[wilsonj]

Hi All,


haven't been on the forum for years. Not since Davis 450 clones were all the rage. Of which I still own, run from a Radeon HTPC.


Anyway, I don't get the chance to see the latest pjs very often, and was wondering how much better are they than a properly setup 450 run off a HTPC? I was interested in the HT1000 and the sharp z9000. I managed to get a look at the Sony 12ht on the weekend, and although the colours were nice (better than mine) I could see a type of pixelising?? Not actually pixels as such, but it looked almost glittery. Not sure how else to descibe it. It was run in cinema black and component in. Just didn't seem as smooth as my DLP. The blacks were pretty good, probably not much different to my DLP. I think I would like to stick with DLP for this reason.


Thanks for your comments.


Regards

Jamie Wilson

 

[xorbe]

My friend has a Davis clone setup + HTPC/Radeon. His setup is awesome, overboard. Anyways, we set my LT240 on his hushbox and his comment was... "just an incremental improvement. And it's brighter." Now I know that's no HT1000, but his properly calibrated Davis clone system looks mighty fine to me. Oh yeah he runs with a Panamorph too. I guess it pays to get the good stuff the first time around.

 

[Phat Phreddy]

I still have my precious little Viewsonic clone picked up at 1500 years ago new.... It gave so many hours of cheap enjoyment (6k hour bulbs) via HTPC and was my trasnition from no DVD player or any HT to FP / HTPC and surround and launched this whole expensive hobby....


IMHO the light engine is a superb little beast... only being 500 lumens is a drawback but at 500:1 contrast with only 500 lumens it means that when compared to 700:1 2.5k lumen machines it has a black level that really works wonders (I now know this with my far more expensive 5500 to my dissapointment !!!)...


Heres the real way I feel... As I was moving a buddy came round and saw my Davis setup... I told him that it was not hard to get into HT (he was shopping for a Sony RPTV) and that these projectors (meaning my Davis) went for 800 - 1k online second hand... He immediately said OK !!! I then said that well, I had a lot of extras like programming cables and and the VGA / EVC connectors / long cabling etc and it would be worth more perhaps 1250 (not to haggle but to put him off)... He then immediately said OK !!!! I would have had 2.5 years use and maybe 5 - 6k hours (onto second bulb) for a loss of $250.... I no longer needed the projectr as I had a new one but I still wriggled (with difficulty) out of the sale....


Perhaps its sentamentality gone mad, but when powered by a HTPC at 72hz and correctly set up they are really low rainbow and high quality devices...


Now using LCOS I realize I was missing some color saturation but I am keeping mine for a bedroom projector or a poolside system or something... Its too good to let go for the money that they get....

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Quote:

I still have my precious little Viewsonic clone picked up at 1500 years ago new

Blimey Phatt - you're older than you look!!


Joking aside, I know how you feel - I have a DLS8, and driven by an HTPC the image is pretty good I have to say. Black levels are fine to my eyes and nobody who sees it see rainbows. Great colour rendition too...


I'm thinking of upgrading to a new higher contrast pj (HT1000 perhaps if they fix the PAL issues), but I really want to be able to keep my HTPC and run it at 72 or 75 htz along with the flexibility it gives (running trailers etc).


Like you, unless I can get a good price for it, I'd begrudge anyone else getting a such a good picture for so little money.


Gary.

 

[johng]

Funny you should ask...


I recently "retired" my Davis DL-S8 after about 2.5 years of service. In its place is the Sim2/Seleco HT-300Plus. I've posted a number of threads about making this move, but to cut to the chase, moving from the Davis to the Sim2 is a major leap forward.


In my system, I was using a Crystal Image scaler, rather than an HTPC, and the source was the Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD Player. I was also using the VGA/EVC connector that Phreddy mentioned. The DL-S8 had been modified and tweaked by Thumper in the spring of this year. Short of using an HTPC with it, I think we'd squeezed every bit of image quality we could out of the Davis. I was throwing the image onto an 80" wide screen and masking the top of the 4x3 display for 16x9 (thanks to the C.I. scaler).


With the HT-300Plus, I'm running the DVD player directly into the projector and allowing all scaling to be done by the inboard electronics.


Good Vieiwng,

John G

 

[Phat Phreddy]

Please dont get me wrong... I am not saying that the Davis is still a major contender but with tweaks and outboard scaling it is a dynamite entry level machine...


I recently knew of one that went for $650 USD and considering that when I had my $1500 ( ) Viewsonic I looked at a >5k (in Europe) Sony VW10HT and felt its lack of contrast provided a worse image (though it had not been smarted or anything simply put up and watched by a non tweakey type) but the very fact that it still made me happy for so long and that I am so reluctant to sell it says something about the little light engine that could ....

 

[mflaster]

Well, I bought mine (actually DLX650 clone) as my first "temporary" projector almost 2 years ago - and I haven't upgraded yet...


Of course, it helps to avoid seeing all new projectors!


Mike