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At least, I hope it's fascinating!
Sorry it took so long to get this out. Probably some of this info has been hashed out to death here on this forum, but I haven't had time to read everyone else's comments (but I will!). What follows are the subjective opinions of one man, who suffered through endless days of walking, blisters, and Vegas sleaze to get this report here for you:
WHAT I SAW AT CES!!!
Not a whole lot new and exciting, but some cool stuff nonetheless. Most of what I saw in projectors was the same stuff I saw at CEDIA, some just a little further along.
First:
CONVERSATIONS WITH TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (makers of DLP)
TI showed their new XHD chip, the 1920 x 1080 (in other words, 1080p) DLP chip that everyone has been waiting for. Actually, what everyone is waiting for is probably the NEXT generation of this chip. First of all, this chip is being designed for the rear projection market only. Secondly, the two front projector designers I talked to don’t want it – yet. The say the mirror control system used for the XHD is actually the same as that for the HD2/HD2+. Problem is, the XHD has A LOT more mirrors to control. The two engineers I spoke to say that the lag and other problems that this chip would create would be painfully obvious on a front projection system, with the large screen sizes typically used with FP.
As soon as the XHD chip has a better control system in place (probably a year or so away), we may see this work its way into front projection.
The HD3 chip, on the other hand, is simply a cheaper, smaller version of the HD2. It was not designed as a leap forward in picture quality, but as a leap forward in manufacturing ease and cost. Again, this chip is designed for rear projection sets and not FP.
INTEL
Yes, Intel made an announcement that they will be supporting and developing LCOS/DILA technology, but that’s about it. Some thought that this would be a major threat to DLP and TI, but it’s too early to tell, as Intel had nothing else to say other than they were working on it…
Now, on to the respective manufacturers:
SHARP
Well, I finally got another look at the Sharp XVZ12000U, and I must say it looked MUCH better this time. They were running it in high contrast mode, so it wasn’t very bright even in the totally blacked out theater room they had it in, but it had a smoothness and solidity that was impressive. It still had the “orangey reds†that Sharp is infamous for, but the greens looked improved over the fluorescent/lime greens I have seen on previous Sharp models. Blacks were impressively deep.
One has got to wonder, though, at what some of the marketing types are thinking when they show off their new Matterhorn XV-Z200 projector with a 4:3 music video STRETCHED out to fill the 16:9 screen. Not only that, the video was highly processed with blown out whites, over-emphasized blacks and garish colors, and ultra-rapid cutting. It wasn’t the projector that was making the picture look crappy, it was the source – the music video was SUPPOSED to look this way. Why choose it as demo material? Needless to say, I couldn’t really tell a thing from this presentation of the Z200, and will have to reserve judgement until I can get my hands on one.
INFOCUS
The Screenplay 7205 was there, but it was actually out on the show floor and not displayed in a theater room. This allowed Infocus to brag about how well it did with ambient light – very well, but we all know that – and to discuss how most of these projectors go into people’s HOMES, not necessarily dedicated home theaters. A good point, but it made it hard for me to subjectively evaluate the picture compared to the 7200 I am so familiar with..
When will the 7205 be available? It looks like March, at the earliest. I have people asking me about this all of the time, so I spent almost 45 minutes talking Infocus about this piece (thanks, Bob!). Right now they are waiting for the new Zeiss optics to ship, and then the units have to be assembled. It looks like end of February for the optics, so I can’t imagine the actual projector will ship before March. Asked about how much better it is than the HD2/7200, they said yes, it’s better, but not night and day. You have to look for the improvements – less dithering noise in dark scenes, improved contrast – as they will not leap off the screen at you. I would have to agree with this assessment, based upon other HD2+ projectors I saw at the show (like the BenQ PE8710) – they looked great, but so do the HD2s.
How is this for a vague (but I believe to be telling, statement): The HD2 + units looked almost exactly like the HD2s, only “better.†Not a lot better, but better.
Soon, I hope to be able to do a direct shootout between an HD2 and 2+, utilizing two projectors from the same manufacturer. Maybe a BenQ 8700 vs. an 8710?
A real treat was getting an exclusive viewing of the new Infocus 3-chip DLP. The image was outstanding – clean, no rainbows, bright yet with excellent blacks – and the case was by far the sexiest of all the 3-chip models I have seen, sleek and attractive. This may be hard to believe, but the Infocus 3-chipper had deeper blacks than the Sim equivalent. Even the Infocus rep I was talking to was surprised at this, stating that just about any of the 3-chip models should be roughly equivalent in picture quality. By the way, the Infocus 3-chipper is based on the HD2+ chip.
I would love to have the 3-chip model in my home, but it’s hard to justify a $25,000 + price when the single chip units look so good! Still, if you want to have the best…
Also on display was the Screenplay 4805, an upgraded X1/4800. It still has the 800 x 600 chip, but it features a newer faster colorwheel, which should go a long way toward reducing the number one complaint about the X1/4800 – RAINBOWS!!! The 4805 also includes a DVI input as well as component video, now making it a much more viable home theater piece over the X1 (or new X2). The 4805 is supposed to ship 2nd quarter.
BENQ
I did see the PE8710 in action, the HD2+ replacement for the PE8700. As I said above, it looked great. They had it on a smaller (I think 92â€) Firehawk, and it looked nice and punchy. Colors looked a little oversaturated, but I think this was (as usual) adjustment. Conversations with BenQ marketing revealed that they aren’t thinking about releasing the 8710 to market until all of the 8700s are gone.
I did also see the new Matterhorn (the model # escapes me) and it looked very good. It was hard to judge too critically since there was quite a bit of ambient light spilling onto the screen. MSRP, I was told, will be $4995.
Another BenQ tidbit – BenQ is going to be much more selective in which dealers they sell to, a la Infocus.
OPTOMA
Yup, the H76 was there, just like it was at CEDIA. It looked comparable to other HD2 machines, but even if they get this thing to market in the next month, they’ll be old news.
Picture looked fine to me, along the lines of the BenQ in terms of brightness/contrast. I didn’t spend a lot of time with it, as who knows when we’ll see it?
SIM/SELECO
Spending time in the SIM suite was a welcome respite from the noise and bustle of the convention hall floor. I got a good look at the Domino 20 – nice, smooth, deep picture – and the HT300 Link, one of the most refined HD2+ pictures out there. I think SIM has a great idea with the Link and having the inputs in a separate, upgradeable box. As they went to great lengths to point out, the standards for digital inputs are always evolving, and the Link is a great way of staying ahead of the technology. The Link is also very quiet, and has a smooth, deep picture that looks almost three dimensional.
I also saw their new 3 chipper, which still needed a little tweaking (as they admitted). It was stunningly bright (brighter than the Infocus, if that can be believed!) and of course, had no rainbow artifacts. There were some issues with the picture source (MPEG artifacts, banding) that some of us thought were the fault of the projector, but disappeared when we went to different clips.
STUDIO EXPERIENCE
Another quiet suite to relax in! We spent some time with the 20HD (nice and bright, and reviewed by me before) and even more time with the 50HD. The 50HD is an HD2 DLP projector that threw a very smooth image with great, restrained colors. I say restrained only because, after spending all day looking at FINDING NEMO on every other display, the natural skin tones displayed by the 50HD looked restrained in comparison. Picture was excellent, and the e-warp technology worked better than I expected. Placing the projector at even 45 degrees from the screen still resulted in a picture with no visible scaling artifacts, other than the loss of resolution that such keystoning/cornerstoning will result in.
We walked down the hall to see the prototype of the 30HD, but we couldn’t really evaluate it since the sun was streaming into the suite by that time, totally washing out the picture. The 30HD (a Matterhorn based DLP) did boast a very attractive case, plus it had picture tweaking controls second to none.
SAMSUNG
Joe Kane was there, again showing off the HD2+ projector he co-designed with the Samsung engineers. It looked very, very smooth, but the colors (of all things!) looked off to me. Everything seemed too “red†and leaned toward the warm end of the spectrum. Joe was using his favorite white screen (the StudioTek 130), so blacks did not appear particularly deep. Overall, I thought the image looked soft – but there are many who think that that type of image is one that can be called film-like (I’m getting to hate that term!).
NO SHOWS AT CES
NEC, JVC, SONY – Can’t talk much about these guys, as I didn’t see any presence at the show (other than a major Sony display in car audio).
OTHER STUFF
I was really impressed with VOOM’s satellite programming and their multi-room PVR system – it looks like something that I personally would love to own. Speaking of multi-room, it also looks like Microsoft’s Media Center PC concept is poised ready to make a big splash in the market over the next year. I am a big proponent of the Home Theater PC concept, and the Media Center PC seems to be that concept taken to an impressive next level.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS, RE: PROJECTORS AND THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL
I think too many of us have fallen prey to the marketing hype and hyperbole that is so prevalent in this hobby (and many others). No one projector “blows away†another projector, and I did not see any projector that was markedly inferior. It was interesting to listen to some of the engineers, most of whom would tell you that just about any of the HD2 projectors could be calibrated to give almost identical results to one another, and then listen to the marketing guys, who of course make a living telling you how their product is the best and how everything else is crap.
Which perspective do you think is more accurate?
What it comes down to is this – ANY of the HD2/HD2 + projectors will give you a great image, and you’ll be thrilled to have it in your home. The differences come down to brightness, throw ratio, ease of use, etc, but for those who want to know which one is “best†and “blows the competition away,†I don’t think there is one. It’s more a matter of matching up a projector to your personal needs, preferences, and requirements.
Of course, there are definite qualitative differences between the different technologies – DLP, LCD, LCOS/DILA – and those can be more realistically hashed out. There are easily discernable differences in picture quality between these different approaches to front projection, but I think that too much time, effort, and breath is wasted claiming that one technology is intrinsically better than another. I have my perceptions and preferences, but I think it would be wrong for me to claim my perceptions are somehow better than yours.
Feel free to pelt me with questions, comments, and the odd insult…
JOHN
Sorry it took so long to get this out. Probably some of this info has been hashed out to death here on this forum, but I haven't had time to read everyone else's comments (but I will!). What follows are the subjective opinions of one man, who suffered through endless days of walking, blisters, and Vegas sleaze to get this report here for you:
WHAT I SAW AT CES!!!
Not a whole lot new and exciting, but some cool stuff nonetheless. Most of what I saw in projectors was the same stuff I saw at CEDIA, some just a little further along.
First:
CONVERSATIONS WITH TEXAS INSTRUMENTS (makers of DLP)
TI showed their new XHD chip, the 1920 x 1080 (in other words, 1080p) DLP chip that everyone has been waiting for. Actually, what everyone is waiting for is probably the NEXT generation of this chip. First of all, this chip is being designed for the rear projection market only. Secondly, the two front projector designers I talked to don’t want it – yet. The say the mirror control system used for the XHD is actually the same as that for the HD2/HD2+. Problem is, the XHD has A LOT more mirrors to control. The two engineers I spoke to say that the lag and other problems that this chip would create would be painfully obvious on a front projection system, with the large screen sizes typically used with FP.
As soon as the XHD chip has a better control system in place (probably a year or so away), we may see this work its way into front projection.
The HD3 chip, on the other hand, is simply a cheaper, smaller version of the HD2. It was not designed as a leap forward in picture quality, but as a leap forward in manufacturing ease and cost. Again, this chip is designed for rear projection sets and not FP.
INTEL
Yes, Intel made an announcement that they will be supporting and developing LCOS/DILA technology, but that’s about it. Some thought that this would be a major threat to DLP and TI, but it’s too early to tell, as Intel had nothing else to say other than they were working on it…
Now, on to the respective manufacturers:
SHARP
Well, I finally got another look at the Sharp XVZ12000U, and I must say it looked MUCH better this time. They were running it in high contrast mode, so it wasn’t very bright even in the totally blacked out theater room they had it in, but it had a smoothness and solidity that was impressive. It still had the “orangey reds†that Sharp is infamous for, but the greens looked improved over the fluorescent/lime greens I have seen on previous Sharp models. Blacks were impressively deep.
One has got to wonder, though, at what some of the marketing types are thinking when they show off their new Matterhorn XV-Z200 projector with a 4:3 music video STRETCHED out to fill the 16:9 screen. Not only that, the video was highly processed with blown out whites, over-emphasized blacks and garish colors, and ultra-rapid cutting. It wasn’t the projector that was making the picture look crappy, it was the source – the music video was SUPPOSED to look this way. Why choose it as demo material? Needless to say, I couldn’t really tell a thing from this presentation of the Z200, and will have to reserve judgement until I can get my hands on one.
INFOCUS
The Screenplay 7205 was there, but it was actually out on the show floor and not displayed in a theater room. This allowed Infocus to brag about how well it did with ambient light – very well, but we all know that – and to discuss how most of these projectors go into people’s HOMES, not necessarily dedicated home theaters. A good point, but it made it hard for me to subjectively evaluate the picture compared to the 7200 I am so familiar with..
When will the 7205 be available? It looks like March, at the earliest. I have people asking me about this all of the time, so I spent almost 45 minutes talking Infocus about this piece (thanks, Bob!). Right now they are waiting for the new Zeiss optics to ship, and then the units have to be assembled. It looks like end of February for the optics, so I can’t imagine the actual projector will ship before March. Asked about how much better it is than the HD2/7200, they said yes, it’s better, but not night and day. You have to look for the improvements – less dithering noise in dark scenes, improved contrast – as they will not leap off the screen at you. I would have to agree with this assessment, based upon other HD2+ projectors I saw at the show (like the BenQ PE8710) – they looked great, but so do the HD2s.
How is this for a vague (but I believe to be telling, statement): The HD2 + units looked almost exactly like the HD2s, only “better.†Not a lot better, but better.
Soon, I hope to be able to do a direct shootout between an HD2 and 2+, utilizing two projectors from the same manufacturer. Maybe a BenQ 8700 vs. an 8710?
A real treat was getting an exclusive viewing of the new Infocus 3-chip DLP. The image was outstanding – clean, no rainbows, bright yet with excellent blacks – and the case was by far the sexiest of all the 3-chip models I have seen, sleek and attractive. This may be hard to believe, but the Infocus 3-chipper had deeper blacks than the Sim equivalent. Even the Infocus rep I was talking to was surprised at this, stating that just about any of the 3-chip models should be roughly equivalent in picture quality. By the way, the Infocus 3-chipper is based on the HD2+ chip.
I would love to have the 3-chip model in my home, but it’s hard to justify a $25,000 + price when the single chip units look so good! Still, if you want to have the best…
Also on display was the Screenplay 4805, an upgraded X1/4800. It still has the 800 x 600 chip, but it features a newer faster colorwheel, which should go a long way toward reducing the number one complaint about the X1/4800 – RAINBOWS!!! The 4805 also includes a DVI input as well as component video, now making it a much more viable home theater piece over the X1 (or new X2). The 4805 is supposed to ship 2nd quarter.
BENQ
I did see the PE8710 in action, the HD2+ replacement for the PE8700. As I said above, it looked great. They had it on a smaller (I think 92â€) Firehawk, and it looked nice and punchy. Colors looked a little oversaturated, but I think this was (as usual) adjustment. Conversations with BenQ marketing revealed that they aren’t thinking about releasing the 8710 to market until all of the 8700s are gone.
I did also see the new Matterhorn (the model # escapes me) and it looked very good. It was hard to judge too critically since there was quite a bit of ambient light spilling onto the screen. MSRP, I was told, will be $4995.
Another BenQ tidbit – BenQ is going to be much more selective in which dealers they sell to, a la Infocus.
OPTOMA
Yup, the H76 was there, just like it was at CEDIA. It looked comparable to other HD2 machines, but even if they get this thing to market in the next month, they’ll be old news.
Picture looked fine to me, along the lines of the BenQ in terms of brightness/contrast. I didn’t spend a lot of time with it, as who knows when we’ll see it?
SIM/SELECO
Spending time in the SIM suite was a welcome respite from the noise and bustle of the convention hall floor. I got a good look at the Domino 20 – nice, smooth, deep picture – and the HT300 Link, one of the most refined HD2+ pictures out there. I think SIM has a great idea with the Link and having the inputs in a separate, upgradeable box. As they went to great lengths to point out, the standards for digital inputs are always evolving, and the Link is a great way of staying ahead of the technology. The Link is also very quiet, and has a smooth, deep picture that looks almost three dimensional.
I also saw their new 3 chipper, which still needed a little tweaking (as they admitted). It was stunningly bright (brighter than the Infocus, if that can be believed!) and of course, had no rainbow artifacts. There were some issues with the picture source (MPEG artifacts, banding) that some of us thought were the fault of the projector, but disappeared when we went to different clips.
STUDIO EXPERIENCE
Another quiet suite to relax in! We spent some time with the 20HD (nice and bright, and reviewed by me before) and even more time with the 50HD. The 50HD is an HD2 DLP projector that threw a very smooth image with great, restrained colors. I say restrained only because, after spending all day looking at FINDING NEMO on every other display, the natural skin tones displayed by the 50HD looked restrained in comparison. Picture was excellent, and the e-warp technology worked better than I expected. Placing the projector at even 45 degrees from the screen still resulted in a picture with no visible scaling artifacts, other than the loss of resolution that such keystoning/cornerstoning will result in.
We walked down the hall to see the prototype of the 30HD, but we couldn’t really evaluate it since the sun was streaming into the suite by that time, totally washing out the picture. The 30HD (a Matterhorn based DLP) did boast a very attractive case, plus it had picture tweaking controls second to none.
SAMSUNG
Joe Kane was there, again showing off the HD2+ projector he co-designed with the Samsung engineers. It looked very, very smooth, but the colors (of all things!) looked off to me. Everything seemed too “red†and leaned toward the warm end of the spectrum. Joe was using his favorite white screen (the StudioTek 130), so blacks did not appear particularly deep. Overall, I thought the image looked soft – but there are many who think that that type of image is one that can be called film-like (I’m getting to hate that term!).
NO SHOWS AT CES
NEC, JVC, SONY – Can’t talk much about these guys, as I didn’t see any presence at the show (other than a major Sony display in car audio).
OTHER STUFF
I was really impressed with VOOM’s satellite programming and their multi-room PVR system – it looks like something that I personally would love to own. Speaking of multi-room, it also looks like Microsoft’s Media Center PC concept is poised ready to make a big splash in the market over the next year. I am a big proponent of the Home Theater PC concept, and the Media Center PC seems to be that concept taken to an impressive next level.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS, RE: PROJECTORS AND THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL
I think too many of us have fallen prey to the marketing hype and hyperbole that is so prevalent in this hobby (and many others). No one projector “blows away†another projector, and I did not see any projector that was markedly inferior. It was interesting to listen to some of the engineers, most of whom would tell you that just about any of the HD2 projectors could be calibrated to give almost identical results to one another, and then listen to the marketing guys, who of course make a living telling you how their product is the best and how everything else is crap.
Which perspective do you think is more accurate?
What it comes down to is this – ANY of the HD2/HD2 + projectors will give you a great image, and you’ll be thrilled to have it in your home. The differences come down to brightness, throw ratio, ease of use, etc, but for those who want to know which one is “best†and “blows the competition away,†I don’t think there is one. It’s more a matter of matching up a projector to your personal needs, preferences, and requirements.
Of course, there are definite qualitative differences between the different technologies – DLP, LCD, LCOS/DILA – and those can be more realistically hashed out. There are easily discernable differences in picture quality between these different approaches to front projection, but I think that too much time, effort, and breath is wasted claiming that one technology is intrinsically better than another. I have my perceptions and preferences, but I think it would be wrong for me to claim my perceptions are somehow better than yours.
Feel free to pelt me with questions, comments, and the odd insult…
JOHN
