[steve_fye]

Man, am I having a hard time with my first projector purchase. I had (still have actually) the SX21 on order now and don't really want to wait another 4 months before receiving it. Yeah, I heard it's due in "early February", but I'll bet good money that no consumers get one before valentines day.


I even went so far as to design and build the screen (96x54) and a projector mount (approx 200" from screen, 6" lower than top of screen, per JVC specs) that I do NOT wish to change. Now look what is happening with my other alternatives:


Sony VPL-HS10

I don't really want DLP as it gives my wife and I headaches and we can both see rainbows quite easily. The HS10 would be great, and would fit the required mounting positions, but hey - THERE ARENT ANY AROUND! Does anyone know the latest story on this?


Sony VPL-VW12HT

More expensive than the HS10, but it doesn't matter anyways - this proj has the shortest throw distance in the world. The extended throw lens puts it WAY too far away.


NEC HT1000

DLP yes, but I've heard so many good things about it I'd be willing to try. BUT... the dang thing would mean my screen would have to be on the floor, tilted, or i'd have to raise my ceilings. What is up with a 24" above the top of screen requirement anyways? Jeez.


Sharp XV-Z9000U

This is a possibility, but again, DLP. This is the only proj. out of the bunch that we have actually seen (we live in the boonies). Picture looked great, but DLP still worries me for the headache issue.


Sanyo PLV-70HT

This is the latest choice, which I now know is in stock and within my budget. How do you all think this unit compares with the above units listed (at least, the ones that exist in the public domain)? I'm not so worried about brightness, but black levels and screendoor are what I would like to have best.


Guess the real question is how the 70HT compares against the HS10, which is not quite available yet. Anyone?


Thanks again all for the great forum!


Steve

 

[JPinTO]

Regarding the HS10... there is alot of talk on the

 

[Alan Gouger]

That leaves the Seleco and the 7200 will hit dealers early next week.

 

[mark haflich]

Run your HT1000 calculations again. Assuming you use the standard ceiling mount, the top of the viewing surface on the screen would be a liitle less than 14 inches below the ceiling.

 

[Free]

Steve, have you seen the Seleco? I know it is a DLP but the rainbows are almost a non issue on it. It sounds like it would be perfect for your screen size.


I have an HT300 but also a 113" wide screen so it is a bit dim for me. I can wait a bit longer for the SX21 but, I would also like to know what other options are available. Does anyone have any information on the upcoming Hitachi 16:9?

 

[schlitzie]

This is like a support group!

"Hi, My name is Mike and I have been waiting for an SX21 forever!"


Steve - we have the same possible solution(s) in mind to the same problem:

I am not a fan of DLP's either for your reasons, although the Seleco would be the one to go for if it was a bit brighter (it has a beautiful picture, but it's dim, and it's cost is a bunch higher); the PLV70 seemed to fit the bill until all of the reports about QC issues (dead pixels/dust blobs) started to surface; the NEC and the Infocus seem to have to be hung too low for my application (even the ~7" drop on the Infocus, let alone the 14" for NEC, is not going to work in my room without someone tall potentially clobbering themselves in the dark)


As I mentioned in another thread, I am looking at the HS10 - it has some benefits (for me) that the SX21 does not (besides the fact that it's 1/3 the price!). It is 16:9 native, seems to have a fully functioning DVI port, and its stats are very close to the JVC wrt to resolution and brightness. I am thinking that I could live with it easily until a good 16:9 DiLA is released, and then sell it....


The Sony is actually available now if you hunt around (in fact ebay has a few listed - provided they are not scams), but it looks like they will be in full US distribution in (dare I say it?) two weeks.


Granted, LCD is a different animal than DLA, but it might be a great "short term" alternative for a year or so -


I plan on hanging tight and seeing what the MAXX guy says next week before going a lot further -- If his comments can convince me that the SX21/1400 is worth waiting for until February/March, then ok; otherwise I'll save some big $ and probably go with the Sony.

 

[JPinTO]

The ebay HS10's at

 

[steve_fye]

Quote:

Originally posted by mark haflich Run your HT1000 calculations again. Assuming you use t5he standard ceiling mount, the top of the viewing surface on the screen would be a liitle less than 14 inches below the ceiling.

If memory serves, the top of my screen is about 10" from the top of the ceiling. I'll check again, but thanks for the ray of hope.


Steve

 

[rabident]

You could probably still pick up a G15 for $8000. Same resolution, better light source, better price, worse scaler, worse heat, worse noise. It doesn't have DVI, but for *now* there isn't a whole lot of options for DVI. HD from cable or VCR is going to be analog. I think there may be 1 or 2 OTA STBs that output DVI, but the SX21 won't take HD 1080i over DVI, so I think you would be stuck with analog for that as well. The market for *now* isn't too good for reasonably priced HD scalers that output 1280x1024 over DVI.


I haven't seen the difference with DVI vs Analog with projectors. I have seen it with LCD monitors and the positive difference DVI makes is not subtle. I would think it would have more of an impact on a LCoS projector, since there's less screen door to distract you and the image is blown up very large.


Plus with DVI, you're limited to 1280x1024. Most people don't seem to mind throwing out the additional 80 pixels for a better quality picture and I'm with them with that. However, for DVD's 1440 x 960 is exactly 2x DVD's resolution and the CRT people say there is a noticeable absence of scaling artifacts scaling to 2x. If you do that, and crop 80 pixels off of 1440, you're left with 1360 - JVC's native resolution (at a mod 8 boundary). So... it's either low scaling artifacts and slightly more resolution over a lossy analog transport OR greater scaling artifacts and slightly less resolution over a pristine lossless digital (DVI) transport. I wonder which one looks better?


HD is going to look great on either of them.

 

[mark haflich]

I screwed up. I gave you the drop for an Infocus 7200 not a NEC HT 1000. The drop for the HT 1000 with a 54 x 96 screen actually is 23.4 inches plus another 7.2 inches from the ceiling to the center of the lens. Ouch. I am truly sorry for the erroneous post.

 

[steve_fye]

A bit of an update,


We watched "Ice Age" tonight (my first full-length movie watched via a projector) and we were all impressed by the quality of the picture versus our old 61" Mitusbishi RPTV. The pq really amazed us. What projector was it? Get this - an Infocus LP500 DLP unit that my wife brought from her work.


800 x 600

400:1 contrast ratio

2000 ANSI lumens


If we liked this projector with these specs, we are going to be drooling with WHATEVER projector we end up with. Yes, we saw some rainbows, and yes, we both felt a little worn out afterwards, but we also agreed that this was something we could live with if this was as bad as it was going to get.


Therefore, maybe I should consider more seriously the DLP route. If the HT1000 didn't have the wacky screen offset, I'd buy it yesterday. I love to tweak and this projector sounds like the one to have!


I'll have to research the Seleco a bit more before making any comments about it. Anyone want to add their 2cents on this unit? What about other units that might be suitable (especially for the mounting dimensions listed above in the first post).


Thanks everyone.


Steve

 

[steve_fye]

After a full day of research (delayed only by my turkey-eating), I have narrowed my search between 3 possibilities. Ranked in decreasing order of possibility of purchase:


1. Infocus Screenplay 7200. You all spoke the truth - there is so much good feedback from this proj it's hard not to ignore. I think the higher contrast and possibly better blacks will edge out the #2 pick of mine. Of course, this is assuming that the price is comparable. I just read that these units finally shipped to the dealers. Are there enough to go around to all who pre-ordered them? Hope so.


2. Sanyo PLV-70HT. What can you say that hasn't been said already? I really like how flexible this proj is for installation. It's in stock everywhere also.


3. Sony VPL-HS10. The most economical of the bunch, but it's still not known exactly when these will ship.


If the 7200 is within my budget, and if it will ship in the next week or so, I'm gonna place the order. Otherwise, I'll probably go ahead with the 70HT. Any thoughts on this?


Thanks everyone!


Steve