[Aron]

After much researching on this forum, I have finally decided on the NEC HT-1000 as the bargain projector to get. Now the problem is which screen would be adequate for the projector at a good value. Any advice will be appreciate. If anyone know a place that I may be able to purchase the NEC HT-1000 and a screen at a good price, please e-mail me [email protected]


Thank You

 

[guitarman]

Smart idea!


Right here at AVS you'll get a super deal on the HT1000, give them a call.


585 454 1460


AVS also has the screens. The Dalite screens are lower in price and the high end screens are the Stewarts. What type of screen do you need (pull down or fixed, 16.9 or 4.3)?

 

[Aron]

I'm probably interested ina 16.9 screen. fixed or pull down is fine.

 

[BertWilson]

While we are on the topic of screens for the HT1000...


I am agonizing over what screen to get for an HT1000. 16:9 or 4:3. I plan on pushing the size limts... 120" diag for a 4:3 or 106" diag for a 16:9.


1) Can the HT1000 handle a 120" 4:3 screen?


2) Is 4:3 content on a 16:9 Screen acceptable?


3) What are the 4:3 options on a 16:9 screen and the HT1000? (stretching, gray bars, etc)


4:3 content is not a huge priority, but I would like to watch some sports or play a video game periodically. What size and format do you have Tom?

 

[guitarman]

I ended my agony by buying both sizes in low priced pull downs. Right now I have my 16.9 back up. But I had the 4.3 up for the Dela Hoya fight in which Dela Hoya got robbed again.


Ok ascetically 16.9 will look more pleasing for widescreen movies. 4.3 material shown in proper aspect with bars on the sides looks very good and is plenty big enough.


Choose fixed if you can you'll have a flat surface with no waves and can choose many materials. If you want bright you could get the Video Spectra 1.5 or lesser gain HCCV.


As for the 4.3 screen, super large 4.3 material has a wow factor of it's own. There's no getting around it pop on some high quality 4.3 dvd's or even a good signal from Direct TV and you'll blow viewers minds.


This screen choosing with the HT1000 is very difficult since it does these two aspects so well.

 

[BertWilson]

Thanks again for your VERY valuable input on this!


I am going Fixed screen for sure. I guess I am leaning towards 4:3 since you just don't loose any 16:9 size on a 4:3 screen. I just wish Da-Lite had an equivalent to the Firehawk material by Stewart..that seems like a great match for the HT1000.

 

[BertWilson]

ok..I feel stupid now. Above you recommended the High Contrast Cinema Vision, and that sounds like the equivalent of the Firehawk material. I will probably go with that.

 

[guitarman]

I think the HCCV is a 1.3, that's what I'd get if I could go fixed.

 

[Craig Peer]

HCCV is 1.1, and seems to work quite well with my HT1000. Watched my very first HD TV last night on my set up - WOW, nice picture!

 

[jfm]

A 4:3 screen is fine...if you have enough ceiling height.

Otherwise 4:3 on a 16:9 is no problem. More than "acceptable." I've enjoyed classics like Casablanca that way. It's pillarboxed (gray bars on both sides) but very watchable. Oh, btw, the HT1000 does a great job on B&W films.

 

[ckolchak]

if you are more limited in height w/ your room (low ceiling) then it makes sense to go 16:9.

if you have a narrow room and are limited width wise, then it probably makes more sense to go 4:3.


if you are using a fixed screen, i would put together some kind of masking system for whichever way you go.

all other things being equal, an image bordered on all four sides with absolute black will appear noticeably better.

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

I watched The Day The Earth Stood Still the other day, and was very impressed with the quality - no colour cast at all. A good transfer too.


Depending on what it is, I sometimes use Zoom or Stadium for 4:3, much like with a 16:9 tv, so you don't have to have the black bars either side.


Gary.

 

[BertWilson]

My room is 16' High with a 10' ceiling, so 16:9 and 4:3 would fit ok. Although, a 16:9 would allow me to put the center speaker at the same height as the tweaters on my main speakers. With the 4:3 I would have to be about a foot below that and have almost no space between the screen and the ceiling.


Gary..that is one of the things I was wondering about with the HT1000..different modes for 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen. Most of the time I am a purist when it comes to original aspect ratio, but It would bother me to watch a stretched image for a football game or something like that.


Has anyone got any pics of a self-installed masking system on a fixed screen? The factory masking systems are WAY out of my budget...somewhere in the 2K range for the frame and masking alone.


Thanks!

 

[Gary Lightfoot]

Using zoom doesn't stretch the imag, it just crops part of the top or bottom, and you can move the image up or down so you can have more top than bottom for instance.


It's not something I use much, as most of my watching is 16:9, but the option is there.


Gary.

 

[Craig Peer]

Here is another idea for you Bert - I use an electric screen mounted at almost 10'. It is a HCCV 92" wide x 70" tall. It has about 14" of black masking at the top and 2" on either side. I have the image out to the edge and I raise or lower the screen to move the 14" of masking depending on the aspect ratio. For 4:3 I raise it up more. That and adjusting the zoom handles everything. They say that a tensioned screen like mine should be all the way down, but I've checked it and it stays flat and tensioned thru that 14" that I adjust it. Oh, and the projector is shooting over our dining room table so that " masks " the bottom!

 

[smyth22]

Guitarman: Are you there? I was watching MNF with a LT150 and noticed a lot of problems mainly with wide field shots - lots of shimmering, poor resolution, softness etc. What was your experience moving to the HT1000? How much improvement did you get from a sat signal and in what areas? Do you find any problems currently or are you really satisfied with the picture? If I switch I would be projecting the picture in the middle of a 92x52 hipower screen.


Thanks for your help.

Peter

 

[Craig Peer]

I watched MNF last night on my HT1000 - both my fiance and I were floored by the picture quality! Our first HDTV experience. 92" x 52" picture on a HCCV screen, Comcast HD cable box set to 1080i and component cables ( the dvi cable is hooked to the D1 - too much hassle to mess with ). Wide shots looked outstanding. Absolutely worth the effort and cost to hook up HDTV IMO. Surround sound was wild too. Can't wait to watch Alias and a few other selected shows on HD. I think I'm gonna need another bulb for this pj.........


ps - the only bad picture was from the regular non HD cam on a wire ( end zone and overhead shots ) - they got to get that one an HD camera too!

 

[smyth22]

Thanks Craig: I am not going to be able to hook up to HD for a while so I was more interested in regular sat. Looks like HD is worth pursuing in the future though.

 

[guitarman]

Peter, The HT1000 does the best job so far at cleaing up artifacts from Video signals. With Direct TV the dithering snowflake artifacts around logo's are gone.


I watched MNF OTA and had a crisp clean picture. It's the .55 DMD's contrast that's a big step up from the LT150. Plus the HT1000's scaling. I remember the LT150 being pretty tuff on regular video. I was using a viewsonic to help it but it still looked pretty bad.

 

[smyth22]

Thanks Tom. That's very good news. Just about ready to pull the trigger. Hope someone will want to buy my LT150 and the two spare bulbs I got tucked away. To these Canadian eyes, if MNF is good, hockey will be spectacular. I got winter in my blood.


Cheers

Peter