[JohnnyK]

Every time I watch a DLP movie in a dark room I develop a headache next to my eyes. Outside of that I never get a headaches. HOWEVER, last week I brought home a Compaq !paq projector. I projected it in the wall of my unfinished HT room. Since all of the walls and ceiling are primer white, there was a lot of reflected light (ambient light). Even though the image quality was poor, I did not develop a headache! I wonder if the reason that I did not develop a headache was because the room was not REAL dark. I wonder if the headaches were caused due to viewing a bright image in a dark room?


Any thoughts?


Thanks,

John

 

[AnthonyP]

no, I have gotten DLP headaches at work, and conference rooms always have a lot of light. But I have noticed some times it is worst then others.

 

[Morbius]

Quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyK I wonder if the headaches were caused due to viewing a bright image in a dark room?

John,


If that were the case, then we would expect to have an equal number of reports from people with CRTs, LCDs, D-ILAs,

3-chip DLPs...


The headache phenomenon appears tied to 1-chip DLPs, which don't project full-color images, but rely on the eyes/brain

to meld single color images into full-color images via the persistence of vision effect.


Dr. Gregory Greenman

Physicist

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote:

Originally posted by Morbius John, If that were the case, then we would expect to have an equal number of reports from people with CRTs, LCDs, D-ILAs, 3-chip DLPs... Dr. Gregory Greenman Physicist

I do know that I do not enjoy watching a "standard" TV in a totally dark room. The contrast between the bright TV and the dark rooms gives me eye strain. I'm just thinking that watching a DLP movie with some ambient light may reduce eye strain.

 

[adamf]

JohnnyK,


Good theory! The eyestrain on standard TV is due to the iris being open all the time in the dark and then when the bright images flash up, causes it to react quickly and close, then open again, etc. That is why the "bias" lights help behind the TV so as to minimize these extremes.


The headache from the DLP is as Dr. Greenman suggests, that the brain is working overtime. Why we don't necessarily hear as much about eyestrain on FP is not clear to me. Not sure if it's 'cause the overall ft-lamberts is (presumably) lower or if it's because we just can't do much about it without sacrificing image quality (or is it no advertising dollars/product to sell...nah, that would be too cynical).


Anyway, sorry if stating the obvious (which is what I think you were referring too). Any other thoughts?


Adam

 

[kzsteelieman]

I have found the DLP's without a coupled processor to give me significant headache after only about 10 minutes of viewing them. This led me to purchase the Marantz S1. No matter how long I watch, I don't get headaches with it.


The headaches I've gotten I know are from the "motion artifacts" with the non-processor DLP's.


Give it a try.


Eric

 

[JimP]

Quote:

Originally posted by kzsteelieman I have found the DLP's without a coupled processor to give me significant headache after only about 10 minutes of viewing them. This led me to purchase the Marantz S1. No matter how long I watch, I don't get headaches with it. The headaches I've gotten I know are from the "motion artifacts" with the non-processor DLP's. Give it a try. Eric

Not sure that I understand what you are saying. Are you saying that an external scaler/deinterlacer or HTPCs doesn't cause headaches with DLP technology whereas built in scalers deinterlacers do? Don't all DLPs have internal processing to some degree? Did you couple the Marantz to an external processor?

 

[santellavision]

I've been watching my Marantz S2 for about a month now and neither myself or my girlfriend have experienced any headaches at all. Maybe it's just because my mouth is open all the time... in awe of this projector!

 

[JohnnyK]

Quote:

Originally posted by kzsteelieman I have found the DLP's without a coupled processor to give me significant headache after only about 10 minutes of viewing them. This led me to purchase the Marantz S1. No matter how long I watch, I don't get headaches with it. The headaches I've gotten I know are from the "motion artifacts" with the non-processor DLP's. Give it a try. Eric

I am not sure what is meant by "coupled processor", but I have a Marantz S1 on loan until mid Jan. It will be installed in a couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see if it gives me headaches.

 

[ElvisIncognito]

Take three cathode ray tubes and call me inthe morning...

(Sorry - couldn't resist!)