Viewsonic Pro8200 -- it exists. - Page 9

Might try the Disney WOW cal DVD or the DVE HD Basics cal DVD. Also there's a download from the AVS site. Each PJ will be a little different.

Looking for advice...

I have my Pro8200 calibrated as suggested by the review at http://www.projectorreviews.com/view...alibration.php and the colors look good, blacks are acceptable, and the picture is sharp...

But,

Blond Hair has a pink highlight to it... I have watched multiple movies including "Bridesmaids" and blond hair appears to have pink highlights. Other than that I am happy with the picture quality...

Any suggestions? or does anyone else have the same problem?

Thanks,

Is this model any good for gaming too? I was looking for a short throw, but I mostly find them in the 720p projectors like the Optoma GT700. I sold my Infocus SP4805 a few years back and after picking up the Star Wars Blu Ray set and watching it with the buttkicker, I realized my 42" TV isn`t cutting it anymore.

Anyone know why my projector displays intermittent flickering lines when there is fast movement on the screen?? It shows up for a fraction of a second and then disappears. The flickering lines almost look like digital noise lines. Any help is appreciated.

Sounds like either you have a gray-scale calibration issue, or a color space issue (chromaticity). If the projector has a full CMS, you would need a meter to adjust it properly. However, there are a few ways to do it without a meter, as suggested you can try a calibration disc, make sure contrast/brightness is accurate first. Next step, if you want to spend the money, you can buy a $120 light meter (eye-one LT), and google "calibration for dummies".

If you don't want to buy the meter, my suggestion is to compare multiple faces and skin tones to the most accurate looking display device in your house (split screen it) like either an LCD monitor set to D65 mode (google whatever monitor you have or look at the LCD manual to find out the closest OTB D65 mode for your monitor).

Once you do that, even without a meter, you'll need to average skin tones between say 10-15 different images. Go back and forth correcting the color until on average the projector is closest to the skin tone reference of the LCD. LCD monitors are not perfect either, but some get fairly close to D65 in some modes. I've checked this stuff with calibration equipment, depends on the LCD monitor.

The meter is the best solution.

You could also just try removing a little RED from the image, but I think you might hurt other aspects of the image.

pro 8200 refurbs at ecost.com for a lil over four hundred.

They list these deals, but no one has the refurbs in stock. Tried to grab me one.

there back at ecost and they do exist,My brothers coworkers got a couple and I have got a few of the deals before,2 pjs and tons of other stuff.Looks like you have to buy the membership.

Thanks for the info.

I grabbed one at another place and bought it.

How is this projector for a holdover

I like it, I am not experiencing any of the issues with this refurbished model reported earlier in the thread, other than the menu bugs and the ECO mode resetting, however as far as I can tell the color values are being remembered (which is what is important).

The condition of the refurbished unit was immaculate, like new, and the lamp only 15 hours on it. I absolutely love the carrying case, very very nice.

Wow that's crazy cheap, how would this work as a cheap gaming projector does it have lag issues?

Update:

Here are some ideas on how to fix the colors without a meter.

For OTB settings, the high color modes look better on skin tones even though they are way too cool, but it does look ok with a few adjustments. I also think the refurbished units have completely different color tables, or else Art and PJC's settings are ridiculously over-saturated, because their settings aren't even ballpark on my unit. I haven't calibrated with a meter yet, although I've checked a few things. I will post a professional D65 calibration later. Everyone's setup varies, but here are some ideas on how to get rid of the main two problem areas, which are RED and Yellow Gain and Saturation. Since everyone's setup will be different, I'll give some ranges which might help until I edit this post after I do a professional calibration.

Color Mode: Standard
Video --> Saturation: 45-55 (leave at 50 at first, come back to this later)
Video --> Sharpness: 10
Video --> Tint:50

You can try Color Temp: Medium (you could also try High as it depends on lamp wear and some other stuff)

After doing this, go into User Color and drop the RED saturation, Yellow, and Green.

So:
Red Hue = 0 | Red Saturation: 50-60 (depends on lamp wear) | Red Gain: 50-60
Yellow Hue = 0 | Yellow Saturation: 45-60 | Yellow Gain: 45-60
Green Hue = 0 | Green Saturation: 55-65 | Green Gain: 55-65

This is for ECO mode lamp. If you guys have a similar setup to mine and the lamp has worn the same (and it might not have, so don't get your hopes up, then these settings should look better).

If the skin tones still look bad, try going back to the Video setting and turning down the saturation more until skin tones look more natural, but don't turn it down so much to where the color overall has no POP or saturation in it. If the skin tones look to pale, turn the overall saturation in the VIDEO up a little.

If using High Color Temp instead of Medium, try increasing red to 50-70 on gain and saturation until you see a little red in the face start to appear at about the correct levels, but not too much red.

These settings accomplish the following, at least for me:
Reduce Red tinting in dark scenes and skin tones overall
Reduce Yellow tint and overly strong yellows in skin
Better looking and more natural skin tones
A more film-like image overall and not as overly saturated

After these adjustments, skin tones look really good in MOST bright scenes on my unit and pretty good in MOST dark scenes, but I can tell by eye there are still some gamma issues and tinting at certain levels of lighting, but it's much more mild than the default colors.

In making the above adjustments, there are some side effects, but I think the side effects you get are much less than how the projector's colors start out. I will do my best to get this projector exactly at D65 once I have time, but I can tell it's going to be tough, as this projector has a slight weakness with color accuracy (but I don't think it is a deal-breaker for most, especially at this price). If it's not a deal breaker for me, I'm assuming it shouldn't be for you (and I'm real picky).

I'll try to post the colorimeter readings next week, these readings are not a calibration, they are just done by my eye. I do not want to waste time calibrating until the lamp has 100 hours on it.

Here is a screenshot after fixing the skin tones, I have a really cheap camera though, and a screenshot doesn't mean anything because by the time it goes through the camera and monitor the color is off. The camera added a bit more pink then is really there.

A little blurry from my camera:


A screenshot of space of Aurora Borealis (I think):

Here is a closeup of text, amazing a PJ this cheap can be this sharp, camera adding a tiny bit of blur though:

Based on your comments in the RS40 thread I'm looking into this projector I don't know if my 40 is "perfectly" centered or not so I'm slightly worried about the lens shift or lack thereof. My other question is would you buy this as at its currently listed retail price as a "replacement" for the 40, I'm on a small screen 100" wide (115" diag), RS40 is ~14-14.5' away from screen, ceiling mounted. All types of ambient light during the day with some minimal to moderate control over it :-(

Coming from a JVC, you'll dislike the black levels of the low-end DLP projectors, so I'm not sure how to answer this. This thing is super in ambient light though, it's got enough lumens to blow you away.

If you have a slightly higher budget, the Mitsubishi hc4000 is better, but mostly it's just got more accurate color and darker blacks is the main advantage, but the Viewsonic comes close. Could also look at the Benq w1100.

I like this projector a lot, but it is a completely different experience than a JVC, it is a VERY clean projector that produces a nice clean and sharp image for bright scenes. It is also a light canon, but color accuracy is a bit tough, and if your used to JVC like accuracy on colors, the skin tones may bother you. However, I find the skin tones generally good enough after you fight with them for a while.

I think coming from a JVC, I'd spend more and get the Mitsubishi or Benq w1100 or w1200, but if I were going to order another JVC later, then this is a great companion projector.

I appreciate the comments, I know it is tough to give a recommendation without knowing the environment but I definitely "need" a light cannon. We did need to run the RS40 in high lamp AND the color destroying high temp or whatever it is called for daytime viewing and that is with our short throw (if you looked at my link...bright walls, acoustic screen, etc) so I'm thinking that barring placement issues that the viewsonic might be a great purchase for us and even new, the price, is justifiable(-ish) enough for me to convince my wife.

Had the lamp not gone out in the same year it was purchased maybe one of the others would be better, though, I will check their prices...it has only been a little over a week and I'm already "dying" so scouring for refurbs and things like that aren't really in my patience level but I will do some checking on the other models.

I would say in this price range it probably comes down to the Pro8200 vs. the Benq w1100 vs. Optoma hd20. I have not compared the Benq to this one, but they should be fairly similar. I think the Viewsonic beats the Optoma in most cases however, except for the fact the Optoma has slightly more accurate colors maybe. The Benq is the more expensive unit out of these however.

The Benq w1100 has Dark Chip 2 instead of Dark Chip 3, so I am guessing the Viewsonic has a slightly richer and cleaner look, maybe, but I cannot be sure. However, the Benq has the better menus and calibration system and more accurate colors. They both have a 4x color wheel, and they are both so close in brightness as to not make much difference really.

My favorite feature on this projector that many projectors do not have is the INCREMENTAL zoom. It is under the OPTIONS > OTHER > ZOOM menu option. This feature is really awesome, instead of having to cut off the entire bars of a 2.35 image on a 16:9 screen, I can compensate and only reduce the black bars to half their normal size, this way I don't lose as much horizontal area of the screen but I get rid of enough of the top and bottom black bars to not bother me.

Having looked at the trigger ports it looks like I'm going to be going with the W1100. The pro8200 doesn't look to have a 1/8 mono plug but something else. Turns out that the w1100 will be about the same price or less since I can only find places that charge tax+shipping whereas I don't have those costs with the w1100. Thanks for again for the feedback. Looks like I'm pretty hosed on the mounts though and that I'll need to buy a completely different one

I just reserved my place in line for a refurb unit from eCost today. The guy on the phone didn't have a delivery date set for the next shipment, so I didn't pre-pay, but as soon as they get a date set, he's supposed to call me so I can go ahead and purchase one. I'm not ready to buy anything until I know I'm for sure getting one, but trying to plan for the future a little here...

What is a good ceiling mount for this projector? I'm looking for something cheap. Are those $30-35 ones from eBay and/or Amazon good? My house doesn't have a second level, so vibration really isn't a concern.

Not sure on a ceiling mount, maybe someone else posted about it earlier in the thread.

Just to reiterate my thoughts, this is a very very excellent projector overall, in bright scenes it will pop more than LCD or LCOS projectors costing exponentially more. It gives you pretty much that maximum DLP POP just like any higher-end DLP in brighter scenes, but everyone will have to wage war with the colors to get them right.

I think I'll be doing the first full calibration on Monday or Tuesday, will post results then.

I just setup this projected and tried the zoom option, but once I use it I can no longer see my entire screen it will not unzoom even when the value is 0. I have to do a factory reset. I have firmware 2.09 and using a Win 7 HTPC connected via HDMI.

Does the zoom = 0 show your entire screen or still stay partially zoomed?
If it does show the full screen, what firmware version do you have and what type of connection are you using?

Thanks

Same firmware as you, 2.09, I don't have that issue with the zoom.

My Pro8200 will be here tomorrow. I went ahead and jumped on an Amazon openbox deal. I just found the following information posted on another forum. I take no responsibility for the info, I'm just relaying it.

One may download firmware for the Pro8200 and similar models from the Viewsonic ftp server:

Ftp://124.9.11.198

ID: viewsonic
Password: 6i4jTS

Look in the folder:
02_Pro8
Inside this is a folder: Pro8200
In there is a FW(Firmware) folder: 08_FW
Lastly, inside this are 4 FWfiles, for versions 2.10 to 2.13

this has been discussed at length earlier in this thread. sadly, it doesn't work.

What a bummer that it doesn't work. I thought I had read through this entire thread, guess I missed some.

There's actually a pretty recent file on there now though. The original post I saw said there were 4 files, for version 2.10-2.13. Now there's just one file dated 11/28/2011.

I went through a huge ordeal trying to get it to work. you can read my experiences earlier in the thread. I would love it if you were able to prove me wrong!

Yea, I just finished reading the entire thread. I guess I never did read it, but I thought I had.

I saw all the problems you had trying to get it to work. That sucks that it's so close, yet we can't use it!

I've got my fingers crossed that the one I'm getting is a fairly recent build and I don't have any issues.