Viewsonic Pro8100 1080p Projector - Page 6

That requires an external anamorphic lens, a very expensive item. The pj will do the processing required to make the anamorphic lens work, which will give a true 2.35:1 image. Using the zoom and lens shift is called a "poor mans CIH" setup, since you're not using the external lens. All you're doing is zooming the 2:35 image until the black bars are outside the 2:35 screen, giving a widescreen appearance. When watching 16:9 you rezoom so the image fits top to bottom, but then you will have bars on the side.

Guys,
After patiently waiting for long 5 days for the pro8100 (just arrived), I realized my current ceiling mount isn't going to work. Here is the mount that I currently have.
http://www.mountdirect.com/ProductDe...roductCode=NPL

Take a look at the pics. The left mount hole is about half inch away.


I tried adjusting the circle and the links to see if they would reach all 3 holes, but can't. Felt like a puzzle. So,
- what ceiling mount(s) are you guys using?
- Any way you see to still use this mount, and save me from having to buy a new one? The painful part is having to wait until that mount comes in.

Update: Ok, I called MountDirect. They are going to send me the needed extension arms.
Back to waiting state until next week
Appreciate your help.
Thanks
HK

I, too, am looking for a good mount for the Pro8100. Most of the sites that sell projector mounts do not have mounts for the Pro8100.

My PJ just arrived, man this thing is huge! I'm gonna give it a shot with my universal mount, not sure at this point if it will work or not. There are always workarounds, however!

My Pro8100 arrived yesterday from Tigerdirect. I saw theads about "not buying a projector for Tiger Direct" and went with them anyway because they had the best price after Bing cashback. Might have been a mistake. The box had obviously been opened already and re-taped shut. By the time UPS got it to me, the bottom was completely open and the top was partially opened. The cardboard on the box was crushed at multiple angles.

I was disappointed. I don't want to make a large dollar amount purchase to see a box looking like that when it arrived. I never take photos of boxes, but I did so I could e-mail them to Tigerdirect. Below are some photos:







Terrible, right? I'm going to let Tigerdirect know about this. The damage could not have been completely UPS's fault, since I could definitely tell that this was an open-box item that they re-taped to send to me. Fortunately, Viewsonic does a great job of protecting the projector inside the box with styrofoam and cloth covers. It worked on first startup and the lamp showed no hours.

I took a bunch of screenshots and will show those in my next post.

So, here is my new setup. My screen is a DIY 98" wall-mount. The screen material is blackout cloth from Joann's fabric and the border is wrapped in black velvet, also from Joann's. I used 3-inch wood screws and screw them into the studs behind the drywall.

I calibrated the projector using the settings found in this thread (originally from projectorreviews.com).

Here's my view.


Here are the screenshots. Taken with a Canon SD1100IS and cropped and straightened in Picasa 3.

Last night's preseason NFL game:




Dave Letterman:


Some Samsung 1080P demo material:






Dreamworks trailers:










Kung Fu Panda blu-ray:

BluePotato,
The pictures of the box look bad. Now, I know TD will be my last choice for high $ purchases. My order from JR arrived in perfect condition.

It's amazing the kind of packaging ViewSonic does on this one. Makes you feel like you bought a $$$$$ item.

And Tigerdirect was a pain with their whole order verification thing where you have to do an extra phone call from a certain number and they put you on hold. I placed the order while I was overseas and couldn't verify the order from my phone until I returned to the USA.

Tigerdirect should have double boxed the projectors. I cannot wait to get mine but it is on back order right now. It will replace my Mitsubishi HC1500. Time to move to 1080p.

nice job, on the pics.

Blue Potato, Awesome screenshots !

Hi Everyone,

Just joined AVS and have a Pro8100. For the $$$ it is a fantastic projector...black level isn't great but we all know LCD sucks in that area. Video processing is top notch and the proj is super quiet. For what I use it for--sports, video games and the occasional move--it works perfect, and plus it's so bright I can leave the lights on.

I always try to avoid buying stuff online unless it is direct from the manufacturer. I work at a HT store here in Sacramento and every time we order something from a place like Tiger Direct it comes all jacked up. You can order the Pro8100 direct from Viewsonic I think.

Cheers
Marc

you just joined, 2 years ago

Two (and a half) quick questions:

I finally got around to calibrating the projector last night, and my settings ended up almost exactly the same as Bouda78's, except that my contrast was at 34. Anyway, I was trying to figure out what the "LTI" and "CTI" functions in the HQV menu do...I looked through the manual, but there wasn't any real discussion of what they did.

Secondly, I'm still getting some occasional yo-yo-ing on the auto iris, despite having installed the 2.51 firmware update. Out of the four (or is it five?) different iris setting numbers, mine is currently on "0." Has anyone played around with these various iris settings, and if so, which one have you found to be the best?

TIA.

I'm intrigued by the price/performance of the 8100. Does anyone have any information on replacement lamps, where to get them and how much they cost?

I'm running a CIH. Is there anyway to keep the paused blu-ray image up when adjusting zoom and lens shift? Right now I keep getting the Viewsonic precision home screen. I have to keep goin back and forth and it takes awhile to get a 2.20:1 or 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 adjusted properly. It's very frustrating.

Joseph

Miab, if you have the latest firmware, the projector should enter a calibration screen (of sorts) whenever you initiate lens shift, zoom, or focusing. It will have cross hatches that show the dimensions of both a 16:9 and a 2.35:1 (I think) image, and it should be very easy to adjust based on that (I've been experimenting with CIH--will have to change my screen if I decide to go that route--and I found these cross-hatches to be very helpful). One easy way to tell if you have the new firmware is whether the Projector's default screen, which says "Viewsonic" on it, is all-white with parrots on it (in which case it's the earlier firmware), or if it's all-black with red lettering and no parrots (in which case it's the newer firmware).

Hello nmuntean:

On the second page of this review, found at audioholics.com/reviews/projectors/viewsonic-pro8100-lcd/remote-control-menu-system, the reviewer explains LTI and CTI are for Auto Luminance and Chroma Levels which he turned OFF. He also made a significant comment on Detail Enhancement that worked well for me:

"Under the HQV settings you have access to Detail Enhancement, Film Mode (auto is default), LTI (a luminance level "enhancer" and CTI (a chrominance level "enhancer"). I left both LTI and CTI off, nor could I seem to ever get any significant (ie perceivable) change in picture quality when using them. Regardless, anything thing that automatically adjusts color should be 'Off' in my book. Detail Enhancement is a nice feature, but the default setting of '5' is WAY too high. In fact, it introduces large amounts of noise into the picture. I'd recommend leaving this on, but set it to '2', you'll get a much nicer presentation overall and you won't miss any true detail in the process.

There is no noise reduction for HD sources on the Pro8100. This is unfortunate, however with any HD source the Noise Reduction submenu remains grayed out, eliminating both the Mosquito Noise Reduction (MNR) and the Block Artifact Removal (BAR) functions of the projector. Our suggestion would be to run anything that isn't HD as 480i to take advantage of these excellent features."

I am not seeing the problem with the iris so mine is still set at default.

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Hello BluePotato:

Chief Mfg's Mount Finder shows they have 65 universal mounts that are compatible with the Pro8100 here:

chiefmfg.com/mount_search2.aspx?MfgID=134&ModelID=11834&ProductTypeID=2

Also the reviewer at audioholics above raves about his PRG-UNV Precision Gear mount by Peerless on the first page of his Pro8100 review.

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I am a CRT guy that wanted a projector for my computer room which has space constraints and limited light control. I am enjoying the heck out of this projector and appreciate the comments on it here that enabled me to pull the trigger on buying it. I think the current pricing for the Pro8100 is an incredible value.

The negative comments on the blacks made by a number of the reviewers is not real world issue in rooms like my computer room which has off white walls and limited light control. LOL. I could read a book in here during the brighter scenes with the light reflecting off screen back onto the walls because the room is not very big.

Have FUN guys and keep asking questions because anyone who buys this as his first projector will be almost clueless in terms of knowing how the controls will effect their image without some dialog here !!!

Yea guys, please if you got the time post some more screenshots ... It'll help those of us who still haven't received the projector wait.

I'll try to do some more tonight with a tripod. I can't with all the daylight coming through the windows. I'll post them larger this time as well. Full 1024px width through photobucket instead of this Google Picasa album, which shrinks the image.

Sounds great!

I can't wait and really appreciate those screenshots.

I guess it shows that I'm bad at waiting

I bought from a seller called Sbulu at Amazon, he was the cheapest at the time and also tax free. It was supposed to ship on Saturday but they lied!
I sent an email explaining that I'm not happy about this delay and they better bump up the shipping.

Look at me rambling. Okay /rant.

Thank you for the reply. See the problem is when the film is neither 2.35:1 or 16:9. For example last night I watched 2001 space Odyssey. It's 2.20:1. So it forever going back and forth from a paused bluray image to what comes up when you hit zoom and lens shift is quite annoying.

Yes I have the latest firmware installed. BTW this is one hell of a projector even at double it's (discounted) price.

Less than $300.00 - that is another plus for the Pro8100.

http://www.advancedlamps.com/product...oducts_id=8565

The price / performance of the Pro8100 right now is so good it is insane !!! I am starting to feel bad about only buying one of them.

;D i am not kidding,

AmericanStreamer
formerly known as hi_l2es on avsforum - 2004

Marc.Have you just woke up from a long sleep.LCD blacks are some of the best now.They do not suck.The 8100 is average in this area.But many new LCD's are now ahead of DLP .

How about black levels vs a budget 720p such as my Optoma HD70?

Taken with a Canon SD1100IS on a tripod. Nothing professional here.

Nice shots Bluepotato.Sharpness and colors looks pretty darn good.BOB

Thanks, but we need someone with an SLR to take some better ones.

Whenever someone uses the phrase "pictures don't do it justice," that can be translated into, "I'm a bad photographer."

That being said, let me say that "the pictures don't do it justice."

Sorry to repeat this post from under $3000 forum, but I'm thinking about pulling the trigger soon.

I've been looking at this projector as well, I have a few concerns and hoping someone can help

1) The projectorcentral review mentions average ansi contrast (probably lower than average compared to newer projectors) and some digital noise on sd over hdmi. I'm wondering if owners agree with this, and have seen other 1080p projectors and compared contrast ratios. Is the real world image (contrast) obviously less than desired? or are the reviews average because it was for a $3-5000 projector but should be adjusted for a $1500 projector?


2) Anybody have issues with dust blobs or seen reports about this?

3) Anybody compare this projector to Benq w5000 or Infocus X10 for image quality?

4) I have a lower end projector, the optoma hd65, is this projector a significant upgrade?

LOL. That was well said buddahead! You are right to point out that LCDs have come a long way with blacks. This is the reason I was able to buy the Pro8100. The Pro8100s, in your words, "average" LCD blacks work beautifully for me in my multi-purpose computer room. The improvement in LCD black is one of the many reasons I think the Pro8100 is a fantastic value proposition right now.

I do not think Marc meant to slam the LCDs of today given that he just bought one. I grin when I see a comment like Marc's because I recall the LCD's contrast capability in the 1990's to the beginning of this decade which had a contrast ratio of about 270-300:1 which produced very gray blacks instead of black. The LCD blacks of that time did "suck" but was offset somewhat by the LCDs sharpness advantage which eliminated the need for physical alignment and convergence.

Comments like Marc's are a kind of wink and nod intended to commemorate a common experience with other kindred souls about the pains of pioneering a promising new technology with great potential and major flaws.

I appreciate your keeping the comments on track in terms of setting the record straight on LCD Projectors of today for those that missed the tongue in cheek humor in Marc's comment!

/AmericanStreamer nods and winks at buddahead!