*Unofficial* Mitsubishi HC3800 Thread - Page 204

Originally Posted by fleaman

I can't remember, but I think the best advice is to contact Mits support directly> (888) 307-0309 (ask for projector tech line if that isn't direct).

They can tell you for sure the latest firmware, and they might also be able to let you know of any service history on that serial # (if it ever went in), or if it might be marked as a refurb, etc.

Originally Posted by fleaman

If you search 'firmware' in this thread, it appears that 7.0 is the current FW.

I believe my unit is @ 3.0. The early units were 1.0, etc. I don't know what the differences are between 3.0 and 7.0.

I honestly would worry more about other things than the actual FW, as that would be the cheapest thing to 'fix' (Mits might even do it for free, minus ship costs----but don't quote me on that!).

PJ's are quite unreliable vs. a TV (because TV's tend to be very reliable!), though most any of the issues tend to be in the early hrs of the unit. The thing you should worry about is the 'checkerboard of death', which appeared to be a hardware issue. It was cleared up in the early run of HC3800's, though some 3.0 FW units had it I think? If this HC3800 was only used lightly (low hrs), and maybe packed away for a year or two, that would actually increase the chances of it having the 'checkerboard of death' issue!

I would worry about a 'seller that can't wait', but that's just me

Originally Posted by golffnutt

It has 784 hours on it and has not been used for a while due to being relocated by the military and no where to set it up in his new home (according to him at least). What do you think, buy it or not? Mits told me that if it has any problem that the orig. owner must send it back otherwise if I had to send it back for checkerboard issue that I would have to pay for it.

Originally Posted by fleaman

I of course can't advise you on your buying decision(s), but if it has 784 hrs on it, it's less likely to have the checkerboard issue.

I myself avoid buying used PJ's with no warranty support. You can get a great deal, but you can also get burned if something pops up, which happens at a much higher rate than say a flatscreen.

To me it's still a gamble. Odds are you'd be fine, but the odds aren't as great compared to something really reliable, like a flatscreen. For a PJ, the HC3800 is very reliable, once it past the teething stages (checkerboard and shut down issues of the early units).

Originally Posted by gregoryperkins

Just wondering if you bothered to read any of the 6000+ posts in this thread? Many of your questions are answered there including settings.

Originally Posted by golffnutt

6000+ posts huh? I guess someone, I don't know who, has time to read 6000 posts, I certainly don't, but I am trying to read the 200 plus pages (have read about 30 so far).

I just thought some of the nicer members here might chime in with their comments on the FEW questions I had. I certainly do not want to impose on someone's time and you certainly don't have to reply if you don't want too, that is your privilege, but to reply and insinuate that I should read 6000+ posts is ludicrous on your part to say the least. Please, if you don't want to answer someone's question/questions on this forum do not reply with ridiculous comments like this. That is not the intent of this forum sir.

Originally Posted by Jim McC

I'm kinda nice!! Set bulb to low, Cinema, Medium color temp, Sharpness 1, Color 0, Tint 0. Contrast and brightness need to be set for your room with a calibration disc or THX Optimizer(until you get a cal. disc).

Originally Posted by golffnutt

Not "kinda nice" but "very nice" I would say. Thank you Jim so much for that info and your time for sharing that info with me. I would guess that it took less time for you to reply than gregoryperkins and your reply was very educational as opposed to learning absolutely nothing from gregoryperkins. Thank you again and have a very pleasant evening.

Originally Posted by gregoryperkins

6000 posts implies a lot of work by others, that's the purpose of having a post like this to provide history. There is a search function too, try settings, or is that too hard?

If you show some effort, there are plenty of nice people out here that will help you, including me. Most people indicate if they have read through the posts, it sounds like you are doing that now. Otherwise this entire post would be the same questions over and over again.

Originally Posted by Selden Ball

A problem you might run into is the total HDMI cable length. If it's "too long" you'll see lots of dropouts when running at 1080p60. The 3800 has a setting available in its "maintenance" menu for cables longer than about 6 meters (I forget the actual value) which can help. The maintenance menu (which includes other info like the bulb's exact runtime) is available by pressing several buttons simultaneously on the projector itself. Of course, I don't remember the button combination, since I haven't used it since I first installed the projector. It's described early in this thread. I do remember that I had problems pressing the buttons all at exactly the same time.

Since it has a fixed lens shift, the projector has to be aligned either with the top or the bottom edge of the screen. If aligned with the top of the screen, the projector has to be mounted "upside down" and the image reversed and inverted, which is done in the standard menu.

Originally Posted by golffnutt

If I may I would like to ask you 3800 owners a question or two.

The one I just purchased was a later produced model so I don't think I will have the checkerboard or erratic on/off issues. Are there other common issues other than these that I should be aware of?

Could some of you possibly furnish me your settings as something to get started with? I realize they won't work 100% for me but I am just looking for some settings to play around with.

Are there any secrets, issues, or anything I need to do prior to set up, during calibration, or when viewing a movie? Many times there are things that can be learned on this forum about products that even the manufacturer doesn't know. I may have it professionally calibrated. If I do is there any thing I should tell/warn the calibrator about? This is what I am looking for here.

My room is not a dedicated HT but rather a family room which is most certainly not the best for acoustics but is the best I can do until I buy another house. Dimensions are 17.5' x 17.5' by 18'H. Due to ceiling height my projector will be mounted on the back wall 16'.3" from the screen. My screen is 138" diagonal. I assume I should mount the projector upside down (that's how my HC3000 is mounted now) as there is a ceiling fan right around the 12' high from the floor?

It is a DIY screen which I really like but I am thinking of buying a new screen so your suggestions here would be great. I have just a little bit of uncontrollable ambient light but not much. My screen is 1.0 gain, light gray, and I get a very acceptable middle of the day picture and an absolutely great picture at night. I know there must be some very nice screens out there for $800 or less that would compete with the big expensive guys like Stewart, Da-lite, and some of the other popular manufacturers. I just don't know who these guys are that have great screens within my $800 budget, please give me your recommendations here.

Thanks a million guys and have a great weekend.

Originally Posted by Legairre

gamma mode = cinema
contrast = 0
brightness = -8
color = 4
tint = 0
brilliant color = on
sharpness = 3
color temp = user -->>(press enter while on user mode to enter the below values)

reference = medium
contrast R = -10
contrast G = 8
contrast B = -7
brightness R = 0
brightness G = 0
brightness B = 0

Originally Posted by Legairre

Glad to help. Looks like your screen is a DIY too. If you go DIY again the material I use is very good and real screen materiel so if you want to know where I purchased it from just pm me.

Originally Posted by Legairre

BTW for cables the projector can be picky so go with a high speed 22gauge if the run is long like these from monoprice. http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...=10240#1024001

If you still have signal problem you can change the cable lenth in th esecret menu. To change the cable length go to LANGUAGE under the FEATURE menu. Then put the cursor on Language, but don't press it. While the cursor is on Language press "Auto Position", "Enter", "Auto Position" on the remote.

Be very careful not to change anything except the cable length.

Here's an image and link to the calculator for the 3800
http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/bu...s/prjcalc.html

I plugged in your room dimensions and mounting position into the calculator 'in feet so as long as you mount it at least 9ft up from the floor you'll clear your ceiling fan even if the fan is two feet in front of the projector because the projectors offset is steep.

You can just plug in the same numbers and change the drop down to inches if you like. The top numbers are ceiling and pole so you have an 18' ceiling and would need a 9 foot pole or mount it on a shelf 9' high. The bottom numbers are the min and max distance from the screen to the lens12.1'-18').

You'll get your best image with the lens in the center of the throw range so if you could mount it about 15' from the screen it would be in the ideal spot for image quality. If you can't just mount it anywhere between 12.1 and 18'.

Originally Posted by Legairre

BTW for cables the projector can be picky so go with a high speed 22gauge if the run is long like these from monoprice. http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...=10240#1024001

If you still have signal problem you can change the cable lenth in th esecret menu. To change the cable length go to LANGUAGE under the FEATURE menu. Then put the cursor on Language, but don't press it. While the cursor is on Language press "Auto Position", "Enter", "Auto Position" on the remote.

Be very careful not to change anything except the cable length.

Here's an image and link to the calculator for the 3800
http://www.mitsubishielectric.com/bu...s/prjcalc.html

I plugged in your room dimensions and mounting position into the calculator 'in feet so as long as you mount it at least 9ft up from the floor you'll clear your ceiling fan even if the fan is two feet in front of the projector because the projectors offset is steep.

You can just plug in the same numbers and change the drop down to inches if you like. The top numbers are ceiling and pole so you have an 18' ceiling and would need a 9 foot pole or mount it on a shelf 9' high. The bottom numbers are the min and max distance from the screen to the lens12.1'-18').

You'll get your best image with the lens in the center of the throw range so if you could mount it about 15' from the screen it would be in the ideal spot for image quality. If you can't just mount it anywhere between 12.1 and 18'.

Originally Posted by Legairre

Hi sorry for the confusion I have the calculator set to feet not inches so I did it in feet. Here's the same thing except I switched the dropdown to inches. You said your screen is 120 Wx67.5 H. The 67.5 high would give you a 137" diagonal screen. A 120"diagonal is 58" high.

Originally Posted by Legairre 

Sure here's 137" diagonal in feet and inches.