Viewsonic Pro8200 -- it exists. - Page 18

thanks guys..I felt pretty dumb posting that especially without having the screen set up or further calibrations done to it. I have watched blurays on it and I'm sure once everything is set up/tweaked it will be fine.

I know the streaming stuff can't compare to blurays due to the bitrate involved but it's just sooo easy to click on the movie and have it start playing rather than getting in the car and driving to the store to rent a bluray .

Now I just need to get my wife to be able to work it without issue ...between the players, AV receiver and projector she seems to always have trouble! I wish i could just make an easy button for her. She calls and I walk her through it but she still doesn't seem to be able to make it work then we sit there in awkward silence an I tell her to make the kids go outside or something. Soon I'll have our regular TV set up in the front "formal living room" so when she can't get it working she'll send them to the front .

I know what you mean, but for me netflix has been awesome. blurays in the mailbox with the streaming option and an antenna for the networks, we were able to drop cable

Anyone have it working? If so, what type of plug did you use?

well this time there really WAS an issue..after a bit of troubleshooting I found the AV receiver was no longer sending video out the HDMI port. i had to reset the thing to factory default settings. I'm looking at a certain 2 year old boy as the root cause . they have an amazing ability to grab a phone/remote/etc. and do things with the device you didn't know were possible.

I'm going to hang my screen this weekend with a little help from my friends. I tried to hang it on my own with the projector already mounted and shining on the wall then realized this is the dumbest and most frustrating way to do it...I will mount the screen where I want it and make sure it's square with the world then move the projector itself and mount it when it's perfectly centered on the screen. Then calibrate it with the numbers floating around here somewhere and look forward to a much better experience.

I got some tower speakers to replace the bookshelf surrounds so now i've got FL,FR,SL,SR towers, a modest center channel and a 12" 250w sub. I'm ready to test it all out!

it dropped to 720 on the egg today

got the screen up on saturday! much happier with the results..now I just need to visit the calibration thread and do the final tweaking! I'm going to get some fine patterns/text to really hone in the focus.

I was thinking, maybe if your bulb pops, you could come here and let us know how many hours you got out of it.
If you like , you could share how many hours you got on bulb if you have 2,000 or 4,000 or 6,000 or more. It's rated for 4,000 to 6,000.
I know the epson 8000 series have had plenty of problems with the 700 hour POP. I don't think there is thread for us that have the viewsonic pro8200 bulb problems.
So, maybe put it in the back of your mind, to come back in 6 months or 1 year and let us know what type of bulb life you get out of it.
Anyone have 3,000 hours on bulb yet? or 2,000? I'm hoping viewsonic will not have same problem bulb problem epson apparently has judging from all the threads on it.

Hello, all. Month-long lurker, newly registered. I have a question about intermittent fan speed that I can't find an answer to anywhere. Is the fan supposed to be variable speed, even on ECO? I find that it revs up high for a bit and goes back down after about 30 seconds during normal usage. While not a deal breaker, I am wondering if this is normal.

Thanks for any responses.

Seems normal to me.
I usually don't notice the fan until I turn it off , I don't have auto turn off, so I allow machine to cool off and fan kicks in then and goes for around 30 seconds.
I guess I'm so much into gaming or watching the movie I don't notice it, it probably does go on and off at times, I think eco mode the fan wouldn't kick in as much. I usually set it to eco mode.
Make sure you give the PJ lots of breathing room because it puts out a lot of hot air.
Maybe others can chime in too with their take on fan times.
Good to have you with us.

I can verify that the unit gets quieter after a couple minutes of warming up, this is normal.

Thanks for the replies. The scenario I am experiencing is specifically mid-usage, not startup or shutdown (I do have auto on/off disabled, at the advice of this excellent forum, and I know the fans blow for 30 seconds during these periods). For example, last night, about 15 minutes into ECO/Dark Room usage, the fans kicked into 'normal' (non-ECO) mode for about 30 seconds, then went back down. This trend continued the entire time that we used the unit (about 2 hours). It makes sense to me that the unit would auto-adjust the fans if it was getting to warm, but it begs two questions: 1)Why isn't this documented and 2)Why is it getting so warm that this needs to happen?

Once again, thanks for your replies!

Not exactly sure what you are saying? Do you want the fan to stay on continuously, or do you want the fan NEVER to come on?
I'm confused.
Seems like the fan turns on when the projector gets hot, has sensor, just like we have in home heating. It comes on when needed and turns off if goes below a certain temp. Except maybe for turn on and turn off when it goes for smooth transition.
If your home heater was always on or always off, it would be broken.
As to why PJ gets HOT! Same reason light bulbs in home get hot, ever touch one when on!
Now imagine one that puts out 2,000 lumens. The engineers who designed of PJ made sure bulb doesn't get too hot.
I was saying in my last post, make sure you put the 8200 where air flow vents around the whole unit is not blocked ( Don't putt against a wall or block sides of PJ where it forces the fan to turn on more) .

Xbox 360 had overheating problem when first made, and people would put the 360 in places where it would block fans in rear of unit, like against wall or in TV cabinet. So they were told to keep the 360 in place where good air flow could push out hot air.

p.s. As an aside to your questions about fan turning on and off properly,
I should add that the epson 8000 series might have a design flaw, nobody knows yet, because many people experience 700 hour POP on bulb. Epson switched bulb manufactures hoping this solves the problem. BUT if the unit itself can't cool down the bulb properly it would be design problem. So you can see how fan turning on and off at right time is important.
That is why I stayed away from epson for now until it's sorted out. It takes time for people to get 4,000 hours on new bulbs. And bulbs are expensive.

My post above yours had to do with BULB life, because there is nobody so far who had bulb problems with the viewsonic pro8200 that I have seen in forum or reviews.

Whereas if you look on Amazon on epson 8100 reviews and in forum rooms here, there are many threads about epson bulb problems and I saw the POLL from epson users and it doesn't look pretty.

Obviously , so far, the design of viewsonic pro8200 seems to work. And we have 3 year warranty. I mention the epson just because cooling the bulbs is very important. The reason epson users aren't more upset is because epson is replacing the bulbs free of charge, they know they have a problem. Only time will tell whether the problem is just the bulb or the unit design.

Thanks, rgtaa. Didn't meant to sound dense. I was more or less asking if the fan should blow at one continuous pace or if it was prone to vary, depending on heat. I understand that it would overheat if the fans did not account for rises in temperature, I was just wondering how often people saw this happening. I have clear airflow around the unit, and the difference in fan noise is a bit of a distraction for me, especially at the regular intervals it seems to come at.

My projector does the same thing. What is curious is it seems to do it more during dark scenes.
I Just put a USB powered external fan on the inlet to provide continuous air flow. It's much quieter than the internal fan.

I believe the viewsonic pro8200 has average fan sound. Now when you read the PRO reviews they discuss the fan loudness as part of most PJ reviews, I believe. I think 20-30 dbs is around normal. Coderguy and others can correct me if I'm wrong. They all have fan noise. It probably also depends on how close you are to the unit. I'm probably about 4 or 5 feet away from unit and I don't notice it. If I have air conditioner on , don't hear it at all.
You just got your unit, so it makes sense you want to make sure it is working and I think your questions are normal.
Some of my computer fans are louder than others. And I have some PC's that are very quiet. Same with hard drives. Some are noisier than others.
Coderguy and others can compare PJ fan noise between models, the viewsonic pro8200 is my first projector.

p.s.
This is taken from Pro review of pro8200:
Audible Noise

OK, now you can be concerned. The Viewsonic Pro8200 isn't exactly quiet. It's a single chip DLP projector, and as a class, they tend to be a bit noisey. Viewsonic claims 31 db at full power, and 27 in eco-mode. My take is that their eco-mode estimate might be a bit high, it seems quieter than that, but, in full power, the 31 db is probably accurate or a touch optomistic. This projector does make some noise - though nothing unusual for a single chip DLP, especially in the low price ranges. In the somewhat noiseyr family environment, no one is likely to notice.
http://www.projectorreviews.com/view...erformance.php

I was wondering why the fan spools up during extremely dark scenes, and I'll venture a guess why it happens.

During extremely dark scenes less of the light is projected through the lens, but the lamp is still producing the same amount of light (and the same amount of heat), which would cause a heat build up internally.

I will say, either it's doesn't do it as much as it used to, or I've gotten used to it, because I don't notice it any more.

This is the fan I mounted at the intake of the projector. It's extremely quiet, runs off the usb port of the projector, is variable speed. Don't know if it will add any hours to the bulb, but since heat is the enemy of projectors, I thought it couldn't hurt.

I do think that heat was the cause of my previous projector's demise. It was an lcd, and I've read somewhere that if you read the fine print, some lcd manufactures put a time limit on the amount a projector should be used in a single setting.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mo...0879573&sr=8-1

p.s.
This is taken from Pro review of pro8200:
Audible Noise

OK, now you can be concerned. The Viewsonic Pro8200 isn't exactly quiet. It's a single chip DLP projector, and as a class, they tend to be a bit noisey. Viewsonic claims 31 db at full power, and 27 in eco-mode. My take is that their eco-mode estimate might be a bit high, it seems quieter than that, but, in full power, the 31 db is probably accurate or a touch optomistic. This projector does make some noise - though nothing unusual for a single chip DLP, especially in the low price ranges. In the somewhat noiseyr family environment, no one is likely to notice.
http://www.projectorreviews.com/view...erformance.php[/quote]

It is very quiet in ECO mode, and the fan spools up only occasionally. I suspect, unless the projector is sitting on a table right next to you (in which case you can also use it as a portable heater), you'll soon adapt to it.

I'll try and keep track if my external fan (which by the way I didn't buy as a fix for this but just to generally add some air flow to the projector) reduces the times the internal fan spools up.

My fan runs in supercharged mode for a couple of minutes when I shut down the projector, which is a very good thing.

As far as I can tell, the Viewsonic has designed the projector to keep the bulb, dlp chip and internal components as cool as necessary to prevent premature failure from heat. Having had a projector fail from heat, I'm satisfied the projector is doing it's job.

the internal fan? that would be the "quick power off" option which is set to "off" by default. along with "quick power on", these are two of the most annoying things about the pj losing its settings every few times. I have to remember to go back in and turn them on, but of course there's no winning with "quick power on" since you have to turn it on to fix it.

bse53!
Excellent idea about the fan. I'm gonna get one. Between you and Coderguy , feels like we have 2 tech specialists figuring out how to make the pro8200 Shine. Between calibration, equipment, lens, etc. Thanks bro.
I was using the usb port on the pro8200 for usb speakers with audio jack, but I could switch to this fan as alternative. I'll pick up a few of them, reviews suggest it's good for lots of stuff.
Where do you place the fan, on right side of PJ or rear , what did you decide was the best place.

Reebok!
I read that viewsonic PJ's made after Jan 2012 will allow users to update firmware.
It would be nice if someone in tech dept showed us some "love" and revealed how we could do it too, right? Maybe with this new policy they might allow us to update firmware. Who knows, right?

I have almost 1000 hours on the lamp now (well probably 850-900) as I leave the projector on a lot. Still no problems.
Lamp has lost a LOT of brightness since when new though, but that is to be expected. I'd say my PJ has lost 35% to 50% of its brightness from new. It's hard to measure it exactly because light meters give inaccurate readings sometimes.

My PJ has the much older firmware and it has NEVER lost the Quick Power On/Off setting from memory which I have turned off (not as default).
I think mine remembers it even if I unplug the projector.

Does this projector have any kind of hdmi control option on it? I'm trying to troubleshoot why my receiver cuts off the audio signal whenever I turn off the projector. I have the Pioneer 1021k receiver and the hdmi output goes to my projector (I don't have any other display devices on this setup). When I'm listening to an SACD/DVD-Audio disk or something else where I just want to hear it I don't want to be burning the projector bulb. Unfortunately as soon as I cut off the projector there goes my sound too. I've got the hdmi control turned off on the 1021k receiver.

You can add me to the list of 8200 owners. Ordered through Amazon last week and fulfilled by J&R-I should have it later this week.

My projector history: Had a dedicated theater in my basement in my last home and had:

Panasonic PT-AE300U
Sanyo PLV-Z3
Optoma HD70

My current projector is a Mitsubishi HC1500, which I purchased about 3.5 years ago. It has been my only TV since we moved and there are about 2300 hours on the original bulb. The projector sits on a coffee table next to the couch, but when I get the 8200 I will mount it on the ceiling.

My living room has 3 large windows on one side and I have some blackout shades on order. The wall I am projecting on has been painted with a N8.5 grey--which is paint I already had from a prior screen but I am able to change it. I'm currently running a 94" 16x9 screen in a 12' room, so viewing is around 11.5'.

With the 1.5 zoom I think I will go with a CIH screen, which by my calculations will give me an 84" 16x9 screen and a 98" wide scope screen. My 16x9 screen in calibrated eco mode should give me around 45 fL, so I'm expecting a pretty bright image.

To be honest, I'm more an audio guy than video, so I am not going to be that critical. I do have a Pantone Eye-One so at some point I will do some calibrations.

I guess my only question would be--do you think I will see a significant improvement in PQ? The reason I bought the HC1500 is because it did a good job of upgrading SD images. I would say my viewing over the past year has been 15% OTA HDTV and 85% streaming content--all coming via my HTPC. Just last week I did add a Sony 580 Blu-Ray so I can stream the Amazon HD and also just started looking at VUDU titles. I dropped netflix once they hiked their prices up and their streaming collection really stunk. I may reconsider doing a disc only option since I never go out and buy discs anymore.

I cannot give meaningful input right now since I haven't gotten the projector yet--but I do have a Pioneer 1020 that I will be connecting it to. I can say that right now when I turn off my HC1500 the audio does drop out, but after 10-15 seconds it seems to reestablish a HDCP connection with my HTPC and the audio will resume. I'd suggest trying other sources to see if they do the same thing--or if it is limited to your SACD player (does it happen to be a Blu-Ray player too?)

Does it do it if you disconnect the HDMI cable to the PJ?

Let me clarify my experience: Mine actually happens when I unplug the HDMI from the projector and coil it up by the receiver in the front of the room. I'm not sure if it happens when I just turn off the projector if I have a different source playing. Often I'll have Pandora playing via Squeezeslave and the projector is already off but I unplug the HDMI to roll it up and thats when it cuts out for 10 seconds or so. I guess that isn't the same thing you are describing.

yep haven't tried completely disconnecting the HDMI since it would require either digging around behind my AV equipment or getting on a ladder to disconnect it from the projector. Neither options are very desireable. I thought turning HDMI control off on the A/V receiver would make it stop making assumptions about what I want to to do but unfortunately no.

If anyone gets posterization on this projector (pixelization on backgrounds or blocky bouncing static), then it is usually an issue with the RGB color controls or the CMS. You can pause the scene that does this and adjust the colors to get the posterization out (assuming you don't adjust them too far away from optimal color). There should be a combination to completely get rid of most of the posterization. I noticed that some of my calibrations show much less posterization/pixelation than others do. Many projectors have this issue to some degree, so it's not a Viewsonic only issue, I've even seen it on $5000+ Sony projectors before (but with the Viewsonic it is fairly rare to occur whereas on a Sony it happened constantly).

I was happier with another calibration I did watching Netflix because it had less of this issue. After getting this optimized, mine now almost never shows the pixelization issue even on poorer sources like Netflix (occassionally but very rare). This projector still does best on a clean source (but so do all projectors), throw in a good bluray and the projector can still kick butt on bright scenes.

Also just as a reminder, make sure if using an HTPC that you are getting 1:1 pixel mapping (change aspect ratio until it takes up entire screen and turn off overscan by changing to SVIDEO mode, change overscan, then go back to the mode you were in).

I got a pro8200 about two months ago and it has developed a flicker that is very bad when the screen is white. about every half second the screen brightens and dims. It is driving me nuts. It's like it has a dynamic brightness adjustment that is going nuts. I thought maybe it was the video source, but it does it when all the video is unplugged and I'm just on the white default screen with the birds. Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas how to fix?

You could try running the lamp on HIGH for a few hours, but it might be the color wheel. You need to get the unit repaired most likely, it's likely the color wheel or the lamp.