[truman]

In recent weeks, the Sharp has been getting tremendous buzz, with many people indicating they can hardly wait to buy one, while the Dwin appears to be just about forgotten. I find this curious, because I have spoken with two knowledgeable dealers who have recently been given a demo of the Sharp by Sharp and both thought that the Dwin unit provided a better overall picture.


So here is my question: what has turned people off of the Dwin? If it is the so-called rainbow effect, is it possible that this has been overblown and distorted out of proportion vis-a-vis the projector's strengths? Are there other perceived weaknesses to the Dwin?


I would greatly appreciate feedback from those who have spent quality time with the Dwin.

 

[Jim Lauritzen]

Here's what turns me off about DWIN DLP:


1) 3 segment color wheel vs 6 segment on Sharp (rainbow issue)

2) 4x3 panel vs 16x9 on Sharp


I think I saw some other stuff relating to color rendition that was negative on DWIN, not sure.



------------------

Jim Lauritzen

 

[Spizz]

4x3 panel vs 16x9 on Sharp


Thats it for me. Sharp is now the front runner.


Spero D.

 

[smitty]

If you are real sensitive to the rainbow effect, as I am, I don't think it's possible to overblow this issue, as it makes the projector almost unwatchable. If you are only somewhat sensitive, then perhaps the effect is only a nuisance that you paid $10,000 to live with. IMO, if you are looking at a DLP, choosing one with one of the 6-element wheels is a no brainer. You never know when you suddenly might "learn" how to see rainbows on a 3-element model.

 

[Cain]

Hi Truman..


Yes the problem wiht the DWIN is the problem with bad rainbow artifacts.


There have been several folks around here who bought the DWIN then later sold or returned it because the rainbows made it unwatchable for them.


Some folks see it, some do not. Some folks who cannot see it could care less that others can see it, so it works for them.


YMMV


-- Cain

 

[Paulbert]

Last time I spoke with Dwin to understand their plans, they indicated that they would be bringing out a 16:9 version of the Transvision around year end.


However, they did not have any comment on whether or not they would be looking at the RGBRGB color wheel. Too bad.


If they do happen to go RGBRGB, I'd bet it would be an exceptional projector.


Paul

 

[foldedpath]

I almost bought a Dwin Transvision recently, based on a demo I had seen in a local store. It was clearly the best of the DLP projectors I was able to see locally, but I wasn't able to see many projectors in person. I can't say anything useful about the rainbow effect... I don't seem to be very sensitive to it.


At the last minute, based on the buzz in this forum (and some advice from the AvScience folks), I decided to get the Seleco HT200DM. It was a blind leap. I wasn't able to demo the projector, but I'm very happy with that decision. I can't do a complete A/B comparison because my HT setup is a little different from the store where I demo'd the Dwin, but the Seleco seems to have a better picture, with deeper blacks, better reds, more "punch" to the image.


The other thing I really like about the HT200DM (which I assume would also apply to the Sharp 16:9) is that it has almost no extraneous light leakage around the image area. That was the one thing that bothered me about the Dwin when I saw the store demo. There was a large, fairly bright area of light leakage (overscan?) above and below the 16:9 image area. It was very distracting. This doesn't happen with the HT200DM, or any other 16:9 projector. The light from the projector just stops at the edges of a 16:9 screen. It's a much smoother presentation. You don't have to go nuts trying to mask off the lens or screen area, or mess around with contraptions like a Panamorph lens.


The Dwin is also priced too high. The price would have made sense a year ago, but there are better DLP projectors out there now at cheaper prices, and more evolved high-res native 16:9 DLP projectors are starting to become available.


The Sharp 16:9 sounds very nice, especially with the recent user reports. If I was shopping right now instead of a month ago, then I might wait for it. However, the new Sharp has only analog component inputs, which may be down-res'd to 480p under the newly announced industry schemes for "premium content" (which basically revolves around PPV movies and time-shifting HDTV with a PVR). For more info, see recent discussions in the HDTV forum here. That's the only downside I can see to the new Sharp. It would be a shame to spend in the neighborhood of ten grand for that projector, and then find out a year from now that you couldn't watch high-def movies on it, or use a HDTV PVR with it. On the other hand, if you're only interested in DVD movies and don't care about HDTV, then it may be a terrific projector for that purpose.

 

[KFung]

I thought the DWIN was based off of the Davis engine, with Davis being closed now are there any more Transvisions available?


Regards,


Kam Fung

 

[foldedpath]

Oops, I need to amend my post above. A fellow HT200DM owner reminded me that there is a little bit of stray light in the 4:3 area around the 16:9 image with the Seleco HT200DM. However, it's far less than the equivalent light bleed from 4:3 projectors I've seen. The Dwin Transvision I saw had a noticeable blue-ish light on the black borders surrounding the demo screen, and spilling onto the surrounding walls and floor. The HT200DM's light bleed in 16:9 mode is much less than this. My drop-down screen floats in a bay window, and all the surrounding surfaces are either black or very dark. With that kind of setup, the small amount of light bleed is invisible. But you'll notice it if you project against a white wall.

 

[Daniel Hutnicki]

Kam


That is a good question, Davis or the part of Davis that made the engine has been sold to Dreamvision. As they are competitors, I cant imagine Dreamvision selling parts to Dwin. But then you never know

 

[David Wallis]

Paul is correct. This is what I heard, except I heard that it will be January. The main reason was that Ti has a deal with Sharp so Dwin can not get the 1280x720 at this stage.


I also asked about the RGBRGB wheel and they said they are indeed looking at the RGBRGB color wheel for it, but it is the lack of light output that is a concern to them.

While I was hot on the questions I also asked if they can run the double color wheel on the 0.9" XGA Dmd in the Transvision. I was told it is possible, but their dealers have not made any demands which would cause them to make the change at this stage.

They could change the timing and software to do this but dealers have said the rainbow effect has not been a major sales issue when getting customer feedback (guess the majority do not see it like some of forum guys do).


As I have had the Dwin Transvision for a while so I know just about every wrong and right thing about it. For me it has been faultless and I use it daily for HD, C-band,and Dvd.

I can only praise it for its glitch free operation and great picture on my grayhawk.

We have had a very good HTPC on one of the RGB inputs and I did feel as though it was better on moire effects and some pans but I do not like anything that makes it hard for the wife.

The Transvision can take 9 inputs (I am using 7) from 1080i/720p/480p/480i/540p and probably everything inbetween up to 1024x768. It can do this on component,rgb,composite,svhs (no P on composite/svhs) so its very flexible. User interface is very simple and practical and the wife has no drama using it (important for my health).


With both my 1:78 and 2:35 Panamorph (the Transvision is prebuilt for these and can do custom yxy stuff) I can see no reason to change for several years although I am an upgrade type of guy I would rather be watching movies than waiting for the next hot thing every five minutes (its a never ending story as you see by this forums posts).


We have had at least 20+ visitors watch my Transvision and although 3 did see rainbow effects no one said it was an issue even when directly asked to comment. (two friends actually brought Transvisions last month)


I looked long and hard at the DILA but for the amount of hours watching we do (5+ pd) it is way too expensive for the bulbs and as often reported it would be like having a snowmobile in the room. I must admit that with DILARD I feel DILA is at least a bit more consumer friendly and in the picture department it has potential using an outboard scaler. This is the "one to watch" but Jvc needs to farm it out to get it developed to consumer needs.


I do not understand others on this forum because for me LCD just is not even in the race (yes I have seen the Sanyos, Sonys etc). They just do nothing for me in the blacks and so depth is missing to me.(flame suit on)


To be honest my Crt is still the best picture with its great black level. Unless we get great black development I will upgrade my 2 yr old HD-700 in the main theater to a G90 next year because thats my reference.


Should you jump on the Transvision or the Sharp ?

Except for the CES prototype I have no experience with the Sharp and it did not look any good to me. although it probably does now from all reports.


I would wait for the Sharp release and take a favorite disc and compare the two. Play some HD into them and see what you think. The Sharp will have the 1:78 Dlp market pretty much to itself for a while but come next year we will see a lot more choice (the year after that will be even more choice).

No perfect display exists even the theater Dlps take a beating.


I know its tough making decisions but except for my planned new G90 I am a very happy camper with my Transvision (waiting on the Panamorph) and I recommend it to my friends who then come over to watch a movie or a game.


DavidW




[This message has been edited by David Wallis (edited 08-09-2001).]