Originally posted by BugMan74
Would you consider an ECP4100 low end?
There's nothing wrong with an ECP4100, but in the grand scheme of used projectors available these days, it's probably considered low end by most. That being said, it'll still throw a much better picture then any RPTV out there. It's a 7" ES focused machine so, depending on your screen size, you may be able to just feed it 480p and be perfectly happy. Especially if you're running at 16x9 screen and squeeze your raster which will get the scan lines closer together - as close as running 720p on a 4x3 screen.
I'm basically trying to determine if I can get a decent image from my projector with the money I have to spend (which is not much) -- if so fine. If not I'd best sell the pj (which I dont really want to do).
You'll most likely be happy by simply using a progressive (480p) dvd player hooked up to the PJ via an component -> RGB transcoder. A lot will depend on the quality of the progressive output on the DVD player. Another similar option would be to take a regular 480i dvd player and use a cheap doubler like the Iscan (can be had pretty cheap used).
Before your say HTPC - I cant, and I dont really want to. My current pc is in another room. So that limits it to a 480p dvd player (and a component to rgb transcoder).
No problem!
Does there exist the possiblility of running the component video from the dvd player to a slower pc with the proper video card, scale/deinterlace, and then output to rgb??
Not easily - you'd need a capture card to capture the signal from the dvd player and then use dScaler to scale to 480p or higher, but I don't know of any capture cards that have component inputs. They usually come in composite and s-video varieties (blech). There are some DVI add-ons for certain capture cards but then your dvd player needs DVI out - gets expensive and still probably won't look as good as just using the HTPC as the player/scaler completely. The other problem is that dScaler's more cpu intensive then regular softare dvd players. Your idea just get complicated (and more expensive) then just putting a slightly faster CPU and DVD-ROM in the PC and running a software dvd player - which is the best way to use the PC in the first place.
Stick with the simple scaler or progressive scan dvd player + transcoder. Cheaper and easier. It's pretty much guaranteed that the HTPC will do BETTER 480p then the dvd player, but how much better for how much $$$ is all in the eye of the beholder.
Given that you're on a budget, I'd recommend just buying the transcoder and at least giving that a try.
Kal
. You're PJ might be entry level, and 480P might not be the best source, buy you certainly shouldn't sell it just because you can't go all the way first time out. Enjoy what you have and some day step-up to an HTPC and 8" CRT model of your choosing. Then sell your current gear to another beginner.
