Viewsonic Pro8200 -- it exists. - Page 32

HDMI

I remember seeing it report 1080p before. Not sure when the issue began, I haven't changed any connection, equipment, or settings in months...

My patriot box office would not do 1080p with this projector. It's the craziest thing.

I use1080i and works great. From what I've read, it didn't make a difference.

get 1080 to because 480 is not acceptable. Try different input sources/cables.

Turned out to be a buried setting on my bluray player. I think what happened is that I have a SD TV also hooked up to the receiver so that I can listen to pandora and not have to turn on the projector. This must have automatically changed the setting to 480p on the player Anyway, problem solved, relieved to have my superb quality back, at least I will know how to fix it if that happens again.

Hi all!!

My wife just got me a brand new Viewsonic Pro8200 for Christmas. (Yay!) I plan to use this in my basement. I tried my best to search and skim the 933 previous posts but that's a lot of reading. If anyone has any quick tips for my mounting/ setup please let me know.

1. My room is 18 feet long, but only between 7 and 7.5 ft high. I have read that low ceiling height might be an issue with this projector
2. There is a front wall that is 7 ft wide by ceiling height (~7.5) that I plan to project on. I have no screen, but am leaning towards whipping up one of the paint mixtures from another thread and possibly painting a screen on that wall.
3. I plan to likely hook it up to my Onkyo TxNr 709 AV receiver and then maybe tunnel an HDMI cable through the ceiling and ceiling mount it, although I am certainly not opposed to other suggestions, like a back wall shelf or something of that nature.

Specific questions to start with:

1. Any specific recommended ceiling mounts? Any features to look for or avoid?
2. What distance should I project from? I know I don't have a set screen size but that is only because I am flexible within the constraints of the 7x7.5 foot wall.
3. Any specific thoughts or glaring oversights I am making on my current plan?


As always, thank you all for the great help you always are. Happy holidays to all who celebrate!

I used this mount from Amazon, my buddy uses one too and we have the same one at work, all with the Pro8200.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000TUDOQ8/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1356482566&sr=8-1&pi=SL75

I built my own screen using a piece of the Hardy whiteboard - $15 from Lowes. I added a border and painted it with some overpriced Sherwin Williams paint.

There's a major projector site that calculates your throw distance and all that for you. Just Google "projector calculator"

12Loser12, Congratulations on the new projector, and if it's your first, to the world of big screen theaters.

You've got a couple of issues that you'll have to deal with to make the projector work.

The first is a limitation of the projector--- a high offset, which is the distance from the center of the lens to the top of the screen. The second is your room. Based on what you said, the projection wall is only 7' wide, which will limit you to approx. a 97" screen. Not huge, but still very, very enjoyable (I only project a 100" screen (I'm using a 4x8 sheet of doable board from home depot, which limits me to 48" vertically).

Anyway, assuming the 97" screen, which will be approx 47" screen size. The projector will have a 16" vertical offset at the projection size, and if you mount the projector flush to the ceiling, the total distance from ceiling to top of the screen would be approx. 20-21". Add that to the screen height and that will put the bottom of the screen about 1.5 feet from the floor. Some people are fine with that, but I think it's a little low (I like to look up slightly when I'm reclining, watching the big game). And you have to had the ceiling mount to that.

If your wall is 7' wide, that will be your limitation to screen size, but there are a couple of things you can do to raise or keep the screen as high as possible.
1. Use a homemade mount similar to what I did-- two pieces of 1/2" mdf, which puts the projector about as high to the ceiling as you'll get it. BAsically, mount one piece of mdf to the ceiling with 4 short lengths of threaded rod on each corner. Mount the projector to the other board, and mount that to the other board using the threaded rods and nuts. It gives you the ability to make slight leveling adjustments, but keeps the projector close to the ceiling.

The other thing you can do is use the digital keystone to raise the screen height on the wall. That creates an annoying trapezoid and I believe affects game play if you use it that way.

If you use a solid screen like I did (the doable board is like $20), and slighty tilt it out at the top, you can also slightly tip the projector up on the mount and you end up with a perfectly square screen, but higher on the wall.

As to the mounting distance, if the room is naturally dark, I would mount the projector as far back as possible-- approx. 15' from the screen.

I'm sure others will have suggestions for you. Enjoy it.

Merry Christmas

Here's a simple projector calculator.
http://www.projectorcentral.com/ViewSonic-Pro8200-projection-calculator-pro.htm
Here's Coderguy's, which has a lot of other information on it (it may be more accurate also).
http://www.eliteprojectorcalculator.com/

Wow, excellent help as always. Certainly appreciate the responses. Followup question since i didn't fully consider how low the picture may end up being: Has anyone had any experiences with a lower mounted projector throwing the screen upwards? Any obvious downsides to this other than the constant walking in front of it messing up the picture?

Here's a couple of illustrations about the ideas I previously mentioned.

Posts #16 and #18.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1401091/best-first-projector-for-under-900-and-120-screen#post_21813200

Setting the projector on a low table would certainly work. Not good if you have kids, especially the toddler variety. The light is very bright, especially close up.

That's what I did initially with my first projector.

You mentioned the downside of walking in front of the image. Another downside, is it forces you to set behind the projector which means you'll be a fair distance from the screen-- and with the smaller screen size, you'll want to sit 8-10 feet away to get the big screen effect. Another is the heat. Putting the projector between the seating means someone is going to get a blast of hot air when the fan kicks in, and then there is the noise. Getting the projector away from you will reduce the fan noise.

I don't find the fan objectionable, but then I've lost some of my hearing.

At first you'll probably table mount it anyway.

Alright guys, first off thank you very much for the 938 previous posts. Ive had this projector for a few days and love it. I have one problem though... My picture has a ring around it.. Like a white ring...kinda like one you see around the moon when it's cloudy...didn't notice it untill now and only in dark scenes I can see it. Have any of you had this problem. Thanks in advance! Btw amazons price is down to 699

Is the ring visible inside the screen area, or outside the projected image?

Do you have the projector placed at the far end of the zoom, or close to the screen?

I haven't noticed anything like that, though there is some stray light from this projector (and others in the price range I suspect).

Maybe someone else has some ideas? Could it be the brightness of a new bulb?

Heres a picture. Is this normal.... This is on a bright scene...but on a dark scene i can see it on my wall

That's perfectly normal for it do that. You can try placing some black matte material or painting the ceiling black if that light is making it all the way to your screen.

Thank you. I was happy I got a new firmware, I didn't want to return this one! Overall I love this projector.

I don't know how many pages back in thread you would have to look, maybe a month or more, one of our members put a hood around the lens, like they use for camcorders if you use them outside in bright light. The hood makes it so the stray light doesn't go onto the ceiling or other places. So if it really bothers you, you can look for that, he shared how he made it.

Hi guys I want to confirm something as it has been driving me mad.

Does your pro 8200 make an extremely high frequency noise or whine when it is turned off? Put your ears next to the speakers when the pj is off, and I'm sure you'll most certainly hear it unless you're really old.

I just want to make sure that I my unit is not defective as page 90 of this thread mentions of the same issue. http://www.avsforum.com/t/1298652/viewsonic-pro8200-it-exists/90#post_19972866

I want to confirm , you turned off "fast turn off" , or whatever it is called. I turn off the pro8200, and FAN kicks in very loudly for about 30 seconds, to cool off the pro8200. That is a VERY GOOD THING. Maybe you are talking about something else.
Just check to make sure you do have it set to "turn off fast turn off". It has been mentioned many times in this thread, we are dealing with a very hot bulb, and it needs to be cooled down the right way after you turn if off, so I want to hear the fan get loud and do it's thing, to save wear and tear on the bulb.
Edited by rgtaa - 12/30/12 at 4:36pm

I have fast on and and off turned off but that is not the issue im describing. The noise I'm talking about is probably caused by EMI.

Turn your projector completely off, but leave your power plugged in. You should be able to hear a high pitch noise. Its similar to coil whine on power supplies or gpus for those who are farmiliar with computers.

If you unplug the power cable the noise completely stops. And plugging it back in will result in the noise again.

I don't hear anything like that. Maybe go to different outlets , are you using surge protector? I'm just troubleshooting. Maybe take the unit into den, or bedroom, and just plug it in and see if you hear it. Let's see the results of other people.

I just took it out of bag and plugged it in, I don't get any sound like that. Then I turned it on for 2 or 3 minutes, then turned it off, I don't get high pitched noise.

I put my ears , right to the unit, like you advised. And nothing.

Mine made the high pitch squeal when I first got it, but I found turning on "Green Mode" in the settings fixed the problem. It's the built in speakers doing it, for some reason they remain on when the projector is turned off.

This is really werid. Changing the options does nothing.

Whats even more odd is that the noise changes frequency when you press on any button of the remote, while the projector is OFF.

So some part of the projector remains on so it can receive signals from the remote.

Is it possible to update the filmware on this thing?

I see you just joined TODAY. Can you let us know a little about your unit and your setup. How long you owned it, is it a refurb or NEW unit and anything else, like ceiling mounted, and other equipment you are using it with.
Oh, I forget to add. welcome to the forum room. We have a great bunch of guys here, helping each other out.
We will see what the other guys have to say on this issue.

If you just got it today, then RELAX and maybe read through the forum room. I was super critical when I first got it, and when I first turned it on , I hear all types of weird sounds. I came here and told everybody, and they laughed and said, when they first turned it on, same with them. I think they said something about getting the color wheel going, and viewsonic might add lube or something to it, for shipping, something like that. Other issues I had too, and the guys walked me through it. So lots of us pass on the friendship others gave to us, in the beginning.
Edited by rgtaa - 12/30/12 at 5:45pm

Welcome to be aboard. Been lurking for a while.

Onto the projector - it's about 2 months old, purchased new from Amazon. It only has about 50 hours on the lamp as I have been really busy and just set it up a week or so ago.

Right now it is just sitting next to my computer hooked up to HDMI until I get the walls painted and such. The noise was there out of the box, but this being my first projector I wasnt really sure if it was normal or not and just ignored it. Until today which happens to be a quiet sunday night that I really found the noise to be annoying (and quite loud).

Thanks to amazons extended holiday return policy I have until the 31st if next month to return it, but if this is common among this projector then I won't bother wasting amazon or ups' s time doing returns and exchanges.

Excellent, glad you checked about amazon extended holiday season. Well, if it bothers you, I would return it, now you might want to give it a week and test the pj in different rooms, etc. Trying to figure out if it's the power strip or something else causing the problems. How close are you to the PJ, 1 foot or it's 4 feet behind you. I don't have any noise like that. So it doesn't sound like it is normal. Now you are not talking fan noise, right? Because all PJ's do have some fan noise. Some louder than others. Over the years, sometimes with some equipment, I would get hum if some equipment is close to other equipment. So isolate the problem, you never told us if you did that, yet? If you get the hum with no other equipment around, going into different power strip, then return it. Sooner rather than later.

I agree, return it when in doubt before the 30 day window is out
Although later on you can send it to VS, but easier to have the retailer exchange it.

I think to protect it in shipping, they put some filler or piece of string or something that self-breaks / releases off the color wheel once you turn the projector on the first time (or maybe lube). I think some can get caught in there and take another few rotations to clear it out. Mine made the high-pitched color wheel squeel the first couple times I turned it on. Also, you can hear a noise sometimes when the PJ switches between 24p and 30hz/60hz content, as the color wheel has to change speeds between these two types modes. The Viewsonic will pick up 24p mode automatically if you set your bluray player to output it. Keep in mind the rainbows are very slightly more prevalent in 24p mode because the color wheel is going slightly slower. Another issue is if you have a semi-weak or long HDMI run, the projector can get stuck in the wrong color mode and show colors all fonky looking (makes it look like the color calibration is all messed up, too blue and pink). If this happens, just turn the PJ off and then back on again usually (or fix your cable / HDMI handshaking issue). Even with a fairly clean run, it has happened to me 3-4 times, but I just turn the projector off, then back on (although might want to wait a few extra minutes for the lamp to completely cool down).

I've got a Benq w7000 on the way I think (if the Ebay guy ever ships it), so the Viewsonic is likely getting retired.
Edited by coderguy - 12/31/12 at 8:40am

Coderguy,
Interesting comment about 24p. I have two Panasonic bluray players and both gray out the 24p selection when hooked up to the pro8200. Both allow me to select 24p when connected to my plasma tv. That's why I've assumed it doesn't do 24p.

Congratulations on the upgrade.

I never had any major issues with 24p on my Samsung player, but it went to the e-scrap pile (rarely plays disks), so now I have a new Sony bdp-s590 (nice for a cheap player). I haven't tried 24p with the Sony on the VS. The VS is finicky in some ways, the Samsung I had to go in and specifically select it (it wasn't auto-detected), hence the player might not auto-detect, but if the player passes 24p to the Viewsonic or you can force it, the VS should do 24p.

Quick question.

Anyone able to ceiling mount the Pro8200 in a room with less than 7ft high ceiling without taking a detrimental hit to PQ? Screen is about 110".

Thanks

PS3 does output 24p. And viewsonic does accept.

Hearing that color wheel change speeds sounds like a tiny jet staring up and spooling down

I have my new one mounted on a 7' ceiling and it is angled rather steeply up to compensate, but at about 100" I have not noticed any particular issues with the keystoning or image quality (caveat: I'm not an AV purist)

I get the very high frequency sound when mine is turned off as well. It's very high frequency and quite. I do hear it throughout my room when it's quite in the room though. As the blue light flashes it makes the sound when the light is out, and when the light comes on for just a quick second the sound is gone. Then back. So it's like, bzzzzzzz....bzzzzzzz....bzzzzzzz. I plan to look into what's causing this more. I thought about building a hush box. I really don't think it's something wrong with the PJ.