OK, I'm on the verge of building a new HTPC here, since I would like to take part in the HD revolution (well, evolution...), and my overclocked Prescott 3.0 doesn't really like heavily coded stuff. The thing is that I'm not sure if it's worth it. Right now I run my BG at 1164x872 (4:3), mainly because I watch a lot of Star Trek The Next Generation with my son. On that resolution, with a 720P rip of "No Time For Nuts" (a short from "Ice Age 2") I do see a difference, but it isn't the "heaven and hell" difference I expected. Good DVD's (like "Over the Hedge" - maybe the best PQ I have seen) look exceptionally good on my system (with FFDShow and AVISynth resize sharpen), and the main difference I see with HD is that it's more "film like". But that may of course be the resolution. Of course I do see more detail, but it isn't really that noticeable if I don't do an A/B compare. The best HD I have seen so far was a clip from Daytona 500, which was so good I almost felt like walking out on the track (which would be a bad idea anyway, either I'd rip my Draper or the cars would make road burger of me, depending on how real the vision was...).

So can I expect to get good mileage out of a new HTPC with HD-DVD (gonna use an XBOX 360 drive), or isn't there much point with my projector?

In order to see hd, you have to be projecting hd resolutions. When you use a resolution that isn't HD you are downscaling the image. CRT pj's can all be set up for multiple resolutions and will automoatically switch the convergence for the right image, so there's no excuse not to run the right resolution.

Set up you HTPC to output 1920x1080i, converge the pj for that res diligently, then try some 1080i or 1080p downloads. (You can get 1080i from most any ati or nvidia card, but you must download the latest drivers and enable hd resolutions in their respective control panels.)

Troy

Yeah, I have toyed with different resolutions before, but that was before I changed the tubes, and it didn't look better than my regular resolution. I may try that resolution tonight, the wife's gone to bed and I'm bored! I have a lot of HD clips, from 720P and up to 1080P, and my nVIDIA 6600 should be able to output that resolution, at least with powerstrip. But I don't feel comfortable using any 9.x drivers on my card, there's too many bugs with those.

Another thing is of course that I will need to have my tech guy come and do a full setup of the projector again if I change drivers or HTPC, the greyscale may change. And I'm not good enough at setting it up, so I will only see a part of what's possible when I do a test setup myself.

Greyscale setup is global, the only thing that changes is the convergence settings. You won't have to do anything but use the remote and adjust convergence for the new signal.

I wouldn't bother with powerstrip. Maybe your old drivers already have hd resolutions in them.
It will be 1920x1080@30hz

NOT 60hz that's 1080p, and is bound to be less sharp than 1080i though you may try that next just to see given you have better than stock lenses.

Trying these new resolutions will not interfere with anything your pro installer has done. You can't loose.

Troy

I know that greyscale is global for this card and these drivers, I meant that if I change drivers or graphics card, I need a new adjustment.

Anyway, I tried 75 Hz 1080P and 1080I (I always do everything in PS, I find that easier than fiddling with the drivers), and the interlaced resolution looked very crisp. But unfortunately I got serious streaking in some scenes from both. Like in "No Time For Nuts", the beginning when the snow falls, every snow flake has a streak all the way to the right edge. With 1152x864 that just doesn't happen. Maybe my 4:3 resolution is the reason I have never had problems with streaking, something a lot of Barco people seem to have.

Umm...Troy..why are you telling someone in Norway to use 60hz?

For European HD it's 50 or 75hz.

And for HD-DVD films you should use 48/72/96hz anyway.

I know, Mark. :) And I did use 75, as I said. Anyway, most of my HD stuff is taken from US broadcasts anyway. I think only Discovery Channel is broadcasting in HD, and I haven't got a tuner for that.

I didn't look at his location. :)

1080p at 75hz is just too high for that projector.

You need to knock that down to acceptable bandwidth levels. If your material comes from the US then do 1920x1080@30hz in powerstrip. It should have options for it. You might be able to get away with 24, possibly 48hz or 50hz, but 75hz is just way way too much for that machine at 1920x1080. That's beyond 1080p ATSC which in itself is beyond the capabilities of that barco.

Troy

OK, I will try again. I guess interlaced doesn't mean what I thought it meant with PowerStrip... Btw are HDTV ts. files (like music from the Grammies and other big shows) 60 Hz or 72 Hz?

Greyscale setup is global, the only thing that changes is the convergence settings.

This is not true. On the barco, the only setting that is global is the dynamic astig and gamma on later barcos (i.e. only things in the "Service" menu are global).

All the settings in the "Guided" or "Random Access" menus apply only to the block. Thus, electronic focusing, red and blue gain and cut-off (grayscale), geometry, and convergence all apply only to a specific block.

Dave

You're right, of course. Which is why I use "Copy block" from the original pro setup block to the new block I'm creating.

OK, that was a lot better. Sharper, and the streaking was gone. Now I'm gonna do some A/B tests this weekend. Or try... It's not easy to jump back and forth with one PC.

I bought mine from Comet last month when they had the 15% discount running.

Eh...your what?

This is not true. On the barco, the only setting that is global is the dynamic astig and gamma on later barcos (i.e. only things in the "Service" menu are global).

All the settings in the "Guided" or "Random Access" menus apply only to the block. Thus, electronic focusing, red and blue gain and cut-off (grayscale), geometry, and convergence all apply only to a specific block.

Dave


I guess the 708s must be different then? That's what I'm using now and it seems to me that all those are global on this model. I had a 1208 before but it's been so long I can't recall it being different.

While we're on the barco subject is there a reason I can't seem to get copy block to do anything? No matter what I do it doesn't seem to transfer any data to a new block. Could I have so many resolutions set up that I'm running into an out of memory issue or something? I have boatloads of resolutions set up but was not able to just copy one standard to all new inputs or anything of that sort.

I don't think there's anything wrong physically with the little thing. Maybe I just spent too much time with ehome's and sony's that I'm missing something obvious.

Troy

Troy,

if you download the Barco PCSoft program, it will tell you not only which memory blocks are used (and what's in them), but which are free. That's the quickest unambiguous way I know to check the memory-block status.

I'm pretty sure it communications with the 708 fine, but I don't have time to confirm that ATM. If you want to wait a day or so, I can check into that before you spend time downloading and testing.

It can also be useful for backing up the memory of your Barco (for restoring later), deleting blocks you don't want and moving/copying them around, with a PC GUI interface. But it's rather confusing and non-intuitive, so I don't recommend it for general use. Every time I dig it out, I have to figure things out all over again. :confused:

- Tim