[DaViD Boulet]

I've seen this projector on display 3 times now on different screens in different environments and had the opportunity to fiddle with the remote each time.


I've noticed 3 consistent PQ problems that no one else seems to have mentioned. Wondering if any of you have seen these anomolies and can help deduce what causes them or how to fix them.


BTW, in all cases I saw the projector being fed a 480I or 480P signal using its own built-in scaler.


1. A sort of "blocky" effect around projected image text...like movie credits or movie titles...it makes the round contours of the text look blocky like computer-generated graphics. It looks to my eyes like the scaler isn't resolving its interpolation down to the finest pixel...it looks like several pixels are "grouped" together creating larger macro blocks.


2. I don't know the term for this...but during the sunrise scene in Fiddler on the Roof and during the opening scene of 2001...both instances you have a dark background with a sudden burst of light as the sun peaks past an object...the color of the light streaming across the scene creates color banding...you can see discrete steps of colors rather than one gradual change of color from the brightness of the sun to the darkness of the surrounding area. Very "digital" looking.


3. When objects slowly move on the screne...especially in the faces of the actors...a sort of "crawly" effect that looks like compression artifacts. It's so obvious that it caused me to want to sit farther away from the screen...but it was the *ONLY* thing that made me want to sit farther away. I'm not sure if these are MPEG2 compression artifacts because I've not had the chance to view these discs on other high-resolution projectors...I'm wondering if this is also an issue with the internal scaler.


-thoughts? Are these things in the software, in the scaler of the projector, or part of the projector's inherent limitations that an outboard scaler wouldn't rectify?


-dave

 

[David Mendicino]

Dave, the last tyhing you mention seems to be in line with the growing reports of dithering in single, and even 3 chip DLPS.


The other two, I am not certain what they could be.

 

[noah katz]

The second item sounds like rainbows, though I don't see how that wouldn't have already occurred to you.

 

[David Mendicino]

"I don't know the term for this...but during the sunrise scene in Fiddler on the Roof and during the opening scene of 2001...both instances you have a dark background with a sudden burst of light as the sun peaks past an object...the color of the light streaming across the scene creates color banding...you can see discrete steps of colors rather than one gradual change of color from the brightness of the sun to the darkness of the surrounding area. Very "digital" looking. "


Banding...hmm...this doesn't sound like Rainbows...maybe "solarization"?

 

[Chris Dallas]

DaViD Boulet..


it is not the Sharp. Believe it or not it is the way that some DVD's are encoded. It only happens with certain titles & I have noticed it even on my 36" Sony XBR so it is not just FP that show it.


I encode DVD's & have been for nearly 5 years now (although they are Adult it is still the same process) so I know that some can be a disaster.


Chris

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Quote:

it is not the Sharp. Believe it or not it is the way that some DVD's are encoded. It only happens with certain titles & I have noticed it even on my 36" Sony XBR so it is not just FP that show it.

Hey Chris,


Which anomolie of the three is source-related...all three?


The reason I'm asking is that I've seen these same title on other projectors (CRT) and I've never noticed the "blocky" effects on the credits/opening title text whereas it seems to happen with almost *all* on-screen text regardless of the DVD. One place I played 10 DVD titles just to be sure!!!


I'm really curious about the "crawlie" issue...it looks like MPEG2 compression but these are titles that I see reviewed as "saw no compression artifacts" from reviewers using very high-resolution projection systems. Am I just more picky or is the scaling of the Sharp introducing these crawlies into motion?


The third effect I mention is probably what others have called "solarization"...it's *not* the rainbow artifact. I'm talking about images on the screen that look like a computer colorist used 5 colors to paint a gradation rather than a smooth trasition from one color to the next like in real life. Reminds me of the odd effects I saw on early Plasmas in dark scenes...everything went "digital" looking as the unit only had a few shades of black to work with!


-dave

 

[DaViD Boulet]

bump

 

[Grubert]

To be more precise, the second problem is posterization.


See it on http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Article...erization.html

 

[Paul_Seng]

I think Chris was talking about the second. I also have seen this effect on my 21" computer CRT. It looks like a lot of DVD's have been encoded with the banding. I have a HT setup and when I notice something strange I put my CRT monitor on to test the DVD. 9 times out of 10 it is the DVD. Also the third might be due to the DVD player. I have noticed with my HTPC that PowerDVD has the crawlies while WinDVD does not. So it might be the decoding software in whatever player was being used.

Same with my set top DVD player. Not all titles play smoothly on it.