[scotty144]

With the latest and greatest lcd projectors promising never before seen contrast ratios I was just wondering if anyone could give me some input on what the maximum ratio is that can be discerned by the human eye. Also at what point is it thought that 'x' amount of contrast ratio is beyond what is needed in a projector.

 

[ramick]

Very good explanation of this is in Bill Cushman's comprehensive review of the HS51 under the heading "Contrast Requirements For Excellent Image Quality" at:
http://www.widescreenreview.com/attr...evfeature.html

 

[jackwhite]

This link does not work. Can you please cut and paste.


Thanks

 

[6500Kelvin]

I'm not sure what the new LCD projectors you're referring to (I've seen some with a contrast of 2200:1). But I can tell you two things you can be very confident of:


1. Contrast ratio's never before seen by the human eye - DO NOT EXIST ON AN LCD PROJECTOR!

2. You are not going to reach a point with an LCD projector where the contrast ratio is so good that there is no point in trying to get it better.


I work around LCD and DLP projectors all the time that cost between $8k and $30k and NONE OF THEM are even in the same ball park for contrast ratio (and a few other things) as my CRT projector at home.

 

[darinp2]

Quote:

Originally posted by scotty144 With the latest and greatest lcd projectors promising never before seen contrast ratios I was just wondering if anyone could give me some input on what the maximum ratio is that can be discerned by the human eye

If you are talking about ANSI CR (half white squares and half black squares) then it is probably a few hundred to one or so. If you are talking on/off (from a bright image to the eye to dim images liking going to the beach in the morning and then walking down a dark street at night) then I've heard numbers in the million-to-one range.
Quote:

Also at what point is it thought that 'x' amount of contrast ratio is beyond what is needed in a projector.

I think I'll be pretty happy at 20k:1 and think there will be very few complainers at 40k:1, but it will take less than that for others to be satisfied. At a certain point it just becomes a question of whether the screen can be seen in blackout scenes without other lights in the room and will be high enough for every other scene type. If it weren't for the blackout scenes I think 10k:1 would probably be good enough that few people would be looking for more.
Quote:

Originally posted by 6500Kelvin I work around LCD and DLP projectors all the time that cost between $8k and $30k and NONE OF THEM are even in the same ball park for contrast ratio (and a few other things) as my CRT projector at home.

I'm sure they aren't for on/off CR, but for ANSI CR some of those DLPs should beat the CRT (unless they aren't like the current DLPs discussed around here). Overall I think we all agree that the CRTs win in contrast ratio issues (for now) though.


--Darin

 

[Nickoff]

darinp2


If your HT room is not a "blacked-out" cave but more like a family room with light colored walls and ceiling etc but with good light control, what do you think the ansi & on/off contrast ratio should be for a projector in this set up?


Would a gray screen give a better perceived contrast ratio in a room like this, rather than tripling your budget and moving from say an AE700 up to 12S3 / 12K dlp (leaving aside all the other dlp/lcd debates)?

 

[darinp2]

Quote:

Originally posted by Nickoff If your HT room is not a "blacked-out" cave but more like a family room with light colored walls and ceiling etc but with good light control, what do you think the ansi & on/off contrast ratio should be for a projector in this set up?

Infinite. Actually, I don't know of a number with digitals where I wouldn't say that more isn't better (other than DLPs being so high in ANSI CR already), but it is more a matter of faster diminishing returns in light colored room than dark colored rooms to me.
Quote:

Would a gray screen give a better perceived contrast ratio in a room like this, rather than tripling your budget and moving from say an AE700 up to 12S3 / 12K dlp (leaving aside all the other dlp/lcd debates)?

The gray screen could help as long as you have enough lumens for it. Directionality can help too. The directionality is one of the advantages to the Firehawk (besides being gray). The High Power can also have this directionality advantage too if you sit in the viewing cone (close to the projector light). The average gain for the reflections then ends up being lower than the average gain from the projector (since you aren't right in the viewing cone for all the reflections) and this improves actual CR. These are both ANSI CR things though. On/off CR isn't really going to be helped by the screen without external ambient light.


I doubt this answers your question as much as you would like, but it is a difficult one. Some people would prefer the more expensive projector on a cheap screen while some others might prefer the cheaper projector on a more expensive screen. And some like the look on darker screens in these situations while others would want higher white levels. When I bought my Carada screen I got both the Bright White and the gray materials so I could choose between them. If forced to chose I would probably go with the brighter screen more often and then use a neutral density filter if I had to. Really only because of it giving me the option of going brighter when I want to though. If I knew that I had enough lumens for a darker screen so that I wouldn't want to go brighter then I would stay with the gray.


--Darin

 

[MikeSer]

I found the WSR review outstanding and clearly superior to mere opinions.


Btw., the link works fine...


Other way to reach the review is go to the WSR main url, select non-subscriber web site, click on the HS51 link on top of the page, which

is the current "feature."