I love the sharpness and the color saturation of flat-panel displays. Can the sony pearl provide me with the same amounts of satisfaction or more?

You need to dive in and read the thousands of posts related to the Pearl. Educate yourself and then you can make a sensible decision.

i have read endless amounts of reviews and they all conclude towards the same thing, which that the sony pearl has a film-like image. what exactly does that mean? does it output 6500 k out of the box? or does it look similar to what one might see at a movie theater?
thanks for your replies

i have read endless amounts of reviews and they all conclude towards the same thing, which that the sony pearl has a film-like image. what exactly does that mean? does it output 6500 k out of the box? or does it look similar to what one might see at a movie theater?
thanks for your replies

Is it possible for you to demo the Pearl ? In reality seeing the product first hand at a good dealer should answer your questions and establish if the image is to your taste.

"film like" or "smooth" tends to mean the image isn't like plasma or DLP and whilst the image is detailed it tends to look softer than these types of displays. Some prefer this style of image whilst others don't. It's down to personal taste.

dazzer

i have read endless amounts of reviews and they all conclude towards the same thing, which that the sony pearl has a film-like image. what exactly does that mean? does it output 6500 k out of the box? or does it look similar to what one might see at a movie theater?
thanks for your replies

My Pearl was very close to D65 out of the box--individual units may vary. The words "film-like" used to describe the Pearl's image are to contrast it with the more "digital" looking displays of some other units. This smoothness in the Pearl has often been confused with a softness of focus and less sharp detail. Having run a large number of test and resolution patterns, I can tell you that this really is not the case. The softness is due to the natural and balanced image the Pearl produces. The more "digital" projectors look sharper, but actually don't produce more detail (in my tests--but YMMV).

I agree with the poster who said you should try to see one before you buy. BB has them in their HT rooms, but beware, they are frequently not well set up and you may not see the unit at its best. The JVC RS-1 can (as I glean from posts here--I've never seen one) give you the best of both worlds (smoothness and a highly detailed non-digital image), but the Pearl is still an exceptional sub-$4K value, in my opinion.

Best,

Brian

I think you can come close the that of a flat panel, if the size is the same. If not, special screen or bat cave required.


Where are you located (update your profile with country (at least) and state (where applicable)?

The best advise is to go see one. If you can't, go to the movies. Notice the edges of images and look at blue sky and large areas of color. Also watch movement, particularily very quick movement. Then focus on very dark areas. Look for black and look for details in the dark areas. You will see qualities that are refered to by some reviewers as "smooth" as opposed to "etched". The motion is fluid and the blacks are very deep, yet detail in the blacks is very good. Color should be natural, not oversaturated. In short, film-like to me defines realism...natural images without exaggerated edges and an almost "too crisp" or "etched" detail that doesn't exist in natural images seen with the eye. However, some people like the more "detailed" look of plasma, DLP and other digital media for home viewing and are put-off by the film-like quality of the Pearl. They preceive it as too "soft". I have a Pearl and love it. I came, however, from 10+ years of watching a good CRT projector. It captured much of the film-like quality that you hear mentioned now when dealing with digital projectors.

I don't know if that helped much, but you are really dealing with very subjective aspects of the viewing experience. The only way to tell what you like is experience it. Will the Pearl look like a giant plasma? In my opinion, no. It looks more natural and to my eye... better. However, if you are sold on the plasma "look" you may prefer some of the many good DLP projectors in the same price range. Also, a high gain screen will give you more of that "plasma pop" to the image with any projector, Pearl included, but be careful of the downsides of such screens when it comes to hotspotting, and viewing angle. Good luck. If you are new to projectors, whatever you get will "wow" you sufficiently that you will have a great time with it.

Disappointment depends on your expectations.

Echoing everyone else, go see one for yourself. That is the best advice you can get. Any projector is only as good as YOUR eyes perceive it to be. Some of us swear by the "sharpness" of DLPs while other swear AT DLPs for giving us headaches! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :)

My Pearl wasn't particularily close to 65K out of the box, but it is very flexible for calibration purposes. Will the Pearl look more like going to the movies? To my eye yes...more than DLP or plasma. JVC will as well, but with different attributes and at a higher cost. I would advise that you consider an ISF calibration once you get the projector set up. Wait until at least 100 hours on the bulb. With the investment that you are making, a few hundred more is well worth it regardless of the projector you get. At a minimum, you will want to pick up a copy of the AVIA or DVE dvd's and do a calibration yourself by eye. Enjoy!

New007:

You state:

love the sharpness and the color saturation of flat-panel displays. Can the sony pearl provide me with the same amounts of satisfaction or more?

I may be wrong but it sounds to me that what you like is a more vibrant image with what is often called "pop" or a 3D quality to it with somewhat oversaturated colors. You may then prefer some of the comparably priced higher lumen DLPs such as the BenQ W9000/10000, as long as you are not overly sensitive to rainbows. The Sony, however, will have better black detail, as a result of its higher CR, if this is important to you.

The Sony has a beautifiul, detailed picture but I find it has less "pop", possibly as a result of lower light output than its DLP counterparts. It is also appears "softer" or less sharp, for lack of a better term, than many one chip DLPs, maybe because of convergence of the 3 panels in the Sony, which may vary from unit to unit and is not user adjustable. Remember that the appearance of a sharper picture may be the result of edging artifacts, which is in fact less detailed than a properly calibrated image.

This "softness" issue really comes down to personal taste which is why you should demo before you buy. It is helpful if you have some understanding of display calibration before you go so that you can make some adjustments to the picture to get a better idea of how the various projectors compare. There is so much diversity on how one retailer displays their products versus another and how manafacturers factory set their units. If you have the ability to at least adjust contrast, brightness and sharpness, you will be able to make a more informed choice. Also take note of the screen material used in each demo as the screen itself may significantly alter the image. Many retailers will display the unit on gray screens while others will display them on white. Some screens have higher gain than others which may result in higher light output but lower CR.

Another important consideration is where will you be setting up the projector. Will there be alot of ambient light and reflective surfaces or will it be in a dedicated theater environment. If you are setting it up in your living room with lots of light colored walls and windows, you will never achieve the flat panel image you describe. If, however, you have a completely light controlled environment then it is certainly possible to get what you are looking for. The Sony Pearl is not the brightest unit out there, so if you do have ambient light, you will probably be happier with a higher light ouput DLP or LCD.

As this is an expensive investment and hopefully a long term one, you should understand these concepts. Don't, however, become too overwhelmed by all of this as most of the current 1080p projectors provide an outstanding picture.

Thanks guys for your quick and informative responses. As for the sony pearl, has anyone tried increasing the sharpness setting? If you have, how did it look? Also seeing as the pearl isn't the only projector at this price point, can anyone tell me how the hc5000 stacks against it? How much sharper is the hc5000 compared to the pearl? furthermore, can you guys compare the cr between those two. i heard from someone that hc5000's blacks looks very grey. is this true?
thanks again

Thanks guys for your quick and informative responses. As for the sony pearl, has anyone tried increasing the sharpness setting? If you have, how did it look?

The sharpness setting is set to a default at the midpoint (i guess it would be at 50). I never bothered moving it one way or the other because the image I see does not look 'soft'. And I haven't heard many other Pearl owners saying they feel their images are 'soft'. Softer is just not the same thing as outright soft (which for anyone that hasn't seen it likely implies that we are talking about a blurry or fuzzy image here- and that is no where near the case).
I haven't viewed any test patterns on my Pearl and couldn't care less to at this point. But I have watched plenty of high def content from discs and what I see are highly detailed vibrant images. I have never fumbled for the remote trying in vain to focus in more sharply because I thought I was missing something.

You should pick up a copy of this month's Home Theater magazine, which has a pretty good 1080P front projector shootout between the Pearl, JVC RS-1, and Mits HC5000U. Their comments regarding the noise level of the RS-1 may be due to their unit being an outlier, and not representative of how quiet the RS-1 can be.

Kevin

TheNew007:
What will your projector room look like? Screen material, screen size, mounting height, seating distance, mounting height, wall / ceiling colors, ambient light?

That will probably help us tell you a lot more about how you might perceive the Pearl in comparison to a flat panel.

my ht room is not built yet but the basic outline looks like the following:

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the http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=10539475#
Increase Sizesize is 24' x 13' and the middle section is 8'5" wide, which would make the screen approx 110" diag. Tthe projctor will be mounted 8' high and the seat will be placed 13' away.


i'm thinking about getting the carada brilliant white (1.4 gain) which will be fixed on the wall.
I think the color will be beige/dark while curtains will prevent any ambient light from getting in.
What do u guys think?

If your room isn't built and you aren't going to use the projector in a different area right now, I'd wait til your room is almost done.

Scott

Except for iris pumping, light spill and sub-CRT contrast, my Pearl is everything I expected especially with HD sources.

I keep my "sharpness" control set at 0. This control actually adds a form of distortion call edge enhancement that can, if set too high, cause "ringing"...an artifact that shows up as a "halo" or additional false edge around objects. It is no substitute for proper focusing and good optics. If you audition a Pearl, go into the menu and check the setting on this function and if too high, turn it down so you are actually seeing the sharpness of the projector, not the "false" sharpness (ie distortion) of excessive edge enhancement. Avia and DVE have a very good test pattern to help set sharpness at the level just before "ringing" sets in. In short, this control will not cure a display device that really is not detailed in the first place, but will only make it worse and will actually obscure fine detail. The Sony does not, in my opinion, require any artificial edge enhancement.

PS. Your room and placement is essentially the same as mine. I am using the Carada BW screen at 106" and I am very pleased. You may need to get an extension tube for your ceiling mount if you go with the Pearl. While it has good vertical lens shift, it is not huge and I found that I needed about a 4" extension for a similar set up to avoid excessive lens shift. Setting lens shift at maximum reduces light output somewhat. Also, on the Pearl as with most other projectors, mounting the unit at the short end of its throw range will increase maximum brightness, but at the expense of maximum black level. Mounting at the opposit end has the reverse effect. You need to consider your viewing preferences when deciding on where to mount. If you have complete light control and will primarily watch movies in the dark, go for the deepest blacks at the long end of the throw distance. If you have light problems or like to watch a lot of sports or general tv with some lights on, you may want to opt for the shorter end of the throw distance to increase max brightness.

Lots of people say that since i'm buying a 1080p projector, i should go for maximum sharpness. Or else, 720p projectors would be a better choice since it's cheaper and some have deeper blacks. do you guys agree or disagree with this statement

Resolution is resolution. You're seeing all the pixels, and thus all the resolution. How sharply delineated the pixels themselves are is a personal preference.

Would a 720p even have better blacks than the Pearl? I thought that was king of the hill aside from the current fad RS-1.

I always tried to focus so that I saw the image and not the pixels, so my personal bias is better PQ all the way around, and pixel sharpness down low on the list.

I do enjoy my Pearl, but it's not perfect. The thing I like most is that I cannot see screen door even when I'm sitting at a distance of 1.2 screen widths, and the picture with HD DVD is jaw droppingly good.

The things I like least are the color management system and the shading errors.

As far as the color management system goes, you can choose proper saturation or proper luminance, but not both. I never appreciated just how cartoonish an out-of-whack luminance can look until owning my Pearl, although I suppose that shouldn't have come as any surprise. Despite my complaints, it's still possible to do a bit of tweaking with the color, so that's good.

As far as the shading goes, I found that my shading errors were absolutely horrendous out of the box. I mean, yuck. What's funny is that I didn't notice it at first, so I'm not sure if the problem worsened over time or if I just started to notice it more as time went on. But make no mistake, it was bad. I had a green halo around the outside of the image and pink donut in the middle. The good news is that I was able to dial most of shading error out by tweaking the 3D gamma tables.

Having said all of this, there is no perfect projector. Pick your poison.

I have not encountered the shading errors. Slightly brighter lower rt. corner of the screen with full black screen, but otherwise, if shading errors are there, very slight even on full grey field. However, others have encountered this problem and this is an excellent reason to by the Pearl (or any projector) from reputable dealer that can back you up if you need to change a unit out. 1080 referrs to the pixel resolution as Wildfire notes, not the preceived "sharpness", which can be created in part by the same factor that can also create "screen door effect" or the effect of looking at a picture through a screen door. If the dark spaces between pixels are too wide, you preceive this effect. I have read several theories that it may also be the slight presence of these spaces that gives a false sense of "sharpness" to a projected image. D-ILA and SRDX have extremely small spaces, DLP often slightly larger, and standard LCD the largest. Again, go see the various technologies. Everyone that I know who has seems to develop a personal preference for one over the others. Then search for the best overall picture from your chosen technology. Then simply sit back, fire it up and enjoy. I also advise that once you make your choice you stop reading threads and reviews for a while to avoid the "next latest fad" phenom! Only kidding...I love the threads.

My Pearl has a great picture, but out of the box my grey scale turned red at the darker end. Very easy to adjust out with the color temperature settings.