TruVue Vango - Owner's Thread - Page 21

I guess I should be happy I have a PJ to watch right now. And while I am in a complaining mood, the Dwin is loud too!

It's all your fault Jason, you sold me the Dwin.

Time and technology march forward and the Dwin served well.

Kevin

Exactly. I sold you the Dwin. And which one is working still? The Dwin. I was right!!!

Seriously, it stinks when a unit dies but it doesn't matter if you spend $1000 or $500000...it can happen.

Jason brought up an important point. We should all be buying projectors based on how they look (or if they match the color of our couch) and we should only consider how they perform as a tie-breaker condition.

Perfomance? Who needs performance? Plus it saves the headache of wiring...just hang it and admire.

Look...its puuuuuurty.

LOL. I tried to buy my Vango from you but that was when you were taking your little vacation from sales.

We, in this hobby, always like to live on the edge of technology. These are complex devices and sometimes they need a little adjustment. (whack it with a hammer! )

Knowing exactly where to whack is the problem. ( A wise person once reminded me. Minus the hammer part)

BTW Jason, the Dwin took a trip back under warranty as well. Maybe projectors get homesick after a while.


Kevin
Edited by PhotoKevin - 7/31/12 at 9:06pm

Well the Vango needs parts. Tom, if you are listening, thanks for the update. Too few companies keep you in the loop during repairs. Way to go EE.


Kevin

I agree about EE's attention to its customers.

WRT calibration, if the new parts prompt recalibration, perhaps a calibrator physically close the repair facility could do that before it is reshipped to you.

Tom can calibrate very well..

Tom told me that it should not need recalibration but the numbers themselves might need to be reentered. He said he would do that and I sent him the numbers.

Kevin

Jason is also in Rochester and Tom and him can get together if Tom needs Jason to calibrate. I will be traveling but I suggest you email Jason if necessary.

It is back. It is up. It is looking good. Glad I still had my Dwin to watch while it was gone even if it pales in comparison.

Doing the happy dance.

Kevin

Anyone have a Darbeevision Darblet hooked to the Vango? If so, how do you like it? Also, do you have another processor, such as a Lumagen, etc. How how is the chain of devices hooked up?

Kevin

Yes. We habe done it. Lumagen to Darblet to Vango. I believe RGB out of the Limagen and in and out of the Darblet. The vango is really not that much different than any high quality DC4 single chip projector exvept for the light souRce and the Darbee processing really is completely independent of light sources. Its makes detail more apparent and thus gives the illusion of a sharper picture.Try it. You will like it.

Just bought my Vango.
I noticed a strange behavior of the dynamic black: in scenes like this:

it wide "opens" to give light to the windows and not dim to better blacks that is the major part of the frame.

I am not sure I follow you. I don't think there is a variable iris on the Vango. Or maybe your question involves the EE external processor. I have one, but I have never used it. I don't know where your image was sourced, and my display calibration may be different, but the blacks look pretty good to me. I can make out that the 'black bars' are blacker than the image, but the bars are being projected by the Vango unless those are variable masks of some kind. My guess is that root cause goes back to the source material. Just my guess of course.

I know that there isn't a dinamic iris but there is a dynamic dimming. Strangely it does not dim in scenes like the screenshot above because it preferes to give light to windows lit inside the scenes instead.

I also have a Vango, and have Dynamic Black engaged.

I never really thought about it that much. If this is not a dynamic iris, then what is it doing, and how does it function?

Thanks!
Kevin

normal lamp dlp have dinamic iris while led dlp uses a dynamic dimming but both to achieve the result of bettering contrast. Now, while most dynamic irises close in a scene like the screenshot posted to better black levels, the dynamic black of the vango does not because it preferes to give max light to the lights in the scene.
I was just reporting this strange behavior.
I wonder if anyone know how to enter service menu : maybe there is a way to change dynamic black function ...

Seems like that might be a valid strategy, as with that many bright spots the black areas might look very dark - or don't they?

Having issues with my system

Trying to diagnose a problem. I am not sure that it is in the projector but the projector is effected.

The last two evenings, I have been watching programs from the cable box. Last night live and tonight via the built-in DVR. The issue came up for a short period last night and for an extended period tonight.

The picture freezes and seems to go out of sync. with either scrambled bits all across the screen or white at the bottom and scrambled across the top. The picture then goes blank and the projector seems to reboot. Last night it seemed to work itself out and I did no trouble shooting. Tonight I seemed to get into a loop rebooting and trying to sync that only could be stopped by unplugging the projector. I then disconnected the HDMI feed and the projector would power up normally and I could then go to menus. When I reconnected the feed, still from the cable box, regular operations would last from a few seconds to a few minutes and then start the reboot process. I unplugged the projector again and changed the feed to my BluRay player and ran a movie for almost an hour with no problems.

I then switched to the Cable feed and it looked normal. Although, I did only have it back on there for just a couple on minutes.

Does this sound like some HDMI error from the Cable Box? It is very interesting that it comes and goes as I leave the box on all the time. Could it be an error in the data stream that is cumulative and after a certain point the projector can no longer correct?

The system is Source>Marantz Pre/Processor>Lumagen Mini>Vango The cable box puts out either 1080i or 720p depending on the source but out of the Lumagen, everything is 1080p The OPPO BluRay 1080P. The cable box is a Pace unit. Not sure which model.

I can of course switch the cable box easily as my provider has walk in service.

Any suggestions would be helpful. I plan to do more troubleshooting tomorrow. Hope this makes sense as it is late and I am tired.

Got an email from Tom at EE and he thinks my problem (as I do as well) is the cable box. I did some further testing this morning and the BluRay feed show no problems. Also, I have verified that the HDMI connections to the cable box are good. I have set up the component feed from the Cable box so I can watch things I have on the DVR before returning the box.

Bottom line is not a projector issue but, if you should have your PJ rebooting and or in a reboot loop, it might well be a source HDMI handshake issue. Had no clue that the PJ would behave that way.

They are rolling out new cable boxes here with Multi-room capability. Hope I can just replace it with that.

Kevin

Hi fellow Vango owners. It's been almost a couple of years since I got my Vango, and I'm still enjoying it - still think it is a pretty amazing projector, actually. One thing I've been wondering about recently is that I've noticed a lot of movies on Turner Classic Movies HD seem rather dull and are definitely not bright enough. I keep on telling myself that this is obviously because TCM is not broadcasting them properly, or they're using bad transfers. But the sneaky little voice of worry in the back of my head wonders if the projector is not keeping its brightness. Has anyone noticed (or measured) a loss of brightness after ~3500 hours of use? Everything except TCM looks pretty good, but the eye does a remarkable job of adjusting light levels.

Also, is anyone still using the EE color processor? Mine came free with the projector, but I stopped using it. I thought it had potential, but needed better settings (or something). Did they ever update the profiles?

Hyrax

You have more hours than I have accumulated in two years. My impression of brightness is that it is unchanged. I do not use it for satellite or cable. I would suspect the provider.

In fact, nothing has changed. It was REC 709 and focused sharply on day one and it still is. I turn it on, I turn it off. And waiting, without being in any hurry, for laser to sort itself out. And my suspicion meter says that may be longer rather than shorter.

I also have the EE processor. I elected to ignore it as the brightness and image were just fine as is. I am using the lens at max aperture. I thought, or imagined, that the processor might drive the LEDs somewhat harder and that, without hard engineering evidence to the contrary, seemed the less desirable path.

Vince

Thanks for the response, Vlubbers. I agree that the provider is most likely to blame. I'm going to ask TCM why their movies look so dark and dingy so often. Their black and white movies are treasures, their color ones are less appealing.

Don't watch cable or satellite? But...but ... how do you watch Football? That was the main reason I got a DLP projector.

Glad to see some traffic on this thread.

Mine seems as bright as new. (I don't have any way to measure) I do notice that some of the programs on cable are not very good quality. I am not sure if the reason is due to data rate or bad source material. On some channels, I get obvious blocking on fast moving scenes. Never on BluRay.

With the NHL on slow destruction this year, I watch little sports but when I do the picture is near the best on cable. It seems that the networks use their best equipment for sports.

I don't know how many hours I have on my Vango. I don't even look. I always knew when I had a lamp-based projector.

I am not using my EE color box. It is not even in my wiring closet. I boxed it up. I am considering getting it out again as I downloaded the most recent software just last week.

I am having no problems since replacing my Cable box. I was able to get upgraded to the whole house version so now I have 4 tuners as my disposal. Sharing now just like in the old days with ReplayTV.

I am considering a Darbee Vision Darblet but am still undecided. Any thoughts? Mark says that it works well with the Vango but, I am happy with picture now.

Glad everyone is still happy with their purchase.

Kevin

As far as the brightness question, I have no where near 3000 hours, but after around 700 my output is still the same. (measured with a meter). I would agree it's probably a source issue.


I would really like to hear your comments if you make this purchase. Jason at AVS did my calibration when I bought the projector, and it still looks "spot on". I've always been a little confused as to the need to "process" a digital HD image using a projector that has been properely calibrated to REC 709. I tried the EE Box and did not think the results improved the image.

I really haven't followed the Darbee discussion, but was very intrigued by a magazine reveiw that was recently done. The reviewer was very complimentary of the "new" image when watching Blu Rays, which is the majority of my viewing.

My video chain is : sources -> Lumagen Radiance -> Eecolor -> Darbee -> Vango

I don't know why but the Darbee sharpening looks very subtle on the Vango, way less noticeable then on a JVC !
Still undecided about keeping it or not because colors look better (more brilliant) since when I put it in the chain (maybe I'll keep it just because of this).
I'm actually using it at 35%

Thanks for the info. Really on the fence here but wonder if I am just wanting new toys to play with. I really like the picture from the Vango. Maybe, I will just stand pat until Darbee comes out with a field upgradeable unit. In the Darbee tread they were quoted as not coming out with any new products that were not upgradeable in the field. Shipping from Alaska is expensive by any means.

I understand that their support is really good but, the shipping thing always brings me pause. Most companies that offer "free shipping to the continental U.S." charge extra for shipping here even though we have yet to drop off the continent.

Thanks again.

Kevin

Checked last night. My Vango is at 987 hours on the meter.

K

My unit is two years old. It has clocked 670 hours. I suppose most might think that is a very small number but I was surprised it was that large. I went from Sony 90 CRT, to D-ILA to LCD to LED and I think my early days made me very conservative about usage. Not necessary but it is a comfortable habit. The Vango is the easiest to live with by a large margin.