[robber]

I was almost gonna buy the PLV70/20HD because of its brightness (the pj will be in a family room with no light control) and consumers' rave reviews. Now I'm having a second thought, maybe I don't really need the 2200 lumen light canon, maybe the 1000 lumen BenQ 8700 in the same price range will do ok while giving better PQ? Anybody in the bay area care to open your theater for a demo? I'm interested in the PLV70/20HD and any HD2 DLP pj.


Here are the questions I want to get answered by the demo:

1. Will 1000 lumen be enough for a poorly light controlled room on a 106" diag. matte white screen.

2. Will I be susceptible to the rainbow, headache, etc. that DLP produces.

3. Will the higher contrast ratio of DLP's over LCD make that much a difference to me.

 

[Mitch Sink]

Hi,


I think if you spend some money on light control and deduct whatever that costs your end result will be MUCH better.


Mitch

 

[robber]

Thanks for the suggestion Mitch, however, the family room opens to the kitchen and there is no way the cook who runs the house would like to cook in complete darkness when she's in the cooking-while-watching mode.

 

[Robert Holloway]

Quote:

Originally posted by robber 2. Will I be susceptible to the rainbow, headache, etc. that DLP produces. .

How can we answer this?

There seems to be no trend or consistency between DLP sufferers and those who really enjoy the image.


You just have to go see one.


Sorry

Rob

 

[Michael Grant]

robber,


Honestly, cooking while you're watching works just fine for a direct-view set, but honestly I wouldn't bother to buy a front projector to enjoy in that kind of scenario. A high amount of ambient light really does diminsh the home theater experience significantly. Yeah, sure, at first you'll just be blown away by how big the picture is, but then that will wear off and you'll be irritated by how washed-out it is.


I think you should just scrap the idea of optimizing your home theater for that scenario. Instead, go for a projector that you will really enjoy when the cook is out of the kitchen and the lights really can go out for the duration.


However, if you insist, then a light cannon is the way to go---maybe even coupled with a high-gain screen like the SilverStar. I've seen JimmyR's 20HD/High Power setup and it was quite nice. I was surprised, pleasantly, that it didn't burn my eyes out. Yeah the blacks were noticeably grey, but I can understand why someone might chose to accept that in exchange for the brightness. And to be fair, for a sporting event or other bright scene, I'd say it was watchable with some ambient light.


If you do this, you may also want to get a ND filter that will darken up the picture for you when the lights are off.

 

[Robert Holloway]

The InFocus 7200 is the brightest and one of the best HD2's i've seen

and prices are dropping fast


It was also headache free


Rob

 

[robber]

Thanks guys for the suggestions.


Robert, I wasn't expecting anybody to answer those questions for me, they are "the questions I want to get answered by the demo". I went to the Magnolia HiFi in Santa Clara yeterday after work, and sat in the room with Dwin TV2 for about an hour, I didn't see any rainbow (maybe because I don't know exactly how to look but I did blink my eyes, bottom line is, even if I can be trained to find it, it wouldn't bother me at all in normal viewing). However, I did get a little headache, I wasn't sure if it's because of DLP or because the Discovery Channel HDTV I was watching was showing scenes shot from a coast guard ship so maybe I was getting seasick. I did turn the light in that room to brightest, and I think the picture was still watchable. They also have the Infocus 7200 and 5700, but they didn't have the 7200 running and nobody was around to help. Maybe I'll go again some time to take a look at the 7200.


Michael, the room is not dedicated to home theater so even if I can achieve complete light control, I would still like to have the option to watch TV with ambient light on. Last night's trip to Magnolia HiFi did give me an idea of how bright 1000 lumen is, I think it may be ok for my situation.


Do you guys know any other store I can find HT projectors in action? Thanks for all your comments.

 

[guitarman]

My theater room/family room has an adjoining kitchen. I use black out material behind the curtains for the family room. For the kitchen I put an extra curtain on the outside of the house. Viewing in the days Sun is good with this much black out.


However at night the kitchen light can be on and the HT1000 can still produce good contrast.


It's not really the rainbows but the technolgy thats giving the headaches. Sounds like you might be in the afflicted group. There's another Magnolia up in San Ramon off the Bollinger Canyon exit. Maybe they have their 7200 going.

 

[Robert Holloway]

Tom - I was going to mention that your NEC was installed above the hob next to the deep freeze


Robber - Emeryville Magnolia has the 5700 and 7200 in adjoining rooms.


Rob

 

[Carl Brinkman]

In San Jose there are at least 3 dealers that have good projector setups.


Century AV, in El Paseo shopping center, Saratoga & Prospect.


Bay Area Audio, on De Anza about 3 blocks north of Prospect


Laserland, also on De Anza about 1 mile north of Prospect.


Probably not the best prices but very good places to demo and they have been known to deal. I'm sure there are others but these 3 can always be relied on for a good setup.

 

[robber]

Carl, thans for the info, I'll check them out tomorrow. Do you have Century AV's website address? I couldn't find it on google or yahoo yellowpage.


Guitarman and Robert, those two are too far away, I'll probably drop by the Emeryville store next time my fiancee wants to go to Ikea, hehe.

 

[jcebedo1]

Here are the places I have been to so far in Bay Area (san jose area):


Bay Area Audio: Runco DLP, Runco 9" CRT, Marantz 12S2 (no longer there)


Centrury Stereo: Runco 3 chip DLP (90,000), Marantz 12S2, Sharp 9K (don't know if it is still there),


LaserLand: 2 Sharp 10Ks (one with a firehawk, one with a studiotek), yamaha dlp (don't remember model), Vidikron kronos CRT (no longer there)


Paradise Home Theater: Dreamvision Cinema Ten Pro, the 5K Dreamvision, and one the Sim projectors (maybe HT300 plus)


Magnolia Hi-Fi: Dwin TV2, Infocus SP7200, Infocus SP5700

 

[Mr. I]

Rob,


is the Emeryville Magnolia 5700 setup any good ?

I'd drive down if it's worth a look.


I checked 5-6 places out in the Bay area last November. What a dissapoinment.

Only good picture was the Sharp 9000 in Laserland. The $16K and 3 chip Runcos were OK in Century but the Sharp and Marantz looked like c&@p.

I would have not spent 1K on those projectors based on their picture in Century - or any other place except for Laserland - let alone $10K. Had the feeling that they were supposed to look bad in Century compared to the 16K Runco the salesman was steering me towards.

FX Audio in Sacramento had a great Marantz setup.


Thanks


Mr. I

 

[Robert Holloway]

Mr. I


The Emeryville 5700 setup was dreadful when we walked in

brightenss at 80

Sharpness over the top

......


However, the sales assistant agreed to me spending 5 mins altering the controls and my friend, the assistant and i all agreed it was much better.


The room and screen are excellent - 84" 16x9 Stewart

The sound system from Sumiko was awesome


In the next room they have the 7200

another great room and sound system


I would recommend you amke the effort

I don't know what you do, but try and see the PJ's during the week

rather than the weekend

you'll be uninterrupted

bring your own DVD's as you know what you like


I really recommend auditioning PJ's before you buy


Good luck

Drop me a PM if you go and i'll try and pop in and say hi.

my office is 2 minutes away


Rob

 

[Mr. I]

Thanks Rob.

I ment to ask about 7200 not 5700. This was a LOOONG week for me.

I do computers so I can work out a trip during the week. I can just reboot those #$% servers once I'm back in the evening

Will try to PM. It would be interesting to meet other people from this forum.

While I do not post much I check the forum almost every night.

A few more years and I'll be ready to buy.


Mr. I

 

[Robert Holloway]

Mr. I

A few more years?

Rob

 

[twelly]

Magnolia HiFi at Palo Alto has the DWIN TV3 projecting to a 110" firehawk. It is not calibrated but it is still pretty good. I would suggest that you bring your own dvd's to properly audition the unit.


-twelly

 

[Mr. I]

Rob,

That sentance was supposed to have a smiley at the end. Loooong week.

Or maybe I'll justwait for those $4.995.95 laser projectors we're going to see at CES

Oops, wrong forum.

Rob. Rob ? You look so ... much younger !


MR. I

 

[Robert Holloway]

Mr.I - "Rob. Rob ? You look so ... much younger !"


Watched Back To The Future Part II last night

It inspired me

Rob

 

[JimmyR]

robber if you would like to see the Sanyo HD20 Michael mentioned just send me a PM.