless on the good units and your projector would never know that it is on the battery.

These features are huge for projectors as the lamps can be extremely sensitive to power fluctuations. The worst is losing power after using the projector for more than half an hour as the bulb is extremely hot and if it not cooled properly by its fan then you can severely damage the bulb. In my case, i had a couple power outages and the hot bulbs was left to cool naturally which damaged it and the brightness was reduced down to 25% of its normal brightness.

Since buying a battery backup, i have had no problems with bulbs on the old dell projector and no problems on my hdpj52. I believe the hitachi consumes a little over 300 watts, so make sure the battery backup, also called a UPS for uninteruptable power supply, is rated for more than the wattage drawn by all devices hooked to it. Mine is an 810 watt UPS from APC who is one of the best and most experienced manufacturers.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Lawguy,
I'd say it has been gradualy getting worse; happening almost every time I use the projector. Today it appeared after about 30m of use. But it's not constant; sometimes it shows up at 2h of use, sometimes 1h, sometimes not at all (although lately this is rare).
I had the fan on normal and changed it to whisper after the first few times it happened- didn't change anything. Cleaned the filter 2 days ago... I'm doing it every 100h. I actually had to send the PJ to the shop at around 50h because it had an annoying dust blob but it hasn't happened again (although I thought it was weird it had blobs so soon).
Do you mean toggling the iris before or after the problem appears? Opening the iris afterwards had little effect; the picture remained too dark.

Rice0209,
Can't really rule out power inconsistency, but so far the projector has always been turned off naturaly. I've had hardware damaged by power spikes after going down because of storms though...
The battery backup is an interesting suggestion; just not too convinced that's what's been screwing up my pjtx.

I know I should have called Hitachi but it didn't seem like an easy problem do demonstrate, as it would require their techs to have the pjtx working until they actually see it happen; and it being inconsistent as to when it actually happens...

To all PJ-TX200 users
Without using the lens shift buttons on the projector how is the image is projected by default? Let's say the PJ is on a coffee table, does the center of the lens correspond to the center of the projected image or is the projected image shifted up vertically? If it's the case (as I suspect) how many inches are there between the center of the lens and the lower border of the projected image?

Thanks!!

To all PJ-TX200 users
Without using the lens shift buttons on the projector how is the image is projected by default? Let's say the PJ is on a coffee table, does the center of the lens correspond to the center of the projected image or is the projected image shifted up vertically? If it's the case (as I suspect) how many inches are there between the center of the lens and the lower border of the projected image?

Thanks!!

Yes the center of the lense is the center of the picture. The answer to the next question depends entirely on the size of the picture you are projecting.

N1N,

I should clarify a little further. The power going completely out is one form of power inconsistency, but the other i was talking about was fluctuations that don't necessarily result in the power going completely off. For example, if you have ever seen your lights in your home dim as your a/c turns on or some other high power device. This is a temporary fluctuation in power. With normal bulbs, this is not nearly as big of a deal, but the bulbs in projectors are much more advanced using different methods to create light and giving off much more heat at the same time. Most projectors have capacitors that are used to try and smooth out the power levels.

It could be only my experience, but my poorly made dell projector suffered two bulbs failing but as soon as i put the battery backup on the system, i never had another bulb problem, although those crappy projectors had many other problems which i would rather not get into as it makes me angry just thinking about it. In that old house with the dell projector, my outlets were greatly affected by the A/C system turning off and on. This is a product of poor electrical planning in an old house, but none the less, it affected my projector.

I recommend that everyone who own a projector purchase a battery backup for their units. Some homes have better wiring schemes than others and are not as geratly affected by it, but it is definitely a nice safety measure if you don't like buying bulbs often.

It's now on the european site. It's still a 720p projector with a 10000:1 contrast. The only difference I can see between this on and the pj-tx200 is the LCD panel is
0.7" P-Si TFT x3 with micro lens. Does anybody knows what micro lens means ???

MLA "brightens" the image substantially and also "softens" the panel('s) grid structure. "MLA" - micro lens array (array ? :)).

A micro-lens array is designed to minimize the screen door effect.

The tx300 really seems to have very small improvements over the tx200 (HDPJ52) - slightly better contrast and less SDE. Good changes, but nothing too dramatic. These changes make an already great projector probably even better.

I would guess that the 10,000:1 spec was obtained by using new algorithms on the dynamic iris. I wonder if they will be any good.

Anyone come up with any "tweaks" or settings to get even more out of this ?

Does anybody have any special instructions or helpful advice for opening up the TX200 to clean it of dust blobs? I have opened up each of a Panasonic AE100, PT-L200 and an AE 300, all nearly identical I know, and all very easy to open up. The TX200 doesn't seem so easy to open up. Am I missing something obvious? I have looked at the service manual and I feel like I have removed the right screws but the cover doesn't seem to want to come off. Am I being too gentle?

thanx,

:)

cpc,

You have probably missed a screw or two. The cover comes off very easily, ie, you need not apply any pressure or force it.

ok, I will check it out again...thanx.

I think I want to buy a TX100 filter set and use that. I have enourmous dust blobs at way under 100 hours!

BTW ..does anybody know if the TX200 is essentially identical to the TX100 as far as dis-assembley is concerned?

thanx

:)

If you have a TX 200 and need to clean it of dust, don't forget about this post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=607853&highlight=tx+100+dust

Good instructions vs the service manual. I was able to fully disassemble my 200 and nuke all the dust. The TX 200 is a little more work to take apart than the AE100's, L200 and AE300 that I have taken apart previously. You would think it is more work to disassemble because the extra stuff inside helps to prevent dust, but that doesn't seem to be the case. My projector was full of dust before I hit 100 hours.

Has anybody gotten the older TX 100 filter system to use on their TX 200? ...or has anybody improved the TX 200 filter system? I have cleaned the air filter 4 or 5 times in 6 months and less than 100 hours and yet I got dust blobs. I admit my room is a little dusty though. Perhaps that is work I should be doing. Vaccuuming and dusting my room while the projector is out of sight or under a dust cover :)

Has anyone encounter this problem before? Where half the screen is slightly tinge with yellow? I know you can do some adjsutments from the factory menu. But the funny thing on my unit is that the yellow side changes sides! Yes thats correct. One day it is the left side, the next the right. Hell it sometimes even changes sides in the same viewing session. Like after and hour or 2 the yellow side changes! How can you calibrate for that?

I would take it apart and clean the dust, and while apart, take a good look at the polarizers etc. Be carefull when doing the work, but removing dust like this often helps alot. If removing dust doesn't help and you don't see anything wrong with the polarizers, I don't know what you should do. If its under warranty, you could take it in. How many hours are on your unit?

I have dust on my green panel. I tried to take my projector apart yesterday. I stopped because I couldn't figure out how the three ribbon connectors on the board are removed. Following the instructions I pushed the black end tabs back but what next.?

BTW my lamp blew out, probably around 700 hours. This is my second the first lasted 1000 hours. I have the tx100 and the lamp is the same as the TX200

I have dust on my green panel. I tried to take my projector apart yesterday. I stopped because I couldn't figure out how the three ribbon connectors on the board are removed. Following the instructions I pushed the black end tabs back but what next.?

BTW my lamp blew out, probably around 700 hours. This is my second the first lasted 1000 hours. I have the tx100 and the lamp is the same as the TX200

After you pull those tabs, the ribbon connectors should EASILY come out. IF you meet any resistance at all, you have done something wrong.

I would take it apart and clean the dust, and while apart, take a good look at the polarizers etc. Be carefull when doing the work, but removing dust like this often helps alot. If removing dust doesn't help and you don't see anything wrong with the polarizers, I don't know what you should do. If its under warranty, you could take it in. How many hours are on your unit?


160m hours. Other then this problem the unit has been fantastic. I am almost happy with the black level on my grey screen. But as I dun see how this is a dust problem if it is always half the screen which somehow seems to be related to misconverge? Maybe this weekend I will just take it out for a clean to see if it helps. thanks.

After you pull those tabs, the ribbon connectors should EASILY come out. IF you meet any resistance at all, you have done something wrong.

Do the pull tabs come all the way out. I slid the two tabs back about 1/8 inch and they stopped. If thats all which direction do the connectors separate. back towards the tabs? straight up?

Do the pull tabs come all the way out. I slid the two tabs back about 1/8 inch and they stopped. If thats all which direction do the connectors separate. back towards the tabs? straight up?

The tabs only pull out one way, which is how you appeared to have described it. After that, the connectorsjust kind of pop out. There should only be one way that they can come out. Keep in mind that only the ribbons come out, ie there is no connector attached to the ribbon, they are held in by the force of the closed tabs.

The tabs only pull out one way, which is how you appeared to have described it. After that, the connectorsjust kind of pop out. There should only be one way that they can come out. Keep in mind that only the ribbons come out, ie there is no connector attached to the ribbon, they are held in by the force of the closed tabs.


I pulled the tabs but the connector didn't pop. It looks like I am going to have to give them a little pressure to get them off. Should I lift the connector straight off the board or pull back towards the tabs? Maybe I didn't pull the tabs out far enough however I did apply some extra pressure on them to see if they moved a little more. If only I could see how one went together this would all be so easy.
thanks
Ken

OK. I think I see the problem here. The connectors that have the tabs on them don't come off at all. The ribbon cables just pop out of the connectors. Don't apply any pressure to the connectors. They are soldered to the board!

Yeah, do not try to pull off any plastic connector. You are only disconnecting and pulling out one end of a bare ribbon cable and all you see are the bare strip edge of connector conductors. Be very careful and just push those two tabs at each side back towards the direction of the ribbon, then gently pull on the ribbon itself and it will come out away from the connector. The tabs are just part of a plastic fitting that forces up from the bottom of the ribbon to make the ribbon connection fit tight. Its a sort of friction fit and its very precise, so be careful not to damage the end of that ribbon cable! I was able to take the whole deal apart and blow all the parts and re-assemble without any issues. I did get dust right on the lcd at one point, but my Re-Air blew it off. Phew. Good luck :)

Thanks, I think I got it now. I have been living with dust blobs for a few months. A portion of my screen has a magenta tint. Last week my lamp blew out so I needed to take the unit down. I tried blowing air inside the unit but there really is very little access so you really need to take the whole thing apart. I'm on my third lamp, the first went the full 2000 hours. The second I think blew at around 700 hours, I won't know the exact time until I get the new lamp installed. I wasn't home when it happened but the central lamp stem blew up leaving broken glass which is still contained within the lamp. It's going to take a week to get a replacement. This is our main video source in the home so the kids were dissappointed when I told them it would take a week or so to get it fixed. Last night I drove into the office and borrowed my Sharp Notevision PG-B10S to use as a replacement. It's working fine but I had to use an insane amount of keystone to get the picture square. Keep a spare projector around just in case

2000 hours on your first bulb sound so-so. Are you running whisper mode (low bulb)?

Is anybody using a better dust filter system for their TX 200?

I have a tx100, the manual clearly says at 2000 hours it needs replacement. Funny the 200 doesn't have a finite lamp life. The lamp part numbers are different so maybe the 200 has a safer lamp. I was ok with 2k hours but not 700. For most of the first bulb I ran the fan at high speed as I didn't know that I had to set it up for whisper mode. The second lamp was run almost entirely in whisper. With only two bulbs experience you can't infer much, but lamp life is definitely shortened by heat

There are actually two different settings that might affect bulb life. The first is whisper mode. The second is fan speed. When whisper is engaged, the lamp runs cooler. The side effect is that the bulb isn't as bright. Fan speed, when set to high, actually moves more air through the projector. It is meant for high altitudes, acording to the manual.

If I were to use my projector as my primary TV, I would use the high fan speed mode. It is noisier, but it definitely moves a lot more air than normal mode. I don't think that the extra noise would be much of a factor under normal TV viewing. If you are watching a movie, just go back to normal fan speed.

The manual says that it should not be used more than six hours in a given day. That is plently for me, but it wouldn't be if I used it as my primary TV.

Just saw that the projectorpeople.com is selling the tx100 for $999, not bad for non gray market.

I am going to check again to see if I can run it high fan and low bulb. It is noisier. I don't use my projector an aweful lot and not for long durations.

I took it apart and put it back together. It's a little scarry, cleaning the panels isn't for the timid. Hopefully I will get the new lamp this week and I will see if it still works.

Wow my new lamp arrived today. I ordered on Monday and arrived on Wednesday. they had their supplier drop ship from WA to Northern CA. Got to give it a try tonight to see if my projector still works.

Fingers are crossed...toes too. :)

Well I have it together and it is working. Unfortunately I have a two inch yellow tinted band along the top of the screen. I had to remove one of the light filters to clean it as there was dust between the clear glass and the tinted panel. I took it apart again and made sure the filter was aligned and it appears fine, but I still have the yellow band. It's watchable but it bugs me. Any clues on what is causing it? BTW the old bulb went a little over 1000 hours before it blew.

Well I have it together and it is working. Unfortunately I have a two inch yellow tinted band along the top of the screen. I had to remove one of the light filters to clean it as there was dust between the clear glass and the tinted panel. I took it apart again and made sure the filter was aligned and it appears fine, but I still have the yellow band. It's watchable but it bugs me. Any clues on what is causing it? BTW the old bulb went a little over 1000 hours before it blew.

Ken,

I would bet that your problem is easily fixed. Make sure that the LCD ribbon cables are properly seated in the connectors. I had the same thing happen to me in an almost brand new HDPJ52 and nearly cried. I reseated the ribbon cables and it worked perfectly again. They should be seated square in the connectors and in as far as they can possibly go.

Good luck.

Ken,

I would bet that your problem is easily fixed. Make sure that the LCD ribbon cables are properly seated in the connectors. I had the same thing happen to me in an almost brand new HDPJ52 and nearly cried. I reseated the ribbon cables and it worked perfectly again. They should be seated square in the connectors and in as far as they can possibly go.

Good luck.


Wow, you were right those little guys need to be seated just right. I took it apart 3 times looking for another cause of the problem, you would have thought that 1 out of 3 times I would have gotten the cable seated correctly. This time I slid a small screw driver under the cable to hold it up while I applied pressure to seat it, that fixed it, thanks. I still have a little magenta hue on one part of the screen, better then it was before. I only removed one of the three lenses and filters for cleaning. The others looked ok. The LCDs are very clean. I would think dust blobs are more of a problem on the LCD and less so on the lenses before the LCD. Maybe one of my panels is a little weak causing the slight discoloration. Thanks again, you saved me having to go out and buy a new projector. I will be upgrading someday, probably when this lamp goes.

Ken, I am glad that you fixed it and can live with that magenta hue. Sounds like dust to me. I can see how you wouldnt want to open it up again. It is scary to do it.

Ken, I am glad that you fixed it and can live with that magenta hue. Sounds like dust to me. I can see how you wouldnt want to open it up again. It is scary to do it.
I already took it apart 4 times now so what's one more. I went this far I might as well finish the job. It only takes me 15 minutes to tear it down and put it back together. Did you remove the filters for cleaning?

I would clean the Panels and the Polarizers.

currently at around 1300 hours on this projector. now the picture keeps alternating between bright, dim, bright, dim, bright dim etc.. not excessively, but enough to be noticeable and annoying.

is this the characteristic of the bulb on it's last legs (mostly on normal mode, not econ) ?

i've had this problem before at 400 hours when i used to be on econ mode most of the time. to resolve it, i switched to normal mode and the problem disappeared. apparently quite a few people have had this issue with this projector.

but now the flickering is back, and since i'm on normal mode, i'm out of options.

any ideas ? could this be a fault with the projector, or just the bulb ? any opinions appreciated. thanks.

I would clean the Panels and the Polarizers.


Mission accomplished. I couldn't go through all of that and still have dust blobs. I took it apart again and removed all of the filters and cleaned them. After 5 attempts I finally got it clean. Does that qualify me as an expert ? :cool: Cyberheaters post is very good but he doesn't mention cleaning the filters. There are 3 sets of filters opposite the LCD's. In my case the lcd's were fairly clean but the the filters had all kinds of dust on them. The LCD's are fairly issolated from the airflow but the filters are more exposed to the airflow. Those of you that try this I would recommend cleaning the filters, just remove the retaining screws and clean the filters. When you reassemble the filters just make sure they are square to the assembly when you tighten them up, it should be obvious when you do it. Thanks for all of the help. Another plus is my fan is much quieter then it was before, don't know why but the cleaning quieted the fan. :D

Hi all,

A while back I posted that my projector took a dump. Everytime I tured it on it would go into overtemp condition and shut down. Well it took about a month and a half but they finally called me and said it was done. The thing had a bad circuit board. My question is for you Ken, Where did you purchase your bulb? I would like to purchase an extra to have around. It really sucked not have my projector for such a long time. Also does the place you purchased your bulb carry filters? Thanks for any information you can provide me.

AndyM,

Are you using the auto iris mode? If you are, turn it off. Not necessarily a permanent solution, rather, its a combination temporary fix/trouble-shooting test. If it stops when you change to auto-iris off, then there could be something wrong there.

Ken,

Interesting about the filters. I didn't notice or do anything about them. Did you detach the polarizers? If so, did you return them to their original location/alignment?

Hi all,

A while back I posted that my projector took a dump. Everytime I tured it on it would go into overtemp condition and shut down. Well it took about a month and a half but they finally called me and said it was done. The thing had a bad circuit board. My question is for you Ken, Where did you purchase your bulb? I would like to purchase an extra to have around. It really sucked not have my projector for such a long time. Also does the place you purchased your bulb carry filters? Thanks for any information you can provide me.

I got the lamp at digitalconnection.com . I didn't purchase any filters from them so I don't know if they carry them. I have a tx100 but give them a call I would think they can get the tx200 lamp

AndyM,

Are you using the auto iris mode? If you are, turn it off. Not necessarily a permanent solution, rather, its a combination temporary fix/trouble-shooting test. If it stops when you change to auto-iris off, then there could be something wrong there.

Ken,

Interesting about the filters. I didn't notice or do anything about them. Did you detach the polarizers? If so, did you return them to their original location/alignment?

I referred to the filters and polarizers they are the same. The three filters/polarizers provide the light for the three LCD's. I guess the light needs to be filtered differently depending up which color LCD they provide light to. When you pull out the lcd unit look inside the space where the lcds fit in and you will see 3 sets of filters. There are retaining screws for them and are easy to remove. I think one had three elements, and as I recall it was the one feeding the green lcd. The last lens was clear and I don't think it can removed it without breaking the projector down even more so I only cleaned the surface I had access to. Another one had two lenses and the last only had one lens, they both came out for easy cleaning. Once you clean them you can put them back in and tighten them down with the set screws. There isn't much to do to align them just make sure they are square to the opening. You can loosen the set screw and square up the filter and retighten it down. It really was easy to do and not much to goof up. IMO you really need to clean them because as I said before they were very dirty. The dust needs to go through the filters before it can land on the LCD's so the filters collect most of the dust. Now that you know maybe it's time to re-open up your projector and give it a good cleaning. I suspect that dust on the filters isn't nearly as bad as dust on the LCD's because all they do is provide filtered light to the LCDs. I had an area on that was projecting a magenta hue. Cleaning the LCD's didn't fix the problem but it was rectified after cleaning the filters.

Ken,

Congratulations. I think that you are an expert now.

By the way, how did your polarizers look? Besides being dirty, was there any hint of them getting burned out? One thing that I am paranoid about is burned out polarizers but I don't recall any Hitachi users ever reporting this problem. I hope that it is just superior design!

Ken,

Congratulations. I think that you are an expert now.

By the way, how did your polarizers look? Besides being dirty, was there any hint of them getting burned out? One thing that I am paranoid about is burned out polarizers but I don't recall any Hitachi users ever reporting this problem. I hope that it is just superior design!

They were just fine. BTW if someone figures out how to remove the intermost lens for the green panel let me know. I didn't spend much time tiring to figure it out.

The odd thing is that, based on the Hitachi parts list, Polarizers are not a replacemnt part, at least on the TX200. You have to repace the entire dichroic optics unit, which is very expensive.

AndyM,

Are you using the auto iris mode? If you are, turn it off. Not necessarily a permanent solution, rather, its a combination temporary fix/trouble-shooting test. If it stops when you change to auto-iris off, then there could be something wrong there.


I am having the same problem as AndyM. No matter what you use, autoIris, each iris setting, silent mode, changing fan speeds. It keeps switching from bright to dim to bright...
Bulb time is around 547h, I am experiencing this prob since 500h. It is really annoying.
I've attached an UPS to this unit as I thought, it could be voltage spikes, but this didn't change a thing. I have a clean current of 230V.
It might be some kind of overheating, since this problem occurs after 5 minutes of use. So it begins after the parts get warmer.
The unit ran always on normal mode with the fan on normal (though mounted on a ceiling).
I think I will take apart this unit and have a look if it isn't dust that blocks the airflow...
Or is it, like AndyM asked, the last lifesigns of a bulb?


Any recommendations are appreciated.

Don

AndyM & Donald24, I had the same problem with my TX100. It was noticable with a still image, but not too bad with program material. I reseated the lamp & that fixed the problem. I figure it's because the pj's ceiling mounted & the walking upstairs jars it. It's starting to happen again, so I'm going to try reseating it. I've got about 900 hours on the bulb & I've had the pj about 13 months.

The problem I'm having is that I have a bulkhead on one side of the room, so I need to use a lot of lens shift. See http://shorterlink.co.uk/5971
I can focus either the top half or the bottom half, but not the whole screen at the same time. If I lessen the shift, the bottom of the screen comes into focus. I can't tell about the top because it's now projecting onto the ceiling. Is this a defect or should I make a ceiling mounted platform so I can set the pj upright & see how the picture is? I have an extended warranty for another year, but it's football season so I'd have to wait. :)

AndyM,

Are you using the auto iris mode? If you are, turn it off. Not necessarily a permanent solution, rather, its a combination temporary fix/trouble-shooting test. If it stops when you change to auto-iris off, then there could be something wrong there.

cpc - i was. i tried turning it off and it made no difference. interesting enough, i recently turned it off, left the projector for an hour, came back, switched it back on, and now the flashing has gone. for now. thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Topher - the projector isn't ceiling mounted, but if the flashing comes back, i'll try the reseating thing. thanks for the suggestion.

Somebody somewhere mentioned that a possible cure for fluctuating bulb brightness is to leave it on for 6 to 8 hours. I can't recommend that, but I have heard it can help. Something about mercury vapour in the bulb causing problems. I would re-seat the bulb first.

I took the whole lens and lcd filter assembly out, so yes, I cleaned those filters. I cleaned them all 4 or 5 times before re-assembly.

I read in a thread some time ago where Bob Williams from Infocus said that flashing can be due to the anode / cathode in the lamp burning down, and that at some point there are 2 equidistant paths and the arc 'jumps' between them. His suggestion was to switch brightness modes ( low to high, or high to low ) and run the projector that way for a while.

Sometime after I read that, I started to see some flashing on my Mits HC3. I tried the aforementioned low to high trick, and flashing immediately stopped. After watching in bright mode for a few hours, I switched back to low mode, and the flashing never returned.

Jonathan

Somebody somewhere mentioned that a possible cure for fluctuating bulb brightness is to leave it on for 6 to 8 hours. I can't recommend that, but I have heard it can help. Something about mercury vapour in the bulb causing problems. I would re-seat the bulb first.

I took the whole lens and lcd filter assembly out, so yes, I cleaned those filters. I cleaned them all 4 or 5 times before re-assembly.

What did you use to clean them? Those 3M microfabric cloth or just one of the duster for camera lens?

Oliver

Thanks a bunch, Topher!!!

Reseating the lamp got rid of the "flashing"..

So it must be definetely the power connectors of the bulb that somehow lacks contact..

Life is great again :D

Don

Thanks a bunch, Topher!!!

Reseating the lamp got rid of the "flashing"..

So it must be definetely the power connectors of the bulb that somehow lacks contact..

Life is great again :D

Don


Interesting, might the heat have something to do with the loose connection. I had a simular problem with an amp. When it heated up one of the solder connections lost continuity.

I cleaned my projectors inards with compressed air. I have two cans of Re-Air. I pump them up with a bicycle pump and keep squirting air in there. For some reason, one time I got some moisture on something, but is simply water vapour and was gone in seconds. Rarely happens.

I cleaned my projectors inards with compressed air. I have two cans of Re-Air. I pump them up with a bicycle pump and keep squirting air in there. For some reason, one time I got some moisture on something, but is simply water vapour and was gone in seconds. Rarely happens.

Do you think it would be ok to use a camera lens brush cleaner with the vacuum hose close by sucking? :p

Using compressed air just seems to messy....

Oliver

I used a camera lens brush on the lcds. The filters were cleaned with a liquid lens cleaner from a telescope shop.

I would recommend against using any brushes or other material objects until you have exhausted your compressed air options. Use compressed air as besdt you can, cleaning the panels, the polarizer filters, all the cracks and nooks and crannies numerous times before giving up. Dis-assemble it right down like in the TX100 dust blob thread.

I don't recommend using a vacuum. Too much force. I screwed up an AE100 using a vacuum. Compressed air isn't messy at all. At least it didn't prove messy for me.

If you disassemble your projector to the extent shown in the PJ-TX100 dust blob cleaning post, and you aim the compressed air into all the places you possibly can, you should be able to clean the dust. Remember, you are cleaning dust, so it should not take any more than forced air to clean it. I got a fleck of dust or something on one of the lcd panels just out of carelessness and it wasn't coming off. I started to panic. My compressed air was low, so I calmed down and took my other fully charged up can or Re-Air and aimed it close to the panel and the dust blew off no problem. I would try air first.

Buy a couple cans of Re-Air. You need a nice bicycle pump because you will have to pump the cans up a few times, but it really took less than 10 minutes to thoroughly clean all of the insides 3 or 4 times. I cleaned them multiple times to be absolutely sure.

I also blew the insides with air and cleaned up with q-tips. I have a compressor, just set the pressure to low and blew away.

I would recommend against using any brushes or other material objects until you have exhausted your compressed air options. Use compressed air as besdt you can, cleaning the panels, the polarizer filters, all the cracks and nooks and crannies numerous times before giving up. Dis-assemble it right down like in the TX100 dust blob thread.

I don't recommend using a vacuum. Too much force. I screwed up an AE100 using a vacuum. Compressed air isn't messy at all. At least it didn't prove messy for me.

If you disassemble your projector to the extent shown in the PJ-TX100 dust blob cleaning post, and you aim the compressed air into all the places you possibly can, you should be able to clean the dust. Remember, you are cleaning dust, so it should not take any more than forced air to clean it. I got a fleck of dust or something on one of the lcd panels just out of carelessness and it wasn't coming off. I started to panic. My compressed air was low, so I calmed down and took my other fully charged up can or Re-Air and aimed it close to the panel and the dust blew off no problem. I would try air first.

Buy a couple cans of Re-Air. You need a nice bicycle pump because you will have to pump the cans up a few times, but it really took less than 10 minutes to thoroughly clean all of the insides 3 or 4 times. I cleaned them multiple times to be absolutely sure.

Thanks for the tips. I will give it a try sometime next week. Hopefully it clears that slight yellow patch on the right side.

Oliver

Whatever the case, be very careful in there.

So are any of you folks working on a better filter? It is clear that this TX200 filter is less than effective. I may at least start with a dust cover, and then maybe get the TX100 air filter. Maybe I will check with the TX100 folks. I have a feeling that the TX100 filter is working better than the TX200 filter. Its either that or stretch panty-hose over the TX200 air inlet? Or make my own filter? Obviously, I don't want to restrict air flow more than a tiny amount if at all. Ideally I would like both higher air flow/less resistance and higher filtration..in a perfect world.

Whatever the case, be very careful in there.

So are any of you folks working on a better filter? It is clear that this TX200 filter is less than effective. I may at least start with a dust cover, and then maybe get the TX100 air filter. Maybe I will check with the TX100 folks. I have a feeling that the TX100 filter is working better than the TX200 filter. Its either that or stretch panty-hose over the TX200 air inlet? Or make my own filter? Obviously, I don't want to restrict air flow more than a tiny amount if at all. Ideally I would like both higher air flow/less resistance and higher filtration..in a perfect world.

Why not try the 3M static air filter. The ones where you put over the aircon unit? The static is suppose to attract fine dust. I bought one of those and was going to cut it to size and place it just infront of the existing filter.

Oliver

Can anyone tell me where I could find the service manual for this projector?

I took in apart to get rid of dust blobs, put it back exactly as it was, and now it won't start, the TEMP led flashes and there is apparently a problem with the ventilator. So I need to see which connectors are controlling the ventilator...

Thanks!

Can anyone tell me where I could find the service manual for this projector?

I took in apart to get rid of dust blobs, put it back exactly as it was, and now it won't start, the TEMP led flashes and there is apparently a problem with the ventilator. So I need to see which connectors are controlling the ventilator...

Thanks!


Those service manuals might be difficult to get. Did you take it apart again and recheck you connections? I had a problem when I put mine back together I had a loose connection in one or more of the ribbon connectors. My problem was different than yours but you might want to try resetting the ribbons. I put a small screwdriver blade under the ribbon and pulled it up, that allowed me to firmly push the ribbon into the connector.

Good luck.

To be honest, I don't think the service manual is needed. Just open it up and do a thorough inpection of the connections.

hello
I have bought this projector since a few months, and since a few weeks, I've also bought a DVI to HDMI cable to connect my PC to the projector.

the problem : because the phase settings aren't available in HDMI mode, the picture isn't perfect everywhere on the screen, I don't really know how to explain it.....

I mean somewhere the picture is perfect, and elsewhere, it's not.....

is there something to do.......?

thanks!

djsmasm, How is the picture not perfect everywhere? I think we need a little more information.

djsmasm, How is the picture not perfect everywhere? I think we need a little more information.

it's very hard to say with words........

if I display a grid which is supposed to be black and white lines with only one pixel wide and height, (I hope you do understand the thing....!!) the result will be poor compared to what it's supposed to be, I mean some regions of the picture will be perfect, and others won't, the pixels will be "melt"(......?)

I know it's because the phase settings can't be accessed while in HDMI mode, what I think is perfectly nonsense!!!

I think that the problem that you are describing is misconvergence, where the red, green and blue panels are not perfectly aligned causing some separation of the colors that compise some of the pixels.

This is a pretty common issue and there is some degree of pixel misconvergence in many lcd and LCOS projectors. I don't think that there is a solution.

it's not a convergence problem, it's a phase problem......but since the phase settings aren't available in HDMI mode, I can't get a perfect picture.....

why did hitachi do that......it's a big mistake

I may be stupid but I have no idea what phase settings are.

I may be stupid but I have no idea what phase settings are.

don't you have a projector?

if so, somewhere in the menus there are these setings.....!

I actually have this projector, which you tell me doesn't have these settings!

Hm, but phase correction does have to do with correction of disturbances in analogue signals, which you don't have in a digital connection like dvi, hdmi.

Since a digital connection is bit-perfect, you shouldn't need this. And if you have misalignment of colors HDMI-mode, I would say this problem should occur in every input on your device on standard setting. And if so, the problem is in your device. Misalignment of lcds in your projector?

I have no need for any color correction, the only thing is the sharpness, which I cannot adjust 100% sharp to every zone. Ceiling mounted, zero keystone, lensshift used a bit excessive the projector's axis being the top of the screen, all zones except the middle top are sharp. wide angle almost maxed out. But I can live with that.

Don

donald24, if you have the same projector as mine, can you try to connect it to your PC with a DVI to HDMI cable?

you will maybe see the same picture problem as I see!

I have a 10 meter cable, bought 179€, but if I had known, I would have bought a simple VGA cable, which connection would have let me adjust the picture with these famous phase settings!!

here is a picture of the problem.....

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/3813/dsc04571ao2.jpg

here is a picture of the problem.....

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/3813/dsc04571ao2.jpg


That is a picture with a pc as an input? It look to me like you don't have 1:1 pixel mapping.

That is a picture with a pc as an input? It look to me like you don't have 1:1 pixel mapping.

as you probably deduced by yourself, I'm french!!!

so can you explain with other words? I'm not sure to really understand what you mean!

thanks!

as you probably deduced by yourself, I'm french!!!

so can you explain with other words? I'm not sure to really understand what you mean!

thanks!

Phase is not required with video using DVI/HDMI as it is data being processed by your display. What generally happens if you don't have a perfect image is that the display may not be getting the exact resolution for the panel you are using, or an internal scaler is working to keep from getting pixel perfect image. 1:1 means that each pixel is addressed so you need to use the native resolution for your display (1280x720).

Phase is not required with video using DVI/HDMI as it is data being processed by your display. What generally happens if you don't have a perfect image is that the display may not be getting the exact resolution for the panel you are using, or an internal scaler is working to keep from getting pixel perfect image. 1:1 means that each pixel is addressed so you need to use the native resolution for your display (1280x720).

but I do use the native resolution!!!! @60Hz, by the way....

How are you feeding the projector? What kind of video card? What drivers?

I would try using different resolutions and see what effect it has.

How are you feeding the projector? What kind of video card? What drivers?

I would try using different resolutions and see what effect it has.

I've tried 7800GT (before it died........!), a 7300GT, and a 6600GT....

it was the same with all cards

latest drivers, but I really don't know how to set the advanced synchro settings......

I found the answer by myself!!!!!

it was the keystone correction that made the picture not perfect....

thanks all for your help!

Well my lamp just blew. It had under 300 hours. I cleaned my filter every 50 hours or so. I'm not happy. It just goes to show you that you can do everything right and still have a problem.

I was just watching a movie. I heard a small "pop" and then nothing. The lamp is now filled with bits of glass.

I took this as an opportunity to clean out the dust from my projector. I opened it up. The polarizers had a fine but visible layer of dust on them. The LCD panels looked clean. No evidence of them being burned at all. They cleaned up just fine.

Now I have to wait for a new lamp to arrive.

Is anybody thinking of upgrading their TX200/HDP-J52? I am just researching and its confusing.

TX300 is not a worthy improvement over the TX200.
Sanyo Z5 may be better in contrast and black levels?
Panny AX100 great for people who have problems with SDE or want a brighter image but I have no interest in smooth screen and no need for more brightness.
Sony HS-51A may have better blacks and contrast than the TX200? How does the HS-51A compare to the Sanyo Z5?

All the 1080p lcd and LCOS projectors are just too expensive for me. Until I see more reviews, and a review from Cine4home of the Mitsubishi, and unless they come down more in price, they are too much money for too little improvement. I would love to be proved wrong. If any Canadians in southern Ontario are getting a Pearl or a Mitsubishi HC5000BL, please let me know :)

Any thoughts from anybody contemplating upgrading?

Also, for those who aren't upgrading, have you done extensive calibration of your TX200, or are you planning to do extensive calibrations?

What are the current options for Calibrating? Colorfacts? Smart? Anything else?

cpc,

Why bother with another 720p projector? I have seen a lot of projectors and have come to the conclusion that you may find projectors with a "different" looking picture, but you will be hard-pressed to find an objectively "better" picture.

You are no doubt used to the image that a tx200 throws so the difference in other projectors makes them look somehow attractive. You will quickly tire of those other projectors, as well.

I am holding out for a cheap 1080p projector. I don't think we really have that long to wait for one, either.

Yeah, I figure as much, but I am just going through the motions researching and comparing. I want better blacks and contrast more than higher resolution. I don't mind the higher rez, but it's not my primary interest. I guess its annoying because this is the best time of year for me to pick up a new projector because the nights are longer and I won't be working as much in the winter, therefore, more time to watch movies....but the newer 1080p lcd and lcos are sooo expensive at $4K-$5K and up when compared to the roughly $1500 to $2500 for good 720p lcd's. Oh well, I suppose I will calibrate once and for all once I finish my CIH setup. Trouble is, what should I use to calibrate?

Is anybody thinking of upgrading their TX200/HDP-J52? I am just researching and its confusing.

TX300 is not a worthy improvement over the TX200.
Sanyo Z5 may be better in contrast and black levels?
Panny AX100 great for people who have problems with SDE or want a brighter image but I have no interest in smooth screen and no need for more brightness.
Sony HS-51A may have better blacks and contrast than the TX200? How does the HS-51A compare to the Sanyo Z5?

All the 1080p lcd and LCOS projectors are just too expensive for me. Until I see more reviews, and a review from Cine4home of the Mitsubishi, and unless they come down more in price, they are too much money for too little improvement. I would love to be proved wrong. If any Canadians in southern Ontario are getting a Pearl or a Mitsubishi HC5000BL, please let me know :)

Any thoughts from anybody contemplating upgrading?

Also, for those who aren't upgrading, have you done extensive calibration of your TX200, or are you planning to do extensive calibrations?

What are the current options for Calibrating? Colorfacts? Smart? Anything else?

I have looked at the Mitsubishi. And even though the model I looked at probably did not have the iris workling yet, I have to say that the contrast on that model kills the TX200. I have used the TX200 for about 4 months now. In fact if contrast and blacks are what you are looking for, you should consider models like the Mitsibushi 3100. 720p DLPs that I have seen esp the DarkChip 3 models all hav ebetter contrast then what I am able to get on my TX200.

I have calibrated my TX200 using SpyderTV pod with Calman. It works great and I highly recommend it if you are not using a white screen. You will be surprise by how much "off" D65K you have been looking at. Its not too expensive too.

Oliver

I would really like to see the Mitsubishi in action, but what I really wish is that there was a Hitachi PJ TX 400 with C2Fine 1080p lcd panels. Hitachi dual-iris and colour uniformity adjustments and the better panels.

I finally saw the TX 200 with 720p over DVI > HDMI and I have to say, the vertical chroma bug is definitely noticable in areas saturated with bright red. It is definitely way less noticable than 480p over dvi, but disappointing non-the-less. I cannot believe this error is still present in the TX300. I think I am going to start harrasing Hitachi regardless of the lack of an English email contact with Japan. I am going to email them with all the pictures and demand that they fix the issue with a firmware update for both the TX200 and TX300. Of course, by the time anything gets done, if in fact Hitachi even does anything, I will probably have upgraded... :p

Still, I must say that I still really like the TX200. Here are my latest thoughts while sitting 1.75x away from my 94" diagonal 16:9 BOC screen with the TX200 focussed sharply:

1) No vertical banding what-so-ever (and it was very noticable on my first TX100 and even on the Panny L200 as it aged).
2) Colour uniformity not bothersome
3) Screen door not noticable at all
4) Colours look decent without calibration (although lots is probably not "correct")
5) Contrast and black levels, especially with the auto iris, are quite good compared to the TX100 and still much much better than the old Panny AE100/L200 days
6) Dust blobs come back in less than 10 hours viewing after cleaning. Really stupid.
7) Vertical chroma bug is annoying.

Nice review CPC, sorry to hear about those couple minor issues with hdmi.
I'm running 25ft component cables and have close to 500hrs on my tx200. No problems at all, no screen door, chroma, or blob issues and I clean filter every 125hrs or so, but never notice that it's dirty. I'm sitting back about 14ft with PJ
10ft back from a 92" screen.

Overall, I'm very happy for my first PJ. HD programming is great and that's pretty much all I use the projector for.

You won't have chroma issues unless you use HDMI input. I may do some serious comparing of the HDMI vs VGA input. I was happy using the VGA input, but the HDMI does seem to be somewhat sharper and to make HDMI more desirable, I have an SDI card in my iScan HD+ and I am waiting for an SDI dvd player to use. Once I go SDI, it would be nice to keep the signal digital right from MPEG decoder, through the de-interlacer/scaler and on to the projector. Again, if it looks ok going back to VGA, then perhaps that will be ok. Too bad it isn't free of the chroma bug. My room is possibly dustier than normal lately. I must admit when there is a good close-up scene, the detail is so vivid I am really impressed. In order to improve on the picture, I think it would have to look more 3-D like in order to be impressive, as I can't imagine seeing more detail watching standard definition dvd's.

I finally saw the TX 200 with 720p over DVI > HDMI and I have to say, the vertical chroma bug is definitely noticable in areas saturated with bright red. It is definitely way less noticable than 480p over dvi, but disappointing non-the-less. I cannot believe this error is still present in the TX300. I think I am going to start harrasing Hitachi regardless of the lack of an English email contact with Japan. I am going to email them with all the pictures and demand that they fix the issue with a firmware update for both the TX200 and TX300. Of course, by the time anything gets done, if in fact Hitachi even does anything, I will probably have upgraded... :p

Still, I must say that I still really like the TX200. Here are my latest thoughts while sitting 1.75x away from my 94" diagonal 16:9 BOC screen with the TX200 focussed sharply:

1) No vertical banding what-so-ever (and it was very noticable on my first TX100 and even on the Panny L200 as it aged).
2) Colour uniformity not bothersome
3) Screen door not noticable at all
4) Colours look decent without calibration (although lots is probably not "correct")
5) Contrast and black levels, especially with the auto iris, are quite good compared to the TX100 and still much much better than the old Panny AE100/L200 days
6) Dust blobs come back in less than 10 hours viewing after cleaning. Really stupid.
7) Vertical chroma bug is annoying.

I personnaly think that a function is missing.......

the power-on-signal, like on the sanyo PLV series, I had the Z1X and it was really cool not to have to use the remote to power up the projector......

So how did you power it on? Do you mean you stuck the remote code in your universal and had a macro?

So how did you power it on? Do you mean you stuck the remote code in your universal and had a macro?

I see that my post was a little misunderstood....

I mean that I hadn't to touch anything on the Sanyo, because when it was in standby mode, it powered up it self with video signal presence on any input.

is it clearer? loool

what a pity they didn't include this feature in the Hitachi......!!!

Gotcha. I hard power everything in my system down. Nothing is on standby when not in use. I turn on my stuff with a combo of light switches and my remotes :)

I had a chance to do a side by side comparison of these two projectors and I have to say I think the Hitachi wins. At least in my opinion. The Hitachi has much better contrast. The colors looked more real. Although the Panny is a light cannon. At night raising the lumes on the Panny seemed to make the color uniformity worse and the contrast was also hurt by turning up the light output. During the day though, since I have a decent amount of ambient light coming into my room. I thought the extra lumes would help a great deal more. Although the image was much brighter it seemed to look more washed out. There is much more noticeable SDE on the Hitachi. It is not a concern of mine since I sit 14 feet away, but to some it may be. The Panny does do a great job of hiding it.
If I hadn't had a chance to see these side by side I would have thought that the Panny was a great projector. I really enjoyed the 3 weeks of viewing it, while my hitachi was getting fixed. Like someone said in an earlier post. It is really hard to see a difference in all the 720P projectors. They all look great. Unless you get a chance to see them in your environment side by side you would never notice the good or bad qualities of each projector.
In my opinion I too agree that for the cost of upgrading to another 720p projector it just isn't worth it.

Hello,
I have owned this projector for about a year. Recently, i noticed in the menu, picture optoins, all options other than iris are grayed out including brightness, contrast, gamma, etc. so that it does not allow me to adjust them. It wasn't like that a long time ago, the last time i checked them. I did not use the projector for a couple of months due to work out of the city. I am wondering what should be set to bring them back for adjusting? I switch between easy and advanced menu and it does not help. I have read the manual and have not found any hint to a situatoin like this.

Your help is appreciated.

Added note: Never mind. I found out the answer.

Hi guys,
I think you can easily answer my questions:

1 - I'm trying to remove a green spot, dust I suppose...I unscrew everything in the chassis but.... how do I take off the top cover ?? I mean I tried almost anything I could do withou breaking the plastic, but it's not easy, it seems stuck in the frontal side (lens side) I also tried to use a scewdriver as a lever but it doesn't come off

2 - the proj is connected to an HTPC via hdmi cable; since a few weeks I must turn on the projector before the htpc to lock the signal, otherwise no signal is detected. Have you experienced issues like this ?

bye,
dr

Hi guys,
I think you can easily answer my questions:

1 - I'm trying to remove a green spot, dust I suppose...I unscrew everything in the chassis but.... how do I take off the top cover ?? I mean I tried almost anything I could do withou breaking the plastic, but it's not easy, it seems stuck in the frontal side (lens side) I also tried to use a scewdriver as a lever but it doesn't come off



bye,
dr

try this link http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...ght=tx+100+dust

Ken,
I saw that post, it was the one that made me start unscrew....
I tried to lift a little bit on the back side and then pull it from the lens (front side)
No luck even with the "lift-the-cover-up" technique

dr

It's weird. Check out the post regarding the PJ TX100 dust blobs. I had the same problem, but it comes off eventually. Just make sure you have removed all the correct screws. It shouldn't be hard to remove the cover.

Got a problem. I cleaned the filter and adjusted the angle of the PJ. I then started noticing a white blotch in the upper right quandrant of my 103" screen (later noticed a few fainter ones below the larger one). Cleaned lens for the first time. No good. You can't see it unless the screen/picture is black. Thought it was a dust blob but two people at Hitachi and the dealer I bought it from all say it's something's else and I should take it in for service.

Anyone else had this issue? I was playing with the zoom some during the adjustment.

Regarding the removal of the top cover - yes, it is a troublesome, delicate process and I can't add much except to say when you have the back half seperated from the lower case (raised) a bit to just carefully keep trying to get the thin moulded piece that goes under the lens lifted to clear the lower case and play with it - having the lens itself at minimum zoom ( retracted ) helps too. I've had it off at least three times checking on the shutter mechanism - it was not functioning properly. By the way, when the upper case IS pulled off very carefully keep an eye on the wires that attach to the manual control buttons on the upper case - they do not allow much movement but are easily unplugged from the small circuit board. Finally, anyone care to mention their total hours? I've had mine since April and just passed 300 hrs. I put 350 hours on the first pj - a Panasonic AE500 - in less than 3 months. Must be getting older - mind you, there are a fair number of older tv shows recently released that have kept me busy.That is even with HD DVD as I probably would have less hours on it otherwise. Not much happening there except for the Superman releases. It's great watching HD on a 128" screen though and the Hitachi still looks great. Still keeping a watch on the 1080 developments and it would be great if Hitachi releases their own pj as at the moment I think the Mitsubishi HC 5000 looks promising. So far I still have no problems with dust blobs etc. and I usually run the TX 200 for 8 - 10 hrs. a sitting.

Got a problem. I cleaned the filter and adjusted the angle of the PJ. I then started noticing a white blotch in the upper right quandrant of my 103" screen (later noticed a few fainter ones below the larger one). Cleaned lens for the first time. No good. You can't see it unless the screen/picture is black. Thought it was a dust blob but two people at Hitachi and the dealer I bought it from all say it's something's else and I should take it in for service.

Anyone else had this issue? I was playing with the zoom some during the adjustment.

Arthur how many hours on your projector? Most of us with a few hours on ours have dust blobs. If it's still under warranty take it in. Otherwise try cleaning the inside lenses if you dare :cool:

filmbuff2,
thanks a lot for the advice. This afternoon I'll try once again. My dust blob isn't too big, but I just can't stand it...I keep on staring at this green blob like I'm ipnotized.

Arthur,
what makes you believe it is not simply dust on the inside of your chassis ? I got my blob just after a air-filter clean.

dr

Arthur how many hours on your projector? Most of us with a few hours on ours have dust blobs. If it's still under warranty take it in. Otherwise try cleaning the inside lenses if you dare :cool:

Eight hundred hours. Does what I'm describing sound like a dust blob to you? It is under warranty so I'll take it in. I guess this is the downside of pjs.

Just called service center in Atlanta. It's dust. Have to take it in for cleaning. I saw a post about doing it yourself but I can't find it. Is this a good idea or should I have it cleaned under warranty?

the post you're referring to is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...ght=tx+100+dust
if you want to try for yourself, let me know how to take off the top cover.

dr

the post you're referring to is http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...ght=tx+100+dust
if you want to try for yourself, let me know how to take off the top cover.

dr


Tried this link but I can't get it to connect.

Thanks,

Arthur

try this one
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=607853&highlight=tx200

Just tried to watch Klute on HDTV. Thought picture looked darker than usual Funny noise prom the pj and she goes black. Looks like a dust blob is now the least of my worries!

Does anybody think it would be possible to swap the HDMI input (board?) of the TX 200 with the DVI of the TX 100? A mod requiring soldering, but would it require more? Possible? Impossible?

Does anybody think it would be possible to swap the HDMI input (board?) of the TX 200 with the DVI of the TX 100? A mod requiring soldering, but would it require more? Possible? Impossible?

I am sure that you must have a good reason for thinking about something like this. Might I just suggest the obvious though? How about just using a hdmi/dvi adapter? It seems that you run the risk of ruining two projectors. All of the inputs on the TX200 are attached at a right angle to something the service manual identifies as the "main circuit board". It would be incredibly surprising to me if these boards were compatible between the different models.

I know, I didn't explain myself fully there so I should have expected a response about adapters. Thanks, but yes, I actually am running a DVI to HDMI adapter now but I suspect the problem I have now may be with the HDMI input itself. My desire to do the more than likely impossible (without altering firmware or worse, un-swapable hardware) and swap the HDMI for DVI is so I can try to rid my setup of the "vertical chroma bug". Much earlier in this thread I talked about the "vertical chroma bug" and cine4home verified it's existence, and oddly, it is still present in the TX300. I believe it has been found in some other projector now too, although those are curiously DLP so it's not an exclusive lcd panel issue.

The artifact is quite minimal with 720p, and isn't really detecable unless the image has strongly saturated colours over a large area. Still, some movies and/or scenes do make the problem visible sometimes, so I would love to eliminate the issue, however small it may seem. I was using the iScan Ultra's 480p output DVI to HDMI of the TX200 and that produced a horrible vertical chroma bug. I have since upgraded to the iScan HD+ and now use 720p over DVI>HDMI and the vertical chroma bug is far less visible. While the bug is not extreme, it is quite detectable, so it is still there. I would like to eliminate it. The Hitachi TX100 had a DVI input and displayed no such vertical chroma bug when fed 480p over DVI. Bottom line is that the TX 200 has HDMI and has the vertical chroma bug and I suspect it is the HDMI input circuit. Maybe it is not not fixable without a firmware change from Hitachi. Once and for all I will try to contact them but I have never been able to find an English email address for Hitachi Japan.

As the inputs are attached to the main circuit board, I imagine my idea is not possible. I will continue to pursue a firmware fix.

I was wondering if someone has some experience with the Hitachi PJ-TX300. I'm interested because I have the possibility to get this projector for free as replacement due to unrepairable defect (or so it seems) with my old TX200 projector.

However due to my experiences with the hitachi TX200 I am in doubt to invest in a different brand due to the minor improvements Hitachi made in this new model compared to Sanyo and Panasonic.

This is my experience with Hitachi PJ TX200 after 550 hours of use. Although I was satisfied with the quality of the image quality. I have experienced the following issues:

Problems with dust blobs, after only 2 months
Not bright enough for daytime viewing in semi darkened room
Discoloration after only 50 hours of use. The right section of the screen was white with a red tint while the left was white with a blue tint.
Slight flickering even without iris usage
Terrible testing at the Hitachi service center because after fixing the primary issues they had broken the lensshift and send it back to my point of sale this way.


Hope someone can give me some advice.

pluijs,
I own a TX200 from 7 months now, and I had the dust blobs issue.
Maybe you've been unlucky with your unit, 'cause flickering and discoloration sounds very odd to me.
Regarding dust blobs:
I solved the problem, following the indications for disassembling&cleaning;
brightness is not an issue for me since I own a beautiful CRT, and brightness is not an advantage for deep blacks.
Read some reviews about the TX300, and lurk on avsforum.

ciao,
dr

Ruva,

Thanks for your response. I have searched for reviews of the TX300, but they are scarce. The first site I always check for beamer information "projector central" has not added the TX300 to its list of beamers. This surprised me a lot, because I always thought it had a very complete listing of beamer information. The only full blown review I could find was in German (not my native language):
cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/HitachiTX300/Hitachi-PJTX300Test.htm

Although it was a positive review review I made out only two things were changed. One was the fan and the other the shiny new casing. The conclusion about the improved contrast was: "a marketing scam".

However I do believe in the statement, why change a perfect thing, but I must conclude like every beamer the TX200 has its issues that were not addressed in this new model.

Previous year I had the sanyo z4, panasonic AE900 and hitachi TX200 lined up. Now its the same with the new models with the exception that the sanyo and panasonic in at least on their specsheets have become better.

About the dust blobs. I don't want to void my warranty. Also I let my store clean my beamer last time, but after that my component input was broken. So it's not without risks.

pluijs,
I agree with one thing: TX300 is not a big improvement over the TX200. One of the difference is its lamp, but not much more.
But the Hitachi remains one of the most equilibrated and enjoyable 720p LCD on the market, IMHO.
If you wanna a noticeable improvement on picture quality you gotta move towards fullHD or different technology; this is obviously my opinion.

dr

If you are getting a free replacement, ask that they give you a warranty with the new unit and just take it and give it a go. It is a free swap, correct? I don't know much about the TX300 but my only concerns about my TX200 are dust blobs and the HDMI vertical chroma issues. As long as I fix the dust blobs, the vertical chroma problem is not severe enough to make me ditch this projector. Cleaning the dust blobs is a pain and takes lots of work, but if you are at all mechanically or technically inclined, it can be done. You do have to be very careful and it is stressful handling all those expensive parts. I wish there was a solution to the dust blobs. So far this has proven to be a good reason to table-top mount this projector and not use a mount...so I can get into it faster when it needs a cleaning. I will have to open it up for the second time now.

I am thinking about ordering the air filter parts for a TX100 and installing them or adding my own additional filter mechanism somehow. I will also be ordering the dust cover for a TX100 if it fits my TX200 :)

Cpc,

It is indeed a free swap. But I am also free to swap it for a different model against a modest fee. The difference in price between the models. So I'm very much inclined to switch to the Panasonic PJ-AX100 because of 2 reasons:
1. Dust blobs, warranty won't solve this problem.
2. Can't make the room dark enough. So when the sun is shining the image is terrible. Although I imagine the TX300 will outperform the PJ-AX100 during the night.

It will cost me € 100,- to switch models. Have to decide tomorrow. So I'm looking at a sleepless night ;)

But in your opinion the TX200 and TX300 (otherwise known as TX200 black edition) still is the best projector in this price range?

Any projector that does not have a completely sealed light path is prone to dust blobs. Most LCDs are prone to dust blobs. I have been lucky with my Tx200 not to have had a dust blob problem. It may be that my HT is just particularly dusty.

As to brightness. The Tx200 is about as bright as most other projectors in this price range. The AX-100 is brighter obviously, but if the sun is shining on your screen, you will always have a problem. Projectors work best in dark rooms.

As far as light goes, that is something you must do your best with. I personally have no problem making my home theatre totally dark.

In my opinion the TX200/300 does have lots to offer. It's all about personal preferences.

The Hitachi TX200/300 has these things going for it:

1) Good tweaking to get rid of or minimize any vertical banding
2) Good tweaking of the colour uniformity
3) Good tweaking of the gamma and colour temperature
4) Good scaling over VGA (but I use 720p now so no need for scaling)
5) Good optics and sharp image corner to corner
6) Good lens shift (although I use as little as possible to maintain the sharpest image possible)
7) Decent variable iris and good contrast and blacks for the money
8) Useful shutter to darken black bars for material wider than 16:9
9) Good overscan adjustments
10) Good bulb life and low replacement costs

The bad:

1) Vertical Streaking Chroma bug via HDMI input...but this is really very minimal on 720p and only a serious problem when feeding the Hitachi 480p to its HDMI input
2) Dust blobs. Really, this just takes some work. I am getting a dust cover to use when the projector is not used and I will work on making the air filtering a bit better. I admit my room is quite dusty. I was able to take mine apart and totally clean it and re-assemble it no problem.

My unit is quite sharp from corner to corner, has fair colour uniformity without tweaking, minimal and not very noticable vertical banding and throws a very nice picture. I have a 16:9 screen of 92" diagonal and will be moving up to a 100" diagonal 16:9 and a wider 2.37:1 widescreen too. I am happy but the dust blobs annoy me. I will work on reducing their occurance. The vertical streaking chroma isn't a major concern, and now that I have seen 720p via HDMI, it wouldn't be a deal breaker. It was aweful with 480p, but not very noticable on 720p.

It's all up to you, but which-ever projector you get as a replacement, make sure it has at the very least, a 10 day full replacement warranty, if not a 6 month or 1 year warranty. You want a fully working unit.

Other projectors that are comparable are the Sony HS-51A and the Sanyo Z5 but I have no experience with those. When I am watching my TX200, it looks great and I can calm my up-grad-itis just enjoyng what I have for now...at least until 1080p higher contrast becomes affordable.

Has anybody used a progressive scan dvd player connected through the VGA port?
Did you need a Component to RGB transcoder or did you just need a breakout cable?
Did connecting it to the VGA port give any improvement in picture?

Well, I have been enjoying my TX200 a little more this winter, even though its not feeling much like winter due to El Nino etc. My latest adventure with my TX200 has involved Constant Height. I will try to post some pictures. Let's just say that using a Prismasonic H600 or H1000 lens makes a literally jaw dropping picture for 2.35:1 dvd's. Wow. It is simply awesome. In order to get my constant height setup working, I had to change a few things. I sold my iScan Ultra and picked up an iScan HD+ for the vertical stretching/zooming duties, and of course, I get the bonus of the scaling and other features of the HD+ over the Ultra. In addition, since I picked up the HD+, I also bought an SDI card for the HD+ and had a dvd player SDI modified (although I haven't used the SDI player a whole lot yet, since it has other issues that need attending to..but that's ok since the interlaced output from my ancient Panasonic CV51's is ok to feed the HD+ in part due to the MPEG decoder (MN67753MP). I could just sit back and enjoy the show were it not for the return of the incredibley annoying dust blobs.

Dust blobs from H - E double hockey sticks!!

Right now I am working on improving the dust blob situation. I have two dust blobs again! I opened up my projector at under 100 hours to clean dust blobs and I already have more dust blobs in maybe another 100 hours max (yep, this is one under-utlized projector...working on that!). In fairness, I think I have a dusty room. Book shelves, lots of clutter etc. I am taking steps to improve the dust situation, such as cleaning, vacuuming and dusting my room properly, looking after the furnace air filter etc, but there are a few projector specific things I am going to try to reduce the occurance of dust blobs:

1) Replace TX200 outer cover (which is really just an empty plastic grille) with TX100 outer filter (cover), or; use some combination of TX100 and TX 200 air filter setup, or; make my own outer air filter using filtrete or ... ?

and...

2) Use a dust cover on top of my projector when it is not in use.

If anybody wants a dust cover, you can try the link below, although for the TX 200 we must order a custom sized cover. For the TX100 there is one already listed. I guess you could always make your own dust cover but I hope to grab a custom vinyl one from these guys for my TX200:

http://www.compucover.com/new_index.cfm?do=DCMDustCoverResult&Width=13.4&height=4.3&depth=11&Optvalue2=%20Four%20Sided%20Box&OptName1=Material&OptName2=Style&CategoryId2=Projector&productId=175285&category=Projector&mfgName=Hitachi%20PJ-TX100%20-%20LCD%20projector

Now, in terms of the TX100 vs the TX200 outer air filter covers, has anybody tried this? For anyone like me who has owned both projectors, you will recall that the TX100 had an inner and outer ait filter while the TX200 only has one inner air filter. My idea is to try to use the TX100's outer air filter element with the TX200 inner element, or simply replace the TX200's setup with the TX100's setup. I am trying to check into this myself. Although people said the TX100's air filter system was not good, surely using the TX100's outer filter with the TX200's inner filter mut be better than the TX200's inner filter alone. Here are the part numbers:

TX100 air filter: NJ09452
TX200 air filter: NJ22632

Does anybody know if the TX100 and TX200 filter plate doors are the same size?

I wonder if using the foam cell material that the older TX100 filter used - I assume this because the spare bulb I ordered came with that type - would work. Since the bulb is used for both models perhaps you could attach a piece of this foam on the inside of the air filter cover and that would allow the use of two filters, assuming the covers are different. It appears on inspection that there is also just enough of an opening around part of the filter cover where it meets the body of the pj that if one could attach some sort of tape that is not too sticky just to seal the joint that it would stop any fine dust particles from entering. Cannot see why this would not work.

Does anybody know if the TX100 and TX200 filter plate doors are the same size?


The filters are identical except for the filter material used. I believe that the TX200's is superior though. It is electrostatic.

Yeah, the TX 200's "inner" air filter is supposedly superior because it is electrostatic, but then it has no outer filter. Anyhow, I have to find a way to reduce dust blob occurence or it is going to be a huge hassle tearing this thing apart every few months to clean dust.

I have never (knock on wood) had a dust blob. I am religous and paranoid about cleaning the filter though.

Lately I have been growing a bit dissatisfied with this projector.

I think this is the stage that a lot of us go through. First we are wowed by the picture. Then we start to look for imperfections. Then those imperfections drive us insane.

For instance, I had never before seen any vertical banding on this projector. Then, I watched Excaliber in HD. There is a lot of fog toward the end of that movie. At first I thought I was imagining it, but I saw vertical bands. I paid a visit to the stripe option in the service menu. That left no doubt that I saw banding on the green panel. I entered the factory menu and I have almost eliminated it. I doubt that anyone but me would notice it, but it is still there.

I am so tempted to jump on the JVC RS1 bandwagon, but I know that flaws will be found with that projector as well. I also think it is kind of crazy that people are dropping thousands on a projector when no one has ever seen an actual production model. I am sure it is a fine projector, but do we have no reastraint?

Wait until the JVC gets out there and you can see it for yourself along with the Pearl and the 1080p lcd's like the Epson, Panny and Mitsubishi. You want to hear more about how these projectors compare to one another and ideally see them for yourself. I would like to see the Mitsubishi and the JVC. They are way too expensive. I simply have better things to spend money on. Why drop an extra $4K on a projector when I could use that elsewhere. I suppose I am just not wealthy..lol..

But seriously, I am happy to live with my TX200 for as long as I have to until my next upgrade will give a large improvement in black level and contrast for a reasonable amount of money. Knock on wood, my TX200 has minimal vertical banding, good convergence and colour uniformity is ok too. My only problems are with contrast and dust blobs. I am going to try and get rid of the dust blobs, and hopefully do some calibrating to improve contrast etc.

If you haven't tried a constant height setup, I urge you to experiment. Wow. It is awesome. All the issues you may already have will still be there, but the 2.35:1 dvd's are now much bigger, wider than 16:9, rather than shorter than 16:9. I can safely say that CH works well with the TX200 :)

Hello,

To all PJ-TX200 owners:
Would I be happy with this projector ? I have seen demo of it in sub optimal settings so I don't know how it would look in a dark room. I know it would be better but how much? I have also seen demos of the Pan900 and the Sony hs51 that were done in better room conditions. I loved the blacks end the sharpness of the Sony but not the smootheness of the Pany. This will be my first projector but I work in the medical field so I'm used to look at digital images and I can easily spot artefacts. I have a limited budget so I won't be able to buy a 1080 projector right now.
Are you happy with the choice you made ?


Thank !!

Overall I am very happy. However, at today's prices a better option might be one of the sub $1k dlp projectors from Optoma or Mitsubishi, provided that you don't need lens shift.

Check out the DLP's. They have their issues too. If you are rainbow prone, they cannot be useable. If you are not susceptible to rainbows, you may still find the dithering objectionable. If you try out a DLP and like it, then you are good to go. For the money, DLP projectors can look nice and have nice contrast.

If you want to try a Hitachi TX200 (HDP-J52), I can say that it is a good purchase. Check out what I said about it in my earlier posts in this thread. Basically, for the money, you get a good projector that is easily tweaked, both to minimize problems, and to maximize the colour and contrast etc. I love mine. If you do not like DLP projectors and you find a TX200 or TX300 for a good price, I think you would be happy. It's ultimately up to you, but I would buy one again if I didn't already have one.

I've been trying alots of settings for 24fps FILM material from my HTPC. Settings like 48hz and 72hz (AND using reclock) for the graphics-adapter still result in serious judder in panning scenes. This PJ is not optimized for synching at those speeds. Frame-Lock setting do only work in 50hz and 60hz. So I need your opinion, how is the US-front using their 200 for DVDs judderfree?

I still have the problem of the bulb changing from dark to bright. those must be the contacts of the bulb itself. will try a contact-media, in german we call it conductive-fat to stabilize this behaviour described earlier in this thread.

I really like this PJ, it has almost everything I want. But those are the only downsides I can report from.

Greets,

Don

I think I have tried different settings on my iScan HD+ but it appears that regular 60 hz unlocked works ok for me and no judder.

cpc - Feel the same way about those 1080 pjs - and going by what those who have seen it are reporting the JVC sounds like a winner. But I can definitely live with the TX 200 for awhile, and when prices drop to a more affordable level in a year or two I'll be there. Also agree about going CH - the 128" Carada 2:35 screen I use is great for those films in that OAR. One day I will have to look into a scaler and Anamorphic lens but for now even zooming the image still looks pretty good. Oh, and dust blobs? Nothing yet at 360 hrs.

I guess I am in a dusty environment. I am working on that. I definitely advise trying the anamorphic lens. It is awesome. The iScan HD+ are getting pretty low in price now that the VP 30, the VP 30 with the ABT card and the VP 50 are the top dogs. Trust me, once you go to a constant height setup with a lens, you won't go back. I have compared with zooming and it is much sharper, way more detailed and smoother using a lens and video processor. If the zooming is working for you for now, that is cool. You have much to look forward to when you go with a lens and vp.

. . . .

What are people using in terms of throw distance in your setups? I noticed that I am using my projector at the longest tele-zoom throw. I can't make the picture any smaller. I notice that this may possibly be causing the picture to be less than sharp across the screen. Anybody else notice this? Is there anybody using minimum zoom? Are you using the zoom all the way wide with the shortest throw? How is the image sharpness?

:)

I just performed my first AVIA calibration last night on this projector after having owned it almost a year.

I wish I had done it earlier.

First, the colors were dead on and barely needed to be touched. This made me feel pretty good about this projector. Grayscale was almost as good and needed some minor touch-ups.

However, contrast and brightness were way off. After properly setting these, I noticed a much improved picture. Blacks were blacker with no hit to shadow detail. Contrast was better and the picture was overall much more three dimensional. That very slight SDE that I complained about a few posts ago is now gone.

I watched the Illusionist last night. The Iris was closed down to 0. The picture jumped off the screen. My wife, who hadn't been informed of my tinkering, commented on how good the picture looked.

I thought that calibration was a piece of cake until I tried to calibrate my 50" LCD TV, which was so off in every way and, I think, ultimately uncorrectible.

I had been growing restless with this projector but now really question the need to upgrade in the near future. I think the RS1 will have to wait a while.

Although the colors and greyscale are almost perfect out of the box, I urge everyone to calibrate if for no other reason than setting contrast and brightness properly has a dramatic effect on overall PQ.

Awesome. I got used to calibrating with the Panasonic L200 and was surprised what a decent improvement you could get.

Did you make sure your dvd player was set to the correct black level and all the levels in the dvd player and/or your scaler were set to 0?

Did you calibrate with the manual iris set at 0 and with the AUTO iris OFF?
I calibrated with the iris at 3 and AUTO iris OFF. My results were:

Brightness -4 and Contrast +19 to +20.

What did you get?

I used Get Grey and the THX Video optimizer on the Tron DVD and both yielded about the same settings for brightness and contrast. They aren't intuitive though, so that is why it is so good to calibrate using something. I will try AVIA out of curiosity, but I don't expect it to be any different.

How is your colouruniformity? When I blow out my current crop of dust blobs, I am going to take a nice hard crack at fine-tuning my colour uniformity. Next will be to try to do other calibrations like the gamma EQ.

Awesome. I got used to calibrating with the Panasonic L200 and was surprised what a decent improvement you could get.

Did you make sure your dvd player was set to the correct black level and all the levels in the dvd player and/or your scaler were set to 0?

Did you calibrate with the manual iris set at 0 and with the AUTO iris OFF?
I calibrated with the iris at 3 and AUTO iris OFF. My results were:

Brightness -4 and Contrast +19 to +20.

What did you get?

I used Get Grey and the THX Video optimizer on the Tron DVD and both yielded about the same settings for brightness and contrast. They aren't intuitive though, so that is why it is so good to calibrate using something. I will try AVIA out of curiosity, but I don't expect it to be any different.

How is your colouruniformity? When I blow out my current crop of dust blobs, I am going to take a nice hard crack at fine-tuning my colour uniformity. Next will be to try to do other calibrations like the gamma EQ.

My values were different.

Brightness -20, Contrast +2.

Part of this fact may have to do with my Screen, which is a DaLite High Power and I expect it skews things. It is interesting that the gap between our numbers is very similar though. (22 between Brightness and Contrast for me, 23 to 24 for you). I was told on the Calibration Thread to leave the Irises in the position in which I normally watch. Those are Auto 1 and 3. I found though, that after using AVIA that I can enjoyed setting the Iris to 0. I really enjoyed the Illusionist with the Iris at 0.

My color uniformity has been outstanding actually. I has that small VB issue which is a sort of uniformity issue, but that is now gone after calibration.

The High Power is great because it has allowed for a lot of use in conditions with light present. Now that I have calibrated for it, the picture with the lights off is outstanding.

You can easily do gamma on the projector without any calibration disk. My results were almost the same in both. If my colors ar typical, you need do almost nothing to color, but the 7500K setting appears to actually be 6500K in the real world. Go figure.

Make no mistake, Hitachi did a nice job with this projector.

Yeah, that makes sense. Contrast is about 20-24 units above brightness. That is what other people get when they calibrate their TX200's. A high power screen sounds interesting. I wonder if it helps contrast at all? Probably shouldn't, but anyhow. My unit has little or no vertical banding. I also heard that the 7500K is really closer to 6500K in terms of the TX200 and the TX100 too iirc.

Hitachi did do a nice job with this projector. Precisely the reason I am disappointed not to see a 1080p C2Fine Hitachi TX 400 or 1000 or whatever they would call it. Somebody said Hitachi is not continuing with the home theatre market, which I find very disappointing. The tweakability of the TX200 alone is enough to garner very high ratings. Who knows, perhaps Hitachi will come out with a 1080p lcd after all. If they came out with a new lcd PJ with 1080p C2Fine lcd panels and all the TX200/300 has to offer and more, I would be very interested in it.

Yeah, that makes sense. Contrast is about 20-24 units above brightness. That is what other people get when they calibrate their TX200's. A high power screen sounds interesting. I wonder if it helps contrast at all? Probably shouldn't, but anyhow. My unit has little or no vertical banding. I also heard that the 7500K is really closer to 6500K in terms of the TX200 and the TX100 too iirc.

Hitachi did do a nice job with this projector. Precisely the reason I am disappointed not to see a 1080p C2Fine Hitachi TX 400 or 1000 or whatever they would call it. Somebody said Hitachi is not continuing with the home theatre market, which I find very disappointing. The tweakability of the TX200 alone is enough to garner very high ratings. Who knows, perhaps Hitachi will come out with a 1080p lcd after all. If they came out with a new lcd PJ with 1080p C2Fine lcd panels and all the TX200/300 has to offer and more, I would be very interested in it.

The High Power doesn't do much for contrast. If anything, I hear it hurts it slightly. But, it does so much for brightness, it makes this a very bright projector and really gives it a lot of pop.

Yes, Hitachi is out of the HT projection business. I have been told that by someone at Hitachi USA. I was also told that their exit was "temporary." I think they want to see where the market is going. Prices drop so fast and they never really promoted the HDPJ52 in the US. It seems to have been much more popular in in Eurpoe and Canada. If it was priced competitively, I am confident that it would have been as big or bigger than the AE900 or Z4. Now with sub $1000 dlps, I think they decided to sit it out for a while. Too bad. As you mention, a 1080p c2fine that was as feature rich as the Tx200 (and priced right) would be high on my list. Features are important. You see all of the moaning by some now going on about the JVC dla-RS1 and its lack of some features that are standard on the tx200.

By the way, what is your projection environment and why do you think that it is dusty? One thing that you might try is to go to your local Home Depot or home center and look at the various kinds of air filters that they have for use in furnaces, boilers, etc. Some are electrostatic. These are inexpensive although you will have to buy a large box that will be more than you ever need. Then just cut to size and augment/replace the TX200's filter. You could easily cut a small filter to size to be placed inside the projector. I am not sure the impact that this will have on air-flow, but I think it is worth trying.

These are the kinds of things that I have in mind:

Click (http://www.riteair.com/filtercat.htm?ai=00020002)