You make many valid points. For instance, there is not one mention of any Seleco products anywhere on projectorcentral web site. The HT200 and HT250 are two of the best Projectors on the market. You have to take any review with a grain of salt and balance it with other views. I think projectorcentral website is great, but has biases just like everyone else.
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I agree that Projector Central is just another single point of view and should be taken as such. Too bad there are not many other sites that are dedicated to projectors.
This forum has been invaluable for my education on projectors. Many thanks to the AVS forum, its members and supporters.
This forum has been invaluable for my education on projectors. Many thanks to the AVS forum, its members and supporters.
Projector Central since they are willing to take a stand and put themselves out are of course a target for criticism. I wonder how many who criticize actually have the courage to stand before the world display some form of actual creativity or accomplishment. This is not directed at anyone in particular but just a reminder that they have accomplished a great deal and since I am very involved with projectors I am thrilled to have such a tremendous resource available to me. Crawlies is not an issue as it relates to projectors. Crawlies come from one place the source material. If a projector created crawlies it would do so on all content and I have looked at many displays and if a DVD for example displays crawlies on one I have found it visible on every other display. Rainbow effect as well as the screen door are very important but subjective criteria that is very useful to see included in reviews.
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A few months ago Projector Central posted its reviews of the best "presentation" projectors for home theatre. It even went a step further and compared some "presentation" projectors to some "home theatre" projectors. That was Projector Central's message and this is my reply.
In family law there's a saying: "There's his side of the story, there's her side of the story and then there's the truth". I think the same holds true for "projector law".
I have a bias - I like DLPs and I am looking for value. Projector Central has a bias - it promotes "presentation" projectors. Our biases tend to overlap since
"presentation" projectors seem to be a better value than home theatre projectors.
At the end of its review Projector Central picks out three home theatre projector companies and slams them (and with just cause) for high pricing and in some cases lack of features. It then states that some presentation projectors are as good or better than home theatre projectors (at least those it chose to criticize). There's some truth here, but it's not the whole story and this is where Projector Central and I part company.
Reviewing the reviews of Projector Central's recommended projectors reveals some egregious ommissions! Let's start with XGA DLPs such as the NEC LT150 and Infocus LP350. I have had a look at both of these projectors, and, in fact, own an LT150. There is absolutely no mention in Projector Central's reviews of "rainbow" or "crawlies". I am not sensitive to "rainbow", however, if I were, it could possibly be a deal breaker for me! Crawlies - video noise that looks like a swarm of insects in sky scenes (in particular) and evident in other scenes as well, is very annoying. With some presentation projectors you can disable the "white segment" and to a large degree expunge this problem. I think the Plus based projectors allow for this and it is a real plus (excuse the pun)!
At this point I have never seen "crawlies" with a home theatre projector - at least not where it jumped out at me as it has with some of the presentation projectors. It doesn't really matter to me whether or not "crawlies" is a DVD problem or not - I don't want to see them! Crawlies are not just confined to DLPs. I have also seen them with XGA LCDs (Toshiba presentation projector). Again I haven't seen "crawlies" on the Sony, nor was it noticable with the NEC LT155. Kind of begs the question - if "crawlies" aren't exclusively a "white segment" DLP problem then what are they? Why no mention of this video noise problem by Projector Central? If you want to know whether you have a crawlie problem, try: "City of Industry"; "City of Angels"; or "Mystic Pizza".
What about the onboard processing of these projectors? It's true that most home theatre projectors do not excel in this area and neither do "presentation" projectors, however, to state that the use of a progressive scan DVD player is recommended is rather simplistic. The onboard processing of most home theatre projectors is better than that of the NEC LT150, for example, but not as good as the LT350 (which is an exception). This may well be the case for the Sanyo products as well.
How about LCDs? The reviews on Projector Central would lead you to believe that the "screendoor" effect has been solved by XGA resolution and MLAs. Not for me! I had a good look at the LT155, which is XGA and has the MLA. Even when slightly defocussed the image on an 8 foot wide screen from 16 or 17 feet bothered me. Sure, I am aware of the problem and look for it. What I have found, much to my distress, is that critical viewing of video increases your sensitivity to various anomalies.
There is a Yin and a Yang here - Projector Central offers a perspective to counter the home theatre companies' hype and often inflated pricing. On the other hand, its appraisal of the landscape is somewhat distorted. IMO home theatre companies do offer products with somewhat better table manners. There is no doubt that some "presentation" projectors are surprisingly good for video applications - perspective purchasers will just have to do more homework than reading the reviews on Projector Central!
Some of the articles concerning home theatre setup and comparing FPs to RPTVs are very good. I just wish Projector Central would be more critical of its "chosen ones". You don't serve the public interest by ignoring or sidestepping issues.
Cheers,
Grant
In family law there's a saying: "There's his side of the story, there's her side of the story and then there's the truth". I think the same holds true for "projector law".
I have a bias - I like DLPs and I am looking for value. Projector Central has a bias - it promotes "presentation" projectors. Our biases tend to overlap since
"presentation" projectors seem to be a better value than home theatre projectors.
At the end of its review Projector Central picks out three home theatre projector companies and slams them (and with just cause) for high pricing and in some cases lack of features. It then states that some presentation projectors are as good or better than home theatre projectors (at least those it chose to criticize). There's some truth here, but it's not the whole story and this is where Projector Central and I part company.
Reviewing the reviews of Projector Central's recommended projectors reveals some egregious ommissions! Let's start with XGA DLPs such as the NEC LT150 and Infocus LP350. I have had a look at both of these projectors, and, in fact, own an LT150. There is absolutely no mention in Projector Central's reviews of "rainbow" or "crawlies". I am not sensitive to "rainbow", however, if I were, it could possibly be a deal breaker for me! Crawlies - video noise that looks like a swarm of insects in sky scenes (in particular) and evident in other scenes as well, is very annoying. With some presentation projectors you can disable the "white segment" and to a large degree expunge this problem. I think the Plus based projectors allow for this and it is a real plus (excuse the pun)!
At this point I have never seen "crawlies" with a home theatre projector - at least not where it jumped out at me as it has with some of the presentation projectors. It doesn't really matter to me whether or not "crawlies" is a DVD problem or not - I don't want to see them! Crawlies are not just confined to DLPs. I have also seen them with XGA LCDs (Toshiba presentation projector). Again I haven't seen "crawlies" on the Sony, nor was it noticable with the NEC LT155. Kind of begs the question - if "crawlies" aren't exclusively a "white segment" DLP problem then what are they? Why no mention of this video noise problem by Projector Central? If you want to know whether you have a crawlie problem, try: "City of Industry"; "City of Angels"; or "Mystic Pizza".
What about the onboard processing of these projectors? It's true that most home theatre projectors do not excel in this area and neither do "presentation" projectors, however, to state that the use of a progressive scan DVD player is recommended is rather simplistic. The onboard processing of most home theatre projectors is better than that of the NEC LT150, for example, but not as good as the LT350 (which is an exception). This may well be the case for the Sanyo products as well.
How about LCDs? The reviews on Projector Central would lead you to believe that the "screendoor" effect has been solved by XGA resolution and MLAs. Not for me! I had a good look at the LT155, which is XGA and has the MLA. Even when slightly defocussed the image on an 8 foot wide screen from 16 or 17 feet bothered me. Sure, I am aware of the problem and look for it. What I have found, much to my distress, is that critical viewing of video increases your sensitivity to various anomalies.
There is a Yin and a Yang here - Projector Central offers a perspective to counter the home theatre companies' hype and often inflated pricing. On the other hand, its appraisal of the landscape is somewhat distorted. IMO home theatre companies do offer products with somewhat better table manners. There is no doubt that some "presentation" projectors are surprisingly good for video applications - perspective purchasers will just have to do more homework than reading the reviews on Projector Central!
Some of the articles concerning home theatre setup and comparing FPs to RPTVs are very good. I just wish Projector Central would be more critical of its "chosen ones". You don't serve the public interest by ignoring or sidestepping issues.
Cheers,
Grant
"Crawlies come from one place the source material."
Wasn't there a thread a month or two ago that said the problem turned out to be caused by misaligned color wheels?
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Noah
Wasn't there a thread a month or two ago that said the problem turned out to be caused by misaligned color wheels?
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Noah
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I believe crawlies are line doubler artifacts - anyway I have seen them from Sony products using the DRC circuits - most prominently on a WEGA KV36XBR400 direct-view CRT, but also on the VPL-VW10HT when the S-video input was used.
I have also seen crawlies on 480p HDTV broadcasts displayed on a Princeton 27" monitor in 800X600 progressive, and I believe these were present in the source signal, and are possibly the result of line doubling 480i material at the studio before broadcast.
Gary
I have also seen crawlies on 480p HDTV broadcasts displayed on a Princeton 27" monitor in 800X600 progressive, and I believe these were present in the source signal, and are possibly the result of line doubling 480i material at the studio before broadcast.
Gary
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