[JPinTO]

Well, my "home theater" has completed the transition to phase C.


Phase C is an upgrade from a Panasonic AE100+goo painted wall to a Sanyo Z2 + Carada screen.


The Carada is a perfect fit and I bought it to improve the flexibility of my setup. I bought 2 Carada surfaces: the .8 Grey and the 1.4 White.


This will allow more flexibility in my living room with a lot of glass. During the winter I'll use the grey... in the summer I will swap to the 1.4 white to fight ambient light problems. The combination of Z2 with it's variable iris and Carada with multiple surfaces is an excellent combination for environments like mine with ambient light issues.


My previous AE100 was unviewable during the summer months until 9pm..


There have been several posts over the last few weeks about the effects of ambient light on the image quality. Here are some sample pictures to illustrate the issue (shown with the .8 grey screen).


http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Z2cx.JPG


http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Z2bx.JPG


http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Z2ax.JPG

 

[FlawlessOne]

This will show everyone that the Z2 is fine with some ambient light in the room. Total darkness is unnecessary.

 

[Rhetoric]

Thanks for posting that. Your images tell me a lot.


BTW, I like what you've done with the screen placement.

 

[JPinTO]

Quote:

Originally posted by FlawlessOne This will show everyone that the Z2 is fine with some ambient light in the room. Total darkness is unnecessary.

Correct---- and this is with a .8 gain screen. With a positive gain 1.4 screen the images would be 60% brighter than the pictures shown.


Bear in mind that these images were taken with a relatively new bulb with around 100 hours on it so the image will get dimmer with more hours. I'd just buy a new bulb if it became too dim. The images are also taken on high bulb and open iris... so it's as bright as the Z2 can get on that screen.


Also bear in mind that these pictures were taken using a very BRIGHT movie scene from Shrek. Darker scenes will not be nearly as viewable.

 

[JPinTO]

The room lights you see in the pictures are multiple 50 watt halogens bulbs.


The top picture has a halogen shining directly on the screen. The image is VERY washed out... so you wouldn't actually WANT to watch your Z2 with halogen lights shining directly on it. Although I suppose that I'm getting some extra lumens on the screen using that methodology.


The middle picture shows 3x50watt halogens off to the side and backlighting from the kitchen. The image is very watchable in this state.


The bottom picture shows no room lighting and only bright halogen back-lighting from the kitchen. This again is a nice setup--- because of the backlights.


Backlighting does not destroy the picture quality nearly as much as front lighting does.

 

[SlackerX]

Excellent shots. Thanks!


I like your setup a lot as well. Great use of the space.

 

[rlundy]

Everybody asks for screenshots with ambient light. Its one of the most requested things around here. Those are absolutely perfect-showing differeing levels of light and the resulting picure. Somebody ought to make this one a sticky. The shot of the light coming around the corner form the kitchen answered one of my questions.


If you're an experimenter-I would love to see those same shots with the Carada Brilliant white. Some say that additional gain washes out faster, even though its brighter. I think that in shot2 2 and three the pic would be better-i.e., the light is not hitting the screen-in the first shot it would probably look worse than the gray.


thank you, thank you thank you.

 

[optikill]

pinto,


every time i see your living room i'm just impressed. I love everything about it. I remember the big discussion about furniture (kitchen table and lounging chairs). I just love the painting on the walls as masking. You've inspired me to do a city scape skyline when I get my pj.


I have but two questions....


Can we see a shot of the rack where you're holding z2 at? I'm assuming it's still side shot like the ae100 was.


Finally what are the specs of the HTPC your using. I've often been intrigued to ask you, but never had the chance.


Thanks!

 

[JPinTO]

Quote:

Originally posted by optikill Can we see a shot of the rack where you're holding z2 at? I'm assuming it's still side shot like the ae100 was. Finally what are the specs of the HTPC your using. I've often been intrigued to ask you, but never had the chance.

Thanks for the compliments.


Here is an old shot of my living room layout. You can see the AV rack/shelf is opposite the screen. The Z2's zoom is not long enough so it's mounted on a pull out shelf to bring it closer to the screen. There is no need to use keystoning but the lens shift is an incredible asset since I'm restricted with how much I can move the projector in the rack.


http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Avrack5.jpg




Here's another old picture of the rack back when the AE100 was in it. The Z2 is in exactly the same location.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Avrack3.jpg


I can post updated pictures later.



As for the HTPC, I used a Shuttle XPC mini-cube that fits nicely in the bottom of the AV rack. It's just a Celeron 1.7/256mb/80gb drive with ATI 9000. I'm running Theatertek software with FFDShow. I need a processor upgrade at some point so that I can run WM9 files.


- JP

 

[JPinTO]

Quote:

Originally posted by rlundy If you're an experimenter-I would love to see those same shots with the Carada Brilliant white. Some say that additional gain washes out faster, even though its brighter. I think that in shot2 2 and three the pic would be better-i.e., the light is not hitting the screen-in the first shot it would probably look worse than the gray.

I can't promise pics right now on the 1.4 screen, but I'll post some at some point. It's tough to do a surface swap when you have a 1.5 year old running around getting their paws into everything.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

That's just about the coolest screen install I've seen. Nice!

 

[majozx3]

very nicely arranged indeed!

like your couch too..

zed

 

[Tom J. Davis]

Quote:

It's tough to do a surface swap when you have a 1.5 year old running around getting their paws into everything.

How true. I pretty much gave up on my home theater until Tommy got out of that stage. He's 7 now and actually enjoys the projector, instead of trying to hang off of it.

 

[JPinTO]

Thanks for the compliments.


Here's a current AV Rack picture with the Z2 on a shelf slider and the Shuttle cube HTPC on the bottom.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/506/20403AVRackx.JPG

 

[JPinTO]

You think you have ambient light problems? Get a load of this! This picture shows HALF the windows in the viewing area. http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/ima...s/banghead.gif http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/ima...s/banghead.gif

http://gallery.avsforum.com/data/501/20403Layoutx.JPG

 

[victor-eyd]

Excellent photos JPinto!


If anyone wanted to see how a pj with less than 1000 lumens in a lit room displayed images these photos show that it can work, just use indirect light or backlighting.

 

[Goosey]

Nice Pics. Are you using maximum lumens in that pic? Also are you projecting the picture at an angle? I can't really tell.

 

[JTG13]

JPinto, It's refreshing to see someone who doesn't live in a dark cave with their home theater. The pics look great and gives me hope that I don't have to live in total darkness to enjoy a really big screen. Thanks for the pics...looks great

 

[JPinTO]

Quote:

Originally posted by Goosey Nice Pics. Are you using maximum lumens in that pic? Also are you projecting the picture at an angle? I can't really tell.

Yes, high bulb and open iris... that is the brightest the Z2 will output.


THe image is not projected on an angle. The picture was taken on an angle.

 

[JPinTO]

Quote:

Originally posted by victor-eyd If anyone wanted to see how a pj with less than 1000 lumens in a lit room displayed images these photos show that it can work, just use indirect light or backlighting.

Don't forget that the projector is just one piece of the puzzle. The screen surface is an important component. The difference between the .8 and 1.4 gain screens is noticable.