Hi Robert,
Russ (a forum member) and I spent an evening with KBK yesterday and were treated to both his system and, of course, KBK. Ken has an Electrohome Marque 8000 (I think) and he has modified it to the nth degree. Great picture on a 9 foot wide screen. I specifically looked at the black level and yes I fully understand what the CRT guys are talking about, however, it is dependent on the DVD to a large extent. I haven't seen a digital pojector that will do blacks this well, but I know that some digital projectors will do a very convincing "black". The difference was in the depth of the black which allowed the nuances to show through. In TFE for example, in the space shots you could clearly see the star field, that is the cluster of faint stars set behind the main stars - milky in appearance. For a purist this may be a huge difference, enough to have to have a CRT. The thing is, Ken is an expert, and can tweak these things in order to extract their full potential - I can't. Nor do I want a 140 to 250 pound monster hanging over my head - actually I wouldn't have to worry about having a head if I bought a CRT - my wife would have it mounted as part of the divorce settlement! Some don't have to compromise - I do, so I do the best I can under the circumstances. What I think we are talking about is approximately a 5% difference in performance - huge for some, but not enough for me, but I certainly understand why they have these things!
Ken's projector was only part of the story - his prototype speaders - wow, but that's another story (not to mentions his screens, modified cards, HTPCs and so on!).
Of course Ken doesn't have CDs either - Vinyl or death. He's a true purist. My life is about compromise while his is about not having to.
Cheers,
Grant
