Acer H5360 HD3D (DLP 1280x720) Video Projector - Page 57

Turning ECO mode from on to off is not very noticeable. Is there a huge difference on yours when switching from one to another? I am starting to worry that I have a faulty machine, I cannot get the colors to pop like others have said, and my old HC1500 had more pop than this.

I made a separate thread looking for what you guys are using for user settings, I would sure like to try some others if anybody is willing to share what they use.

You can certainly tell the difference in 2D between Eco On & Off but it isn't blinding vs. dim by any stretch.
I would never run with Eco Off because the huge increase in noise is not justified by the small increase in brightness.
I haved played around with the various presets and individual settings but find on my white screen that Normal provides a good compromise. Movie raises the gamma and kills shadow detail. Dark Movie isn't as vibrant. The Bright setting is tinted green and useless.
I tried a grey high contrast screen (not retroreflective) for a time which improved black level somewhat but robbed the image of that vibrant, colorful "pop" as you say. Ambiant light will have a similar effect. There was one setting that REALLY buggered up the picture and required a big adjustment to the Brightness to compensate...can't remember the name...deep color perhaps. Can check when I get home.
The problem with projectors is that they are so dependent on the room, screen and personal preference that it is difficult to diagnose someone else's problem.

my settings are for a designer grey screen:

display mode: user
brightness: 53
Contrast:50
Color temp: 0
Degamma: 3
Color r/b/g: all 100
Hdmi color: auto

These were chosen after doing a eyeball avsforum video setup with all the testing video stuff etc

Thank you! I will see how this looks in my set up tonight.

Hey all! So I'm not new to the H5360, but I'm trying to convert it to 3d and that's a new world to me. I've had the projector for 2 years and have used it for everything (my main 2d TV). I've delved into the 3d some but to no avail. I continue to get 2 boxes of the same picture when I run a show supoosed to be in 3d. I'll try to be as thorough as I can with my setup and maybe someone can point me in the right direction or Tell me if maybe one of my components are not right. Thanks in advance!

I turn on the 3d on the projector (obviously)

I have it running trough win 7 64 bit
HP h8-1256s - with graphics card Nvidia GeForce GT 620
Onkyo 7.1 TX SR508


Hopefully that is enough info on the hardware I have. My H5360 is running into the Onkyo HDMI and out to the computer HDMI. My graphics card has some 3D options and so does the projector so my hope is that my receiver isn't the issue of transfer the picture.

And just for FYI I've got about 1400 hours on it still looks great (I saw some earlier posts on this). 120 inch screen that I talked my wife into letting us keep as our living room TV

Any help would be awesome! Thanks guys

biteme - the 5360 does not detect 3d on it's own and combine the images. You'll need to use something to handle the 3d video and feed it. Most of us use a pc but there is hardware available to do this I believe but it's pricey. it sounds like you are doing the pc approach as well.

Recommended options: stereoscopic player, powerdvd or total media theater 5. I personally use some config files for XBMC that sends all 3d video to TMT5 (but only 3d video). TMT5 auto-detects and combines the 3d on it's own once setup and then returns to XBMC when the show/movie etc is complete. This is with an Nvidia 3d setup

I've bypassed my receiver's issue with 120hz video by just running two hdmi/dvi cables out of my vid card. One to the H5360, the other to the receiver. That way i don't have to worry about hdmi 3d support. Not many receivers can pass 120hz video currently. it works fine for me and I've been doing it that way for years.

You don't mention what your active 3d method of view is? Nvidia 3d vision, dlp link, etc?


Shane R - Glad those settings worked well for you (he commented back via PM) Just so anyone else that is having issues with settings knows that even with a white material being used those settings were close to dialed in.

blackoper -

Thanks for the reply.

I do have some familiarity with XMBC. I've used if for a while, but am still in the new stages with it. It seems to only work occasionally as videos won't load smoothly or links are down quite a bit so I've not been that enthused with it so far.

But with that being said I do have that already up and running. I did some research on the TMT5 player. From what I can gather is this just a video player designed to handle more in depth things like blu ray and 3d? So you're using XMBC as your source for video and having that played instead in TMT5? ...like I said all new to me ...

And on the other note : You don't mention what your active 3d method of view is? Nvidia 3d vision, dlp link, etc?

I looked at the Nvidia 3d vision online and couldn't really determine what it's function was. To my best guess it's sending the 3d signal through a transmitter to be seen on your glasses?

Thanks again for the info

The purpose of 3d vision is to get you to pay nividia more money. Their cards don't support stereoscopic 3D (don't confuse this with 3D acceleration) even when no additional hardware is needed (like dlp-link) without it. wow, that was some lousy syntax. sorry.

What glasses are you using? What are your sources? What player?

in nvidia control panel , under the section with the 3d "demo", does it list the h5360? until you see it there, 3D won't work. google "enablestereo.bat" for a (not so easy) solution.

So far I have not actually set up my 3D to be working completely. I'm still researching everything. I have checked and my nvdia does recognize the H5360 on the computer so that is a plus. I've been hoping to use something like HBMC like we were talking about earlier to play 3D content so really my main concern was knowing what I need at this point to make that happen

Another Acer 5360 bites the dust. Started having intermittant fan warnings and shut downs a few weeks ago; two years and 4000 hrs on the clock.
Over the past few days that was accompanied by a terrible noise and vibration. Yesterday morning it said goodbye.
I took it apart to access both fans. There is a larger computer type fan that can be seen through the front vent and a smaller one shaped like a furnace fan deeper inside.
Both seemed to turn fine by hand, but I suspect a bushing/bearing is shot on the small one. Fan failure seems to be a common thing but not so much successful repairs. Many have tried and failed. No, tried and died. Got a lot of enjoyment for $300/year but stil sucks.
Now I'm in a dilema. Wait to see what the fall projector release holds or jump on that BenQ W1070 that seems to be getting so much attention (most of it favorable). I drug my sons 47" LCD into the theater last night and although it had a great picture the tiny size made me weep.
Edited by DavidK442 - 3/23/13 at 4:32am

^^ Sorry to hear that. I always keep in the back of my mind the next contingency plan after my H5360. Right now, it would be the W1070. I'm hoping BenQ will release something that blends the best of the W7000 and the W1070 at a price point in between, but we'll see. Good luck in your choices. Of course, a replacement H5360 can be had for $350-400 now ... like you stated, a lot of enjoyment, for something that costs roughly the same as some units' replacement bulbs.

Thanks for the response. I agree, a projector with the virtues of both the W7000 (decent black levels and useful lens shift) and the W1070 (accurate color and shortened throw) would be perfect.

How many hours do you have on your Acer?
Would be interesting to know what the average age of death is for the various types of projectors.
After having mine apart and seeing the level of dust built up I can't imagine the thing is designed to last much longer than the bulb, but I could be wrong.
Speaking of bulbs, I bought a spare one a month ago just in case it blew up mid-movie. Seems pretty silly now.
I've managed to keep my old Dell computer running for 10 years, but if it had a proprietry fan in it like the projector it would have hit the trash can 6 years ago.

I would estimate I'm somewhere around 1900 hours now. Been installed and running since November 2011. Originally intended to run it for about a year and then upgrade to something better. It's performed so well (albeit with tradeoffs), that I haven't been fully motivated to replace it. I installed a Darbee Darblet in September when I was really getting the itch for a 1080p set, but the Darblet has sharpened things up to the point I'll keep going.

Since the full basement finish is still a work in progress (open plan), it's really hard to eliminate the amount of dust the PJ is exposed to. I can see a lot of dust in the unit, but I think general consensus is to "let it lie" and not try and blow it out of there. That's another part of my hesitation -- until I'm finished-finished, I don't want to subject another PJ to the construction environment!

roknrol - does that Darbee Darblet really enhance the picture sharpness that much on the H5360? My only complaint on this unit is it seems like you can never quite reach complete focus. Like things are just a bit fuzzier than perfect. I'm always adjusting my focus because it seems like it moved out of focus slightly - but it hasn't...
Edited by schmidtwi - 3/27/13 at 1:56am

I have no idea about the Darbee but I do know that my Acer took about 15 minutes to warm up before the focus stabilized. The good news was that it always came back to sharp if I just left it alone. My impression was that the image was well focused, with each pixel clearly defined over most of the screen. If you got right up to it there was an ever so slight halo around pixels near the edge of the screen, but even at a 50 degree viewing angle the limitations of 720p itself was obvious long before any "pixel distortion" had an impact.

I have read time and time again that people who upgrade from a 720p DLP such as the Acer to a more expensive 1080p model are a bit disappointed with the improvement in detail. Most times I imagine they are going to a 3-chip LCD with convergance issues, but still, I would ride the Acer to its grave and hope it lasts long enough for 4K to become reasonable. Patience is difficult but rewarding.

This. Took me about a month (sadly) to figure this out. Just leave it alone for 15 minutes and it'll go right back to where you left it. Of course, this also applies when dialing it into focus in the first place! Have the PJ in operation for at least 15 minutes before making the final zoom/focus adjustments.

RE: Darblet -- It's pretty surprising how much it does for the H5360. For an investment of around $270 (watch for it on sale), it's a significant value upgrade. Running the Darblet along with TMT5 w/ SimHD made my SD DVDs look so good, I changed my blu-ray upgrade plans. It's not magic, certainly, but dollar-for-dollar the best value of anything AV related in my setup.

At this point, I'm really only wanting to upgrade because I'd like better black levels (for blu-ray) and better placement options. Due to the combination of the Acer's short throw and offset and my very low ceilings, I'm forced to mount the PJ right over the couch and use keystoning to square the picture.

Well it looks like I might be looking at the H5360 again I don't know if the Optima GT750E is still being made or not since Amazon shipped and sold is no longer listed..

Only thing that scares me is the white spots issue and fan failures.

Do you mean the GT720? The GT750 can currently found at Best Buy.

http://www.amazon.com/Optoma-GT750E-Lumens-3D-Gaming-Projector/dp/B005G2HR6W/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367631534&sr=1-1&keywords=GT750E

It was listed on Amazon last week then it's gone and only 3rd party sellers have it now. I figured I take it that it's end of life?

Maybe. I noticed that Best Buy has it on clearance online in many stores. Twice on this forum I asked folks who seemed to be in the know whether a short throw 1080p was in the works from Optoma, but there was no response.

Yeah I got no response as well here :-/

Good news everyone!
Acer USA really doesn't want to be like Acer The Rest of The World, and they try very hard not to honor the 5 year warranty that Texas Instruments advertises for DLP chips.
Turns out, your box most likely has a sticker on it that does in fact advertise a 5 year warranty for the DLP chip:


After multiple chat sessions and phone calls a year ago and getting told I had to pay $200 to get it fixed, I'd given up. Then recently I noticed this sticker on the box, worked my way into the chat support, and sent the picture to them. Yesterday I received it back from free warranty service, good as new. (Had to pay one-way shipping.)
The less-than-good news is that they've really made it practically impossible to talk to their support unless their computer system thinks you've got a valid warranty. I somehow got into chat support by accident through an old link somewhere, which I don't have anymore. If you have any Acer products with a valid warranty, that should be enough to get you into chat support. Make sure to connect on a weekday during Central Time business hours so you can transfer to Level 2 support.
I also got an email asking to fill out a survey on their customer service, and gave them the terrible review they deserve.
The worst news is that I was doing a little window shopping on new projectors and almost nobody offers more than a year or two warranty anymore.

EDIT: I originally purchased the projector in the fall of 2010, and it started losing pixels in spring 2012, barely after the 1-year warranty was up.
Also, sending this link to the support people might also help, when they realize that you know that they know they were selling defective parts.

haha how long until they nix that part of the sticker?

I'm thinking about buying one of these and replacing the DLP chip?

TI DMD 0.62” 12° S450 720p Digital Mirror Device (for H5360)
Edited by SubaruB4 - 5/6/13 at 4:23pm

Really?

Yeah but to be 100% sure I need to buy one that broken or wanting to get rid of one because of white spots so I can get the part number from the back of the DMD chip. I was going to get the one that was on Amazon for $109 plus shipping but someone beat me to it..

Sadly no H5360's for parts are on ebay.

You won't be able to get a new chip; it's a custom part made by TI for Acer. There was a guy a while back who found the control board for sale but no actual DMD.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/projectors/1704086-optoma-hd600x-dmd-chip-replacement.html

The link above is from an Optima but still..

I'm sure others are custom made as well but TI is not going to wipe the whole production floor just to make a special chip for Acer (cost) from my searching most follow the same pinouts.

I will buy an Acer H5360 when I find one for parts under $130 so I will keep checking back in this thread for info.