Here are some screenshots I took earlier today. Please note that my camera is just a Sony DSC-H50. While a nice camera, it is not a DSLR, AND I have never really took pictures of my screen before so I am not very up to par on the proper technique to make the picture represent exactly what is being displayed on the screen. With that said, these are not 100% accurate and I will note the major flaws that the camera shows compared to the actual image on the screen.
My first impressions after having time to actually get the image set up properly (horizonatal and vertical lens shift took a while to fine tune) and to watch different scenes from different movies, I would have to say that I am very impressed with this projector. I have only ever viewed the IN83 and the old SP7205, and comparatively, the SP8602 is superior, mainly in the black levels. I think the dynamic iris really helped. I curently have it set to auto.
Also, all colors you are seeing in the images below are out of the box color. I have not touched any setting on the projector other than the horizontal and vertical lens shift. I did turn the motion capture (i think thats what it is called) to off because otherwise it looks like you are watching a soap opera all the time, not really a movie. I ordered the Spears and Munsil bluray calibration disc and will post more pics afterwards. I really wanted to get some skin tone images but my camera battery died, so that will have to wait till later tonight.
Any questions feel free to ask.
On this image here (taken from the Dark Knight) the lights on the building appear to be a bluish green color. They actually show up as white/flourescent in the image from the projector. I can adjust my shutter speed so much, and obviously its not enough. But the blacks are pretty true in this picture.
This pic of the projector itself was taken by an iphone
Or the great French footballer Eric Cantona, for anyone who is familiar with him.
On another note - has anyone else had the In Focus intro screen chop up and freeze if it gets confused finding a source?
It rights itself after about 10 seconds or worrying frozen green blockiness, but just wondered if this is normal.
From memory, I think it has occurred when I remove an HDMI cable from the back of the unit after the projector has fired up and then do a source search again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Schneider /forum/post/18996916
Update on the firmware update. (I have repeatedly failed using Windows Vista)
I bought a new USB to DB9 converter and tried again. Same result.
I managed to bring home a different computer running XP, and better yet, it has a DB9 port!! Woo Hoo!
Installation was very straight forward and quick. Didn't get much time to view. I watched a few scenes from Kung Fu Panda (I had been having trouble viewing the disc, so it was what was in the player). First impression of the auto iris was disappointing - very noticable. It would alternately lighten, darken, then lighten again the same scene. I'll have to double check all the settings and re-evaluate - I ended up turning it back off for now (It was about 1 AM when I got the install done, and I wasn't very energetic) I'll check to see if the tearing issue has been fixed.
At least I got it done, and any future upgrade should be easier.
Yep, I had to search around for the exact operating system suggested too, but, as you found too, if you use a conventional serial cable and XP the update is dead simple.
Iris isn't fixed on mine either, but watched Kung Fu Panda again myself the other night. Not mad about animation but this is one of the best looking blu rays out there - just stunning throughout on the big screen. Sound, colour, detail and smoothness of movement is just awesome.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintJD /forum/post/19032843
Yep, I had to search around for the exact operating system suggested too, but, as you found too, if you use a conventional serial cable and XP the update is dead simple.
Iris isn't fixed on mine either, but watched Kung Fu Panda again myself the other night. Not mad about animation but this is one of the best looking blu rays out there - just stunning throughout on the big screen. Sound, colour, detail and smoothness of movement is just awesome.
Yeah mine does this sometimes. Mine also has to rehandshake after every preview and it it takes about 10-15 seconds of a blue screen to do it. Its also starting to lose sync in the middle of movies now, which again is a blue screen for 10-15 seconds until it can handshake again.
Anyone else having these issues? I'm running the a72 firmware
Not since i set the pj to display at native res and the player set to 1080p it only syncs up once at the begining. I use to have that same issue with trailors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thenorthlander /forum/post/0
Not sense i set the pj to display at native res and the player set to 1080p it only syncs up once at the begining. I use to have that same issue with trailors.
Yeah I set mine to native about 2 months ago and it continues to do it. Maybe it's just having issues syncing with my bluray player, because it doesn't do it with xbox or directv besides for the initial sync.
You know what, now that you say that, I have mine set to "source direct" which only plays the resolution recorded on the disc. could this possibly be why it is blue screening between every preview, because it is changing the resolution and framerate everytime?
I'm going to try and set it to 1080p/60 for the output instead of source direct and see if this will help.
alright I went and switched it to 1080p output and it completely solved the problem. But now it is constantly displaying in 60hz instead of 24hz. Does anything suffer due to this?
I noticed the trailors usually play at 60 hz and some times with a dvd movie i'll get flashes every now and then, so i set the convert dvd to 24p on the oppo and that takes care of that.
Many documentaries and sports are 1080p30 while movies are 1080p24, so I created a shrotcut to quickly change the display setting on my HTPC HDMI output. 1080p24 content plays very poorly with anything other than 24 Hz, while most 30p content seems to do fine for me at 24 Hz, so I almost always use 24 Hz.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thenorthlander /forum/post/0
I noticed the trailors usually play at 60 hz and some times with a dvd movie i'll get flashes every now and then, so i set the convert dvd to 24p on the oppo and that takes care of that.
All very good choices, i'm sure you would be happy with any of the three. Your choice may be a little easier depending on your screen size, room setup and what you will mostly watch also what your willing to spend for differences between the three. But again all very good choices. Were you able to demo any of these near you, I had a hard time finding any of the ones i was interested in here in Wi.
Your allways welcome to stop by and check out my SP8602 if your ever down near Milton,Wi
Quote:
Originally Posted by thenorthlander /forum/post/19124025
All very good choices, i'm sure you would be happy with any of the three. Your choice may be a little easier depending on your screen size, room setup and what you will mostly watch also what your willing to spend for differences between the three. But again all very good choices. Were you able to demo any of these near you, I had a hard time finding any of the ones i was interested in here in Wi.
Your allways welcome to stop by and check out my SP8602 if your ever down near Milton,Wi
It seems like the SP8602 has almost everything the JVCs have (minus the ultra-black black levels) plus is sharper, has a more dynamic color and is brighter...
Infocus has a list of dealers that are supposed to carry the 8602, but it seems none do - but they can order it for you... lol
My only problems, or so it seems, is the placement of the projector and the screen - from what I have been reading...
I really want to get the Da-Lite High Power Screen - but from what I have been reading I get the impression that the 8602 needs to be mounted either above or below the screen to get the "best" picture and/or amount of light and not at eyesight height as is required with the High Power screen...
Can someone please explain this to me... I am really confused...
It has to do with placing of the SP8602 projector....
The manual states:
Position the projector on a flat surface at a right angle to the screen. The
projector must be at least 4.9' (1.5m) from the projection screen.
But then a very thorough reviewer wrote this:
Strange and Interesting Lens Shift
InFocus takes a very different approach to the trick of lens shift with a DLP design. Yes, it is variable, but with almost all projectors with lens shift you can set up the projector anywhere between the highest point it can be placed, above the screen, or down to the lowest point below the bottom of the screen. You don't even have to invert the projector with the vast majority, even when up high.
It's completely different with the Screen Play 8602 projector's optical design. Lens shift starts at the 0 offset point. In other words, the center of the lens is even with the bottom of the screen (in a table top or low shelf setup). This would allow you to have the projector below the bottom of the screen by a couple of feet (depending on the screen size), up to the screen bottom, or anywhere in between. You cannot have the projector placed between the bottom and top of the screen surface.
If you want to mount even with, or above the screen top, you will invert the projector, just as you would have to with any projector that lacked adjustable lens shift.
Is this a bad thing? Actually, the placement aspects are minor. Most people's home projectors are either above or below the screeen. It does mean, though, if you like the rear shelf idea, you won't be sitting it on a high rear shelf, but you could mount inverted from the bottom of that shelf. Ultimately, this projector has almost as much practical flexibilty as any other DLP projector around. Most LCD and LCoS projectors have more.
There is a real point, though to this discussion, to make it worthy for the front page of the review, and not just in the Lens Shift section later on:
InFocus's lens shift solution has a huge impact on projector brightness.
It had so much effect that we were recording much lower brightness than InFocus said this particular unit should have. It was enough of an issue that we sent it back in for them to retest.
Well, the bulk of our differences was due to the lens shift. If you use the maximum (projector a couple feet above the top, or below the bottom) shift, the projector is about 16% brighter than the 0 offset point. InFocus put the difference closer to 14%, but those two numbers are probably within the margin of error.
That difference is: Huge!
I have never encountered anything like this before.
SP8602 Lens Shift
I started our conversation about the lens shift on the first page. There I pointed out that it significantly affected brightness (by 15%). As stated there, if you are ceiling mounting, (the projector must be inverted if up high), the projector can be placed so the lens is not far above the top of the screen surface. When it's even with the top, that's called 0 offset. From there you can move it higher, but not lower. The higher you go, the brighter it gets (very strange).
The low point is defined as 105% of screen height, and in the manner they describe it, for a 100" diagonal 16:9 screen that would be just shy of a 50 inches high, so about 2.5 inches above the screen. Or any where up to 130%, which would be just a tad shy of 15 inches above the screen top. Or, on a table top or low shelf, from that 2.5 inches to 15 inches below the bottom.
This is typical throw range for projectors with 1.5:1 zooms. Mounting the projector toward the shorter end of the distance range, will give you some extra lumens. Consdier all the trade-offs. Because it's only a 1.5:1 zoom, the difference in brightness isn't that great, as covered in the performance page.
So, the projector is 15% brighter if mounted above the screen or below the screen and not at a right angle to the screen...?
That has been talked about here, and I can tell you that I am unable to detect any brightness change whasoever throughout the lens shift range.
Edit: From your previous post... Optimal projector placement is screen dependent. There are two types of screens, retro-reflective and angular reflective. Retro-reflective screens, such as the Dalite Hi-Power, reflect light back toward the direction it came from. Therefore, the optimal position for a projector onto a retro-reflective screen is vertically in-line with the the viewer. I myself don't prefer that arrangement, so I stick with angular reflective screens. They reflect light like a mirror, so the projector can be mounted at the ceiling and reflect the most light to the seated viewer's eyes. This way the projector is mounted up and away from the seating position, and people are more free from blocking the light path when moving about.
Have had the opportunity to compare the SP8602 with the JVC HD950 ? It would be nice to have your personal and practical opinion not taking into consideration literally the black levels. I know the black levels on the HD950 are superior. Also, any chance that you may have seen the Runco LS-3 or LS-5 in action ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Ash /forum/post/19125258
Hi avmjt,
Have had the opportunity to compare the SP8602 with the JVC HD950 ? It would be nice to have your personal and practical opinion not taking into consideration literally the black levels. I know the black levels on the HD950 are superior. Also, any chance that you may have seen the Runco LS-3 or LS-5 in action ?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Ash /forum/post/19125258
Hi avmjt,
Have had the opportunity to compare the SP8602 with the JVC HD950 ? It would be nice to have your personal and practical opinion not taking into consideration literally the black levels. I know the black levels on the HD950 are superior. Also, any chance that you may have seen the Runco LS-3 or LS-5 in action ?
Like I said before, I saw a JVC at the Magnolia store and was utterly disappointed. I almost laughed out loud, but I had to refrain because everyone around me was impressed. I was in since then and saw that it was a DLA-HD350. Again, it had absolutely no pop to it, just dull, even on a small screen. Although the depth of the dark levels were great, it had very bad dark level detail, I couldn't see what was going on in them at all. The lack of sharpness was noticeable to me, but not a deal killer.
Sure it wasn't the HD950, but like Jason said, if you like DLP, you're probably not going to like LCOS or LCD, and what I saw of the HD350 was enough to let me know that LCOS is not my thing. I don't like to say that because I don' t like to take away from those whom do like it. Everyone has their own preference.
Haven't seen the Runcos, but I'm I sure I would like them since they are supposedly the same as the Planar DLPs with dynamic iris. The LS-5 (Planar PD8150), which Art believes has the Darkschip3, has 481:1 CSMS Contrast Ratio, not sure what CSMS contrast is, but if it's something comparable to ANSI, then it's probably much like the SP8602 overall. I interpret Art's most usable mode lumen output to be 814 lumens. Likely having the DC3 with dynamic iris, it's probably the best equivalent of the SP8602, but the SP8602 is a newer release at a more competitive price; but if I had the dough, I'd pick up that VP-11S2 I see for sale somewhere in a heartbeat!
That would surely make for a mean combination! If you can live with the PJ being in the same vertical plane as your seating postition, this really couldn't be beat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thenorthlander /forum/post/19124025
...Your allways welcome to stop by and check out my SP8602 if your ever down near Milton,Wi
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