Lg hs201 - Page 3

brent's most recent pics shows an extreme blocky pixelation up close, does it actually look that bad in person?

It does, if you stick your nose in the screen.

I guess even hd projectors would have visible pixels that close, but they are a lot more noticeable than I thought they'd be.

Well with computer graphics and text the pixel structure is visible, but still I don't think it's the "screen door" effect that I used to see on SVGA LCD projectors.

With movies and video games I don't really see the pixels, except in text.

Ok, these 2 pics make the (big) difference clearly visible... just ordered a 5m HDMI cable
B.t.w.: Received my PJ 2 days ago and watched the first film last night. Had to place the PJ (too) far away from the screen because of short cable - screen size was then about 2,50m (98``) wide and therefore a bit too big...
Also had kind of flicker in the top area of screen

Hey All

I was about 10 inches away from the screen when I took those pictures.

As bobbyslav says @ 13 feet away you only see it with high contrast text and when on my computer I don't care, when watching a movie I never see it.

Rubachuk, I had the (almost) same thing (flicker) I played with the phase (I think that's the name, it's on the same screen you adjust shif and size) and it was gone.

My High Power screen should be in tomorrow and the final chapter will begin

Have a nice day

Brent

Thanks Brent for answering all our questions.

You'll need sunglasses once the High Power is up.

To set the phase, the menu only appears if being connected via RGB - I had it on HDMI. Will also test another cable, maybe mine was too cheap

Evening all and Happy Holidays

Well I got the screen and wanted to post a few pictures (I'll give myself the holidays to write the final chapter)

First: settings very similar to the first photo post, screen is 92 in diag. screen is 10 foot 5 inches from lens, eyes are 12 foot 4 inches from screen.

Here is my DVD (480P) http://www.flickr.com/photos/45307625@N02/4207488284/ movie Last of the Mohegans

Here is my Hulu @ 800X600 http://www.flickr.com/photos/45307625@N02/4207493742/

And finally HDTV card installed in my computer http://www.flickr.com/photos/4530762...n/photostream/ Image was actually better, hands were not steady enough (remember no light).

OOHH the screen went up in 10 minutes.

Cheers
Brent

Greetings All

OOHH the final chapter, allow me again to give my background so the following statements can be put in prospective.

My home theater is built for 2 (wife and I)
This is my 3rd projector (Infocus X1 then a Infocus IN 26)
I'm 52 and need reading glasses (reason I went to a projector for computer use)
I just installed a Da-Lite High Power 96 X 72 inch screen (currently running 92 inch diagonal )

Let me start by saying this is not a flexible projector, what I mean buy this is, if you have a well established home theater you may find it frustrating trying to incorporate this projector into it (short throw and no zoom).

In computer mode using HDMI you will see the individual pixels (this instantly disappears when watching online media), when watching a DVD using the component input it is awesome (remember my past experience) the colors just pop out at you epically with the new screen, with this screen the brightness exceeds (in my eyes) my Infocus X1, and because I have a HD tv tuner card in my computer Over Air HD content looks very good as well.

I've read others who are not happy with the USB Divx video yet I don't see a big problem (I have movies in AVI format 800 meg full length) my only complaint with using the USB for video viewing is, while viewing the menu button does nothing and I'm not sure what projector settings to modify to enhance the video in this mode

I've given my set up and dimensions in previous posts so I won't turn this into a book but I do want to talk about the new screen. Because my home theater (if that's what you want to call it, love seat wall hung screen and Dolby 5:1 sound) is flexible in it positions this new screen allows me the get the biggest bang for the buck out of this projector.

My current viewing experience by far exceeds my experience with the other 2 projectors. I would of never thought a sub $500 projector coupled with a little over $200 screen would yield such an increase in viewing experience, now having said that let me get to what I find are the pros and cons.

This would be a Good projector for the first timer, the thrifty theater builder, family travel, back up projector, general purpose projector, and a heavy user.

This may not be a good projector for someone who has a well established home theater (due to it not being very flexible), someone who is use to (and expects) the clarity of a 720/1080 projected image, and someone who has stock in a projector bulb making company.

I'll end this with a photo, this is a calibration screen for my video card set up, the top half of the picture is the high power screen (DUH) the bottom is my DIY screen and the projector was in Econo mode, so where a picture is worth a 1000 words I'll end it here

Seasons greetings

Brent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4530762...11334/sizes/m/

Thanks to htsurroundman for posting the link to the manual for the LG HS-200/HS-201 and to afineman and Rubachuk for posting such amazing pics, considering the unit's list price.
Have you guys noticed some of the options under the "Advanced" menu selection, specifically "Color Expert 1" and "Color Expert 2" ? This projector actually allows full R/G/B white balance adjustments for both brightness (towards the white range of the gray scale) and contrast (towards the dark gray/black range of the gray scale), AND a full six colors CMS control (red,blue,green,magenta,cyan, yellow), AND a GAMMA control, etc, etc, etc !!!
Now, that's amazing, considering the price point of the unit...I can think of many HD projectors that do not offer such options.
I wonder which one of the LED chipsets from Luminus Devices/Phlatlight does the LG-200/201 use, the model PT-39 or the model PT-54 LED chipset ? Anyone have more hard-to-find info/details on this beauty ?
Thanks >>> Marcos

greetings from australia....

Thanks to everyone for their reviews and screenshots. I have just ordered one from amazon and cant wait to get my hands on this baby and fire it up. Will post my setup and pics when i get it.

cheers

Same here, i just ordered mine from amazon; After checking some of the LG HS200/201 videos posted at youtube as well as the pictures on this thread, i figured this was too good to pass up.
Some recent owners at amazon's discussion group on the HS200 are reporting that the temperature right outside the main front vent measured 108 degrees and the bottom vent measured 98 degrees, after the unit is turned on for awhile; Have any of the owners here noticed their units getting uncomfortably hot to the touch ? I imagine that the front vent is the main exhaust vent, so would a small fan placed behind the projector help with keeping it cooler ? Any suggestions ?
BTW, after going through that very/very poorly written manual, i realized that this $500 mini projector allows full scale gray-tracking calibration by two methods : using R/G/B controls for the top and the bottom end of the scale AND/OR a full twenty (20 !) R/G/B controls for EACH COLOR starting at "total black" 0IRE, then 5IRE, 10,15,20,25,30 ~100IRE "total white"...Now, that's amazing !
I don't know of any other projector anywhere that offers such feature, which is available only on "EXPERT 1" and "EXPERT 2" on the menu.
Let's keep this thread "alive 'n kicking" >>> Regards >>> Marcos

here's the quote from the amazon discussion:
I measured it with a heatgun. On the outside, I got a reading of 42C (108F) directly outside the front vent. On the bottom, I got 36C, (98F). Maybe I should put it on top of a laptop cooler
it'll be interesting to see how the next generations of these led projectors with higher lumens (400, 1000, etc) will be able to manage heat.

HS200 use PT-54.
PT-39 in old HS102.

Last generation of Samsung LED DLP rptv is used PT-120 chipset.
Same Phatlight PT-120 (overclocked 600-800 Lm) inside of overpriced ($15-20K) projectors:

Vivitek H9080FD, Vivitek H6080FD
Digital Projection M-Vision Cine LED Projector
Runco QuantumColor Q-750d Projector
ProjectionDesign Avielo Kroma Projector
Projectiondesign FL32 1080p Projector
Sim2 Grand Cinema MICO 50 Projector

MCaugusto

I've noticed heat but I'm not so sure the lower vent temp of 98 (body temp) nor the 108 at the side exit to be "uncomfortably hot" assuming these temps are in F and not C , the heat that comes out of a bulb projector always scared me.


Brent

ps. of course as I type others jump in and answer, thats what I get for taking 15 minutes to type

I am interested in this projector for my "home theater" I am not desperate for HD, so I am liking this LG HS201 projector. I really like the LED feature, which is my biggest selling point due to the cost of replacement bulbs. My issue is the fixed lens (or is it?). My room that I will be using is the computer room and it is 10' l x 9' w. If I want a screen that is 5' w x 4 l', how far would the projector need to be for this to happen? My biggest fear is the ceiling fan in the middle of the room. I am willing to mount it to the ceiling with a long mount if needed, but for the screen I want to accomplish, will 10' away be too large? Would it need to be 4' away? I'd hate to drop $500 on it and not be able to use it because of the fan...

LG support is useless on distance questions.

Thanks a ton!

jrdbrn >>> The size of the screen you described, 5 foot wide by 4 foot high, is just about the same size of the screen i'll be using with the HS201, which is 5 foot wide by 3 1/2 foot high (or, 60" wide x 44" high; are you sure of the height dimensions for the screen you described ? A screen with a ratio of 4:3 and a width of 60" has to measure approximately 44" in height).
According to the review of the HS201 at Projector Central.com and the owner's manual, the throw distance for my screen is approximately 7 1/2 feet from the projector's lens to the screen.
Regards >>> Marcos

is it just my settings or me , when i play xvid/divx files they seem to look smeary , I am running from pc - vga on projector , also have used dvi-hdmi , seems very smeary the video playback

Evening All

Reading an earlier post I decided to search for info about the PT-54 chip set, WELL, I was kind a surprised.

Not only are they made next door (I live about 30 miles away) the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) states they are rated for 70,000 hours, so ether LG decided to under rate them or they are over driving them.

Here are the PDFs (for the fellow electronic geeks) http://www.luminus.com/stuff/content...pt54_rev06.pdf

Out of the box performance can be understood reading that PDF (that may be why I have a #30 Greens shift).

Where this projector has 3 wattage ratings (Presentation, Normal and Econo mode) and I do NOT know the DLP current draw, stating the possible over driving current (if any) would be a Wild A@@ speculation on my part.

Regardless, I'm intrigued (can you guess my field is in electronics), before I go down this path, let me run a few reality checks against this forum.

Goal: is to find out if this chip set is being over driven, if NOT then why the underrating.

Here are the things I'm assuming, yet I could be wrong.

1: The R,G,B LEDS act as the color wheel (meaning regardless of the frequency, any LED only has a 33.333~% duty cycle)

2: The DLP is only a reflective medium (not sure if it is reflective or refractive), meaning regardless of the output setting, current draw is the same.

Sanity checks are welcome, regardless, while on that site look at the newly released chip sets (WOW) we may have a 780P LED (at a good cost) projector before I post this.

Give me a few days (assuming what I believe is correct) and I can produce some (approximate) numbers, yet if need be I can take home the needed equipment to produce absolute numbers (electronic ONLY, I do not have access to video measurement equipment)

Cheers

Brent

The first question is, does the laptop desktop look "smeary"?

What res are you using?

When you go to Hulu/fancast is it as smeary?

Could it be the videos were compressed so much that regardless, it is smeary?

Just a thought

Brent

its 800x600, and you could be right about the compression, on my 42 inch plasma it looks slightly smeary, also some text is a bit funny, alsoforgot tosay i am only sitting 6 feet away from scren, my livingroom is tiny

[QUOTE
Not only are they made next door (I live about 30 miles away) the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) states they are rated for 70,000 hours, so ether LG decided to under rate them or they are over driving them.
Goal: is to find out if this chip set is being over driven, if NOT then why the underrating.
Cheers

Brent[/quote]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brent, where did you find the quote of 70.000 hours estimated lifespan for PhlatLight chipsets ? I looked everywhere on Luminus Devices website and did not see it...
I doubt that LG would want to or consider overdriving these chipsets since they already have such longevity; I imagine that the 30.000 hours mentioned is for M.T.B.F. meaning that half the chipsets will fail within less than 30.000 hours and the other half would continue to function within parameters.
BTW, i'm a fellow neighbor of yours and isn't it nice for a change to see a company with roots right here in the Boston area, USA, designing, manufacturing and assembling state of the art electronic components such as these PhlatLight LED illuminators ? Take that, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Germany et al !

Marcos

MCaugusto

I can't find where I read 70,000 hours, the only reason it caught my eye was (with all the reading I have done) I thought it was odd LG said 30,000 hours the spec sheet (the PDF on my past post) says "median lifetime >60,000 hours" (page 3 of the PDF).

If I come across where I read it I'll PM you The location, still the OEM saying lifetime exceeds 60,000 hours still has me wondering why LG cut that by half.

Thanks for catching that

Brent

Hello,
So my Optoma DV10 died and I'm looking at this one as a replacement. The question is placement. I brought up the manual as shown in a previous post. I can shelf mount the HS201 exactly where it should be to match up my current (permanently installed) screen. The problem might be my throw distance - it would be 11 feet. There is no zoom so the picture it throws might spill out in a major way over my screen. Could anyone tell me what size picture it throws if the lens is 11feet from the screen? Only inputs will be PS2 and DirecTV box. Thanks.

P.S. My screen is 48" high and 82" wide. I could build myslef a shelf that comes out further so I could get the Hs201 10' away from the screen. Would that fit?

Can anyone provide a solid comparison of this model up against an entry level 720p or 1080p home theater projector? It seems like most people are getting this as a first projector and nobody is comparing it against the slightly more expensive, but purpose built, home theater models.

It would be great to hear from someone who might have a Optoma HD20 or simiar entry level 1080p model and see how it does.

Likewise, how is the response time of this unit for gaming as this is potentially a great travelling unit for the kids and gaming.

Finally, how is the compatibility with standard HD sources such as Blu-ray (1080i/1080p?) resolutions or HDTV broadcasts?

Any information or feedback from those who have been able to put a serious home theater projector up against it would be greatly appreciated!

It doesn't compare.

This is not bad if you don't care about Picture quality much, but in my experience it's just not good enough for a main theater or HDTV broadcasts, at least not if you consider any decent HT projector.

it works fine with 1080p sources, the scaling leaves a lot to be desired though.
there's plenty of rainbows on this projector, which surprised me a lot.
I can actually see more rainbows on this unit than in my old 4x color wheel Mitsubishi or my old 5x color wheel Sharp dt-510.
That's the bit that shocked me the most.

Of course it's very nice not having to worry about the lamp, and for me it was bright enough, it just makes me wish there was an HT projector at an affordable price with LED's, even if it only had 200 lumen, since for my setup it's enough.

So hopefully we'll see entry level HT DLP's priced comparably to the current crop of low end 1080p DLP projectors, even if it means they'll be light starved. it'd still buy one at around ~1500. (i hope Mitsubishi jumps on the bandwagon)

I think LED is at a point right now, where serious efforts could be made to come out with low end 1080p HT DLP's at a reasonable price.
It's too bad i don't think we'll know if this will happen until Cedia 2010, i doubt we'll see something tomorrow at CES, but lets hope.

I don't know what Kamus is talking about!!! I've been trying really hard to see any rainbows on the HS201 and haven't seen a single one.

I am coming from a Mitsubishi HC1500 and I used to see tonnes of rainbows on it, I am guessing because of its relatively high brightness.

Overall I wouldn't say the LG has a better picture than the Mitsubishi, and if price is not a concern I wouldn't recommend it over a true home theater projector. But frankly the only thing that's holding it back is its resolution.

In other aspects I think it performs much better than my previous Mitsubishi and InFocus X1 projectors. Its color saturation is incredible, it's pretty much dead silent, its contrast and black levels are absolutely best I've seen.

cipriano >>> keep in mind that this projector's manual recommends screens up to 80" diagonal, probably due to the unit's low lumen output of 200 lumens, so for you to consider using it with that large a screen might not give you enough brighness...On the other hand, there are several videos posted on youtube whereas users are indeed projecting images from LG 200/201 projectors onto screens as large as 120" diagonal (!) and they seemed pleased with the results in totally blacked-out rooms.
Like most people here, i am buying this pj primarily as a temporary back-up, at least until affordable units with 1920x1080 native and LED illuminators are available for sale for less than $5.000; By purchasing it directly from amazon.com i am covered by a highly reliable merchant that offers full refund, so if i am not satisfied with this $500 pj in any way or form, back it goes to amazon...Perhaps you should consider doing likewise ?
BTW, i just checked the throw ratio for you at Projector Central.com, specifically for the LG HS200, and here are their figures :
horizontal screen size : 82"
vertical screen size : 48"
diagonal screen size : 94"
recommended throw distance : 10' 2"


Marcos

On a side note, i forgot to ask if anyone has tried mounting the LG HS200/201 to a ceiling using an "universal" ceiling mount.
I know that the HS200/201 has a tripod mount on the bottom of its case and i wonder if i purchased one of those "universal" mounts whether or not it would "mate" with the tripod mount.
I don't want to order a ceiling mount just to find out that it does not fit/mount/mate with a standard tripod mount...
Any help would be appreciated,

Marcos