[brothermaynard]

I ordered the nec lt154 (from dell and a coupon) (total was just under 2 grand shipped) with everyone else apparently, and one week later come to find out it wont ship. I got some line about renegotiating with the distributor... This Blows... Almost all the pieces are in place accept the most crucial one.

 

[Andre Sveen]

Other options AE100 or a used CRT. I know the used CRT option is very good. Don't know the AE100, but sure someone who knows more on this PJ will come and answer.


Just live your dream. You have not lost yet.

 

[Rohan]

Get a used CRT and you will never be sorry or look back again. You'll never want to go back either =)

 

[brothermaynard]

My light control is not close to perfect. I am thinking that CRT's need a very dark room. My understanding is that LCD's are brighter and have no rainbows like DLP's.

 

[QQQ]

I do not want to get into a CRT versus digital debate but IMHO the advantages of a CRT are lost if you can't do a good job of controlling light. I am in the process of upgrading a customer with a great 8" CRT to a higher light output digital. The CRT is great but he was never willing to REALLY control light in his room. Although the digital is actually a step down in some regards, it looks SO much better under the viewing conditions that he chooses to watch under (lights in the back of the room on low, doors open from other rooms).

 

[Rohan]

No use really have a home theatre if you can't control the lights.


Just a thought ...

 

[brothermaynard]

Oh, ok, good luck guys. It's been fun, but I guess I will go do something else since I can't have perfect light control.


Just a ludicrous thought...


A home theater is like a box of chocolate. While you will only eat the dark ones I will take the rest. I don't have a cave all set up. I have a house and that brings compromise with it...

 

[Andre Sveen]

You have no light control. I would start to consider the AE100, those screenshots I have seen look surpringsly good. I have not seen it in person. Maybe you are lucky and have a avs member living nearby who can show it to you.


I have a CRT myself and have a dark cave. It looks to me right now every means of projection is pretty good, but not perfect.


CRTs are dark, LCD have screendoor, DLP has rainbow.

The solution to those projections methods.

CRT you have a dark room, LCD you defocus, DLP you can not really do much, correct me if I am wrong on this.


I have seen the plus piano. Somewhat over your price range. The piano looks damn good, if the AE100 is near, that it almost a sensation. LCD has no rainbow which the piano has.


You should use a HTPC for good scaling. I don't know the internal scaler on the AE100, but I doubt it is so good as the piano.

 

[RobertWood]

What Rohan told you in this thread is the best advice you and everyone else here will ever read. I know because I've been down all these roads. Unfortunately probably none of you will heed his advice. And you will never even know what you're missing.

http://members.cox.net/bobwood21/AVSIG.JPG
http://members.cox.net/bobwood21/sultan.gif

 

[Carl Brinkman]

Brothermaynard,


Don't let the cave dwellers brainwash you. The new Stewart Firehawk gray screen with a 1.35 gain creates a whold new world of viewing with substantial ambient light. They are not cheap, starting at just under $1l, but you will be able to enjoyably view in conditions that would flat out amaze our cave dwelling friends. Here in CA we don't have basements and few of us can afford to dedicate a whole room to a dedicated HT.


Not knowing what we are missing? I get a taste every night when the sun goes down. A projector is not only for watching movies in the basement at night. What a waste.


The Stewart factory is in the LA area and has a viewing room. You ought to call them and try to see a demonstration of just how remarkable this new Firehawk screen really is. I'd also keep jumping on Dell to get you the projector you ordered at the agreed on price, even if you have to wait a couple of weeks.

 

[Paul_Seng]

Remember, total control of light is different than no control. I'm sure that brothermaynard can control to a point, where digital PJtion could still yield a pleasurable experience. I thought that this was a digital projector forum, or am I in the wrong place?

 

[Rohan]

You might as well get A Mitsubishi Big Screen if you cannot control the lights. FPTV demand light control for any reasonable viewing pleasure. If you can afford $1,500 screens, you can afford $100 blinds.


I live in California as well.

 

[Paul_Seng]

But Rohan, you can not get a 100" RPTV yet. And if you get a wall screen, you can buy them for $500 used (the same thinking as you CRT nuts). Why don't you stay in the CRT forum and us digital geeks stay here?

 

[Rohan]

My point is that you need light control and blinds are relatively cheap. CRT or not.


I used to have a Sony 10HT - it demanded complete darkness for an enjoyable experience.

 

[Paul_Seng]

Rohan, the 10HT was great in it's day, but not with today's Digital PJ's. You can have some ambiant light and enjoy the show. You are right that for any projected image, darker is better, but not always possible. I don't know brothermaynard's room and where the light is coming from, but I have seen digital PJ's in the family room where the kitchen, foyer and living room all had open walkways to it and 2 skylights. Blinds are cheap for one room with 2 windows and a door, nothing else, but when you have almost the whole house with odd shaped windows, blinds will cost plenty because they have to be special ordered.

 

[Hyrax]

Paul -

Rohan's points are worth hearing and I glad he posted them. I disagree with him, but his post helps me understand why more people don't have projectors in their homes. He's right when he says that you need some light control, but it must be discouraging for those home owners who have been told they must have a totaly dark room if they want to use a projector. If I was told that, I'd go buy a Mitsubishi Big Screen myself!


Also, the idea of getting a used CRT projector is a pretty good one. For the money you can get amazing quality. I just don't want a VW parked over my head.


Tim

 

[Rohan]

I guess it just doesn't make sense to me to turn a living room into a home theatre. Open walkways, entryway into the kitchen, hallways and overhead windows to lit in light.


A living room is just that; you sit down and enjoy talking to friends; watch the evening news; or read a book.


There is a reason commercial theatres are dark.


Might as well turn your bathroom into a bar.


But keep in mind that is my idea of a house, not everyone else's. I grew up in the south and were raised with these traditions.

 

[QQQ]

This is where most of us on this forum (IMHO) start to become nonsensical. We start arguing a subject based on a completely relative standard that no one has defined. Half of the time by the end of the argument, we find out that we don't really disagree at all but are just assuming a different "relative standard".


I stated that if you can't do "good light control" to go with a higher light output digital projector. Rohan and Robert don't think it is even worth doing if you don't have good light control. But we don't even know if we really disagree because we haven't defined what good light control (our relative standard) is. We would need to define how much ambient light is acceptable for a given projector and what the minimum screen luminance should be.


Now to go back to the completely relative argument that I and everyone else here seem to love to engage in - lets use the customer I mentioned above as an example. He has a family/room kitchen. Every window in the room (about 7) employs a motorized light blocking shade. The walls are painted gold and the area around the screen is dark green. But the customer wants to sit and entertain with his family or whatever so he never turns all the lights in the room off and never bothers to close the 3 different doors that enter the room. In spite of that he still LOVES it. But now he will love it even more (with a high light output digital projector). Having said that many videophiles would find the performance of the system unacceptable (until they closed the doors and turned off all the lights).


So BrotherMaynard enjoy your chocolate, just make sure it tastes good to you.


p.s. See this thread for more - http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3&pagenumber=2

 

[Rohan]

I pray to the video god that he doesn't see a "right" setup. He'll be tainted like the rest of us videophiles :>

 

[Paul_Seng]

I agree with QQQ. I am sure everybody on this forum did something in their house where compromise had to come into play. I just don't believe it has to stop for HT. By the way, the person to whom I refer to enjoys his panny AE100 projected on the wall, with ambient light in the room (it is not myself).