The Official Acer H9500BD Thread - Page 123

Originally Posted by InCali 


Wish I could tell you I'm 100% sure. I'd send them a printout of the photo and say "this is what I want to see when my PJ comes back" because I've heard two different stories as far as which version of what represents the firmware update.

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

Where do you hear two different stories on the firmware update?

Originally Posted by InCali 

I could have misunderstood, but I thought Mike's post 3422 indicated that the DDP3021 rev was the key change. My take is that all of the service menus should pretty much look the same....no??

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

I think you might have misunderstood, I don't think there are two "new" firmware revisions floating around. I agree that all the service menus with the new firmware should be consistent but time will tell, there may be new revs of certain line items depending on projector manufacturing date. We should have a sticky somewhere with everyone posting purchase date/manufacture date/service menu version info. Then it would be easy to see what all the versions are.
On a side note - how does everyone search this site? I haven't seen an easy way to search only this thread but I am sure I have missed it somewhere.

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

I think you might have misunderstood, I don't think there are two "new" firmware revisions floating around. I agree that all the service menus with the new firmware should be consistent but time will tell, there may be new revs of certain line items depending on projector manufacturing date. We should have a sticky somewhere with everyone posting purchase date/manufacture date/service menu version info. Then it would be easy to see what all the versions are.
On a side note - how does everyone search this site? I haven't seen an easy way to search only this thread but I am sure I have missed it somewhere.

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

I think you might have misunderstood, I don't think there are two "new" firmware revisions floating around. I agree that all the service menus with the new firmware should be consistent but time will tell, there may be new revs of certain line items depending on projector manufacturing date. We should have a sticky somewhere with everyone posting purchase date/manufacture date/service menu version info. Then it would be easy to see what all the versions are.
On a side note - how does everyone search this site? I haven't seen an easy way to search only this thread but I am sure I have missed it somewhere.

Originally Posted by rokanije 

Has anyone seen any sightings of the Acer E2W glasses in the US. I only saw one pair on ebay that someone wants $106 for. I see some in the UK. What seems to be the general consensus of other manufacturers that have near identical 3D image quality? Seems like I remember some say the Optoma ZD101s are identical but just bigger and they dont fold. InCali now that you have noticed a little more yellow tint for the OEM glasses you bought would you buy them again or do you find yourself grabbing the Acers for 3D viewing due to the tint difference? Also are there any sync problems with the other manufacturers compared to the Acers?

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

Got my "Repair Complete" message. Should have my projector back in a couple days. I really looking forward to seeing the sharpness increase and putting my tired hd70 away!

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

Got my "Repair Complete" message. Should have my projector back in a couple days. I really looking forward to seeing the sharpness increase and putting my tired hd70 away!

Originally Posted by Mikes2cents 

You are going to like what you see and you are probably what was holding mine up. I just checked on mine via level 1 support today. Always a hoot at level one with chat names I cannot even pronounce. They have begun the repair and say I should have it within the next 3 days. They say the repair is under warranty. To be honest with you I am not sure if it should be warranted or if it was damaged in the electrical storm despite being unplugged. Acer has been great about this and is paying for everything but I think I need to call corporate again and make sure it was not damaged by the storm. I just do not feel right if that is the case and I have an insurance claim going for other equipment anyways. I just cannot believe it got toasted when it was unplugged but the HDMI cable was connected. Just wanted to post this up because for one, Acer has really come through this time and I am not even sure this is their fault. If I suspect for one moment it is not on them, they will be getting reimbursed for their trouble from my insurance claim because that is how I roll. I just want to be treated right and Acer has certainly come through with that here of late. I could not be happier with a company except if they sent a replacement in advance. Read that as cross shipping if you will.
At any rate it appears that a contact at Acer Corporate has paid off but I do not want to abuse it or take advantage of it. I just wanted to be treated right and my contact at Acer has come through in spades. I will be sure that it was not misused. Now as for my AVR replacement, that is not going to be as easy. The unit is not totally toasted but might as well be. The sub HDMI channel out is gone. For the astute readers here, that is the same connection to my HDMI in to my projector. Somehow my HDMI main and DLP TV which was on at the time of the power outage survived. I can't figure this all out but the insurance company will pay for whatever I tell them got toasted. The guy the insurance company sent out today was surprised I did not lose more items than I did when he saw the equipment I had. I guess some of the surge equipment I have is working after all.

Originally Posted by InCali 

Hi Mike,
If the ports on both devices that were connected together got fried at the same time and during a lightning hit, you can be pretty darn sure these incidents are all related. Lightning + two connected devices + fried at the same time = related incidents. My arithmetic isn't that great, but you get the point. Those low voltage components are very susceptible to relatively small voltage spikes (which was pointed out earlier).
Nice to meet an honest person. Good luck to you.

Originally Posted by Mikes2cents 

Thanks InCali. I have nothing to gain posting what I did. I just wanted folks to see how Acer responded to my support request and they did not hiccup. Good for them and us owners. I can't wait to get the projector back. It is a very good projector and I miss it.

Originally Posted by InCali 

Oh...one other thing I've been wanting to ask. HiFi made a comment along the lines of "At least you didn't buy that projector that has the really crappy lens because that's something you can't fix with firmware." (at least that was the gist of his comment). I sent him a PM asking which PJ he was talking about, but never heard back. Does anyone out there know which PJ he's referring to?

Originally Posted by HiFiFun 

Here is the accurate, recommended Acer 9500 projector calculator:
http://www.acer.us/ac/en/US/content/...ion-calculator

Originally Posted by coderguy 


Doesn't bother me if someone uses another calculator, although I couldn't get that one to give me any useful info. The Mits and Epson calcs work a bit better.

Originally Posted by InCali 

I was looking for a quote about a projector that has a sucky lens and found this.....IMHO, the Acer calculator sucks and found Coder's calculator much more informative (and it was plenty accurate for my purposes).

Originally Posted by HiFiFun 

So far adding 3D has reduced the contrast ratio for all projector technologies.
Those in-the-know are holding-their-breaths to see how much the famous JVC NATIVE contrast will be degraded as they improve the 3D ghosting.
LCoS motion resolution is still only 700-800 lines, which maybe why Sony switched to a cheap lens in the 30 and 95 "elevated standard".

Originally Posted by HiFiFun 

Congratulations to all including Acer who finally came through.
Now you guys have the knowledge and experience to evaluate your next projector within 10 minutes.
Do you think the next generation will listen?
Now you can clearly see the increased resolution and the undistorted pixels on the screen with 1:1 mapping.
The major benefit of DLP technology has been rather painfully restored. Speaking in ye old English once again what does Crock Dundee say?
The other projector that you wisely did not purchase has such a poor lens that it can't even resolve the pixels on the screen.
Go see for yourself. Some, rather embarrassingly, still recommend it and then want to jump to 4K when there only resolving 1280.
Lets get the 1080 errors and aberrations down first before proceeding.
Please?

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

Definitely see the increase in clarity in test images. Video seems crisper to me as well but very hard to say, not a night and day difference but I am glad I sent it in.

Originally Posted by joepaiii 

Here is my updated firmware screen shot....

and my original

Definitely see the increase in clarity in test images. Video seems crisper to me as well but very hard to say, not a night and day difference but I am glad I sent it in.

Originally Posted by coderguy 

That's awesome they fixed the pixel mapping, you guys are truly some go-getters, I'm impressed. If I were a hiring manager, I'd give you a job just because you keep pushing until somene gets the job done
I wrote a post about calibration that might help explain things a little bit in a more LAYMAN sense
(I think it was one of my better "calibration for newbies" posts).
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1298652/viewsonic-pro8200-it-exists/660#post_22294228
After that mini-post to get you going, I'd read this thread which gets more intense and is by a long-term calibrator:
(might want to wait until you have a meter in hand for this one, might bore you to death)
http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457
One thing hard for a new person calibrating is there are so many different names for the same term. Color Lightness = Color Brightness = Color Luminance, etc... Sometimes people use them incorrectly or wrong in an interchanged sense, but in calibration they are basically the same.
The first thing about calibration is to understand the difference between the color gamut and gray-scale and gamma. Those are key points, once you are past that, I'd say start hitting the specifics with a meter. I'm a pretty good calibrator but I stop short in calling myself a PRO because I consider people that do it every day for a living more of an expert, whereas I've done around 50 total in my life. You are going to need a colorimeter or a spectrophotometer to get started. If you are a patient person and want the most accurate results, I'd suggest going to Ebay and grabbing a used Eye-Pro 1 UV-cut for about $300 (this is a spectro and not to be confused with the EyeOne colorimeter). This is the most accurate one you can get anywhere under $1000, but it's also very slow, so you either need to pair it with another meter or be very patient. That said, if you just want something to get ballpark, there are some cheaper under $200 ones. A good middleground might be the D3 with Chromapure (this is a colorimeter). There were some new meters that came out recently. I use a NIST certified Spectracal C6 (also a colorimeter, Spectracal is only the name), but I'm not that happy with it for various reasons (it seems partly inaccurate to me sometimes, but no way to verify and since I already spent $500+ don't want to drop another $300 just to verify).
That said, if the Acer lacks gray-scale controls (and lacks a CMS too), then there isn't much reason to buy a meter to calibrate, but maybe if it has gamma controls buy you a cheap $60 meter just to calibrate the whitepoint gamma.
You need to grab the AVS Rec 709 disk, and/or buy the Spears and Munsil Bluray and the DVE (Digital Video Essentials). It is best to have all three of these disks as it gives you some varying tests to run and each slightly increases the learning of the art of calibration.
The next step is to train your eye on reference level content, and try to memorize how different calibrations affect the color and look of a movie. Some people go their entire projector lives without ever truly watching a reference level Bluray. Throw in a movie like Tree of Life and note how some scenes appear more life-like and color accurate than any normal movie (it's a boring movie, but it's some of the best camera work in the entire history of film). Much of the lighting was filmed exactly or VERY close to D65 neutral lighting, this means no color tint and is very similar to how someone would look in person outside under the sun. The footage of the baby's skin tones in this movie past 40 minutes are some of the most accurate skin tones ever put on a bluray disk. Like I said, the movie itself is blah and nothingness, but the camera-work is incredible. There are others too, like Art of Flight. For a more recent example, even Mr. Popper's Penguins seemed to have some good skin tones during much of the movie, but maybe not quite reference level. There is a list in this forum of reference level blurays, Tree of Life just happens to be the one I picked. Soemtimes people will say Batman or Harry Potter or something, but those have way too much color and filtering and are almost useless to examine after a calibration other than to check contrast and shadow detail.
Here I am sitting jealous with my Pro8200 typing this message out and knowing it doesn't do perfect 1:1 mapping. Although I will say after zooming in and focusing tight it's still pretty good at HTPC even with the issue, so I'm assuming the Pro8200's issue wasn't as severe as the Acer, but I would also assume that the Acer beats it in sharpness now. As jealous as I am, I can always just fire up my JVC RS-45 at an operating cost of about $5 hour (heh - slight exaggeration) if I want near DLP like sharpness (believe it or not, but I was lucky on convergence). I haven't fired the JVC up in almost 3 weeks, tonight will be the first time in a while.
As far as my PJ calculator goes, anyone that uses it I'd just note to pay attention to the numbers more than the graphics because offset is graphically mis-shown at times. I actually fixed the bug but it came back because I must have mixed some code up between an old and new version. I really haven't had time to work on it much in the past 3-6 months unfortunately, things at work have been too hectic. Projector software is very entertaining to write, but it pays negative wages for now, so gotta stick wtih my real job.

Originally Posted by Mikes2cents 

coderguy, I appreciate your comments here. We have done nothing here except prod the manufacturer who did respond, although slower than I would have liked. The phrase "better late than never" certainly applies here but Acer has really come through and to be honest has surpassed my expectations. I almost bought the 8200 but that thing had issues and at the time I believe I convinced the OP of the thread to change his title from it is good to it exists. So I bought a Epson 8350 instead. Good unit but the 9500 clobbers it in every category, in my eyes, even before the firmware update. Do not get me wrong, I still have the 8350 but nobody here is requesting to watch a movie on it after seeing the 9500. All I get is when will your projector be back?
Anyways, thanks for the calibration tips.

Originally Posted by NHHT 

As the owner of a 9500 since Feb 2012, I have also sojourned through the 3D glasses issue and recognize the significance of work done to have ACER respond with upgraded firmware. Accordingly, what do you recommend as the best route to pursue in order to get my 9500 firmware updated?