Larmannm

In answer to a couple of your questions. I know at least a couple of us are using a gray painted DIY screen or wall. The information on my screen is in the links in my signature. With the neutral gray screen I have every setting except brightness at zero but I am running on 7500 color temp. As for the cable that comes with the 10X I haven’t seen any room for improvement over the way it’s working and I have mine extended 25 feet.

The two biggest things to make sure to do IMO is output 480p min to the projector and use the component out from whatever to the VGA in.

Have you had time to reposition your 10X so that the zoom will be in a different area yet?

Yes the stock cable can be improved greatly. The difference is worth the extra spending IMO. I had it connected to my Directv HR20-700 HiDef DVR component to VGA.
Initially I used a Belden 20' cable with the stock component to VGA. This time same Belden 20' but in conjunction with a Belden short break out component to VGA eliminating the stock.
CaspianM

What kind of improvements did you see?

Like I posted above I cant see where I could gain anything but I’m always ready to try something new? :D

Well picture is noticeably sharper and colors are more vivid. I also noticed it is brighter as well and has a bolder look. Just be careful trying this I am using Belden cables with Canare plugs. Your results might vary if a different cable is used. Belden is the industrial standard for the most part. You can buy it from bluejean and they are not really that expensive considering.

For the screen i have been using the greyer side of black out cloth. It seems to do really good, however I will upgrade to the canvas and grey paint thanks to you bud. Sounds like it makes a difference. I could prob get rid of my nd2 filter when I make the move to the grey screen. I haven't had a chance to move the projector over the weekend ( I had to go out of town), but I plan on cranking it out tonight.

I know the cables make a diff, so I bought a good 50 ft uxga cable for the pc and tuner box and then a svga cable in conj with the stock breakout for the dvd/playstation/xbox, they are both rated for 1600X1200 or over. I thought the stock cable was good since nobody had ever really mentioned anything about it in the past. As soon as I get more fundage I will upgrade to a better breakout. Do you think you could get even more improvemant if you use one long breakout cable instead of a 2ft extended off a 25ft vga.

Do you think you could get even more improvemant if you use one long breakout cable instead of a 2ft extended off a 25ft vga.

Actually if my pj doest sell for the price I will keep it and first thing I amgoing to do is just that. One piece cable that is component-VGA. When you connect two cables by adaptors of any sort the impedance changes (unless impedence is sepecified) hence the performance. I think they are supposed to be 75 ohm.

What projector are you considering casp?

John

I have bought a Sony HS60 already but going back for a problem. I am rethinking the purchase again. 10X looks great to me now :D

I have utilized dual VGA to 3-RCA connector cable, with Belden 1277R cable, 40 feet long for my Cable/1080i HD and DVD/480P connections and am extremely satisfied with the video quality.

I purchased these via ramelectronics.

Kind Regards.

Yea hopefully this weekend I'll get everything set up. I'll be using a 50' vga to comp from monoprice. I didn't want to use an adapter unless I needed to. Can't wait.

The key is to use a cable with enough bandwidth and rated plugs and adaptors.
The stock cable is lacking the required bandwidth for 1080. Last night I switched back to the stock cable agin and clearly see the PQ dropped a few notches in clarity and punch.
Just look at the thickness of those three colored cables. They are hair thin should tell you the whole story.

The key is to use a cable with enough bandwidth and rated plugs and adaptors.
The stock cable is lacking the required bandwidth for 1080. Last night I switched back to the stock cable agin and clearly see the PQ dropped a few notches in clarity and punch.
Just look at the thickness of those three colored cables. They are hair thin should tell you the whole story.
That’s what I thought when I first saw that cable, how thin the wires were. In my case maybe sending it 480p at best it’s a non issue, I also used coax for the 3 component wires and had great results, who knows how they would work with a HD signal.

PQ look great though with 480p though. Wish I had some HD to worry about. :(

Bud you need HiDef that is where this PJ shines. :)

I know my brother and friend have brought their xbox 360's over and we hooked them up through the stock breakout cable and a switch box and played it at 1080i. It looked pretty sweet to me and I can't imagine it getting better. I know I had to stand about 2 ft from my 100" screen before I could see any pixels. So if your saying it can get better than that, then I might have to try it. Bud, I will let you know about moving the xr10 back in a couple of days. I got half way there last night and found out that my roof was leaking.

Ok I’m going to ask a question here because it’s slightly XR10X related and also because most of you know I don’t know beans about HD but I’m learning fast.

Most of you guys are maximizing this little budget projector to the max by feeding it HD 1280x720 source and scaling it out to 1024x576

I had kind of a strange idea but I think it would be interesting to try if possible but I don’t know if its possible thus the “dumb question”.

Is there any way to send a 1280x720 feed to the projector or thru something else and on to the projector (like a pc maybe) that would crop the incoming signal down to say 1024x720? What I’m asking is if I was willing to give up 1280-1024=256/2=128 (128 pixels per side) and 768-720=48 (48 unused pixels of height) could I be watching a true HD quality image with this projector?

My screen is 72x96 and each pixel is .094 inches. .094x128=12.03 inches of image and is close to what they would do to the DVD if a bought what they call the full screen edited DVD. So in part it’s a DIY pan and scan HD

I don’t know if I would want to watch every movie in this mode. If this is even possible to do, but I have been making a mental note of what goes on in the 9 inches on ether side of my widescreen movies when I show them at a 54”x96” and I would say 90% of the time nothing is really over there. Right now on my screen I’m loosing 9 inches top and bottom to display the full 16:9 aspect ratio. I loose no movie just screen size. I’m wondering if I wanted I could on certain times give up movie and gain screen size.

And my last point if this is possible to do could I even compromise more and say just give up 90 pixels a side and looses a little height. Or even to take it a step further and say what if I squeezed the image 3% or something no one would ever notice.

I have been to peoples houses to watch a game or a movie on their new 16:9 RPTV and low and behold they watch 4:3 stretched to 16:9. that personally drives me nuts but it seems most of the people don’t even notice that or ignore it and watch the movie.

Ok that’s my one dumb question you can ask per year on AVS. I figured December 5, I was save in getting it out.

Why do you want to crop the image? I am confused!
Cropping an image is not what I would do but I know a lot of guys like to fill up the screen and do all sort of AR manipulation to get there.
Instead of cropping lets just feed the 10X its native (PC required) and software will do the down size without cropping. Or just feed the HD signal and 10x will do the down conversion. There is a huge difference between HD and 480P on 10X. Seeing is believing.

Why do you want to crop the image? I am confused!
Cropping an image is not what I would do but I know a lot of guys like to fill up the screen and do all sort of AR manipulation to get there.
Instead of cropping lets just feed the 10X its native (PC required) and software will do the down size without cropping. Or just feed the HD signal and 10x will do the down conversion. There is a huge difference between HD and 480P on 10X. Seeing is believing.
Oh I have no doubt HD 1280x720 scaled to 1024x576 is outstanding and it is what’s on my to do list. But none the less my image is going to be 54x96 and I won’t be seeing the full 720 HD effect.

What I was saying is can you make a 4:3 out of the 1280x720 knowing full well you will loose on the sides movie content but in return what you will be seeing will be full blown HD with 720 vertical lines at least in the part you are viewing.

I see. You can do whatever you want with a PC. Using Powerstrip software you can manipulate the resolution as you wish to fit your screen. If you have a nice PC download the free software AT (http://www.entechtaiwan.net/) and give it a try.

I think CaspianM has the right idea on this one. I think the only affordable way you could do this is through a computer and the correct software. I know I have a tuner type box that takes all the inputs (composite, coaxial, s-video, vga, and component) and sends it out via vga to a monitor or projector. There are options in there to do 16:9 and 4:3 scaling and you can choose aspect ratios within that such as 1024:576, 1280:720, 1280:768, 1280:1024 and such, but last I remember it only distorts it. I will check again when I remount the pj and let you know for sure if it would work for you at all. It's one of those viewsonic things and I think it only cost me about 100 bucks.

Thanks for the input guys.

has anobody burned through a bulb yet, or getting close? I was wondering if the percentage at the begining is accurate at all or if the bulb life pecentage seems to speed up as time goes on.

Yea hopefully this weekend I'll get everything set up. I'll be using a 50' vga to comp from monoprice. I didn't want to use an adapter unless I needed to. Can't wait.

I have used the 25' version of this cable from the beginning and I have noticed no problems with it. Of course, without a point of reference, it's hard to know for sure if it's good quality, but since everyone on AVS seems to talk highly of Monoprice, it was the best option for a cheap-o like me.

Bud you need HiDef that is where this PJ shines. :)

Or an HTPC ;)

I'm hoping to have a better decoder for HDTV viewing by the end of the month. I'm very interested to see the difference it makes. As it stands, my HTPC upconverted/postprocessed DVD is still the overall better picture, although I do strongly suspect that the default decoders that came with BeyondTV are not very good.

I have used the 25' version of this cable from the beginning and I have noticed no problems with it. Of course, without a point of reference, it's hard to know for sure if it's good quality, but since everyone on AVS seems to talk highly of Monoprice, it was the best option for a cheap-o like me.


Well I compared it to the stock one the came with the XR and the monoprices wires are about twice as large. So it should perform better.

has anobody burned through a bulb yet, or getting close? I was wondering if the percentage at the begining is accurate at all or if the bulb life pecentage seems to speed up as time goes on.

I had a bulb blow just last week. I was at about 1400 hours.
Took it back to my warehouse club of choice, let them know, and they handed me a new one. (I forgot how bright that bulb is when it's fresh!)
What was even more amazing, the PJ had gone down in price by $100. So, they gave me $100 +tax in cash!
:D

I had a bulb blow just last week. I was at about 1400 hours.
Took it back to my warehouse club of choice, let them know, and they handed me a new one. (I forgot how bright that bulb is when it's fresh!)
What was even more amazing, the PJ had gone down in price by $100. So, they gave me $100 +tax in cash!
:D

Does it get any better than this? AMAZING is right.

I just got my Sharp XR-10x last night. Actually, for some reason, the model was "XR-10X L." On NewEgg and other sites, the XR-10x appears to be being replaced with the XR-10X L, has anyone noticed this also?

Regardless, it's still a great projector. I got mine at Circuit City for $849 before a $100 rebate. I also bought the 4 year warranty as well. I figure for the price, even if it only covers 1 bulb, it's still worth it. So far I've put about 17 hours on the projector this weekend.

I'm projecting it onto a white bed sheet, ATM, which is stretched across some shelves and my speakers. I'd take some pics, but I can't find my camera. Regardless, the picture is incredible, and REALLY bright. Too bright, for that matter, and I do have it set to Econo lamp mode. I measured, and I had about an 85" picture diagonally. With so much brightness, I'm sure I could go much larger, unfortunately I don't have the space.

I'm not sure if its my crappy screen, or the projector needs some tweaking, but in really bright scenes the picture tends to be washed out. I was playing some Prey on it earlier, and it looked great. My next purchase will be a video card, methinks. With such a huge picture, the poor graphics are really noticeable.

I just got my Sharp XR-10x last night.



I run mine in Eco mode...tones down the brightness. On my 92" Dalite, colors are excellent with good contrast and BL.

Resaebiunne

I had that same problem with it being so bright it was almost blinding for me. I have a complete light controlled basement though so it gets pretty dark down there.. I bought a nd2 filter to cut the light way down and I also tuned down the brightness on mine. It helped a ton and when the bulb weres out I can just take the filter off. You can get them for a couple of bucks and you can just hold it on there with a broccoli gumband. I will change to a grey screen pretty soon to get better blacks and kill the light a little. Bud has a great forum on sceens. You should check it out before you switch to anything else.

Bud

I moved the projector back almost a foot and I noticed verry little to no change in the amount of bow in the picture. I mounted it as close to the celing as I ccan and it is still pointed up some which is probably causing it. I think if I can convince the wife to let me make a new grey curved screen it might fix the problem :D That might not be until next year though or never if she had her way :( They always think it looks fine the way it is.

I'm still interested if anybody has made it to the "end" of your standard bulb life

Resaebiunne

I had that same problem with it being so bright it was almost blinding for me. I have a complete light controlled basement though so it gets pretty dark down there.. I bought a nd2 filter to cut the light way down and I also tuned down the brightness on mine. It helped a ton and when the bulb weres out I can just take the filter off. You can get them for a couple of bucks and you can just hold it on there with a broccoli gumband. I will change to a grey screen pretty soon to get better blacks and kill the light a little. Bud has a great forum on sceens. You should check it out before you switch to anything else.

Bud

I moved the projector back almost a foot and I noticed verry little to no change in the amount of bow in the picture. I mounted it as close to the celing as I ccan and it is still pointed up some which is probably causing it. I think if I can convince the wife to let me make a new grey curved screen it might fix the problem :D That might not be until next year though or never if she had her way :( They always think it looks fine the way it is.

I'm still interested if anybody has made it to the "end" of your standard bulb life

As you can see from the thumbnail my 10X angles slightly upwards also and I’m at the right drop height. I think that’s pretty normal for this projector.

http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/53/153/8/25/53/2668825530068493142DDQONx_th.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2668825530068493142DDQONx)

the input on changing the throw / zoom and not changing the bow is good to know also. Thanks for giving it a try. It could just be Sharp pushed the optics to the max seeing as how this is marketed as a business machine and short throw was what they wanted. I have read posts where people took them back over this issue and swear that the new one mounted the same place had no bow or less. So I guess we can assume its something inherent in the projectors optics. I haven’t been bothered in the least by it and no one viewing has ever asked about it. I mostly watch it as 16:9 and on a 4:3 screen I don’t see any bow.

As for the high amount of light and a smaller screen. The ND2 filter and gum band idea is a good one. I also highly recommend a neutral gray low gain screen for this projector. The PQ compared to white is very good. Thumbnail shows the shade of gray I’m at.

http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/51/151/8/48/54/2445848540068493142aXwRWV_th.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2445848540068493142aXwRWV)

and ambient performance is really improved. This shot was taken with (8) 60 watt flood lights on in the room plus anything else that makes light. Its read the newspaper bright. :cool:

http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/36/36/4/4/38/2834404380068493142hXjHIr_th.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2834404380068493142hXjHIr)

The hi lumen of this PJ becomes a liability only if your room's wall/ceiling are bright.
In my dedicated space with mid tone color walls and black ceiling this pj looks as bright as my CRT without any ND at about 400 hours with contrast at "0". Running 10x in 16x9 puts out gray bars on top and bottom of your image. You must mask the gray bars or mask the lens to avoid brightening up the room. Often it is difficult to determine if it is the pj or the room that is too bright.

Here are a couple examples of the gray bars without masking off of a neutral gray screen. The one picture I took because it was the brightest image I saw in widescreen. And the photo is about what I perceive when watching. I do think a rough masking at the lens is a good idea for at least the light spill that is always there a little.

http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/64/164/2/59/28/2374259280068493142jaiTkF_th.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2374259280068493142jaiTkF)

The gray bars show at the top of this picture.

http://thumb2.webshots.net/t/59/159/7/86/9/2100786090068493142rjtJTk_th.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2100786090068493142rjtJTk)

Bud,
What paint mixture did you use on the sceen that you are showing there? I like how your wall is black behind the screen.

I wasn't allowed to go black, but I was lucky that the basement was already painted dark green under the chair rail. I put my 16:9 screen 1" from the ceiling, so it would fit above the chair railing, then I put velvet curtains on the sides. My ceiling was painted a multigloss tan and I could see light spill every now and then, but it wasn't that bad. I started painting it flat white, so it isn't so ugly and I can see the Light spill pretty good now. I made a hushbox/masking box that I still need to paint and put up which should help out with the light spill. I painted the inside of it with black undercoating to absorb sound and light and left two good size slots in both sides that I am still debating on covering with cotton (not sure if it will be able to breathe well enough). The masking will only be about 8" from the lens, which makes the masking blurred, but it will get it close enough to the 1" of green above the sceen that it won't be a problem. Once I get it mounted I will take some Pics and post them and let you guys know any suggestions about masking if the arise.

There are links in my signature to the whole process I used to paint my screen.

Got my 10x up a running on a temp screen and some patched together AV cables from my Direct TV (standard def). I love watching the LARGE SCREEN. ;) Haven't noticed any bowing yet. Been watching on a 97" 16:9 and usually in border for regular tv. Can't wait until I get my real setup finished which will include HDTV. Will post some pics when I'm finished.

Here's a dumb question. I have the XR-10, which will be going in my newly finished basement (still working on that.) Our off-air channels broadcast in HD. I am running signals over VGA, S-Video, and RCA, depending on the application, and have extra cables there already.

How do I get HD out of the projector, assuming either off-air HD, xbox, HTPC, or other?

Is it simply indicating it on the projector itself?

Okay, question for anyone who can help:

How do I adjust the color saturation? Compared to my LCD, the color saturation sucks. Either my monitor is way too saturated, or the projector isn't saturated enough, I'm not sure, but I'd love it lots if I could get the colors to pop more.

I've adjusted the red and blue settings in the menu, but they seem to have no effect.

Thanks in advance.

Here's a dumb question. I have the XR-10, which will be going in my newly finished basement (still working on that.) Our off-air channels broadcast in HD. I am running signals over VGA, S-Video, and RCA, depending on the application, and have extra cables there already.

How do I get HD out of the projector, assuming either off-air HD, xbox, HTPC, or other?

Is it simply indicating it on the projector itself?


Well you have to feed an HD signal into the projector by way of the VGA inputs. The X10 has an on screen indicator that will tell you what resolution is coming into that particular input.

I feed my X10 with a Moto cable box. The box outputs 1080i...thus the X10 indicates 1080i input. When I switch to my Xbox360 and play games....I set the Xbox at 720P and the X10 will indicate input being 720P.

Okay, question for anyone who can help:

How do I adjust the color saturation? Compared to my LCD, the color saturation sucks. Either my monitor is way too saturated, or the projector isn't saturated enough, I'm not sure, but I'd love it lots if I could get the colors to pop more.

I've adjusted the red and blue settings in the menu, but they seem to have no effect.

Thanks in advance.

Have you tried the color temp setting? On my Dalite Matte White screen the default colors do pop. Not sure what you are using therefore some calibration may be in order. My Panny plasma has more color pop than the X10 but the X10 color presentation is actually more accurate.

You LCD computer monitor is probably a bit oversaturated.

Ok Part question part observation. And I cant take credit for thinking about this my co worker is still in the “I have a new XR10X mode and he came into work yesterday telling me something I didn’t believe so I went home and tried it and he’s right.

So the question part first.

Has anyone been using the (presentation) setting for watching movies?

And what changes in the projectors settings when you select presentation?


I honestly never tried it, or if I did it was early on and I didn’t pay any attention to this setting figuring it was a setting for power point etc. he came in and kept talking about the improved PQ in this setting and last night my nephew was over and we were watching clips out of King Kong a movie we have both seen several times and he said I don’t think there is anything you could do to get a better PQ. And I said wait I was told to try this. And I switched from (movie) to (presentation) and we both went “WOW”.

I then went into (standard) mode and set every setting to the same as (presentation) and toggled back and forth and still a nice improvement.
I told him I suspected in that mode I was freeing up the clear segments in the color wheel to work.
Is that correct?

Anyone want to verify what I’m seeing in this mode? I personally like the image better and that’s coming from someone already really satisfied.

If nothing else its something to keep in mind if a bulb starts dimming. The manual says it jumps into bright mode but mine doesn’t stays in echo mode.

star is right with the color saturation, you have to change the color temp. I'm projecting on boc and have mine set ar 75k I think. Somebody correct me if I'm wron, but higher the temp the warmer the color and the lower the temp, the cooler the color. Combine those with the color adjustments and you can get almost anywhere you want. Don't forget it on;y has a 2000"1 contrast ratio and won't "pop" like some of the plasma and dlp's 10000:1 ratio

As for the input in HD. Whatever feed you input is what the projector will output. Most units have someway of setting what output you want, or in your case being brodcast HD I think the have it preset, or it may be soley based on your antenna. Let me know what resolution you get. I'm thinking it will be 720p at best.

Star, are you using the component cables for your xbox 360, or did you get the vga cable that is made to plug into the back of it. I'm wondering if there is anykind of difference with picture quality betwen the two.

Thanks for the replies on the hd stuff. I get it now, I think, just need to figure out how to output hd to the projector from antenna. It may or may not be possible, but it's not critical anyway to me, if I'm too cheap to buy a dish, then why sweat it, right? (we live in the boonies). Most of my viewing will be htpc dvd content anyway.

Thanks for the advice!

Presentation mode uses a higher GAMMA setting. It might be a better choice for bright material but for watching film Movie is the right one.
My adjusted setting is for movie in 5500 color temp:

Contrast 0
brightness -3
color -5
hue -1
sharpness 0

5500 color temp is actually close to 6500 according to color meter readings.
I use 6500 (actually is 8500) for basketball and football and ignore the rest.

If you like a different setting then go for it.
Lower the color temp actually makes the picture warmer not cooler.

Figures that I would get the color temp backwards. I always get mixed up ith that stuff.

Caspian what kind of screen are you using. Is it just boc or is it a grey screen.

beartooth do you have component outputs on your antenna, or is it just coaxial?

Stewart studiotek 130 that I use with my CRT FP but I am going to change that soon to a perf.

Bud the default presentation mode has the bulb set to bright, but you can switch it like i did to econo mode to preserve bulb life. I always thought that the presentation mode just made things brighter and more white. I work in drafting and design and I know that almost everything that is presentation oriented gets whiter and brighter in all the software that I use. When you were playing with it did it makes the blacks not as black, or did it just seem to be sharper and more contrast? Let me know what kind of changes you were seeing.

Might as well chime in....

Bud,
I have used presentation for movies, and to my eyes, it looked worse. The way it happened was that I was watching HD football in presentation mode (which looked alot better for the configuration I was using at the time). I then started watching a movie and forgot to switch back to movie mode. The whole time I was thinking, "What is wrong with the colors? They just seem drab." I switched back to movie and was much happier.

CaspianM
I'm certainly not going to argue with a color meter, but it's still interesting to me that you got the results you did. Just looking at the greyscale test patterns on Video Essentials, it was very clear I needed to set my color temp to 7500 to in order get the closest-to-neutral grey. I seem to remember others making similar comments.

beartooth,
Just to make sure your clear on the requirements, you need a way to tune the HD channels you want to receive off the airwaves. The antenna would hook to the tuner, and the tuner to the 10X. The tuner can take the form of either a set-top-box HD receiver (usually about $100-200 I think) or an HD tuner card for a computer. I guess HD Tivo would be another option, although I don't know much about that. You may have already known all of this, but I couldn't tell for sure from your posts, so I figured I would mention it just in case.

Have you tried the color temp setting? On my Dalite Matte White screen the default colors do pop. Not sure what you are using therefore some calibration may be in order. My Panny plasma has more color pop than the X10 but the X10 color presentation is actually more accurate.

You LCD computer monitor is probably a bit oversaturated.Yes, I have the color temperature set to the default (7500 kelvin). Doesn't help the saturation any, but it does seem to affect the brightness of the picture? What's up with that?

ORPhD 6500 is not natural gray perhaps you are talking 7500K. Besides your eyes cannot be accurate in color temp.
10x has upward grayscale. Low end is warm and whites are cool. At 5500 mine measured 6356 (30IRE) and white (80IRE) about 6800 without calibration ofcourse.
What most forget is that if your pj is set at anything else than 6500 regardless of program, pj will add it own color layer to the image. Only at 6500K pj is transparent. This way the source will dictate the color temp. Some football telecasts are sent right at 8500K or even higher by design. Now if your pj is set at 8500K then what you will see actually is 10500K. Your PJ always add that 2000K extra.

IOW, I want to set the color temperature to 6500k to "disable" the processing?

Also, for the record, I was reading the XR-10x manual. For an RGB input (i.e., VGA) the "color" and "tint" options are not available, so the only way I can adjust color saturation is via the Catalyst Control Center. It's kind of disappointing really.

You should not mess with RGB. Those are not for color adjustment. That is for grayscale calibration.
Use color slider instead. 10x comes relatively well adjusted out of box anyway.

I set the picture mode to sRGB as per the manual for "high definition video." It stated that the picture will appear dark, and compared to some of the other modes, it is dark. However, the color is much better. It did take some time to let my eyes adjust, too.

What is odd is that in sRGB mode, I now have even less control than before. In this mode, the only available controls are brightness and contrast and lamp setting. Go figure!

Regardless, I'm happy now.

In true RGB mode the color decoder of the PJ is bypassed and it is dictated by the source color decoder.

would letting the source choose the color be best in the end, or are some sources better at it than others. Would you get different "color" for each dvd that you played, or would it be simular enough you couldn't tell?

I set the picture mode to sRGB as per the manual for "high definition video." It stated that the picture will appear dark, and compared to some of the other modes, it is dark. However, the color is much better. It did take some time to let my eyes adjust, too.

What is odd is that in sRGB mode, I now have even less control than before. In this mode, the only available controls are brightness and contrast and lamp setting. Go figure!

Regardless, I'm happy now.

This is very interesting to hear. Having only brightness and contrast is fine by me since those are the only two I really use anyway. I guess reading the manual does help :) Maybe I'll give it a try sometime today.

CaspianM,
I maybe was unclear in my first post, but I am in agreement that 6500K is NOT the most natural grey. I get that at 7500, as you suggested. I guess I'm just confused about color temp in general. I figured looking for the most natural greyscale was the primary objective, but if our eyes can't see that anyway (which I think is what you said), then using our eyes to adjust color temp is wrong. You concluded that 5500 was closest to correct, right? I guess this is moot if I end up going with RGB mode, but I am trying to learn nonetheless.

Dave we all are trying to learn and enjoy. Color temp is hard to eyeball but I have done it not sure of its accuracy. 6500 kelvin actually is somewhat reddish. If you like gray gray go for it. I found that Sharp's 5500 setting is close enough to 6500K. My sharp's 6500 is too blue (white is too vivid and black has blue cast on it) for my taste. But pick the one you like and there are always variations from pj to pj. It is said that 6500K is similar to color temp of snow under overcast sky.
AFA RGB.. my Nec XG FP which is one of the best 8" CRT if fed RGB I have no control over the color decoder either. With MY HTPC I always set the color by the DVD player software.

I have two questions. I don't own this PJ, but my buddy does and I'm helping him design his HT for the new house he's moving into.

Do most of you build a 16:9 Screen, and if kids watch their 4:3 material, hit Stretch and let it stretch 4:3 material to fill your 16:9 screen? I'm not sure if this is how it works as I have not tested it with his PJ, so I'm asking here. Per Projector Central, to get a 100" 16:9 screen, his PJ will have to be 12.4 to 14.3 feet back from the screen.

Currently, he has a component to 15Pin cable running from his DVD player to the Projector. Is this the best hookup for DVD viewing? If he subscribes to D* HD Package, will he use the same connection from the HD box....component on the HD Box to 15pin on the PJ?

I have two questions. I don't own this PJ, but my buddy does and I'm helping him design his HT for the new house he's moving into.

Do most of you build a 16:9 Screen, and if kids watch their 4:3 material, hit Stretch and let it stretch 4:3 material to fill your 16:9 screen? I'm not sure if this is how it works as I have not tested it with his PJ, so I'm asking here. Per Projector Central, to get a 100" 16:9 screen, his PJ will have to be 12.4 to 14.3 feet back from the screen.

Currently, he has a component to 15Pin cable running from his DVD player to the Projector. Is this the best hookup for DVD viewing? If he subscribes to D* HD Package, will he use the same connection from the HD box....component on the HD Box to 15pin on the PJ?
I suggest making or buying a 4:3 screen and let the kids watch BIG and SD from a good signal BIG. If you go the 16:9 screen way there is 3 viewing window sizes full all the pixels in 4:3 1024x768 stretch 16:9 1024x576 and then a border mode where it makes a small 4:3 inside the 16:9 stretch window. That small 4:3 window would be for the kids and SD viewing.

As for the throw length calculator go to Sharps web page and look around they have a download that’s really good and I know will give you the correct information on placement.

My screen is 72x96 and throw is 14.5 I sit back about 10 to 14 feet and have no problem with SD viewing.

Screen shots in links below in my signature along with DIY screen info

I have two questions. I don't own this PJ, but my buddy does and I'm helping him design his HT for the new house he's moving into.

Do most of you build a 16:9 Screen, and if kids watch their 4:3 material, hit Stretch and let it stretch 4:3 material to fill your 16:9 screen? I'm not sure if this is how it works as I have not tested it with his PJ, so I'm asking here. Per Projector Central, to get a 100" 16:9 screen, his PJ will have to be 12.4 to 14.3 feet back from the screen.

Currently, he has a component to 15Pin cable running from his DVD player to the Projector. Is this the best hookup for DVD viewing? If he subscribes to D* HD Package, will he use the same connection from the HD box....component on the HD Box to 15pin on the PJ?

Aspect ratio-I use 1080i feed for both HD and SD and my HD sat rceiver will do the un-stretch trick.

Cable- the VGA-component is supplied but I would opt for the best cable he can afford. The supplied cable is definitely a bottle neck for better performance out of this PJ.

Throw distance- I would recommend to install this unit on it closet side and use the widest zoom to avoid lens distortion. In this set up he gets the brightest image as well.

Screen- I know Bud loves his screen but I like 16x9. With 10X in 16x9 mode (fed with 480P, 720p or 1080i) this screen will provide a constant hight and only the width varies between wide and SD programming. A 16x9 screen will hide the black bars better and extra pixel can be used in shifting the image up and down if needed.

I'm with CaspainM. I have a 97" 16:9 and use in in strech mode most of the time for SD if not then I use boarder mode. Gives me about an 80" 4:3. But like I said I dont mind the strech mode. Can wait until I get HD and my final screen. Will get some screen shots up soon. Have fun!

later

Looks like he is gung ho to make his screen 16:9 and let his children watch the SD in stretched mode.

When watching something in HD on this projector, I understand it will downscale it, but how does the HD look? A noticeable difference between normal SD from a DVD or cable?

Looks like he is gung ho to make his screen 16:9 and let his children watch the SD in stretched mode.

When watching something in HD on this projector, I understand it will downscale it, but how does the HD look? A noticeable difference between normal SD from a DVD or cable?


An enormous difference. Night and day difference. Not even close.

HD far far superior PQ to any form of SD material fed into the X10.

Star, are you using the component cables for your xbox 360, or did you get the vga cable that is made to plug into the back of it. I'm wondering if there is anykind of difference with picture quality betwen the two.

I am using the component cables and am quite satisfied with the PQ at 92". I have thought of trying the VGA---VGA just for fun...but never have gotten around to hooking it up.

6500 kelvin actually is somewhat reddish.

Is this just on the XR-10X, or a general rule? If it's a general rule, it would go a long way in explaining my confusion, as I always thought true 6500K had truly gray grays. It would also indicate I need to go back down to 6500, at least.

When watching something in HD on this projector, I understand it will downscale it, but how does the HD look? A noticeable difference between normal SD from a DVD or cable?

It is better, although the difference is not nearly so drastic for me as it is for some others. This is likely because I am very, VERY happy with my HTPC upscaling/sharpening results for DVD.

As a quick bit of history (and update for those who have been here a while), I was using my software's default HDTV decoders up until a couple of nights ago. During this time, DVD for me actually looked better, although I suspected the decoders were to blame (they were). I finally tried what are regarded as the best ones the other night. It was a huge improvement over the old decoders, finally allowing HDTV to surpass my DVD results. However, the difference for me is still not huge when compared to DVD. I'd say maybe 10-15% better if I had to venture a guess at this early stage of my experience. I'll have a better idea once I get some Smallville DVDs ripped and can compare similar content.

Aside from me, the consensus here is that HD blows away SD. My understanding though is that just about everyone else is using standalone DVD players (upconverting or not) when drawing that conclusion. My conclusion in all of this is that my HTPC's sharpening is what is producing the fantastic DVD results that I get. It seems to me to be an integral part of the upscaling process (and one that the standalone upscaling DVD players and/or the 10X don't do as well, if at all). This is why I think I'm seeing a smaller difference that most here are not. Is it HD? No, but it's close enough to make it tough to tell the difference with a quick glance. Now my next step is to try to sharpen the HD a little to see if that tilts the scales a bit more in its favor.

Dave-If you want bright white/gray you need 8500K.
Yes HD with 10X really works. It works as close as my Sony HS60 projector which is a 720p.
It surpasses anything else by a wide margine. No contest there. Some HD materails are soft so be aware of that. Otherwise looks real good.

EDIT: Reading Dave's comment on HD with 10x, I say some DVD'd with good transfer come close but still is not as good as a HD with good transfer. For some reason I see more SDE with DVD than HD.

Is this just on the XR-10X, or a general rule? If it's a general rule, it would go a long way in explaining my confusion, as I always thought true 6500K had truly gray grays. It would also indicate I need to go back down to 6500, at least.

For what it’s worth. I have been at 7500 pretty much all along and 6500 always looked to warm to me. This has been a concern to me because I spend a lot of time in the DIY screen forum and have IMO a pretty decent image color wise and the close to neutral gray screen I’m using has been measured to have a slight blue push. I have never been able to totally understand why I was able to run at 7500 and not see any push.
I know of 3 other people that painted a screen out to the same specs for a 10X and all are using 7500 also with great results.

So to me at least these last few posts have been clearing things up a little.

Generally most people prefer real white (blue) image. That is the reason why manufacturers cheat us when it comes to D65 calibration. You hardly see a TV or PJ out of box measures warm. It is always on the cool side. But true 6500 is what every one should shoot for. Like I said before you are tinting the image. Color temp is decided on the material side and your PJ should be as transparent as possible. Some like their speakers boom.

Darn. see it in BestBut an Amazon, listed as the Sharp xr10xL at around $849.. My wife will no way let me get this...

In my 1st post I mentioned some that were in my range,. can anyone please help me decide.

Thanks so much for the assistance and for those taking the time to help me out on this.

Darn. see it in BestBut an Amazon, listed as the Sharp xr10xL at around $849.. My wife will no way let me get this...

In my 1st post I mentioned some that were in my range,. can anyone please help me decide.

Thanks so much for the assistance and for those taking the time to help me out on this.

Rob I see you found the XR10X thread. That’s a good start. It seems Rob has an $800 ceiling and at that point his wife or someone is going to cut off his :eek: …remote control if he over spends the 8 bills. Can someone direct him to the refurbs etc. so he will have enough bread left to get a component cable.

By the way Rob the projector does come with (2) 10 foot cables.

Just bought one for my church off ebay for $780. Check out the listings... considered refurbdepot, but the ratings are horrible for that place. Costco no longer carries the xr-11c, too bad.

There is another wholesale club that's right at your target price. Not sure if tax was a necessary inclusion, though. Also if you can wait, there are other brick and mortar stores that will have it (significantly) cheaper than your target when on sale. I can think of two in the last month or so that have done this. Just keep your eyes on the Sunday circulars for electronics and office supply stores.

It should be noted that there are multiple versions of the XR projector, some with 800x600 native, some with 1024x768, and they aren't all as good as the others. Make sure you check the specs carefully.

BTW, just received the ebay refurb, and it looks brand new, so pretty happy. Would have bought new if I could find for a good price, but...

I got my XR-10X from Circuit City for $849 with a $100 rebate just over a week ago. There's definetly motivation on the part of the big boxes to get these things out of the stock rooms and into the hands of the consumers . .

Hey guys - I'm still reading this thread religously, and enjoying all the insightful, helpful posts as always. Thanks.

I was wondering about image shift on this projector. Does image shift only work vertically (i.e. up and down)?

I ask because I mounted my PJ a little off center by accident and as a result my image is *slightly* trapezoidal. No one else notices this of course, but as you can all attest I'm sure, it bugs me a little. Just wondering if there is a fix for this other than physically moving the PJ over a little. Thanks!

I don't think other than keystoning it if possible that you'll get any good results. Long term, you'll be better off just remounting it. I could be wrong though.

Hey guys - I'm still reading this thread religously, and enjoying all the insightful, helpful posts as always. Thanks.

I was wondering about image shift on this projector. Does image shift only work vertically (i.e. up and down)?

I ask because I mounted my PJ a little off center by accident and as a result my image is *slightly* trapezoidal. No one else notices this of course, but as you can all attest I'm sure, it bugs me a little. Just wondering if there is a fix for this other than physically moving the PJ over a little. Thanks!

Irmo
The image shift only works up and down and only when being feed a 16:9 signal. At least that’s how mine works. I have been playing with the image shift some and also imputing 4: 3 vs 16:9 I get a slight improvement in PQ when showing a 16:9 DVD if I set the DVD player to 16:9 and then view on the 10X in stretch mode over the way I was doing it just leaving the DVD on 4:3 and letting the 10X place the image in the middle up and down in the big 4:3 window. When doing that image shift is locked out.

I’m afraid you will have to ether shift the projector over , the screen over , or in your case projecting to a wall just rotate the projector slightly to get rid of the skewed image.

Mine is off a little that same way. I just shifted my screen a couple inches is all. But if I remount the projector the new DIY mount is going to have all the swivel stuff plus a right and left movement.

Glad to hear you are still out there reading.

Generally most people prefer real white (blue) image. That is the reason why manufacturers cheat us when it comes to D65 calibration. You hardly see a TV or PJ out of box measures warm. It is always on the cool side. But true 6500 is what every one should shoot for. Like I said before you are tinting the image. Color temp is decided on the material side and your PJ should be as transparent as possible. Some like their speakers boom.

7500 works best for me too. D6500 on the XR10/11 reproduces a 'ruddy' red in the flesh tones as well as a muting of colors. Perhaps on truly high end machines D65 would be best?

That is because the lower part(below 50 IRE) of the grayscale is warmer than it should be.
Toning down the color about 5 clicks would be a good idea.

http://www.jrobbo.com/NEC/BasicWhiteBalance.htm

I have been playing with the image shift some and also imputing 4: 3 vs 16:9 I get a slight improvement in PQ when showing a 16:9 DVD if I set the DVD player to 16:9 and then view on the 10X in stretch mode over the way I was doing it just leaving the DVD on 4:3 and letting the 10X place the image in the middle up and down in the big 4:3 window.

Bud, thanks for posting this. If I remember right, we had a discussion about this quite a while back, and I always wondered what the final verdict was.

I was wondering if anyone on this thread and who owned the XR-10X has had any issues with light green or light pink bans of color floating upwards on the screen. I looked in this thread a little bit, but saw nothing. I have about 200 hours on the buld and just last week began to notice the lines. They were never there before. Not noticible during a movie, but while watching hockey or anything with a light background the green and pink lights stand out. Any ideas? I have not been able to be at home during a time to call Sharp asking about this issue.



I am experiencing the same problem, has any one been able to determine what is causing it, and if there is a good solution...

I saw one reply about a bad ground, but I am using it connected to devices that do not have a Coax connected.


Later
TiVoNinja

I am experiencing the same problem, has any one been able to determine what is causing it, and if there is a good solution...

I saw one reply about a bad ground, but I am using it connected to devices that do not have a Coax connected.


Later
TiVoNinja

Well, here is a little update. I also tried disconnecting my coax, but that did not change anything. So I purchased a transcoder after hearing that would solve the problem. Input 1 on the projector has a 25 foot component to VGA cable connected to it coming for the receiver. Input 2 on the projector has a component cable running to the transcoder and from the transcoder to the projector via a VGA cable. The transcoder did help with the pink and green bans, however, they are still there. I would say when running video through the transcoder the bans are only 5% of what they are without the transcoder. They are basically un-noticeable unless you really stare and try to find them on a solid colored picture. However, the transocder does not do well when passing a HD tv signal through it. So, I finally broke down and called the Sharp number for help. VERY good customer service. They could not help so they want me to send the unit in for service. They sent me FedEx over night shipping labels for free, they said the turn around time would be about 24 hours, and they would over-night it back to me. I am going to ship mine out tomorrow. so I should have it back by Jan 5th. If they can't remedy the projector, I think I will try to return the projector and buy something else.

Nice to hear about the service. I'm going to assume that if they can't fix it, they will replace it for you, meaning you won't need to return it. That should be the way the service goes...good luck!

Quote:
Originally Posted by deewan
I was wondering if anyone on this thread and who owned the XR-10X has had any issues with light green or light pink bans of color floating upwards on the screen. I looked in this thread a little bit, but saw nothing. I have about 200 hours on the buld and just last week began to notice the lines. They were never there before. Not noticible during a movie, but while watching hockey or anything with a light background the green and pink lights stand out. Any ideas? I have not been able to be at home during a time to call Sharp asking about this issue.





I am experiencing the same problem, has any one been able to determine what is causing it, and if there is a good solution...

I saw one reply about a bad ground, but I am using it connected to devices that do not have a Coax connected.


Later
TiVoNinja



Ok after some further testing It may still be a ground problem, if there is anyone with experiance with this type of problem let me know how you resolved it.

DishNetwork Receiver I get Clean Picture
Helios 4000 DVD UpConverter I get Clean Picture
Wii I Get Clean Picture
DirecTv H-10 Receiver OFF Air with No Coax Sat Feed I get Clean Picture
DirecTv H-10 Receiver OFF Air with Coax Sat Feed I get the Pink and Green Floating Color Bands
DirecTv H-10 Receiver OFF Satelite HD and SD I get the Pink and Green Floating Color Bands

Need to test a different DirectTV Receiver, to determine if the problem is in the wiring or in the Receiver.


At least I know my XR-10XL is Operating Corectly... 150 Hours in 4 Weeks and I am still amazed at the Quality of the picture. Using Sintra Unpainted as a DIY Screen... and love it colors are amazing... may try some light grey paint on the Sintra at a later time to adjust for ambiant lighting...

This might be slightly off topic, but knowing the loyal 10X following here I thought I would throw out a question.

Have any of you been following the Sharp DT-500? And has anyone considered it as an eventual upgrade to the 10X?

I see it’s now selling thru the box stores and is still in the $1500 price point nearly double the 10X still. The case design, weight, controls etc all seem to be identical to the 10X.

It has been getting some respectable reviews on a few threads here.

What intrigues me about it, is the native 1280 x 768 15:9, I guess it’s called and the 5x color wheel speed. As most here know I’m still a big fan of older 4:3 movies and the 768 lines I would guess would let me bring that stuff in at true XGA still. And I would assume when viewing HD I would get a little vertical image shift with the extra pixels.

My guess would be it will stay at the 1500 price point for a good long time but I could also see this drop in price maybe lowering the price of the 10X again. That’s just speculation on my part though. Any thoughts?

I’m really not thinking of upgrading at this time, but I am often asked by someone new to front projecting what’s a good projector to look at that does HD and is in the under 2000 price range. And I wonder based on my high opinion of the 10X is the DT-500 a good one to recommend?

It does have hdmi, and the higher native resolution, but at that price (newegg shows it at almost $2300), it would be hard for me to be compelled to spend that kind of money based on the PQ I'm getting out of my current PJ. I'm an htpc user, though, so that hdmi isn't as needed, rgb works well for me, and I don't enjoy HD programming off-air or on cable.

Based on what I've seen with the 10x though, and given the specs of the DT, I think in that price range, that would be a logical recommendation long term. BUT, I think I'd recommend finding a 10x if you could, depending on the overall needs.

My .02.

This might be slightly off topic, but knowing the loyal 10X following here I thought I would throw out a question.

Have any of you been following the Sharp DT-500? And has anyone considered it as an eventual upgrade to the 10X?

I see it’s now selling thru the box stores and is still in the $1500 price point nearly double the 10X still. The case design, weight, controls etc all seem to be identical to the 10X.

It has been getting some respectable reviews on a few threads here.

What intrigues me about it, is the native 1280 x 768 15:9, I guess it’s called and the 5x color wheel speed. As most here know I’m still a big fan of older 4:3 movies and the 768 lines I would guess would let me bring that stuff in at true XGA still. And I would assume when viewing HD I would get a little vertical image shift with the extra pixels.

My guess would be it will stay at the 1500 price point for a good long time but I could also see this drop in price maybe lowering the price of the 10X again. That’s just speculation on my part though. Any thoughts?

I’m really not thinking of upgrading at this time, but I am often asked by someone new to front projecting what’s a good projector to look at that does HD and is in the under 2000 price range. And I wonder based on my high opinion of the 10X is the DT-500 a good one to recommend?

Bud, I just can't imagine it being any less than the 10x. I have to imagine it's similar with a higher CR and resolution. Most here would probably enjoy the upgrade but could not justify the near 2x price difference. If priced in direct competition to the HD70 or Mits 1000, it would be a no brainer.

Bud, I just can't imagine it being any less than the 10x. I have to imagine it's similar with a higher CR and resolution. Most here would probably enjoy the upgrade but could not justify the near 2x price difference. If priced in direct competition to the HD70 or Mits 1000, it would be a no brainer.

CMRA
That was kind of my thought also. I have thought for some time the 10X ruled supreme as the budget king and I’m still not sure at $800 it’s still not a contender but the two you mentioned coming in around $1000 that look better at least spec wise are capturing a lot of budget buyers now.

The 10X in some ways being XGA puts it in a unique category. Slightly better than the 480 units and not quite up to the HD 720 units. It’s downfall has been it’s comparison to all the other XGA business machines that seem to not fair as well in the crossover application.

Like you said if Sharp can gain enough sales volume thru selling these at $1500 to get the price down closer to a grand it would be a no brainer for sure.

Those sub $1k units have large offset and for me that was a deal breaker. And all they have white segment in their color wheel.
Also I am not a fan of feather weight pj's. That always raise a flag regarding build quality.

I had bought a Sony HS60 but had to go back for an issue and was rethinking another until I stoped by BB day after Xmas and saw one sealed box of HS51A with no price on the shelf. Took it for price check and it rang eleven. Oh my lord. There I have it. Looks incredible.

I had bought a Sony HS60 but had to go back for an issue and was rethinking another until I stoped by BB day after Xmas and saw one sealed box of HS51A with no price on the shelf. Took it for price check and it rang eleven. Oh my lord. There I have it. Looks incredible.

Wow, that's amazing. So does the 10X do anything better, or does the HS51a pretty much beat it thoroughly?

I agree it was one of those situations that is refered to as being in the right place in the right time.
The only area the 10x is over the Sony is the reserve brightness it has if you need it.
But with Sony you can disable the DI (iris) to get it twice as bright if one needs to run it with ambient light. It is a none issue.
Sony HS60/51A is the only PJ out there that can kinda approach CRT black with poor guy pocket. And on top of that you get Sony's color and Q built.

I had bought a Sony HS60 but had to go back for an issue and was rethinking another until I stoped by BB day after Xmas and saw one sealed box of HS51A with no price on the shelf. Took it for price check and it rang eleven. Oh my lord. There I have it. Looks incredible.


Well someone made a nice score. So, how does it compare with the HS60? Too little to fret over?
BTW, why am I always reading about SONY issues? My neighbor and fellow AVSer went through three Rubies til he got one right.

Hs60/51A are same.
Issue was that my menu driven green color primery was not responding but now I learned that that is the way it is with componenet input. Misconvergence has been a major issue with any three panel device in sub $3K range. You will see a replacement for Pearl with software adjustable convergence soon.

Sony HS60/51A is the only PJ out there that can kinda approach CRT black with poor guy pocket. And on top of that you get Sony's color and Q built.

At eleven franklins...sure. Glad you like it. After the Sharp the sony 'color' part has me wondering.

At eleven franklins...sure. Glad you like it. After the Sharp the sony 'color' part has me wondering.

You always bragged about 10X skin tone. And if you are a skin tone fan gotta see this pj. In that regard 10X and HS are ways apart.
I am surprized of too many complain about Sony PJ's. I have got two of HS and none really had any issues or couln't have been worked out in the service menu.
It has all sort of tools to tweak. Having said that I have a very very minor uniformity issue and VB but both cannot be noticed even watching hocky.
I paid a low amount but even at fifteen I believe this one is to beat.

Well, here is a little update. I also tried disconnecting my coax, but that did not change anything. So I purchased a transcoder after hearing that would solve the problem. Input 1 on the projector has a 25 foot component to VGA cable connected to it coming for the receiver. Input 2 on the projector has a component cable running to the transcoder and from the transcoder to the projector via a VGA cable. The transcoder did help with the pink and green bans, however, they are still there. I would say when running video through the transcoder the bans are only 5% of what they are without the transcoder. They are basically un-noticeable unless you really stare and try to find them on a solid colored picture. However, the transocder does not do well when passing a HD tv signal through it. So, I finally broke down and called the Sharp number for help. VERY good customer service. They could not help so they want me to send the unit in for service. They sent me FedEx over night shipping labels for free, they said the turn around time would be about 24 hours, and they would over-night it back to me. I am going to ship mine out tomorrow. so I should have it back by Jan 5th. If they can't remedy the projector, I think I will try to return the projector and buy something else.

Another update. I am still very impressed and pleased with the Customer Service from Sharp. Every time I have called during regular business hours, I wait no more than 30 seconds to be connected to a service tech. So now on to the projector issue. Sharp is stating they are unable to reproduce the pink and green bans that I see when testing the projector. So I can only think of two reasons. 1) I have a grounding issue as others have suggested or complained about on this thread. 2) they are testing the projector by sending signals to it from a computer source and not DVD player/cable box, game system source.

A question, if I do have a grounding issue, how would I resolve it? I have completely unhooked my cable box from my system and I still have the pink and green bans, so I ruled out the cable box. I have tried three different DVD players, all show bans, and two different cable boxes. I have sent the signal through my AV receiver, by-passed my receiver, and sent the signal through a transcoder. Nothing has helped. Any idea?

Another update. I am still very impressed and pleased with the Customer Service from Sharp. Every time I have called during regular business hours, I wait no more than 30 seconds to be connected to a service tech. So now on to the projector issue. Sharp is stating they are unable to reproduce the pink and green bans that I see when testing the projector. So I can only think of two reasons. 1) I have a grounding issue as others have suggested or complained about on this thread. 2) they are testing the projector by sending signals to it from a computer source and not DVD player/cable box, game system source.

A question, if I do have a grounding issue, how would I resolve it? I have completely unhooked my cable box from my system and I still have the pink and green bans, so I ruled out the cable box. I have tried three different DVD players, all show bans, and two different cable boxes. I have sent the signal through my AV receiver, by-passed my receiver, and sent the signal through a transcoder. Nothing has helped. Any idea?


Sure sounds like a ground loop problem.

I’m sure Sharp tested it fully with a variety of feeds etc.

Check out the link below and see if anything rings a bell.

http://www.cinemasource.com/articles/gnd_loop.pdf

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/groundloop/video_isolation.html

Now, dealing with the MSRP thingy, how do I go about letting you guys know about what a great deal my local Fry's is offering on refurbed 10x's? Forum rules dictate no deals or pricing other than MSRP so use some imagination. Or do a search here:http://www.rwjonline.com/index.php/frys-electronics-ads/
This means happy new year in Californian.

Is anyone still watching this thread? And those of you that are how many are following the two new Sharp threads? The DT-500 and the XV-Z3000

There is a lot of buzz about these two new guns but I haven’t seen any of the 10X guys there except CMRA. I’m kind of suspecting some are following it when they are not glued to their XR10X….. As I am still


Any new 10X stories?

I had a group of people over the other night to watch a movie and some music concert on the 10X and I love getting the man (woman) off the streets commentary on the setup. People that don’t regularly watch projectors or people that have never seen one outside a sports bar. I have become used to the awe struck reactions and how people want to actually go up close to the screen to see what it is they are seeing etc.
Well two of the people were a young couple in their early 20’s with a little kid and just getting started and really blown away. It was easy to tell they were in the we need one of these mode and we could never afford this in a million years mode. And finally she asked “If you don’t mind me asking…. How much does something like that projector cost?” And when I told them I got the most astonished look followed by “No S***”
I did point out the other costs involved and got the barrage of questions about can we use our stereo etc.

I have a feeling they are saving up.

I don’t want to say I’m old but I remember paying $800 for a 2 head VCR.

Relax Bud, there's still plenty to love about the XR10. I thought last friday's Frys add (SoCal) was a pretty good 'new' story. Those willing to buy refurbs and deal with rebates could enjoy one for five franklins. Tell me that's not a good story.

My 10x has been sitting in its box for a while now.
I guess I am going to the bay route. I need to come up with the franklins so it goes swiftly.

I'm still checking the thread regularly and was surprised to see how long it had been since someone posted.

I haven't followed the other Sharp threads (or the PJ forum in general) because I'm realizing more and more that, at least at the present time, I feel like I'm just not getting my money's worth out of the 10x like I thought I would. I've had it since early May, and I don't think I have cracked 200 hours on it. I absolutely love the thing when I do watch it, but I'm just not using it near enough to justify what I paid (and what I could get it for now) at this point.

With that said, now that she's finally escaping the clutches of the first trimester, my wife and I are hoping to start having more people over again soon. I can't wait to start seeing some more reactions....and fresh perspectives do tend to help me overlook how little I'm using it.

As a side note (and partial explanation of the lower recent usage), I'm learning that apparently the heightened senses that sometimes result from pregnancy can produce a higher sensitivity to DLP headaches. What I find especially discouraging is that comic books and movies taught me that heightened senses typically produce practical benefits, such as the ability to fight (or commit) crime. In real life however, the only "advantage" seems to be an increased ability to sense minor annoyances. ;)

I have taken my 10X out of the box a couple of times to compare it with my new HS60.
At least I would say 50% of the differences are incremental. I still believe Sharp is an excellent pj and good value even with new prices. Obviously if someone wants a 720p then that is the pj to buy but if looking for a performance/dollar 10X makes sense. The new line of sub 1k pj's have huge offset and they all are really presentation PJ's as well.

Dave

There are two ways to look at the issue of not using your 10X as much as you had first thought you would. One is that you are maybe not getting your moneys worth out of it while its depreciating a little.

I like to view it as I know any technology I buy is going to be obsolete by the time I open the box. But I don’t buy based around what is the newest technology rather I try and stay a step or two back intentionally. First the cost is always less and the bugs have been worked out. You have the advantage of hearing all the praises others have given a product before you buy.

The way I’m viewing it now is in a couple years maybe the DT-500 will have came on strong and will be crossing over its peak and they will be the budget basement projector to buy.

IMO to many people are always rushing to keep up in technology and most never need 1/10 the power they are craving. How many people I know that have these killer PC’s and just do email and surf the net with them.

It has a lot to do with perspective, like my post above people seeing the 10X for the first time are assuming I went out and dropped 10 grand on it or something and people here staying in tune with the latest and greatest have a feeling it’s not up to par because its specs are slightly light and mostly it didn’t cost enough.

As for mom and the little one to come (congrats on that!!!)

For Christmas I got the box set of the PBS series cosmos. Now I have heard of playing classical music before a baby is born to stimulate their music learning….. just think if the mom watched 9 DVD’s of Carl Sagan…..

I just made a few changes to the ceiling in my room a few weeks back. See thumbnails below or the whole story in my black ceiling link below. IMO I kicked the PQ of the 10X up a couple notches with doing this.

http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/618/2444963930068493142S425x425Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2444963930068493142XaSKOP)

http://inlinethumb14.webshots.com/1677/2021147720068493142S425x425Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2021147720068493142OBVzGy)

Here's an out of the ordinary XR10 thought.

It really is too bad no affordable 'blended' digital PJ solution has surfaced. I have often thought what a wonderful and HUGE image two XR10s could provide esp with a 2056x768 resolution. Talk about backyard summertime fun...for the whole neighborhood.

Here's an out of the ordinary XR10 thought.

It really is too bad no affordable 'blended' digital PJ solution has surfaced. I have often thought what a wonderful and HUGE image two XR10s could provide esp with a 2056x768 resolution. Talk about backyard summertime fun...for the whole neighborhood.

You had to go and get me thinking didn’t you….. :confused:

Would we have to call it 4000 lumens then??? :eek:

8:3 wide screen or 2.666 :D

I might have to make CaspainM a offer on that spare unit…. :cool:

Are those peg boards?
There is always the hype of a better PJ. No matter what we own the apparent love for our pj seems gets less and less with time . If I had a use like a place to run another PJ my 10x would have been the one to fire up again.

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sdfffeeffddfs

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Are those peg boards?


Yep pegboards :eek:

My whole room was close to building a ship in a bottle. First my house is a circa 1870 Pennsylvania farmhouse and the basement was my little get away room (another name for wasted space and the only place wife would let me do whatever I wanted.) basement was hand dug and field stones for walls. People were short back then I guess or digging was hard because floor timber beams had 6’4” of head room so every 1/10 of a inch counted along with cost. Next major hurdle was stair case has more bends than a dogs hind leg and the biggest piece of material that can fit down is 16”x96” in sheet goods. I bought the 4’x8’ white painted peg board and ripped them down the grooves on 16” centers and then did the ceiling in strips. One thought in doing this was it allows some air flow up into the joists. The surprising part was it is pretty good acoustically. The walls are T111 ripped into strips the same way and put up with the grooves running horizontally the other walls are the field stones painted Flat black. My screen is 72x96 so it had to be built knock down and assembled in place also.

The only easy part of the whole project was bringing the 10X down the stairs…. :D

I would be surprised if I have $3000 in the whole room projector, screen, sound, room, and furniture. Onkyo receiver, 4 custom speakers, carver bass amp and 2 custom 12” subs, Panasonic DVD player burner.

So yep Pegboard ceiling and every other cost cutting trick in the book. :o

You must be proud of yourself doing such a good job with your bunker.
I do like the other segment of the ceiling as well. It gives a stage like ceiling impression. What is that? Looks like stained wood.
If you stick some dense material under the PB you will a good bass trap. $3000 is excellent considering all the hardware.

You must be proud of yourself doing such a good job with your bunker.
I do like the other segment of the ceiling as well. It gives a stage like ceiling impression. What is that? Looks like stained wood.
If you stick some dense material under the PB you will a good bass trap. $3000 is excellent considering all the hardware.

Both halves of the ceiling shown are the same material, the white peg board. The strip that separates them is two pieces of quarter round back to back making a half round I thought of curving the strips in a arc but went for the easier straight method. The front section is just painted flat black. Peg board I found is easy to install the drywall screw heads are the same size as the holes almost and when you screw it up the screws disappear.

My nephew a audio guy that built me the speakers made the same comment you did to mounting some sound material behind the pegboard as a bass trap. He also said they seem to work pretty well just as they are. The speakers tested out as good in my room as they did in his sound testing room. Below is a thumbnail of the one of the four speakers that makes the XR10X rock.

http://inlinethumb14.webshots.com/397/2103256180068493142S425x425Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2103256180068493142xXUQqa)

Thanks for the complement on the room it was fun to do and I could have spent more if I wanted to but I had several ideas when I started this and they departed a long way from what was and still is considered the norm in home theaters.

First I wanted to demonstrate to myself and others that a high quality home theater experience could be done without breaking the bank. Secondly I wanted to show a different kind of viewing room. One that would function with lights out but also with enough lights on to resemble a living room setting. The bench mark I set was being able to read, eat , socialize etc. while enjoying a family room setting. Thus ambient light and off angle seating. My room has seating for 8 easily with side chairs and a sectional couch. No riser seating as of yet but I’m finding that about 10 times a year 8 seats is not enough. And the requirement goes to 12 or more. I’m going to do something I haven’t seen before and never in a tiny media room like mine. In the thumbnail below you see a curtain behind the projector, there is about 4 or 5 more feet behind the curtain and I’m planning a riser behind the sectional about 8 inches high I’m going to call it the (cheep seats, or the balcony etc.) it will have one long bench type seats for the kids, complete with cup holders and snack tray. What I’ll do is still have a type of curtain that I can open when I have overflow numbers of viewers and when not I can close it and get back to my more cozy setting. This thumb shows where that area will be and also the amount of ambient light I am able to have on during viewing. The second is a screen shot taken with those lights shown on.

http://inlinethumb15.webshots.com/654/2461025690068493142S425x425Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2461025690068493142XhhdUb)

http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/519/2069270820068493142S425x425Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2069270820068493142jYgaSo)

Once again I post this information in the 10X thread because it’s this projectors high lumen output that makes this possible. Those lumens matched to a DIY gray screen does the trick with the ambient light. That combined with the good CR of the 10X lets this happen. I don’t think all business machines are capable of doing this with movie and sports content as well as the 10X. but this projector will. :D

Thank you for taking the time and describing your room in detail. It looks great and the extension with a raised platform sound like a great idea. I have two rows and frequently I use both to change my angle of view for a change time to time. It is fun. I also agree that 10x with it high output makes it a great PJ for various ambient light situations. Yep that black painted segment close to screen is a very clever idea. Keep it up Bud.

Hey all, I'm a long lost forum oldie/newbie? been a few years away...had to build the business I started....yeah..life happens...oh well.

Anyhow.. I currently have Sharp XR-10X-L.
I didnt havet the time to read throug ALL of the pages..but did not find what I was looking for on the pages I DID read to I'll ask:

1. This is my 3rd PJ in 5 months. all the same problem, light just turns off ...during watching. ..no overheat no warning just off and wont come back on. Each time I've taken it back to Sam's Club and exchanged it. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing this?

2. Is there such a thing as a HDMI to VGA breakout cable? or converter?

Any help you all can provide would be fantastic...thanks in advance.

Paul . =0)

I guess I should add that I'm trying to use the HDMI output of Sony DVP-NS71HP to this PJ. It works beautifully with the Progressive output, but as great as this little PJ is, I'm trying to see if I can utilize the upscaling end of the Player. I've connected my OTA HD signal to it, with just beautiful results....very happy with this little "budget" pj.

That's says a lot since I had to switch from a large CRT pj when I moved to my new home. Just no asthetically pleasing place to put it, since I no longer have a dedicated theater.

Thanks, again.

Using an upconvert player will not add that much to PQ and is not worth the cost IMO.
But if you want try it. If there is an improvements it will not be much.
You had three 10x's and all have intermediate bulb issue?

The bulbs are an issue in the non xr-10xl. My xr-10x's bulb died after 900 hrs of ECO usage. I avoided excess ignitions, never started when hot, kept it in a cool area, all the things one should.

I got sharp to take it in for "evaluation", im hoping for something to come of that.

Its funny how the specs for the xr-10x is 2000hrs/3000eco and the xr-10xl is 2000hrs/3000eco on a "extended life bulb". I feel like I got the shaft and WILL NOT pay for a new bulb for 900 hrs.

Pending sharp's decision, I might be saving for a mitsu hd1000u

All the below information was copied from the sharpusa.com web page. I don’t see any difference between the 10X and the 20X except their stated lumens. How they are getting more lumens from a bulb drawing the same current is a good trick.

There is defiantly a difference between the 10X and the 10X_L .

I’m assuming you can substitute a 10X-L bulb into a 10X. Is this true?

My paperwork that came with mine calls it a XR10-X……..

Maybe it’s a good time to take a poll and see who has what and how many hours you have on and usage.



XR10X-L
2000 ANSI Lumens Standard Mode
1500 ANSI Lumens Low Power Mode

220 Watt DC type (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10L2 or AN-XR10L2/1

298W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 229W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4.7W standby

Up to 3000 Hours Lamp Life in low power ("eco & quiet") mode; up to 2000 Hours Lamp Life in standard mode
-------------------------------------------------------
XR10X
2000 ANSI Lumens Standard Mode
1750 ANSI Lumens Low Power Mode

275 Watt DC (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10LP or AN-XR10LP/1

350W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 305W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4W standby

Up to 3000 Hours Lamp Life in low power (economy mode); up to 2000 Hours Lamp Life in standard mode
------------------------------------------------------
XR20X
2300 ANSI Lumens Standard Mode
2000 ANSI Lumens Low Power Mode

275 Watt DC (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR20LP or AN-XR20LP/1

350W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 305W in "eco/quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4W standby

Up to 3000 Hours Lamp Life in low power (economy mode); up to 2000 Hours Lamp Life in standard mode

I sent a note off thru Sharps on line customer support email this morning asking for clarification of the 10X 10XL and 20X bulb and power/heat issue below is what I sent and I included the quoted text from their web page I posted in the above post.

I’ll post back with what they reply
--------------------------------
As a owner of a XR10X and a long time supporter of this fine projector on the AVS web forums some members are voicing a concern of premature bulb failure with the XR10X vs the later released XR10XL. The L boasts the same specs as the 10X but with lower wattage and the 10X matches the 20X both in lamp and power. The belief is Sharp found the unit too high powered and not meeting its rated bulb life and designed a lower wattage bulb into the L. is there a plan in place to help these 10X owners out? And can the L bulb be used in the 10X?

There is a great customer loyalty base out there based around this projector and many considering upgrading to new projectors like the DT-500. I would hate to see this bulb issue harm the reputation you have built with the 10X

I sent a note off thru Sharps on line customer support email this morning asking for clarification of the 10X 10XL and 20X bulb and power/heat issue below is what I sent and I included the quoted text from their web page I posted in the above post.

I’ll post back with what they reply
--------------------------------
As a owner of a XR10X and a long time supporter of this fine projector on the AVS web forums some members are voicing a concern of premature bulb failure with the XR10X vs the later released XR10XL. The L boasts the same specs as the 10X but with lower wattage and the 10X matches the 20X both in lamp and power. The belief is Sharp found the unit too high powered and not meeting its rated bulb life and designed a lower wattage bulb into the L. is there a plan in place to help these 10X owners out? And can the L bulb be used in the 10X?

There is a great customer loyalty base out there based around this projector and many considering upgrading to new projectors like the DT-500. I would hate to see this bulb issue harm the reputation you have built with the 10X





Im with this guy. And you said it better than I did. I likely came off as a maniac. In the event of no help from sharp, what options do we have, other than my aforementioned Mitsu HD1000U (voting with my wallet)?

Sharp has a long standing reputation of having great customer service and I have actually only heard a few complaints out of hundreds of posts of praise so I’m not getting too excited at this point. Sometimes stuff just happens like early bulb failure also. I hope more people start posting in on bulb life and what projector they have.

I would like to know if the L bulb will work in the regular 10X machine????

That being said I have a 4” pancake fan I might just hook up as a case cooler fan. If I do I’ll post pictures and see if I can somehow measure before and after temp readings of the exit air temp. its actually an experiment I have been wanting to do for some time now so why not try it.

I have been running mine with hi fan. Even with the new Sony that is route I choose to take.
There is nothing wrong with this pj and lamp early failure happens with all dpj's.
I have about 500 hour on mine.

i see it as an issue when a new model, the xr-10xl comes out that changes nothing but the lamp, which has the exact same stated lamp life, but is described as

"Low Power "Eco & Quiet" Mode with New High Efficiency Lamp
provides increased lamp life (up to 3000 hours*) with reduced power consumption for low cost of ownership along with ultra-quiet operation.

i get the efficiency idea, but is anyones BS alarm going off when "increased lamp life" is the EXACT SAME number?

10X is rated 4000 hours but 10XL life is 3000. Perhaps that is the difference.

10X is rated 4000 hours but 10XL life is 3000. Perhaps that is the difference.


I dont know where you got that from, but on sharp's website, it says 3000 for eco mode on BOTH PJ's.

For 10X:"350W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 305W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4W standby"


For 10XL:298W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 229W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4.7W standby

Sorry I meant lumen difference not hour rating. You are correct.
There is a difference in lumen. There is a chance that Sharp has used a smaller apperture lens in L but don't know as a fact.

Sorry for not getting back to this....heh heh...forgot to set the notifications....duh.

As far as the bulb failures? Yep. 3 bulbs on 3 different PJ's in 5 months. No way did I reach the 900 hours in 3 weeks for the first one; so I was seriously surprised 2 have a 2nd and 3rd problem.

I love the PQ on this thing...ESP for the price...and get this...the price had dropped between the time I bought and returned for an exchange...so they gave me the difference of about 60 bucks in Cash! :P

I've got to figure this problem out, I have an HP PJ that I have had problems with as well ( Vp-6121) but these were definite overheat problems cause it doesnt have an air filter on the cooling fan intake. One of the FIVE times I have sent it for repair it actually caught fire! POOF! Kinda like a mini gas flash. In 3 tries since...they havent fixed it, completely. I have it sitting here waiting for FED EX to pick up as we speak ...to send it one more time.

God Help me.

For 10X:"350W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 305W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4W standby"


For 10XL:298W in "bright" lamp setting and "high" fan mode / 229W in "eco & quiet" lamp setting and "normal" fan mode / 4.7W standby

Sorry I meant lumen difference not hour rating. You are correct.
There is a difference in lumen. There is a chance that Sharp has used a smaller apperture lens in L but don't know as a fact.

I copied the spec’s right from sharps page in post number 869. seems the 10X-L has lower lumens in echo mode and the same 2000 in normal mode but 52 watts less power in normal mode.

So somehow they have come up with a better bulb in the high power setting anyway and it looks like in low power setting also. I’m still perplexed at the 20X vs 10X same watts more lumens.

Like I posted above I’m not super alarmed at hearing of a couple bulbs going that’s bound to happen I guess and I’m not making light of fragglerock’s early bulb life no one wants that to happen. I’m just trying to figure out can we substitute the L bulb into the 10X and if sharp has any input into why the upgrade came along. This projector is some pretty mature technology, as technology goes these days. In one way of looking at it if they are still improving things that’s a good thing on the companies part.

One thing I didn’t look into was what bulb the new stuff is using. Projectors like the DT-500 are clearly built around the 10X case etc. I’ll have to look and see if there is any similarity in bulbs.

I copied the spec’s right from sharps page in post number 869. seems the 10X-L has lower lumens in echo mode and the same 2000 in normal mode but 52 watts less power in normal mode.

So somehow they have come up with a better bulb in the high power setting anyway and it looks like in low power setting also. I’m still perplexed at the 20X vs 10X same watts more lumens.

Like I posted above I’m not super alarmed at hearing of a couple bulbs going that’s bound to happen I guess and I’m not making light of fragglerock’s early bulb life no one wants that to happen. I’m just trying to figure out can we substitute the L bulb into the 10X and if sharp has any input into why the upgrade came along. This projector is some pretty mature technology, as technology goes these days. In one way of looking at it if they are still improving things that’s a good thing on the companies part.

One thing I didn’t look into was what bulb the new stuff is using. Projectors like the DT-500 are clearly built around the 10X case etc. I’ll have to look and see if there is any similarity in bulbs.




That I can agree with. However, i think some response on the part of Sharp to help those of us out would be nice.

Oh, and the part about not "making light" of a bulb's death makes me laugh, or maybe only I get the pun.

That I can agree with. However, i think some response on the part of Sharp to help those of us out would be nice.

Oh, and the part about not "making light" of a bulb's death makes me laugh, or maybe only I get the pun.

They say people who speak in puns should be “drawn and quoted”. ;)

I haven’t heard back from Sharp but when I do I’ll relay any information I get back to the group.

I was wondering where the people live that had early bulb failure. Altitude plays a huge part in bulb life, the thinner the air the shorter the life. That and the ambient temp.

as to Sharp helping us out about the xr-10x --> xr-10xl, I have a request in to either upgrade me or modify my current one to that spec (and bulb), as my PJ is at the repair center with an exploded bulb at 900hrs.

I hope Sharp does not tarnish their reputation for customer service by refusing to recognize the misstated specs and/or obvious defect.

Ill keep you guys posted.

I appreciate that Fraggle, cause for now, Sharp and HP both have a tarnished rep with me; the only thing saving Sharp is their great PQ.

If you have bulb issue with every make and brand perhaps something else is going on.
Heat, installation such as vibrations, too many on/off cycle, spikes..Look into it.

as to Sharp helping us out about the xr-10x --> xr-10xl, I have a request in to either upgrade me or modify my current one to that spec (and bulb), as my PJ is at the repair center with an exploded bulb at 900hrs.

I hope Sharp does not tarnish their reputation for customer service by refusing to recognize the misstated specs and/or obvious defect.

Ill keep you guys posted.any news? because I am getting ready to send in my XR-10X for a 4th time.....and if I can get an upgrade to one that does not explode the bulbs at 700-800 hours I would be a happy man LOL....

Next time run your projector with fan in hi mode to keep things cool.

Next time run your projector with fan in hi mode to keep things cool.I do.....I run it in eco mode with the fan set on high......plenty of space for ventilation and it is cleaned religiously.....

I started a new thread linked below with the test data I measured off my 10 X running in the different fan modes and also with the addition of an aux cooling fan.

It runs 14deg F cooler in eco mode with fan set to high.
It runs an additional 25deg F cooler with the aux fan.

View the other thread for all the details.

Nice trick Bud.
I just wish Sharp quit putting both intake and discharge on the same side next to each other. It is not a sound design AFA cooling is concerned. At least some louver was essential to redirect intake and exhaust.

well my projector goes out tomorrow as soon as FedEx gets here.....I have to say I am still in love with Sharps support, they are just absolutely stellar!

I tried to talk them into exchanging for an XR-10XL after they have a chance to check out my projector.....but the guy said it was not something they normally did and that I should call back again after the technicians have a chance to go over my projector.....

well my projector goes out tomorrow as soon as FedEx gets here.....I have to say I am still in love with Sharps support, they are just absolutely stellar!

I tried to talk them into exchanging for an XR-10XL after they have a chance to check out my projector.....but the guy said it was not something they normally did and that I should call back again after the technicians have a chance to go over my projector.....

Loker

Just out of curiosity, do you happen to live at high altitude?

If I read your posts here and in the other thread correctly this is your 4th 10X and each time you had problems they replaced the whole projector?

I’m just trying to narrow down your problem in my mind because you are one of the first that I have seen with this issue. Fill us in on the whole history again if you will.

I’m glad to see that Sharp is providing good service, I haven’t received a reply to the email I sent as of yet.

Loker

Just out of curiosity, do you happen to live at high altitude?

If I read your posts here and in the other thread correctly this is your 4th 10X and each time you had problems they replaced the whole projector?

I’m just trying to narrow down your problem in my mind because you are one of the first that I have seen with this issue. Fill us in on the whole history again if you will.

I’m glad to see that Sharp is providing good service, I haven’t received a reply to the email I sent as of yet.No I do not live at high altitude.

Also this would be my 3rd projector returned, I must have mispoke before, they took one projector in twice and replaced the lamp the second time.

I guess I must be having some insanely bad luck.....hopefully this time around a solution is reached though! I am glad they have such an awesome support department to work through this issue with!

Also one thing I found out yesterday from Sharp support....they asked if the temperature indicator has ever came on...I stated no and they immediately said send the projector back the lamps should not be failing prematurely if the temperature indicator has never came on.

any news? because I am getting ready to send in my XR-10X for a 4th time.....and if I can get an upgrade to one that does not explode the bulbs at 700-800 hours I would be a happy man LOL....


Sharp has agreed to exchange my unit for another one, which comes with a bulb. I believe the unit is refurbished (which I dont mind). Furthermore, on the unit I will be recieving, which should have come today and will likely come tomorrow, the 90day bulb warranty is reset. Now I can put some hours on under that umbrella.

When I get it, ill post again and let you guys know how it is when all is said and done. As so far, if Sharp holds up their end of the bargain, they have a satisfied customer.

Ok here is my final version of the “fully blown, tricked out, pimp my ride” XR10X. :D Well at least final as of this morning.

Along with adding the fan I added a way to measure temp while it’s running. When I took the original readings I used a non-contact inferred measurement. What I did now was I mounted the thermocouple from a Radio Shack $20 indoor outdoor thermometer about 1 inch from the hot air exhaust and in line with the strongest air flow. The wire that comes on it is about 8’ long so I mounted the unit on the wall about 6’ away. The outdoor setting goes to 158F and that was about the max I was seeing without the fan so I should be safe there.

I ran the 10X about 5 hours last night and the temp held right around 120F the whole time. That’s about a 30 to 40 degree improvement with the fan.

Here are the latest pictures of this thrown together setup.

http://inlinethumb53.webshots.com/2228/2415008840068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2415008840068493142VFCusL)


http://inlinethumb25.webshots.com/664/2723389150068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2723389150068493142oLHzJB)


http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/1371/2148831290068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2148831290068493142Zmlnkb)

:) might have to try that fan out, if & when i get mine fixed. 11 months, 2800 hrs. smooth sailing & not a noise or glitch one. then last night it just quit while watching flyboys, no lights, no power up, nothing. hope sharps cs as good as you say bud. :)

:) might have to try that fan out, if & when i get mine fixed. 11 months, 2800 hrs. smooth sailing & not a noise or glitch one. then last night it just quit while watching flyboys, no lights, no power up, nothing. hope sharps cs as good as you say bud. :)


WOW! That's averages out to about 8 1/2 hours per day. What do you do for a living and are there any openings?

:) might have to try that fan out, if & when i get mine fixed. 11 months, 2800 hrs. smooth sailing & not a noise or glitch one. then last night it just quit while watching flyboys, no lights, no power up, nothing. hope sharps cs as good as you say bud. :)

I think I have had mine about a year and I’m at about 520 hours or 10 hours per week. That is some steady usage Cyberdale.

I personally have the same comments as you smooth sailing all the way so far. So I haven’t had to use Sharps CS yet. Not sure if I ever will because I bought the 4 year plan thru SAMs so I’m not 100% sure how that will work when the time comes. But all I have read leads me to think Sharp will come thru. And lots of similar comments about Sharp over on the DT-500 thread.

So do you think it’s a blown bulb? I do think the fan mod will push the bulb life a good bit. I wish I had done it from day one just to collect the data on life with a new bulb but I started at 500 hours and 99% of that was with eco mode and high fan. So we’ll have to see. I am totally used to the fan now and I don’t have any issues with using it. I kind of want to pretty the setup with the fan but the wires hanging thru the ceiling are doing such a good job I might just leave them. Its not like a million people are going to see them…… :eek: last count the photo site had 130,000 hits. Tells me there are a lot more readers at AVS than posters.

:) might have to try that fan out, if & when i get mine fixed. 11 months, 2800 hrs. smooth sailing & not a noise or glitch one. then last night it just quit while watching flyboys, no lights, no power up, nothing. hope sharps cs as good as you say bud. :)

Now, this is an example of how to do theater right. Watching rather the posting your free time away on AVS. (Did you notice? ONE post and 2800 hours!!!!)

Little does this poster know how ahead of the curve he is. 2800 hours on the original lamp...excellent.

bud, guess this must be my lucky day, called sharp & they were going to get me fixed up, but i was a little worried about having it back in time to watch my boy jr put his whooping on the rest of the field at daytona, so i called sams, just on a whim, hoping that there service plan i bought would let me get it fixed localy, but the told me to just bring it in & they would exchange it for me. very nice for that little gal on the the phone to be that worried about me getting to watch the twin 125's & the daytona 500.

CMRA, i find i do better just reading thru here & finding answers, then just asking questions. don't get me wrong, i had to ask bud a few questions when i got this & he helped me out quickly & professionaly. but all you guys have covered so much in this forum, that most all the information a man needs is here... just got to look for it. :cool:

Well that’s good news the only thing better than a great Sharp CS is a great SAM’s CS I guess.

That projector coming down and going back up is going to look like a 8 second pit stop.

Stop back and say hi in 2800 hours ok…… :D

well guess it couldn't be a great day, should of known. but all & all not to bad. drove the 89 miles to sams & of course they didn't have it in stock like they had said. all they had was the display model with a 1000 hours on it, so....... they decided to refund all my money $1063.00 with tax & the service plan. & hold me one friday when they get the new ones in the store. the current price is around $750.00. so they basicly paid me a $150 dollars to watch there projector for the year. & to top it off the girl gave me a $50 gift card for my time. now thats what i call CUSTOMER SERVICE. guy at the counter tried to tell me about a friend of his in downtown springfield that was a sharp dealer & had on in stock. told him i would wait on sams. they treated me too good to take my buisness somewhere else. can't wait for friday.

well guess it couldn't be a great day, should of known. but all & all not to bad. drove the 89 miles to sams & of course they didn't have it in stock like they had said. all they had was the display model with a 1000 hours on it, so....... they decided to refund all my money $1063.00 with tax & the service plan. & hold me one friday when they get the new ones in the store. the current price is around $750.00. so they basicly paid me a $150 dollars to watch there projector for the year. & to top it off the girl gave me a $50 gift card for my time. now thats what i call CUSTOMER SERVICE. guy at the counter tried to tell me about a friend of his in downtown springfield that was a sharp dealer & had on in stock. told him i would wait on sams. they treated me too good to take my buisness somewhere else. can't wait for friday.

WOW :D

well guess it couldn't be a great day, should of known. but all & all not to bad. drove the 89 miles to sams & of course they didn't have it in stock like they had said. all they had was the display model with a 1000 hours on it, so....... they decided to refund all my money $1063.00 with tax & the service plan. & hold me one friday when they get the new ones in the store. the current price is around $750.00. so they basicly paid me a $150 dollars to watch there projector for the year. & to top it off the girl gave me a $50 gift card for my time. now thats what i call CUSTOMER SERVICE. guy at the counter tried to tell me about a friend of his in downtown springfield that was a sharp dealer & had on in stock. told him i would wait on sams. they treated me too good to take my buisness somewhere else. can't wait for friday.

I replied WOW to the last post reading it just before lunch and then went out in the blizzard of 2007 for lunch. (not one of the smartest moves in a while)

But as I was thinking about this last post and the great CS cyberdale is seeing it dawned on me just how happy he must be with this projector given his current position he’s still planning on purchasing the exact same projector again.

I actually think given his situation I would do the same thing after a year of XR10-ing.

I don’t know for sure if he had the XR10X or the XR10X-L the first time around. The SAMs in my town is carrying the L model and most likely that’s what his replacement will be.

Good luck and well worth the 89 mile drive twice IMO.

I still <3 Sharps support lol....

At first they told me I was going to be responsible for all of it and that it was the lamps fault.....I pleaded my case and the person said they would have a repair coordinator call but that I should not get my hopes up. Well I just got off the phone with the nice repair coordinator....did not have to argue or anything....just stated my case and she waived the lamp replacement fees and also said that the technicians would be installing an additional filter that will somehow help with ventilation?

Thre is no air filter in 10X AFAK.

Thre is no air filter in 10X AFAK.well thats just what the repair coordinator told me.....once I get it back I will take a look and see if I can find where they installed the filter....

I do not see how it can help with ventilation since I always clean it anyway....but I am not complaining.....

does anyone feel like taking a picture or two of insides of their 10X through the vents.....because it looks like they added more than a filter but I honestly can not fully remember what was there before I sent it off....

Hey guys - Now that we have had our 10X's for awhile, maybe now would be a good time to share our maintenance programs?

Bud has obviously modded his with additional fans in hopes of longer bulb life, so is there anything else being done out there? Cleaning the lens, vacuuming the vents, etc. Anyone have a plan they'd like to share?

Does "not watching it" count? :( ;)

Actually, I did run it for the first time in a LOOOONG time a couple nights this weekend. It was great (as always). And hopefully now that I'm going to be installing a much better antenna for more reliable HDTV recording/viewing, it will be getting used more regularly for the several hours of programming my wife and I watch on our SD set now. I've owned it about 10 months now, and I'm yet to crack 200 hours. Shame on me.

Hey guys - Now that we have had our 10X's for awhile, maybe now would be a good time to share our maintenance programs?

Bud has obviously modded his with additional fans in hopes of longer bulb life, so is there anything else being done out there? Cleaning the lens, vacuuming the vents, etc. Anyone have a plan they'd like to share?

Irmo

Good to see you around.

Hell I wasn’t trying to help with bulb life it was so cold up here in February I needed that 158 F hot air blowing around the room to keep from freezing…. :( We didn’t see a two digit temp the whole month unless it had a minus sign in front of it.

I did watch every surfing movie made though…


Other than cleaning the outside lens I haven’t done much. the little bit of dust that did make it inside came out the first time I fired up the supercharger fan.
Still running right around 124 F every night.

On a local note my mother in law from Chapin came up over Christmas and was really kind of anti home theater when she arrived. After the third showing of Mrs. Henderson presents (at her request) in 2 weeks she’s a confirmed card carrying member of the I want a home theater club. Next time I come down I might need a hand putting a screen or projector up……. :D

Hey guys - Now that we have had our 10X's for awhile, maybe now would be a good time to share our maintenance programs?

Bud has obviously modded his with additional fans in hopes of longer bulb life, so is there anything else being done out there? Cleaning the lens, vacuuming the vents, etc. Anyone have a plan they'd like to share?

OK. Plug it in, turn it on.

Well, almost. I upgraded mine to a DT-500. Both are really trouble free. I do dust the case from time to time.

CMRA,

Congrats. Aside from increased resolution, how would you compare the two?

CMRA,

Congrats. Aside from increased resolution, how would you compare the two?

Real REDS, blacker blacks, better remote, and more "POP". Art's Z3000 review sums up the DT-500 for me.

I do dust the case from time to time.

Uhh I can tell.. you are babying the little Sharpie. :)

Talking about plugging it in..
Last thursday I took the Sharpie out of the box after a looong time and tried it out to prep it for shipping to a new home.

The differences between it and HZ51A were quite a bit. I did not notice it as much first time when I compared them but it was obvious this time.

Sony has a cleaner and more lust pic with a depth that Sharpie couldn't do. It appears the a layer of haze has been removed. Color and black level and sharpness are the major difference. With new prices it wouldn't hurt as much to get a new 720p but XR010X really is capable of get you by nicely. And if you need a 4x3 it should be keeper. I sold mine with lamp hour at 480 in one year.

I sold mine with lamp hour at 480 in one year.

Not planning on selling mine (I love this PJ), but how much did you get for it? PM me if you prefer.

Not much! Every email I got asked if it was HiDef PJ!!
Last reduction which produced the sale was at $400.

Real REDS, blacker blacks, better remote, and more "POP". Art's Z3000 review sums up the DT-500 for me.

This doesn't sound like the guy in the HS60 thread who described his projector as "dull". I wonder why?

OK. Plug it in, turn it on.



Thats about the size of it.

Mine just turned over the 2500 hour mark last night at right about 15 months of usage.

Not sure what I'm gonna do when the bulb goes. Certainly been happy with the unit but likely will consider other options too at that point.

Cool, sounds like no maintenance is the maintenance on this PJ.

So, you guys don't dust or wipe down the lens from time to time? Maybe my basement HT is a little more dusty than most.

I never did. More often you hurt the lens than helping it unless it is done 100% correctly.
Having some dust on the lens hardly affects the PQ. Just dust it with a lens brush gently.

THe X10 still stands as a amazing XGA PJ. I can tell you the PQ can hold its own against 720PJ's such as the Mits 1000. In fact, I can tell any owners that if you want to upgrade I suggest going to a higher end 720pj or a 1080 otherwise stick with the X10 until is dies :)

THe X10 still stands as a amazing XGA PJ. I can tell you the PQ can hold its own against 720PJ's such as the Mits 1000. In fact, I can tell any owners that if you want to upgrade I suggest going to a higher end 720pj or a 1080 otherwise stick with the X10 until is dies :)

The difference compared to a 720 is appreciable. For a few hundred dollars 720 is the value. I couldn't say that last year. The only reason to buy XR-10X is for its aspect ratio and hi lumen at this juncture imo.

The difference compared to a 720 is appreciable. For a few hundred dollars 720 is the value. I couldn't say that last year. The only reason to buy XR-10X is for its aspect ratio and hi lumen at this juncture imo.

Marginal IMHO. I have a Mits 1000 so I know :)

Yeah I dont fret about the resolution even though 90% of what I watch with it is HD. You'd think I might because I ran a 720p unit for about the same 15 months before it crashed and burned and I bought this one on a whim.. actually thinking I'd just try it out ("borrow"it) and take it back after I decided which route I really wanted to go. But never felt the need to.

Course I dont read the forums much anymore either and as such I dont get upgrade-itis. ;)

I do like the lumen output though. I just like a bright image. And even after 2500 hours this one is plenty bright. 100" 16x9 flat white screen, eco mode.. yada yada. No hardcore calibration.. just re-tweaked it a couple times over the hours with Avia.

It's not only 720p vs. 576p, superior contrast, HDMI input, 2 component inputs (if using VGA breakout cable), better scaling, less rainbow effect and SDE, more video memories, more tweaks, and less noise, but it's also not having black/gray bars for 16:9 material. Of course masking can rid of the black/gray bars anyway. I too own XR10X (now at my ma's HT) and HD1000u. Both cost the same at the time of purchase ($900). HD1000u is clearly better for HT.

Marginal IMHO. I have a Mits 1000 so I know :)

I tell you this..It is not day and night difference but hardly marginal.That is with my HS60. That is the time to upgrade from Mits. Kidding
You would be glad when you upgrade. If someone did not know that specs difference (like my wife :) )would tell you after a demo.."Oh the second one is so much better.."
:D

Well it's kind of like 2 seperate issues. One is whether a person should even consider a pj like this compared to one of the entry level 720p HT projectors if they dont even have a pj yet... and the other is if you already have this projector and are happy with it, is there any real good reason to get into one of the entry level 720p units instead.

I think the answer is bascially "not really" in both cases.

Like Stars said, if you're going to make a move, make it really worthwhile. And like Huey said the entry level 720p units have gotten to the point now where for a first pj, thats the way to go... under $1K. Unless even 2 or 3 hundred bucks makes the difference as to being able to buy a pj or not, or like Casp said, if you needed those particular features like lumens/aspect ratio.

Like I say, when my bulbs goes I'll need to make the decision.. either drop 275.00 for a bulb and carry on for another 18 months, drop 900.00 or whatever for an entry level 720p unit, or just really step up into the next realm.

For me I think it'll come down to options 1 or 3.. leaning towards 1. Then make a decided move up the next time around.

But what do I know.. anymore for me it's circled back to just being TV again and I'm happy with what I got. I just turn it on and watch. Which is prolly why I been stuck on about 4,150 posts for like 2 years. ;)

It's not only 720p vs. 576p, superior contrast, HDMI input, 2 component inputs (if using VGA breakout cable), better scaling, less rainbow effect and SDE, more video memories, more tweaks, and less noise, but it's also not having black/gray bars for 16:9 material. Of course masking can rid of the black/gray bars anyway. I too own XR10X (now at my ma's HT) and HD1000u. Both cost the same at the time of purchase ($900). HD1000u is clearly better for HT.

Huey, I chuckle everytime I read posts like this. Not that it's not true. (I'm as guilty as the next)

It's just how we obssess over marginal differences. Imagine if we took the same enthusiasm towards our local cinema? Isn't it almost halarious we take whatever they dish out to us and often pay stiff prices for the priviledge?

I can see it now:

'Mr Mgr., How many hours are on the lamp? What optics are you using? How many times have you run that print? What is the gain of your screen? You do know I can adjust your color balance to D6500 don't you? Then how do you balance the color? You do know patrons in the first five rows shouldn't wear bright clothing, don't you? How come you leave those exit signs on? Don't you know they impair the image as well as distract my viewing? You call this great projection? How come your APL black levels are not as good as Buster's across the highway?...

Like I say, when my bulbs goes I'll need to make the decision.. either drop 275.00 for a bulb and carry on for another 18 months, drop 900.00 or whatever for an entry level 720p unit, or just really step up into the next realm.


If one is happy there is absolutely no need to upgrade.
If need to have a better unit, don't wait for bulb be the deciding factor.
PJ without bulb is hard to sell and too many hours also hamper the sale.
Fine tuning the time to sell and buying another to minimize losses is somewhat tricky. Goes like "now or never."

My projector stopped while running in presentation mode. Nobody was in the room at the time. Now I get nothing, no lights, no noises when I hit the power button, nothing. Is this what happens when the bulb burns out? I have about 1600 hrs. on the PJ. and run it in eco-quiet mode 99% of the time. I let it sit unplugged overnight and tried it again, still the same, DEAD.
I checked the power cord, all is good 118v. Ohmed the bulb and get nothing. I think the bulb is bad but It seems odd that the unit doesn't power up.
Any Ideas?

I can't wait. Ordered new bulb today I let ya know if it works.

A new XR10X can be had for $700 after rebates from Staples. This is a good deal. I would rather get a good XGA DLP than a 720p LCD. Of course, I'm a DLP fan :D

I still enjoy my ma's XR10X which I set up for her in her basement. Unless you're side by side with a 720p DLP running HDMI upconverting DVD player, XR10X is really good !!!

Well, I'm not sure what to think. I think I'm having a fairly serious problem, but am not 100% certain (because my memory isn't that great and I use the PJ only about once a week, if that). Basically, I'm seeing a constant flickering of the image. I don't think this is RBE related, and neither my wife nor I remember seeing it previously. It was particularly noticeable on a Windows desktop and with traditional 2d animation (it was noticeable with live action too, but much less so unless paused).

I don't recall ever seeing this before. In fact, the flicker is possibly better described as constant and rapid slight variations in the color and/or brightness (hard to tell exactly which)...the effect reminds me somewhat of how a room appears when a loose light flickers due to a strong vibration.

This isn't normal, right? Has anyone else seen something like this?

Well, I'm not sure what to think. I think I'm having a fairly serious problem, but am not 100% certain (because my memory isn't that great and I use the PJ only about once a week, if that). Basically, I'm seeing a constant flickering of the image. I don't think this is RBE related, and neither my wife nor I remember seeing it previously. It was particularly noticeable on a Windows desktop and with traditional 2d animation (it was noticeable with live action too, but much less so unless paused).

I don't recall ever seeing this before. In fact, the flicker is possibly better described as constant and rapid slight variations in the color and/or brightness (hard to tell exactly which)...the effect reminds me somewhat of how a room appears when a loose light flickers due to a strong vibration.

This isn't normal, right? Has anyone else seen something like this?

Reconnect with another source. Try the other VGA input also. If it persists, it's either new lamp time or time to try out the infamous 3 yr warranty.

Well, I'm not sure what to think. I think I'm having a fairly serious problem, but am not 100% certain (because my memory isn't that great and I use the PJ only about once a week, if that). Basically, I'm seeing a constant flickering of the image. I don't think this is RBE related, and neither my wife nor I remember seeing it previously. It was particularly noticeable on a Windows desktop and with traditional 2d animation (it was noticeable with live action too, but much less so unless paused).

I don't recall ever seeing this before. In fact, the flicker is possibly better described as constant and rapid slight variations in the color and/or brightness (hard to tell exactly which)...the effect reminds me somewhat of how a room appears when a loose light flickers due to a strong vibration.

This isn't normal, right? Has anyone else seen something like this?
I haven’t seen anything like that I get some scrolling type thing when I feed it a dirty SD signal sometime and the picture is totally black.

I would break the problem down to solve it. Start by feeding it a signal from a DVD player over the component cable to divide the problem in half. Rule out the PC signal.

Just from what you described it sounds more like a feed in than the 10X.
Bad cable maybe???
:(

Well, I'm not sure what to think. I think I'm having a fairly serious problem, but am not 100% certain (because my memory isn't that great and I use the PJ only about once a week, if that). Basically, I'm seeing a constant flickering of the image. I don't think this is RBE related, and neither my wife nor I remember seeing it previously. It was particularly noticeable on a Windows desktop and with traditional 2d animation (it was noticeable with live action too, but much less so unless paused).

I don't recall ever seeing this before. In fact, the flicker is possibly better described as constant and rapid slight variations in the color and/or brightness (hard to tell exactly which)...the effect reminds me somewhat of how a room appears when a loose light flickers due to a strong vibration.

This isn't normal, right? Has anyone else seen something like this?

Try the hi lamp mode for 3 hours continuously and then followed by low mode to see if it eliminates the problem.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Unfortunately it'll probably be this weekend before I get to tinker with it again.

Part of the problem is that I may be the only person on this entire forum who does NOT own a component DVD player. :o Just never needed it before (the 35" SD tube I bought in '99 only had SVideo, and since my Panny STB, also with SVideo only, has been flawless partner for it, there was never a reason to purchase something else).

The connections stuff makes sense though, and as I think about it, I might know what the culprit is...I will keep you posted.

Anybody using this PJ with an HD-DVD or Blu Ray player?

Anybody using this PJ with an HD-DVD or Blu Ray player?


Well yes....both. I have an XR10 on one shelf (500 hrs on bulb) and a Mits 1000u on another shelf. Both shoot to a 92" Da lite HCMW.

The XR10 looks very good with HDDVD or Blu Ray sources. Far superior to regular DVD. You will be very happy pairing an HD source with the X10.

Anybody using this PJ with an HD-DVD or Blu Ray player?

I can assure you HDDVD component out to VGA works fine. With V2.0 480p,720p, and 1080i. Enjoy.

Thanks!

How is/are the HD-DVD and Blu Ray players at "upconverting" standard DVDs via the component connection on the XR-10?

Thanks!

How is/are the HD-DVD and Blu Ray players at "upconverting" standard DVDs via the component connection on the XR-10?

They don't.

So, they'll play HD or BD discs via component but not SD DVDs? Or, they just play SD-DVDs at 480p at best?

Well yes....both. I have an XR10 on one shelf (500 hrs on bulb) and a Mits 1000u on another shelf. Both shoot to a 92" Da lite HCMW.

The XR10 looks very good with HDDVD or Blu Ray sources. Far superior to regular DVD. You will be very happy pairing an HD source with the X10.

I will second Star56's comments..........I got to see his setup 2 weeks ago. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray look great on the XR10. Going to have to come back and check out the Mitsubishi soon ;) Thanks again!


Scott

They don't.

As it is for all other 'legal' players. Not that they can't, It's an HDCP thing preventing you the privilege.

I will second Star56's comments..........I got to see his setup 2 weeks ago. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray look great on the XR10. Going to have to come back and check out the Mitsubishi soon ;) Thanks again!


Scott

Scott,

Howdy! Yes I have a Mits now shooting from the bottom shelf. Interesting doing comparisons of the two! Subtle but real differences. Wish I had the Mits up and running when you stopped by. You will have to come on back when you visit Kevin again.

Right now I am going to use the X10 for games and the Mits for movies/TV. I love this stuff :)

Tom E

My projector stopped while running in presentation mode. Nobody was in the room at the time. Now I get nothing, no lights, no noises when I hit the power button, nothing. Is this what happens when the bulb burns out? I have about 1600 hrs. on the PJ. and run it in eco-quiet mode 99% of the time. I let it sit unplugged overnight and tried it again, still the same, DEAD.
I checked the power cord, all is good 118v. Ohmed the bulb and get nothing. I think the bulb is bad but It seems odd that the unit doesn't power up.
Any Ideas?


1-888-GO-SHARP, Option 2


Had to do it, best of luck!

As it is for all other 'legal' players. Not that they can't, It's an HDCP thing preventing you the privilege.

I was wondering about that, that's why I asked. So, somehow the players will transmit the video for HD-DVD and/or Blu Ray player over the component cables at the higher resolution, but not SD-DVD?

I asked above, but nobody answered, so I'm assuming SD-DVD just gets transmitted at 480p only, just as it does on any other DVD player?

I was wondering about that, that's why I asked. So, somehow the players will transmit the video for HD-DVD and/or Blu Ray player over the component cables at the higher resolution, but not SD-DVD?

I asked above, but nobody answered, so I'm assuming SD-DVD just gets transmitted at 480p only, just as it does on any other DVD player?


Yes you are correct. Strange stuff. Why restrict pseudo-HD from component but allow real HD over component? Makes no sense.

Yes you are correct. Strange stuff. Why restrict pseudo-HD from component but allow real HD over component? Makes no sense.

No, it doesn't. But from our perspective as XR10 owners, let's hope they don't "fix" this by restricting HD over component too.

Bummer! my projector bulb burned out. At leat I think that's what it is. I see two red lights on my projector. Does that mean it is a burned out light bulb?

I think I got around 1,500 hours or so over a year and a half.

Any of you guys buy it at Sams Clb with the extended warranty? If so, what happened? I am thinking about sending it over there and demanding they "fix" it or exchange it for a new one.

Bummer! my projector bulb burned out. At leat I think that's what it is. I see two red lights on my projector. Does that mean it is a burned out light bulb?

I think I got around 1,500 hours or so over a year and a half.

Any of you guys buy it at Sams Clb with the extended warranty? If so, what happened? I am thinking about sending it over there and demanding they "fix" it or exchange it for a new one.

I bought mine over there and with the extended plan. And was told by 2 different people there that it included bulb replacement. So go for it I say.

Please post back with what you find out. I’m not far behind you on the hour meter but I did add the cooling fan, don’t know if that’s going to help or not kind of an experiment actually.

We all buy projectors knowing the bulb has a limited life but it’s always a shock when they go.

As far as the XR10X at the box store in my town they have the XR10X-L now. I’m not sure when Sharp switched over to the L version but it has a lower spec on the eco setting if I remember right.

Has anyone found out if you can replace the 10X bulb with the 10X-L bulb? Someone asked the question a while back but I don’t remember it being answered.

Well, I'm not sure what to think. I think I'm having a fairly serious problem, but am not 100% certain (because my memory isn't that great and I use the PJ only about once a week, if that). Basically, I'm seeing a constant flickering of the image. I don't think this is RBE related, and neither my wife nor I remember seeing it previously. It was particularly noticeable on a Windows desktop and with traditional 2d animation (it was noticeable with live action too, but much less so unless paused).

I don't recall ever seeing this before. In fact, the flicker is possibly better described as constant and rapid slight variations in the color and/or brightness (hard to tell exactly which)...the effect reminds me somewhat of how a room appears when a loose light flickers due to a strong vibration.

This isn't normal, right? Has anyone else seen something like this?


I noticed my xr-10x started doing exactly what you descibed a few weeks a go. I treid several switch inputs and change res/brightness types of tricks, which usually wouldn't help, but the issue would usually clear up after a few minutes, and only happen occasioanally

I can almost be sure it's a bulb issue, since last night the bulb popped :( (with about 700hrs on it).

Now I need to get a new bulb, but was also hoping to get more info on the 'L' bulb replacement version that's been floating around on here the last couple of pages (and questions of it's compatibility).

SJ

Wow, I'm sorry. Thanks much for this reply. I think I'm gonna have to try going back to Sam's to see what my options are. They don't have any in stock any more, and I don't have an extended warranty, but when I bought the unit I had a lengthy conversation about the bulb. The guy specifically told me if I had bulb issues well before the life was up (he used 1 year as an example) to bring it back because "satisfaction is guaranteed." I may need to take him up on that, especially since it's getting close to a year, and I only have about 200 hours on the bulb. Now to decide if I wait until it pops or not. :(

I go to turn it on tonight (first time since I noticed the flickering), and I can tell right away that something isn't right. The green lamp light is blinking, indicating that it's warming up (which it hasn't ever done before). After several minutes of this, both the on light and lamp light go red. Now I've had this happen before, but it was only with a power drop out, so I'm pretty convinced there's a problem here. If this bulb really is blown at 200 hours, it looks like I'll be taking a trip to the warehouse this weekend. :(

i've been looking at projectors and this sharp caught my eye. i'm looking for a projector for my ps3. all suggestions are welcome

i've been looking at projectors and this sharp caught my eye. i'm looking for a projector for my ps3. all suggestions are welcome

The Sharp pairs well with an X10. HD material shines on the X10. I use a Ps3 with my X10...no problems.

Last night I got the 10X sickness… :(

First the problems and then what I changed.

I was watching SD cable TV as I have from day one last night and I noticed an occasional flicker and or some slight pixilation or stutter in the image. Then after a few minutes I would loose the signal and the input 1 searching window would pop up and after about 2 seconds it would find the signal and pop back on run a couple minutes and then jitter and drop the signal again. A couple times it hunted long enough the blue notevision screen came up and then it found the signal. When I was surfing up and down the channels it had no problem finding them it was more after the channel was on a few seconds it was loosing its ability to lock on it.

The setup on cable is to output S video (best cable box has) into a DVD player/burner (used as a hub in this case) then component out of that 25’ to the adapter cable and into input one on the 10X. This setup has worked for about 750 hours of viewing so far flawlessly.

I didn’t have time last night (started really late watching) to try changing inputs or feeds such as a DVD. Will try some of that tonight.

What I changed right before this happened.
I finally got my two 12 inch subs installed and I’m driving them off a dedicated Carver amp. After playing them hard for about two hours :D I noticed the Carver running pretty warm and wanted to make a couple changes. I moved the Carver up in the rack to a bigger slot and added two 12v muffin fans to the top of it to suck out the heat. I powered them with a wall wart transformer and to automate them coming on I plugged the wall wart into the switched plug on the back of the Onkyo surround receiver. At the same time I moved the DVD burner/ player/hub down in the rack. Both had to have all the connections pulled when I made the change out.

Do you think this happening could be related to any of the changes or purely coincidental. Like the little transformer messing with my component feed. I know that will be easy to find out also tonight and I’m partly thinking of things as I’m typing here. It just seemed really strange that these symptoms sounded so much like the ones above. And maybe when I figure out what the problem is it might help the others with it.

CaspianM
You posted above to run the projector on the high setting for a few hours. What would doing that do? If you could explain a little more.

If it's doing what mine was, and what I think ORPhD's was doing, it will be almost like viewing a CRT monitor with the refresh rate set too low. A fairly rapid, almost subtle flicker. On mine it would last for anywhere from around 1-3 minutes or so, usually when first turned on, but not everytime (probably 1 or 2 out of 10)

I also had mine do the 'look for input' trick a few times, though I had chalked that up to just having a fair amount of cable (about 30' for s-vid from the dvd and component from the HD cable box) and having the signal drop below threshold for whatever reason.

Ordered a new bulb from Amazon the other day, so hopefully that will fix 'er up.

SJ

Bud,

I donno why but it is recommended procedure to go thru before shelling out the bucks for a new bulb. It is a good maintenance thing to do here and there even if flicker is not an issue.

"Like CRT flicker:" great description. Unlike redlancer's PJ though, mine never stopped. The flicker was constant.

I say all of this in the past tense because the bulb is officially dead. We'll see what happens when I go to the warehouse club tomorrow. At least this is exactly the situation I talked about with the manager when I bought it (and had assurances they would resolve). Hopefully they make good on their promise.

Dave
I don’t think you will have any trouble with the box store. They seem to have a good reputation for taking care of problems.
CaspianM
Thanks for the tip. And I can see where exercising the bulb once and a while couldn’t hurt things. I think I’ll give that a try.

Last night I decided to figure out what was going on and I watched the darn thing for 2 hours and not so much as a flicker. So I figured I would do the wiggle the plugs test and see if I could get it to flicker. I started with the little transformer I’m running the fans off of. Wiggled that plug and got flicker. Then without wiggling it I would get a little flicker on and off. I then started twisting the component cables and could make all kinds of flicker. After seating the component cables really good and twisting them enough to clean up the contact surfaces no flicker at all no matter what I wiggled.
I think I had built up a small layer of oxidation on those plugs and it was letting some stray signal get in or just because of the long run wasn’t making the threshold signal level. could be because my setup is in a basement also just a change in humidity.

I know there is a coating you can get that helps with this, some kind of a spray or something. Can anyone recommend a good product to put on these connectors?

Well I watched about 3 more hours after that and the picture stayed rock solid.

Dave
I don’t think you will have any trouble with the box store. They seem to have a good reputation for taking care of problems.

And now I can see why. Quite simply, there were no hassles whatsoever. The biggest issue was that my now-faded receipt was extremely difficult to read. Thankfully, I had a copy of it that was much more legible.

So now I'm out of the 10X club and stumped on what to do next. Is 200 hours in a year really enough to justify owning a projector (especially at the pace breakthroughs with the technology seem to happen)? Would I be happier with a plasma or LCD (basically my projector screen was about 17'-18' from the main seats; an LCD/plasma would only be about 6' away in the other room)? Do I just sit tight and rely on my faithful 35" SD tube TV until it dies? these are all questions I'm facing. But I am very, VERY thankful that I get to face them with a wallet that weighs the same as a year ago. And it certainly was 200 hours of absolute bliss.

And now I can see why. Quite simply, there were no hassles whatsoever. The biggest issue was that my now-faded receipt was extremely difficult to read. Thankfully, I had a copy of it that was much more legible.

So now I'm out of the 10X club and stumped on what to do next. Is 200 hours in a year really enough to justify owning a projector (especially at the pace breakthroughs with the technology seem to happen)? Would I be happier with a plasma or LCD (basically my projector screen was about 17'-18' from the main seats; an LCD/plasma would only be about 6' away in the other room)? Do I just sit tight and rely on my faithful 35" SD tube TV until it dies? these are all questions I'm facing. But I am very, VERY thankful that I get to face them with a wallet that weighs the same as a year ago. And it certainly was 200 hours of absolute bliss.

Wow when I said good customer service I didn’t think we would be loosing a charter member in the 10X club because of it.

I can honestly say in my case if I were redeemed my full purchase price on my 10X, I would be walking out with a new one even given the chance to upgrade. I’m hooked on the big 4:3 format and cropping the bottom off for my wide screen material works great IMO. Thing is there isn’t anything else, much out there that’s 4:3 that performs like this especially at the $750 price point.

200 hours isn’t a lot in a year but its still a fair amount of usage I think I put about 400 hours on mine in a year. If you don’t go with another projector you will be the first person I have ran across that had a projector and then didn’t. I know the logistics in a house has a lot to do with how well one works out. I could have never talked my way into a projector setup upstairs and if I did somehow I would have never been able to do all the radical stuff I ended up doing in the (hobbit room) down stairs. I find myself spending more and more time down there and it’s more of a event room to go to when others come over to watch.

The home theater or media room has to have an ease of use about it. My original idea and what I ended up with was a type of room when I first got into this I never saw. But now is becoming more common. And that is a living room setting with a monster TV wall. Good task lighting and a nice image to watch with incredible sound.

The low cost of these projectors is putting them in reach of people that don’t have a dedicated room. That can be a good thing or a bad thing but it’s a thing that requires a lot of forethought in planning if it’s going to work for you or not. A projector like the 10X in many ways is better suited for a non dedicated setup.

Hate to see you go Dave. My guess is once bitten by the FP bug it’s going to be very hard to stay away. ;)

My guess is once bitten by the FP bug it’s going to be very hard to stay away. ;)

I'll agree wholeheartedly with this. And I might still get another one...I think I just need to take a few days (or weeks) to think over all the ramifications. Despite my severe bulb disappointment, I probably would have still walked out of the store with another 10X today, but they simply don't carry it any more (the display is totally down). Who knows, maybe I'll find mine back on the open box display with a new bulb in a month or so. :)

In hindsight, family was really the main reason for the low usage, I think. As my daughter has gone from a 1 year old to a 2 year old (soon to be a 3 year old), simply finding a two hour block of time to justify firing up the projector for movie/tv watching has become an increasingly difficult task. Complicating matters is that she's not even quite old enough yet to appreciate most family-oriented movies either, and another one is on the way this summer. In order to try to maximize bulb life (by minimizing strikes), I was almost being controlled by the limitations of the projector technology, instead of me controlling my viewing. That for me is the main turnoff at the moment. If we were at the point where LED/laser light sources were available/affordable, this would be a non-issue. But we aren't yet.

Room logistics do play a role for me too, though. I still am quite limited on which projectors will work for me (definitely not an HD70, probably not an HD1000U). Also, yesterday night as I was taking it down from the ceiling, I got a good laugh out of the way my wife was trying desperately to put on a (rather ineffective) display of sympathy, when I could tell deep down she was ecstatic to have her ceiling back.

Sorry for the largely non-10X related post. It's been a tough day, and I just needed to lament ;)

How long ago did you buy it at Sam's Club? I called my local sam's club who told me to call their "extended warranty service center" who basically told me that I had to "mail it" to them and if it got damaged in the mail, it would be my fault. Also no cleaning and no bulb would be covered. They were less than sympathetic to say the least.

I am guessing it's the bulb. It could be something else. I bought mine a year and a half ago. That bulb was supposed to last 3,000 hours, not 1,500!

Right now, I hooked up my old projector. The Infocus X1. Boy, it still shoots a pretty good picture after being in storage for about a year and a half and with over 2,000 hours on the bulb!

I bought it just shy of a year ago with no extended warranty. When I bought it, I was particularly paranoid about early bulb failure, so I had a lengthy conversation with both the main electronics guy and the store manager. Basically, the consensus they reached was that the extended warranty would not cover the bulb. "But," the saleman added, "our policy is 'satisfaction guaranteed,' so if the bulb goes in like a year, just bring it back and get your money back." This is exactly what happened, but it turned out I didn't even need to mention that conversation. The manager ok'd the return without any real explanation (and with no extended warranty).

With my paranoia about bulb issues, I'm glad to see bulb warranties are becoming much more commonplace. In fact, one of the forum sponsors includes one in the purchase price. Whenever I decide to go the projector route again, that will be a big consideration for me.

Each store in each region I’m sure has different policies in place as to how to deal with these issues. I have read both sides of it a few times now. One thing that seems to be consistent though is Sharps excellent customer service. There was another person this morning on the DT-500 thread saying it was so easy dealing with them the whole process only took 15 minutes. So hopefully they will stick with the game plan as to that.

Now for my purchasing story through the box store and this will give you a idea how they differ from store to store or by region. I bought mine about the same time Dave did and like him I was questioning the bulb issue and they told me that no matter what the first year was a non issue just bring it back. They then wanted to up sell me the 4 year plan and I told them that’s never a thing I do and the only way I would do it is if the bulb was also covered. The computer, TV, DVD, washer and dryer guy said oh its covered everything is covered if you spend the 70 bucks. I didn’t buy it that day because the computer showed they had 6 in stock but they had no idea where they were in the store.
So I went back next day and they located them over in the food side next to a hot tub on the top tier of the rack. I think toilet paper was above the 10X display. But anyway there was a different helpful guy and he repeated what the guy the night before told me and said we have people come in all the time with bulb problems just on the RPTV’s and he didn’t see why this would be different. I then asked for a manager to explain what was covered and what wasn’t and some other guy came over and said for the first year its covered by them and Sharp after that you get more years of coverage based on what plan you buy and it covers the whole satisfied customer thing and that includes bulbs etc. he said depending on what goes wrong I could be directed to someone local for like a bulb change out or I could have to send it to Sharp or someplace else to be fixed. If I wasn’t satisfied then they would just refund my money or put it to what they then are offering. He even went as far as telling me people bring in 3 year old computers that die and walk out with a state of the art upgrade and money left over every day.

Do I have any of this in writing? No …. And so far I haven’t had a chance to test the waters of return.

So being a gambling man I decided to hedge my bets and I put a clear 5 gallon water jug on the shelf leading into the theater with a sign reading (Support the Hobbit Theater’s bulb replacement program. Cost of operation 25 cents per hour.) there is about 3 inches of coin in there now. Forget the bulb I’m going for a SXGA projector. :D

How long ago did you buy it at Sam's Club? I called my local sam's club who told me to call their "extended warranty service center" who basically told me that I had to "mail it" to them and if it got damaged in the mail, it would be my fault. Also no cleaning and no bulb would be covered. They were less than sympathetic to say the least.

I am guessing it's the bulb. It could be something else. I bought mine a year and a half ago. That bulb was supposed to last 3,000 hours, not 1,500!

Right now, I hooked up my old projector. The Infocus X1. Boy, it still shoots a pretty good picture after being in storage for about a year and a half and with over 2,000 hours on the bulb!

I've had 2 die with under 1000 hours. One was buld the other I believe was the power supply. I bought a third but am seriously considering returning it as well as it has not been 90 days yet.

Hi,

I returned my 7 month old XR-10X (~600 hours of bulb use) to Sams due to bulb failure and grabbed an XR-10XL replacement as well as getting some cash back. You have to love Sam's.

I know the 10XL has not been shipping for long, but has anyone reported pre-mature bulb failures on these units?

Hi,

I returned my 7 month old XR-10X (~600 hours of bulb use) to Sams due to bulb failure and grabbed an XR-10XL replacement as well as getting some cash back. You have to love Sam's.

I know the 10XL has not been shipping for long, but has anyone reported pre-mature bulb failures on these units?


Is there any difference in them? Ive got a 10x and have had it for almost 16 months now, still perfect. I did see the 10xl at Sams yesterday, no HDMI output so nothing really jumped out at me.

Did I miss something?

Sharp changed the bulbs:

10X = 275 Watt DC (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10LP or AN-XR10LP/1

10XL = 220 Watt DC type (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10L2 or AN-XR10L2/1

It appears that the 10X was having multiple examples of pre-1000 hour bulb failures. I was one of those "lucky" examples :>(

So a lower watt bulb huh...interesting

Curious as to any other difference



Sharp changed the bulbs:

10X = 275 Watt DC (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10LP or AN-XR10LP/1

10XL = 220 Watt DC type (end-user replaceable) - model number AN-XR10L2 or AN-XR10L2/1

It appears that the 10X was having multiple examples of pre-1000 hour bulb failures. I was one of those "lucky" examples :>(

So a lower watt bulb huh...interesting

Curious as to any other difference
I posted about the X / XL bulb difference about a month or two ago. And one question I have been asking is can you upgrade a X to the XL bulb but on the other hand if they want to give me a new projector why would I want to do that.

I have been telling anyone asking about getting a 10X to make sure it’s the L model.

Maybe I should shut that aux fan off before they run out of projectors….. :eek:

My story: First projector setup. Got a 10X refurb at Frys. Ran the snot outta it for a few weeks while my kids were home on Christmas vacation. It overheated my room and I couldn't cool it easily. Bulb popped at about 100days. I got a -L at a nice price and am now selling my unit on EB. The -L unit runs cooler and the room does not overheat. I was running the X in eco, so the picture looks exactly the same to me.

Now my XBOX went out b/c of the poor solder issue. Argh. Whack.

Oh, not sure if this was answered, but the X and L bulbs do not interchange. The mechanics are different. It will NOT drop in.

i love my sharp xr10xl

i had the xr10x exchanged it for the xl same great picture

made a 96 x 54 dw screen looks great

here is a picture

I just read this morning in another thread the 10X has broken the $600 barrier. It involved a 200 rebate.

So for the real bargain hunters, the 4:3 people and someone that needs a very bright projector to try and solve some ambient light issues this is still a great projector and a lot of bang for the buck.

Plus the thread needed a bump :)

Thanks for the update, Bud.

Believe it or not, if prices drop enough, I'll probably re-join Club 10X. After all, I already have the setup, mount, (an extra remote by accident), etc, and if I could get a new unit plus a decent sizedbudget LCD or plasma for what I paid originally, I just might take the plunge again. Prices probably aren't quite to that point yet, but it may not be much longer. And this is an encouraging development.

I do miss having it. My 35" SD CRT just doesn't cut it.

Thanks for the update, Bud.

Believe it or not, if prices drop enough, I'll probably re-join Club 10X. After all, I already have the setup, mount, (an extra remote by accident), etc, and if I could get a new unit plus a decent sizedbudget LCD or plasma for what I paid originally, I just might take the plunge again. Prices probably aren't quite to that point yet, but it may not be much longer. And this is an encouraging development.

I do miss having it. My 35" SD CRT just doesn't cut it.

I have my X10 mounted on a shelf right above my Mits1000U. The X10 holds its own very well against the highly regarded 720p Mits. I tend to use the X10 for Xbox360 gaming and HDDVD viewing, and the Mits for Ps3 gaming, Blu Ray and DVHS watching. Whenever I fire up the X10 after a period of non-use I am suprised at how dang good the PQ is on this XGA machine.

I've enjoyed my XR-10X immensely over the past year. It gives me deep, rich blacks and a lot more pixels on the screen as compared to my old data-grade 3M projector, and the thing is so bright even in economy lamp mode that I'm using a neutral density filter to tame the image. I know there are better projectors out there for more money, but I'm so happy with the little Sharp that I expect to spend the money on a replacement lamp for this projector when I need one. When my old projector needed a new $400 lamp, I dedcided to spend $800 on the Sharp instead. (My 3M LCD projector was purchased used for the same price several years prior.) I like that this projector will do a big 4:3 image, and I have a 4:3 screen that is used also with a 16mm film projector. Widescreen material within the 4:3 screen works fine for me, but I do love that big, tall Academy ratio for pre-1950s movies that I watch a great deal.

OK, so that's my report. Now my question... I wasn't sure if it would be worth it to put high-def sources in my theater using this projector, but I'm happy to know now that HDTV programming via DirecTV and over the air and high-def goodness via a Samsung Blu-Ray player look stunning on this projector. I wasn't sure I had the pixels to pull it off, but this material is looking quite a bit sharper than standard DVDs. My question is this: Should I set my Blu-Ray player and my satellite box to output at 720p or 1080i for this projector? I know the projector can't actually show a 1080 image without scaling it down, but then it doesn't quite do a real 720p either, does it? I think the 1080i setting might look a smidgen better, but that could be my mind playing tricks on my eyes.

Also, what am I missing by not having an HDMI connection with this projector? Blu-Ray looks great through component, I find. But I gather my player will only upconvert standard DVDs via an HDMI connection. Anything else I'm missing by only having component?

Also, what am I missing by not having an HDMI connection with this projector? Blu-Ray looks great through component, I find. But I gather my player will only upconvert standard DVDs via an HDMI connection. Anything else I'm missing by only having component?

Relax, everything is as 'according to plan'. You are only giving up some convenience. That is all.
BTW, 480p still provides your sharpest image with 480 material.

I've enjoyed my XR-10X immensely over the past year. It gives me deep, rich blacks and a lot more pixels on the screen as compared to my old data-grade 3M projector, and the thing is so bright even in economy lamp mode that I'm using a neutral density filter to tame the image. I know there are better projectors out there for more money, but I'm so happy with the little Sharp that I expect to spend the money on a replacement lamp for this projector when I need one. When my old projector needed a new $400 lamp, I dedcided to spend $800 on the Sharp instead. (My 3M LCD projector was purchased used for the same price several years prior.) I like that this projector will do a big 4:3 image, and I have a 4:3 screen that is used also with a 16mm film projector. Widescreen material within the 4:3 screen works fine for me, but I do love that big, tall Academy ratio for pre-1950s movies that I watch a great deal.

OK, so that's my report. Now my question... I wasn't sure if it would be worth it to put high-def sources in my theater using this projector, but I'm happy to know now that HDTV programming via DirecTV and over the air and high-def goodness via a Samsung Blu-Ray player look stunning on this projector. I wasn't sure I had the pixels to pull it off, but this material is looking quite a bit sharper than standard DVDs. My question is this: Should I set my Blu-Ray player and my satellite box to output at 720p or 1080i for this projector? I know the projector can't actually show a 1080 image without scaling it down, but then it doesn't quite do a real 720p either, does it? I think the 1080i setting might look a smidgen better, but that could be my mind playing tricks on my eyes.

Also, what am I missing by not having an HDMI connection with this projector? Blu-Ray looks great through component, I find. But I gather my player will only upconvert standard DVDs via an HDMI connection. Anything else I'm missing by only having component?


In 16:9 mode your screen pixel size is 1024x576 so you are right you are not viewing 720. 576 falls half way between 480 and 720 and I am with you I’ll give up a little resolution in order to have the big screen for the classics.

Yesterday for fathers day I got 4 IMAX movies in 4:3 and those are incredible.

As to what feed is better 720p 0r 1080i I don’t know. I would go with what looked best.

As to the ND filter I know you have a slide screen you use double duty. But the PQ you can get with taming the lumens with a gray screen is very amazing with this projector. It also allows for a good amount of ambient light.

I enjoyed reading your review of the 10X . I think there are a good deal of people out there with similar usage for a projector and for the price now it’s still a strong contender.

Bud, yeah, I do like TALL as well as wide for the old stuff when that's the OAR, and I will have to check out the IMAX titles. If I was buidling my ideal theater I'd probably go for a constant height screen that just got wider and wider for 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 films, but in my setting my screen can get no wider -- only shorter or taller. So it works for me in that the Academy movies aren't too small, the widescreen movies are plenty wide and acceptaly tall, and the screen matches the output of my 16mm movie (not slide) projector. It's the movie projector that will keep me with a white screen, though I am sure you are right about a gray screen improving my blacks out of the DLP projector. The Sharp XR10's blacks are so much deeper and richer than the washed-out grays my old LCD projector used to give me that I am very happy with the output on my white, painted screen. My room is a dedicated theater (about 12' by 18') with no windows, so I can control the light.

So I'm about half-way between 480 and 720 in terms of resolution with 16:9 material, huh? I'm glad it's enough that I can see a significant improvement in image clarity with high-def sources. I did some comparisons between Casino Royale on DVD and Blu-Ray on the XR10 the other night, and there was a big difference in detail. Upstairs, I have a 52-inch CRT-based HDTV rear projector TV that gives me a 1080i display, but it's not as much fun watching that as being downstairs in the theater with the bigger picture, bigger sound and the smell of the popcorn machine.

Thanks, guys, for the input on the HDMI/component situation. I will not give it another thought.

Mike

You have the same room requirements as me and yes I would do like yo said if I had the perfect room. If your room is width challenged then a 4:3 machine can work great. My screen was going to be no wider than 8 feet no matter what AR I had so I figured use the head room and get a big 4:3. One of the nice side effects is having 18 inches of up and down image shift. I use it a lot depending on how many are viewing and what angle I have my seating reclined to when viewing wide screen movies.

I’ll bet you don’t mind not cleaning filters ether…..

Bud, you've got me thinking. I've never used the image shift on the XR10, but I have been contemplating a masking system that would adapt my 4:3 fixed screen to various aspect ratios depending on my source material. I've been thinking of a top and bottom mask and the mechanics of how to do it, but perhaps I could shift my image to the top or bottom and mask the other side. I dunno... I'll have to experiment and see what would be comfortable as far as viewing.

I'm still using the white painted "temporary" screen I set up six or seven years ago, but it works well. Another option might be a fixed gray screen and a mecahnical white pull-down screen in front of that for when I want to project 16mm film on a white background (assuming the film doesn't look OK on a gray screen). Or I may leave the "temporary" fix up indefinately. Ah, the urge to tweak...

CMRA, glad to hear someone say 480p is best for 480 source material. I'm sure others like upconverting DVDs, but I can't do it with the gear I have anyhow.

Question. I know this is a 4:3 native projector. If I own a 16:9 screen can I still purchase this projector and will it work with my 16:9 screen or do I have to have a 4:3 screen. Have always wondered this? I know this has a 16:9 mode, so I gues what i'm wondering is when the projector is in 16:9 mode will it fit perfectly on a 16:9 screen, I just want to make sure it doesn't letterbos it to where I would have light spill off the top and bottom of my scren.

Question. I know this is a 4:3 native projector. If I own a 16:9 screen can I still purchase this projector and will it work with my 16:9 screen or do I have to have a 4:3 screen. Have always wondered this? I know this has a 16:9 mode, so I gues what i'm wondering is when the projector is in 16:9 mode will it fit perfectly on a 16:9 screen, I just want to make sure it doesn't letterbos it to where I would have light spill off the top and bottom of my scren.

Many people have shot the 10X to a 16:9 screen. I guess they want the modern “look” of that AR hanging on the wall. If you do a 16:9 screen and then want to watch 4:3 you will put the projector in boarder mode and display it with black bars on the sides just like a 16:9 projector. When in 16:9 mode you can shift the image up and down throughout the whole 4:3 window putting the unused pixels at the top or bottom. This could help with setup and allow for a lot of different drop heights.

As to light spill there is a slight amount from the unused pixels just like any DLP and could show slightly depending what is behind your screen. If the back wall is a dark color you would see nothing. Below is a screen shot that shows the worst case light spill I see on my 4:3 screen, keep in mind this spill is coming off a screen surface not light masking surface.

http://inlinethumb48.webshots.com/1711/2929955880068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2929955880068493142OcupoM)

To get the full benefit of the projector I like to use a 4:3 screen but if you would never view that AR then I guess a 16:9 screen would work fine. I watched the IMAX feature “Amazon” for the first time the other night IMAX shoots a lot in 4:3 and seeing that at the huge size was really pretty spectacular. :D I’ll see if I can get some screen shots that will do it justice and post them.

I thought this post would bump the thread, but I got beat to the punch.

Anyway, I just wanted to make mention of the fact that I was at a local warehouse club the other day and noticed they have started carrying two models I had never seen there before: the XR-10XL (though it was out of stock), and the newly released XR-30X, which they had tons of.

The main changes from what I could discern quickly from the box:
slightly brighter (2300 lumens vs 2000)
slightly better contrast (2200:1 vs 2000:1)
smaller and lighter (its now classified as a portable projector, and the design shows it)
It has a DVI/HDMI port (forget which exactly...I think DVI).

For a new model, it was also very reasonably priced. The OOS 10XL also had a great price (not much more than the one posted not long ago), and neither is currently listed on the warehouse's website (thought the 10XL had been previously). Given my excellent return experience after the bad bulb, I definitely have these on my radar again. Of course, I do need to check on the room calculator for the 30X though.

Hey everyone,

I have been toying with the idea of buying a low cost projector the last little while and have been researching what I should get. I was pretty much set on getting the Infocus IN72 as I found somewhere that seems to have them in stock and with the $200 rebate it will be fairly inexpensive(I am in Canada so don't get all the deals most of you US based folks do). However I just came across this thread and it piqued my interest and I had a few questions.

First, does anyone have their projector hooked to a HTPC? This is what will be hooked to mine, linux based Myth box.

Second, the whole 16:9 4:3 thing has me confused, I know this projectors native resolution is 1024x768 which is 4:3. So knowing I will be hooking this up to a HTPC I guess I would run 1024x768 to it and Myth would properly display the correct aspect ratio depending on the contend i.e. HDTV vs SD? I should mention I have both HD and SD content, some from satellite and some from OTA. Plus obviously DVD's and video files(mostly xvid and h264(ripping all my dvd's)).

The only problem I have with 4:3 is I was planning on running with a DIY laminate screen as outlined elsewhere in this forum and with the sizes that it comes in it makes more sense to build a 16:9, would the sharp work at all on a 16:9 screen, is it recommended? Any other cheap screen options that would lend themselves well to a 4:3 screen?

Anyone ever compared one to an Infocus IN72?

In case you need to know, I can mount the projector as far back as 16 feet and I will be sitting around 15 feet or so from the screen.

Thanks guys,

Kevin

Dave thanks for the heads up on the 30X I see there is also a 40X now.

The 10X-L has been around a while and I believe it has a redesigned bulb lower wattage same great lumens…

As you know I’m a lumen addict. And the thought of more has me thinking more ambient light and darker screens again. But I don’t know if even I would want it much brighter than I sometimes view at now.

The thing when looking at the pictures of the 30X the case and all looks different where like the DT-500 case looks like the 10X. I wonder where this 30X came from and if its any good as a far as a HT projector.

Hey everyone,

I have been toying with the idea of buying a low cost projector the last little while and have been researching what I should get. I was pretty much set on getting the Infocus IN72 as I found somewhere that seems to have them in stock and with the $200 rebate it will be fairly inexpensive(I am in Canada so don't get all the deals most of you US based folks do). However I just came across this thread and it piqued my interest and I had a few questions.

First, does anyone have their projector hooked to a HTPC? This is what will be hooked to mine, linux based Myth box.

Second, the whole 16:9 4:3 thing has me confused, I know this projectors native resolution is 1024x768 which is 4:3. So knowing I will be hooking this up to a HTPC I guess I would run 1024x768 to it and Myth would properly display the correct aspect ratio depending on the contend i.e. HDTV vs SD? I should mention I have both HD and SD content, some from satellite and some from OTA. Plus obviously DVD's and video files(mostly xvid and h264(ripping all my dvd's)).

The only problem I have with 4:3 is I was planning on running with a DIY laminate screen as outlined elsewhere in this forum and with the sizes that it comes in it makes more sense to build a 16:9, would the sharp work at all on a 16:9 screen, is it recommended? Any other cheap screen options that would lend themselves well to a 4:3 screen?

Anyone ever compared one to an Infocus IN72?

In case you need to know, I can mount the projector as far back as 16 feet and I will be sitting around 15 feet or so from the screen.

Thanks guys,

Kevin


There is a lot of information and photos listed in my signature as links and it’s all based around the 10X and my 4:3 DIY screen for the 10X. I play a wide variety of stuff on my 10X and I don’t hook it to a pc but those that do love that method. It scales well with HD and in 16:9 mode the pixels used are 1024x576. below is a 16:9 image shifted digitally to the top of my 4:3 screen. My screen is 120” seating distance about 12” throw distance 14.5’

http://inlinethumb21.webshots.com/20/2021147720068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2021147720068493142OBVzGy)

Works well with some ambient light as well.

http://inlinethumb23.webshots.com/918/2087790580068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2087790580068493142lHjFUp)

And here is a screen shot of SD TV at 120” coming from my cable box. If you have a good clean signal SD is ok.

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/868/2174742960068493142S600x600Q85.jpg (http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2174742960068493142xHgSYv)

Ould,

Before my bulb went kaput, I used the 10X exclusively with an HTPC (although a Windows based one). The easiest way to explain the resolution would be to say content viewed on the 10X will appear pretty much the same way as it would on a XGA CRT. Hopefully that provides a point of reference.

If you have any other HTPC questions, I'd be happy to try to help. Responses today will be a little delayed though.

So If I have a 16:9 screen. (It is an inflatable 146 inch backyard screen, so I was thinking about this projector to use for outdoor movies with the Gemmy screen) So I just want to be certain the projector will look fine in 16:9 mode on this screen. I just don't want ti to look rigged or something. I like the high Lumens over the native 480P widescreen projectors.With the didgital shift you mention, so I will be able to move the image up or down a little in 16:9 mode without any picture degrading? Thanks again for all of your input. Also has anyone seen the Optoma DX625 Costco carries, the specs are very similar to this model?

I originally used a 84" 4:3 pull down screen and switched to a 92" 19:9 electric screen. The XR-10X works PERFECT on both. I prefer 16:9 because most of what I watch on the PJ is widescreen. I use a 50" 4:3 CRT for SD TV viewing.

I also noticed the XR-30 at Sam's. I didn't have much time and didn't notice the other inputs (DVI, HDMI) but that does interest me. It would allow the use of an upconverting DVD player without being VERY limited in choice and needing to use hacks for the component output. It also makes it a little more future proof.

There is a lot of information and photos listed in my signature as links and it’s all based around the 10X and my 4:3 DIY screen for the 10X. I play a wide variety of stuff on my 10X and I don’t hook it to a pc but those that do love that method. It scales well with HD and in 16:9 mode the pixels used are 1024x576. below is a 16:9 image shifted digitally to the top of my 4:3 screen. My screen is 120” seating distance about 12” throw distance 14.5’

Works well with some ambient light as well.

And here is a screen shot of SD TV at 120” coming from my cable box. If you have a good clean signal SD is ok.



Wow, nice pics! What screen type are you using? Black out cloth maybe? Looks great, any details?

Thanks,

Kevin

Wow, nice pics! What screen type are you using? Black out cloth maybe? Looks great, any details?

Thanks,

Kevin
Kevin

The screen is canvas and stretched over a DIY frame. Its all in the links and the type of paint and how I mixed it are also in there. I tried to document each major step I took in setting up the media room with a how to thread. Read thru them and if you have any questions post them or pm me.

Good luck. :)