[ChuckD]

I'm trying to determine what would be a good replacement for my 400Q. When I look at some of the candidates, I get concerned about screen door. I believe that the Sony is about 1,000 x 480 pixels with the delta pattern. I must admit that I like the way that the Sony looks up close pixel-wise. If I go to a 1024x768 projector at 16x9, I don't gain a lot of pixels and I loose the delta pattern. Does this realy matter?


If you have owned a 400 in the past, what did you upgrade to, and how does it compare to the Sony, especially in the screen door area?


If you currently own the 400Q, what size screen are you using and what material? I do want to upgrade my screen, no matter what, from 87" wide to 120" wide. My viewing distance is 14 feet and I like the "immerse" feeling of large screens.


Thanks,

Chuck Davis

 

[catullus]

Chuck:


I owned a 400Q and loved it. Although I sold it in anticipation of buying a VW10HT (hoping for better blacks and sharper HDTV image), one thing that NEVER bothered me on the 400Q, on a 92" by 52" Dalite Hipower screen (2.8 gain), was screendoor. On the other hand, I recently auditioned the XGA NEC VT540, another LCD design, on a similar size screen, and could not endure the screen door, even from 16' away. Even though the pixels per se did not look huge, they compromised the sharpness of fine details in the image. (For sharpness on anamorphic DVD's, the Sony to my eyes clearly outdoes the NEC.) The delta-pixel idea was a great one for home theater projectors. At this point I am pretty much decided on a DLP, either XGA or WXGA, but am awaiting the arrival of some of the new products this fall. (The DLP Infocus LP350 is clearly sharper than the 400Q, BTW, and I almost kept it, but those HOT WHITES drove me crazy; it wasn't detail in DARK scenes that was lost, but in white areas in BRIGHT scenes. Lowering brightness to restore detail in sunny scenes made night scenes murky. I tried every possible setting on the projector and the DVD player. What I did not try was a gray screen. But I'm getting away from your questions.


Screenwise, I loved that Hipower with my 400Q. In a darkened room, I never would have wished for more lumens in a projector. Although blacks seemed a little lighter (grayer) with the Hipower, the overall contrast was much better than with lower gain screens that I was quite satisfied (given the limitations of the 400Q in dark scenes, no matter how you tweak it). I had the whole packet of Dalite fabric samples to experiment with, and, for me, the choice of the Hipower was an easy one. I cannot guarantee that you will feel the same, but I do know that a number of 400Q owners agree with me.


Good luck in your choice.


Mike

 

[John Moschella]

Chuck,

I've had a 400Q for over three years and sit about 12 feet away with a 87" wide Stewart (1.3 gain) screen. I don't think that I would want to get any closer with this projector. I have total light control and I feel the image is plenty bright. Before getting a bigger screen I would blow up the image on your existing screen to see what it looks like.


I was all set to seriously look for a new projector and then I got into this HTPC thing. The improvement in picture quality is pretty significant, enough to delay my upgrade. But I have been keeping my eyes open. I would seriously consider the Sanyo LCD with the 16x9 panels. I has a lot of nice features and with 1365x768 panels, that's lots more pixels.


John Moschella

 

[tcumbo]

I've had a W400Q for almost 3 years and absolutely loved the delta-pixel arrangement. Since I have a completely dark, dedicated theater, I never minded the light-output on my 1.1 Da-matte screen.


But recently I auditioned (and bought) the new Sanyo PLV-60. I really had no idea how much detail I was missing in with the lack of brightness, and contrast. This projector does spill a little more pixelization than the W400Q, but not at my viewing distance (110" diag 16:9 screen, sitting 16' back). The overall uniformity from edge to edge is more consistent, and there is no trace of ANY green fog, or any color fade.


I set up both projectors to be sure I wasn't imagining quality differences... and ran the same DVD player to both, and used masking tape and cardboard to create a screen image composed of a left half from the Sanyo and a right half from the Sony. Unbelievable. I guess I just got used to the lack of detail and brightness on the Sony for too long.


I'm keeping the Sanyo.


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- Tom C

 

[brian_vh]

I owned a 400Q for a little over a year and loved it as well. I spent quite a bit of time reviewing projectors and decided on the D-ILA G11 to replace it. I couldn't be happier.


Below is a link to an article written by a long time 400q owner with direct comparisons to the G-11 that he was reviewing.


I also use a high power screen from DaLite. I even kept when when switching to the D-ILA and still love it. I must say that the delta arrange did help to eliminate the screen door effect, though it always nagged me because I couldn't really use a computer to drive the 400q - (I did, but it was using the standard 1080i timings and it was kind of a hack method). I can honestly say that I haven't seen a better picture for the money than the D-ILA running on a HTPC or scalar. Give one a look.
http://www.thebigpicturedvd.com/bigequipment5.shtml


Good luck with your search.


Brian



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Our Home Theater - http://www.fatbulldog.com

Last updated 6/1/01

 

[Durwood]

Howdy Chuck, you helped me out a few months back when I first bought this projector back in Jan 01. I am sitting back around 11.5 feet from a 92:52 DaLite High Power. I love the 400Q still even though it's considered old and ancient technolgy by probably most on this forum. But since budget constraint and salary limitations don't provide me with the biggest and best, it's not too shabby. I'm using a HTPC, the ATI player, and of course the Radeon LE. At first, going the HTPC route was frustrating, but the added quality you gain made the early troubles worth it in the end. Of course now, I'm on the slow side of adopting to new technology. I met another fellow 400Q owner up in Orange and have enjoyed comparing projectors and their capabilities. Constantly pushing this thing to the brink is a constant enjoyment.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

I have the 400 and my screen size is 8' wide with a sitting position at 11'. I found it to be very good with my DIY blackout fabric screen. The only thing that bothers me at times is the horizontal black bands that show up when there is too much vertical movement, but the cool thing is that when the size of the screen was smaller I could see the black bands more than I do now with the bigger screen. I guess that since the gap between lines is bigger now the difference when the scaler can't keep up is less obvious...or something like that. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

[kthacher]

Chuck,


I am in the very same situation as you are. My 400Q is about two years old now. I was about to order a Sanyo PLV-60 when all the reports about graininess, solarization, etc. started rolling in. Now I am in a holding pattern and don't know what projector to buy. Maybe I will have to wait a while longer.


My current screen size is 92" wide - a DaLite Model B (pull down) with Video Spectra material. I would not buy a pull down screen of this size again. I cannot get it to lie perfectly flat, so I get shadows on the screen, especially in bright scenes.


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Kerry


[This message has been edited by kthacher (edited 06-28-2001).]