[selectfpr]

My Yamaha DPX 1000 is up and running. It was installed yesterday but I have not had a chance to tweek it yet because I really wanted to see how it was before I played with it. Here are my initial preliminary thoughts.


My equipent is:


Firehawk 100" diag.

Pioneer 47AI

Anthem AV20

Anthem PVA 7


Also my Direct TV is not yet set up so I have no HD yet. All I have to test so far are DVD's.


First of all it is a large machine, probably a little bigger than the Sharp and the Marantz. It is not a problem for me as I have it on a shelf in the rear of the room. There is also a little of fan noise, but not enough to disturb even at low volumes.


So far I have viewed DVD's of parts of Spiderman, The Secretary and a Peter Gabriel concert. Without any tweeking and without HD, I would have to say it is almost excellent. I would have to say it is really film like. The colors are very natural, but very intense. For instance The Secretary, which is a really lousy movie, has some scenes with very vibrant colors - red, purples, yellows. They just look great.


As far as brightness and blacks, its hard to imagine there being any better. The blacks are nothing but black. You cant get much blacker. I have a completely light controlled room, but it is watchable even with some light on. I do not see brightness as an issue.


Skin tones seemed very natural, perhaps a bit too much red, but I will work on that tonight.


Anyway, I did not have much time last night for a lot of viewing, but I wanted to get some preliminary comments out there. I hope in the next couple of days to view and play with it a lot more. I will be back.


Fred

 

[trickdogg]

pictures, please (if you can)

 

[noah katz]

Fred,


"I would have to say it is almost excellent."


Everything you said sounded really good; why "almost"?


Thanks

 

[selectfpr]

Well I did some more viewing last night and I have to say if all projectors are this good, then there has been a lot to talk about nothing. The picture is incredible.


In my first post I said it was almost excellent. The reason for the almost was because the last thing I watched was a Peter Gabriel concert, something I have watched many times. Well although the concert is incredible and I highly recommend it to everyone, the video is bit grainy.


However last night I watched a few more things, including the Roger Waters concert, also incredible and highly recommended. Well the video on this concert is much better and the projector was tremendous.


First of all many of the musicians are wearing different shades of black. There 3 back up singers all wearing different black dresses and have black hair. Believe me you see the difference in the black, and the one on the right has a dress that is as black as black can be. If that is not black enough for you, then I think you probably have other issues you need to address.


I tweeked the skin tones a bit and they are perfect, very natural. The thing that gets me though is the sharpness of the picture. Concerts can be very useful in testing video. The clarity and sparkle of the microphones, the and the drums were remarkable. There are lots of different guitars and you can see the grains and the character of the older ones.


The colors of the instruments, lights and reflections are very saturated but not over the top. Absolutely just right.


On top of that it is very easy to use. Although I did not do the original setup and was not really showed how to use it. All adjustments are very easy to figure out and use. So far I have done some minor adjustments, but it really doesn't need much.


Like I said it is really an incredible PJ. If all other PJ's are this good or better, then we all should be very thankful becuase there is nothing to complain about. And remember this is all with DVD only, my Direct TVHD is not hooked up yet. I'll add more tomorrow after I do some more viewing tonight.


Fred

 

[LMDA1]

Are you feeding the unit interlaced or progressive ?

 

[Crusher]

I got mine DPX-1000 insteaded on April 8. It came directly from Japan. It looks good in almost all aspects comparing to the CRT I used before - Mitsubishi LVP-2001.


Both DVDs and Japanese HDTV are viewed. The built-in DCDi deinterlaces a little bit better than the Pioneer 858Ai. 1080i is sharp even it is displaced as 1280x720. However,


1. Rainbow effect is easily spoted when white subtitle is on black;


2. the picture has a visible delay due to signal processing;


3. zoom mode, when viewing LB source, is a bit blurred.


Do you guys see the rainbow?

 

[tshirk]

Crusher,


How is the delay visible? Are you saying you see lip-sync issues?

 

[selectfpr]

Well this is now my third night with the projector and I just think its gotten better each time. I have seen no rainbows, artifacts, or delays.


Last night I watched 007 - One World is Enough, and it was fantastic. I know I sound like a broken record, but is every bit as good or better than being in a theater. The colors are intense and vibrant, the picture is sharp but does not look too digital.


I'm curious to see other reviews because my experience so far has been oustanding.


Fred

 

[Crusher]

tshirk,


Yes, lip-sync. It is quite bad on S-video input but component (input A, BNC) and D4 are better.

 

[xkode2002]

Quote:

Originally posted by selectfpr Well I did some more viewing last night and I have to say if all projectors are this good, then there has been a lot to talk about nothing. The picture is incredible. In my first post I said it was almost excellent. The reason for the almost was because the last thing I watched was a Peter Gabriel concert, something I have watched many times. Well although the concert is incredible and I highly recommend it to everyone, the video is bit grainy. However last night I watched a few more things, including the Roger Waters concert, also incredible and highly recommended. Well the video on this concert is much better and the projector was tremendous. Fred

This is so funny. I assume you're talking about the release of the Peter Gabriel Secret World Live DVD (which was just finally released on DVD 10 years after the SWL tour and 9 years after the VHS version came out) and the Roger Waters In the Flesh Live tour from 2001. These are the only two concert movies I've watched on my Dwin TV3 (I'm a huge PG and RW fan). Here we are, trying our our new HD2 PJs and we pick the exact same concert DVDs. We both lack the HD tuner (I value my PVR functionality too highly and I'm waiting for the HD DirecTiVo).


The PG video quality is awful. The concert was great, but the video is so tremendously grainy it's hard to justify watching it on a big screen. The RW concert looks much better, but isn't particularly interesting to watch from the few songs I've seen so far. I saw both of these shows live, so maybe I was spoiled.

 

[roger]

I also bought the Yamaha 1000 PJ (see the prelude on selectfpr's previous thread on the Yamaha) now. After a poor demo in a shop I had it brought into my HT and I was blown away. The ease of the installation was unreal. Putting it on the backwall shelf and moving the beam onto the 10' screen with vertical lens shift and zoom was a matter of seconds. The picture was great after the motor zoom sharpness adjustment and a few minutes of black and white adjustment. I did not need the manual to use the intuitive menus and the remote. After 10 min the opening sequences of the 'Fifth Element' (Superbit version) were running at a picture quality my previous Sharp 9000 never presented after hours of tweaking. I realized the difference between black and dark brown in a new way. I tried HDTV (Mitsubishi box, component input) and it was excellent. The biggest surprise was the picture from my laserdisk Pioneer via S-Video: with the Sharp 9000 it was simply awful, with the Yamaha only a slightly reduced picture quality (sharpness and color saturation) as compared to progressive DVD via component was noticible. Now I can enjoy my LD software again. The PJ generates very little noise, the least of any PJ I had in my setting (Dreamvision, Sharp, Marantz). Now I will just enyoy a few movies and let you know more about my observations later. Until now, after a lot of scepticism during the 'selection phase' it looks like a winner.

 

[Bluematches]

Anyone sees motion dithering artifacts on the DPX-1000?

Have you tried a refresh rate of 75Hz (via HTPC for example)? No tearing?

Cheers

 

[selectfpr]

xkode2002


That's really funny about us both choosing those 2 concerts for our first tests. Also the Dwin was my co-first choice but my dealer couldn't get it.


I've had the Peter Gabriel LD since it was first released. It's my favorite concert DVD and I've turned lots of people on to it. It's too bad the PQ is so bad.


I just recently got the Roger Waters and it too is a great concert and a much better video test for the pJ. I thought it looked and sounded great.

Enjoy your Dwin and your concerts.



Roger,


I'm glad you gave the Yamaha a second chance and that you like it as much as I do. When I saw the various PJ's at CES I really came away with the feeling that the Yamaha was on the top shelf along with the Dwin followed closing by the Sharp. I look forward to more of your reviews.



As to the question about dithering artifacts or whatever, the answer is no. In about the 12 hours that I have watched various movies and concerts, I have seen no artifacts, rainbows, dead pixels and no headaches (by the way I thought I would be susceptible to headaches).


The fact is it's great. Great colors, blacks, contrast. I can't wait to see HD.

I recommend you put it on your list.


Fred

 

[tshirk]

Roger,


Do you see any delay on S-video input as Crusher reported. This projector was tops on my list, but lip sync problems would deal it a big blow! I was in television production for 30 years, and I can't stand lip sync problems!

 

[clehner]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bluematches Anyone sees motion dithering artifacts on the DPX-1000? Have you tried a refresh rate of 75Hz (via HTPC for example)? No tearing? Cheers

Very good question Bluematches, although 48Hz and 50Hz(PAL) are more likely to work if at all as 75Hz is outside the specs of the HD2 chip by TI.


48Hz capabilty to me is what makes a great projector (rather than a good one ).


Regards

Christoph

 

[Bluematches]

Christoph,


After reading the specs for some HD1 DLPs, the maximum vertical frequency is 85Hz. And I am quite sure they are the same for HD2.

But above 60 Hz (72 or 75Hz), the problem of "tearing" pictures appears...

Cheers

 

[clehner]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bluematches But above 60 Hz (72 or 75Hz), the problem of "tearing" pictures appears...

Yes, that's the point. But I know of at least one HD2 pj that does 50Hz and 47,952Hz perfectly via DVI, i.e. the SIM2 HT300+. So my question remains, which other HD2 pjs can do that, not only the Yamaha but also the Marantz and the Sharp?


Regards

Christoph

 

[Crusher]

tshirk,


Let me check and make sure the lip sync problem appears on PAL only or NTSC also. I mostly watch PAL when using S-video. However, you can still delay the audio if you got surround processor.


I still wonder why others did not see rainbow. I saw rainbow on Marantz 12S2 before.

 

[kbmyers]

For those that have the Yamaha and compared it with other HD2 projectors, what are your thoughts on the noise level? My projector will need to be mounted right above my head, and I'm concerned about the noise.

 

[b curry]

kbmyers,

It's the most quiet one I have demoed.