LG CF181D, New SXRD-projector from LG - Page 42

Just replaced Apple TV 2 with Sony Blu Ray player and do not see stuttering/juddering effect - hope it works fine like this! will test this further...

Actually destroyed the warranty when I dropped the projector changing the location I had it installed. I had to disassemble the projector, solder the wire for front remote input, reassemble the zoom mechanisms and in general rebuild the internal mounts. I'm happy to say that despite my clumsiness, the projector has given me a very satisfactory viewing experience.

The one caveat is that I don't do any precision calibration as some do so take that into account. I've made some seat of my pants calibrations during initial setup and I believe I reduced the intensity a bit (I think to the 38 that I've seen on this forum) to achieved pictures that satisfy me and if I'm happy, that's good enough. If you're really into precise calibrations, then my input is probably not what you're looking for. I do not see any artifacts in black scenes or tints on the edges. If I did, then I would research and work to eliminate them, but it hasn't been necessary.

The only item I've ever noted was a small alignment issue of maybe one pixel. I have to get up close and personal to the screen to see it and at my normal viewing distance from the screen it is not noticable.

I have my projector at the extreme edge (24'+) of projection distance. This far back I had to use the keystone to bring the projection down to the 117" screen size.

I've experience SD issues on two occasions. I rented Pillars of the Earth through Netflix via download. It did not up convert. I also watched a football game broadcast over SD and the conversion was terrible. I'm not sure why as I watch other non HD media and it seems fine. Other than those two occasions, I've not noticed up conversion issues so I believe it may be the source and not the projector.

Again, I'm not an expert calibrator. The projector was close to what I wanted out of the box and required only minor tweaks for my tastes.

I only see judder sometimes with 1080i/60 signals from my cable box. AND, it's only on certain stations or tv shows. I notice it a lot for some reason with Modern Family, which is really strange. I can't get rid of it no matter what settings I use. It seems to be a software issue that needs to be taken care of with firmware. I'm not even sure I would describe what I'm seeing as judder, it almost looks like the projector's processor is having trouble keeping up. I has that kind of feel/look.

But I saw this problem only when using Apple TV 2 - looking at mac forums it seems other Apple TV 2 users also have seen this kind of stutter. For same content playing using Sony Bly ray player I do not see judder/stutter.

Just got it in and hooked it up today. Watched a few minutes of Baraka and then Speed Racer with the whole family. Wow. PQ, to use my wife's word, is "fawsome." I was a little bit worried about it maybe being too bright in my environment, but I changed it to Cinema and eco modes, changed the auto iris to 1, and dialed the brightness back just a tad, and it's golden on a 106" Cine Grey screen from 16 feet back. It beats the Epson Powerlite Home Cinema 720 I had before in every possible way, which, I suppose, really isn't a fair comparison, but it's what I have to compare to. The Epson was plenty bright in torch mode, but the image looked like a** in that mode, and it was way too loud. On the other hand, Cinema Black, though it looked much better and was quiet, just wasn't bright enough, especially after I got a few hours on the bulb. If it compares equally well when it comes to longevity, I will be one happy customer. That remains to be seen. I live in Texas in an old house, so, it's dusty here. There's not a hell of a lot I can do about that, but I'll do my best. I noticed the manual says to contact customer service once a year to have it cleaned. Anyone done that? Is it on their dime?

For anyone who may be thinking about buying it, like I was, okay, it's not perfect. The blacks, at least out of the box, aren't quite inky black (I know there's been some posts on this; I'll have to try the suggestions out later), and I did notice some minor artifacts a couple of times that I'm assuming is what the reviewers were talking about with the frame interpolation thing. Still, I would describe the overall image exactly as I did above--fawsome. Inky blacks or not, the image pops, and while I'm sure a better picture can be had where money is no object, money, for me, is an object, and I feel like a got good value for it on this projector.

Okay, one last thing to throw my credibility, not that I had any to being with, entirely down the toilet--I don't get why Speed Racer got dogged like it did. Sure it was over the top, but I thought that's exactly what a Speed Racer movie should be. The performances are good, it's visually interesting, and overall it's just a fun family movie. Now, up next, Master and Commander. Yeah, baby. That's what I'm talking about.

Thanks. I'm not an "expert calibrator" either. I own several calibration discs, including Spears and Munsil and Disney, but that's about it. I don't have access to a coloromiter or anything and wouldn't know how to use one if I did, and I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm more than okay with it. For a while there I spent so much time trying to tweak stuff (with mixed results) that I was spending more time doing that than actually enjoying my media. It reminds me of a quote someone made about their audiophile friends who would buy new records to play their turntables with as opposed to the other way around. Some people like that, and that's fine, but it's not for me. A little tweaking is okay, and I feel very rewarded when there's a payoff, but at the end of the day I want to watch movies, not test patterns.

This projector is working great so far, but one thing has me a little concerned--it runs very hot. All projectors due to a point I guess, but this one seems pretty extreme. It even smells hot, if that makes any sense. I only have a handful of hours on the unit so far, so I know it's not simply that i need to clean the filters. Thoughts?

I have never felt or smelled heat from my 2.3 year old unit.

Are you sitting this thing on your lap ?
Edited by anthonybuchanan - 7/12/12 at 12:56pm

i just got my lg cf181d today. whats the best way to calibrate it? settings ex.

I would love to get over air HD channels to this projector as they are better quality than my crappy cable company. What is the cheapest and easiest way to do that? Im assuming the 181d doesn't have a tuner so I would likely have to buy one that would output HDMI. Anybody have any suggestions on cheap HD tuners that work well?

There are probably 1000 choices.
For all of them you must have line of sight access to your HD broadcaster and you can't be too far away.

I once considered this and discovered it was too much trouble so I just use Comcast.

I never use my cf181d for anything but Blueray and watch tv in our bedroom on a 42 inch.

Start out here.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/179095/the-official-avs-hdtv-stb-synopsis

Hi all,

Whats a good ceiling mount that would work with this projector??

Better yet, that I can buy from monoprice?

Thanks

This threat died!!! Bring it back to life! Anyone on a replacement bulb? How long did your original last? I'm through about 700 hrs and it's still very very bright!

Interesting question and good timing for us. We are still on our first lamp. Got the PJ in March and as of a couple days ago we have about 1050 hours on the lamp (eco mode). We've noticed some dimming and have done some twwaks to brighten up the image. We have not reached the point of being moved to change to a new lamp, yet. Not sure what the expected life of the lamp for this PJ is (2000 or 3000) but it's good to know that w have a replacement waiting on a shelf ready to go when we reach our limit of tolerance. Other than that, the PJ has been an outstanding value and we love it. The only other thing that came up besides the lamp issue was a "clean the filter" message. Done.

I have approx 700 to 800.

Bought mine in May 2010.

Still bright. Still can't belive I have something like this. The picture is amazing.

btokars, hehe, you have put 1050 hours on your machine since March ?

That means for the 210 days you have had it you have used it for 5 hours each and every day.

Assumming you:

Work 8 hours per day.
Commute 1 hours per day.
Sleep 8 hours per day.

You have 7 hours in a day in the last 210 days to do other stuff.

You have spent 5 hours of the 7 hours watching stuff on this PJ.

This PJ has to be viewed in a dark room otherwise there is just no point in having it. This means you have been inside a dark room fo r 5 of the 7 hours you have for leisure time everyday.

Do you have children ?

A wife ?

Tell us more about you.

That's a very astute accounting of the facts. Our only child is married with her own kids and lives 3000 miles away. I am "retired" although I still work. My work is as a video producer. Much of what I produce is fighting to prevent California Wild King Salmon from going extinct. You can see work related to that issue here: http://salmonwaternow.org/resources-for-media/videos (donations happily accepted). I do other video work for paying clients and a lot just for me. Which brings me to the projector and the dark room.

I like to see the things I produce on the big screen. I have no problem with the dark electronic cave. My wife will love your post and would tell you that she hates it being dark all the time. On the other hand, she is the one who installed the projector and she is the one who pulls it down for lamp changes or other needed service. The video I made of her installing the projector that our current LG replaced is on YouTube and has nearly 12,000 hits for some reason. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGhf0JMSXZo

Except for a TV in the kitchen, the PJ is our only TV. And, I know there are lots of people who have a TV burning 10+ hours a day.

I know I had no need to respond to your question, but what the hell. I'm going back to my editing project.

B.

Hey I have heard of the plight of California Wild King Salmon. I am at work now and cannot view your videos however will view themat home. Maybe I will make a contribution.

I know you had no need to respond however you did because it was a question I made in fun and you responded as such.

Btw, I just ordered an extract lamp from PP for only $149 for anyone interested.

Eventhough I have only approx. 600 hours (probably minimal loss of brightness eventhough all usage has been high brightness) I figured I will need a bulb at some point so why not get one now, replace it now, save the old one, enjoy highest brightness again right now, and put the old one back in when this one gets to 700 hours.

I love high bright because my room has white walls and thus eventhough the room lights are off I probably do not have ideal conditions.

I bought mine in july 2009

Already 3 years old without any issues

Lamp : 1715h and still bright

Only one regret : i cannot update my old and original firmware.

Hi all,
I have a HD33 DLP and am still within the return period. The other option i considered is this projector.
I know it's a long shot, but was anyone else in a similar (but recent) situation b/w this one and a DLP?
Does anyone have any video game experience on theirs - 360/ps3? I've had no success looking for gaming reviews and lag times...

Part of me just feel the DLP is a little dark now, and we don't use the 3D feature - it is on a grey screen 106", at ~12.5 ft, primaryly used for movies, with the odd gaming session when the family grants me time.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

cheers!

mjoc13, before I decided on this projector at $2399 from PP in May 2010, I did a hands on comparison with a $2000 Mitz DLP and also a $900 DLP.

The results were not even close. This projector beat them by miles in brightness and quality.

My 2 son's used this PJ for gaming all the time. Image was always top notch.

I posted pictures in this thread of them playing with lights on in the room to demonstrate how well this image held up even with the lights on.

Search this thread for my posts.

This thread was once very active.

Hello,

I have been using this projector for about 4 months now. It has worked fine. However, i am getting a hotspot on my screen from the projector. I am using a cinetension 2 white screen 106". the projector is mounted about 14 feet from the screen. is there anyway to reduce or eliminate the hotspot without moving the projector farther back?

Can you tell me what a hotspot is.

I have had my cf181d for two years and six months and have never seen anything bad.

A hotspot is usually caused by using a bright projector with a screen material that has too high of a gain.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/choosing-front-projection-screen

Interesting. For my first 12 months with this PJ I had a 104" low to no gain screen.

When I decided I wanted a larger screen (144) I backed up the projector by a few feet and pointed it at my flat paint white wall. I have to say I could not see a difference and have been using this technique ever since. Try it. I beleive screens are a waste.

Also, for my room, I like the idea of no gain because you never have to worry about a sweet spot. You get the exact same very bright image no matter where you are sitting.

Coming up to 3 years and my bulb died. I tried to mentally calculate the life as I never really took the time to check the bulb life. Not sure if it automatically zeroes following changeout. I ran it only on weekends watching movies now and then, auto races and a lot of football. I took the bulb assembly out to make sure that the problem is the bulb and it measures open with a meter. I also wanted to inspect the carrier to see how difficult it is to change out the bulb only. It does not look hard (several acrews, but nothing technical) and buying only the bulb without the carrier is significantly less $$$. I'll try and take some time and post some pics of the process as I suspect many will be running up against this shortly. BTW, the Owner's Manual is pretty useless here. When the unit goes through self test, the result says to call the service center when you end up with red blinking lights, yet there are instructions to change out the bulb. This will only make sense if a new bulb doesn't fix the problem. The instructions also show removing the screws toward the middle of the assembly to pull the bulb carrier. You need to remove the screws toward the edge (black ones). I've got the bulb on order, so next weekend I'll change the bulb out on the carrier and power the projector back up.

I had a choice of selling of my JVC RS2 or my CF181, to purchase my new RS4810... And end up selling the RS2... I miss that PJ... which I could have 3 setups but.... the woman of the house overruled it and rightfully so. I tried to sell the 181 with to many low ballers, I decided to keep it. Moving it in to the position of the RS2 I am happy I kept it. It setup with a 92' Zero Edge, Darblet and Lumagen Radiance... After doing a 3DLUT calibration it is absolutely fabulous. I would suggest that anyone that still has the CF181 get an Radiance and have it calibrated with the 3LUT! Getting a video processor really improves on PQ if properly used and can always be used with any new display that you purchase.

I will look into a Lumagen.
I went to a PC based setup.

PC base is bit more difficult to Calibrate. So many different variables with the video card. Also will help is a gray screen, I have a gray screen that brought out the blacks in this projector. Also great when gaming with this unit. Anyone looking to buy 106 Gray Draper?