Technical Issues and Questions

[MichaelB]

You really need to adjust the room around the projector to get the most out of it, so remember that.

I spoke to a guy once who'd moved into a new house, and he'd specifically earmarked space to put a projector... and painted the walls and ceiling white! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Yes, the room I have in mind is going to be purpose-designed for a projector from the outset!

But it doesn't exist yet. Or rather, the space exists, but there's not a lot I can do with it just yet, as it's currently occupied by two-thirds of our kitchen.

[David M.]

I've always preferred the look of DLP which seems to have a more organic feel when compared to LCD (similar to plasma televisions in this regard).

Good eye. They both use Pulse Width Modulation as a way to drive the imaging device.

For the people recommending LCD projectors instead of DLP for black and white content, do remember one other thing: LCDs tend not to have good white field uniformity, meaning that a white screen will show different patches of red, green and blue splats. That's especially noticeable with... black and white films - but is probably less annoying than coloured motion streaks. You can't win!

[EddieLarkin]

Does LCOS offer any particular advantages over both?

[David M.]

Yes, LCOS tends to have the best contrast performance.

If you love the look of projected 35mm film (the motion charactersitics specifically), look at the Sony LCOS projectors (SXRD). They have a dark frame insertion mode which mimics the sharp motion look added by the shutter of film projectors. If I was buying a new projector now I'd insist on this feature, everyone else I speak to in the industry looks at me like I'm nuts ("why would you want more flicker?") but my view is "why would you want a totally sterile picture". For me it's the difference between watching a film and a giant TV.

Shameless/shameful/you decide plug http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/sony-vpl ... 042380.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The downside of the Sonys is worse uniformity than the JVC D-ILA equivalents.

[EddieLarkin]

Well you can't be entirely alone; someone at Sony wanted the feature too! I'd be very interested to see what it looks like. Sadly, it's going to be a good 3-5 years before I have enough cash (and space) for a swanky dedicated projector room. At least 4K might be affordable by then.

[jindianajonz]

You really need to adjust the room around the projector to get the most out of it, so remember that.

I spoke to a guy once who'd moved into a new house, and he'd specifically earmarked space to put a projector... and painted the walls and ceiling white! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Noob question: What's the problem with white walls and a projector? Too much ambient light?

[zedz]

You really need to adjust the room around the projector to get the most out of it, so remember that.

I spoke to a guy once who'd moved into a new house, and he'd specifically earmarked space to put a projector... and painted the walls and ceiling white! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Noob question: What's the problem with white walls and a projector? Too much ambient light?

I know nothing about home cinema projection, but having projected 16mm in various non-theatrical spaces, this would definitely be an issue. You turn on the projector and the whole room lights up. In a small domestic setting I imagine it would be like turning on floodlights.

[David M.]

You really need to adjust the room around the projector to get the most out of it, so remember that.

I spoke to a guy once who'd moved into a new house, and he'd specifically earmarked space to put a projector... and painted the walls and ceiling white! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Noob question: What's the problem with white walls and a projector? Too much ambient light?

What zedz said: during bright scenes, the entire room lights up, and the white walls reflect back onto the screen and wash the entire picture out. It's like turning on a light in the room.

The ceiling above the screen is usually the biggest problem. I have mine in (what was) a white room but I use black velvet on the walls to absorb the light. The difference wasn't subtle at all.

[repeat]

For the people recommending LCD projectors instead of DLP for black and white content, do remember one other thing: LCDs tend not to have good white field uniformity, meaning that a white screen will show different patches of red, green and blue splats. That's especially noticeable with... black and white films - but is probably less annoying than coloured motion streaks. You can't win!

Oh man... What once seemed an enticing prospect has now become a daunting ordeal of choosing the least of many evils!

Does the distance of the screen from the ceiling affect the back reflection? Got a pretty tall ceiling here and I was planning to place the screen rather low anyway, as I tend to watch my films from the "Ozu angle". There would be at least five feet (150 cm) between the screen and the ceiling, and no visible white walls nearby.

[Jonathan S]

For the people recommending LCD projectors instead of DLP for black and white content, do remember one other thing: LCDs tend not to have good white field uniformity, meaning that a white screen will show different patches of red, green and blue splats. That's especially noticeable with... black and white films - but is probably less annoying than coloured motion streaks. You can't win!

Oh man... What once seemed an enticing prospect has now become a daunting ordeal of choosing the least of many evils!

I believe David M is referring to the same issue I mentioned on the previous page:

[LCD projectors...] can also suffer, even when new, from lack of colour uniformity across the image - particularly obvious, ironically, on b&w...

I've seen this issue on every LCD projector I've owned or auditioned, but it seems much less obvious these days. Until I bought the Epson, I owned five machines which were all the same model but the red and green patches (I've never seen blue, except with panel deterioration) varied in both prominence and location from one unit to another, though they were usually in the corners, so most obvious on b&w widescreen. It can often be ameliorated though not eradicated with colour controls.

However, on the Epson there's only the faintest difference in hue (to my eyes) between one side of the screen and the other. I probably wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been already alert to the problem (my partner couldn't see it even when I pointed it out). When I raised it before purchase I was told:

Unfortunately, at this price point, with LCD projectors, there is always an element of miss alignment of the LCD panels. If you want to eliminate this concern, you will need increase your budget to a minimum £1600 + VAT such as the Epson TW8100

However, I'm not sure this would help as it's also visible - to the same slight degree - on a new NEC LCD bought by our community cinema for over £3000. When the Epson TW-3200 first came out there were many complaints about red corners, but PP told me this has been much reduced on more recent units like mine.

I agree with the views that DLP (the only alternative at budget price, I believe) delivers a superior image overall, but for me it's completely ruled out by RBE, even on expensive DLPs. I see the rainbows popping up literally every few seconds and the result is not merely irritating but unwatchable. However, if you (and anyone else using the machine) don't suffer from RBE, I'd go with DLP which is also cheaper and offers a wider choice at "entry-level".

Finally - and this is a common experience - I found that once I'd used a projector, even with its flaws and the extra care needed, I could never go back to watching a TV, even for relatively casual viewing. The only TV I own is a tiny old CRT for monitoring off-air recordings.

[subliminac]

LCDs tend not to have good white field uniformity, meaning that a white screen will show different patches of red, green and blue splats. That's especially noticeable with... black and white films - but is probably less annoying than coloured motion streaks. You can't win!

Is it possible to get something close to perfect white field uniformity on an LCD projector? I've found that even if one is good out of the box tinting may develop as the bulb ages. I currently own an Epson 8700ub that was pretty much perfect to begin with, but when the bulb hit about 300 hours (also the time when I had to switch out of eco mode to achieve sufficient brightness) tinting became an issue. Now one side has a noticeable pink cast, the opposite side, blue. Its not an issue when watching color films, but its definitely a distraction on B&W ones. It bothers me enough that I'm considering giving up on projectors altogether, as DLP is not an option due to RBE and LCoS is out of my price range.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Does anyone have any tips on setting up a Mac notebook/Thunderbolt Monitor setup with Blu-ray? As in, what are the best, most reasonably priced external drives on the market? I need to be Region-free, and I'm a little fuzzy on how that works with external blu-drives. Are they like DVD drives, where some had a built in limit to the number of changes possible, or do they just come in region locked and region free varieties?

Any help would be great.

[David M.]

Are there any good BD players on the Mac? I don't think any can play the menus and I'm also not sure if there are any players which can stitch multiple clips together into one seamless film (in the case of seamless branching titles). Wouldn't it be cheaper to just get a BD set top player?

[fdm]

For a while, on macblurayplayer.com there were pictures of a new upcoming version 3.0 (as I recall) that appeared to have implemented the menus, but those pictures have disappeared in the meantime. In terms of region free, their current Blu-ray Player software ignores regions for blu-ray (so no need to worry about changing regions). I don't spend any time watching blu-rays on my computer though, but my dabbling in the past gave me the impression that it works okay. (Sometimes newer titles wouldn't play, but every so often they update the software to handle issues with certain titles; I don't know how comprehensive they are in getting them all playing.) To play, just insert disc, and select what you want to play (see their website). (In terms of seamless branching, I haven't tried any that I know of, so no idea of how well that may/not work. I would suspect it does work...) Should be a demo available for you to try with your hardware.

It's probably the only software that works with Mac, unless you can somehow manage to get the right libraries in place for vlc (I tried once, without success, but the above software obviated the desire to spend much time on it). Haven't really checked recently, so maybe there's something else by now.

[David M.]

That's cool if they got menus working. It shouldn't be too difficult for HDMV titles (most f the stuff coming out of European indie studios) but implementing Java (Hollywood titles + Criterion US BDs) probably isn't going to be fun for them...

Hell, on the whole, BD-J discs aren't even fun to USE, let alone try to implement

[fdm]

Well, the 3.0 software pictures aren't on their site any more so maybe they did get menus working, maybe they didn't.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Thanks guys. I think I'll try and get VLC set up, and if it isn't satisfactory, pick up MacGo.

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just get a BD set top player?

Can you plug one of these into a monitor though?

[David M.]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to just get a BD set top player?

Can you plug one of these into a monitor though?

Yeah, provided the monitor has an HDMI output. If it doesn't, you can go in via DVI with a DVI<->HDMI adapter.

But I think if you can possibly put a bit more away for a projector the Sony is a drop dead gorgeous beast of a thing. If like me you don't want to spend a grand in calibration and you want a basic 1.0 to 1.2 gain cheapo screen, and semi batcave conditions rather than dedicated torture chamber (former sling room etc) and a PJ that knocks your pants off (in 2D and 3D) this is the PJ for you.

A grand Calibation costs about £250 (UK) - not pocket change though! Glad you're enjoying it.

[David M.]

Yikes. That and sunlight - I need to get me to Oz!

[zedz]

If that's the going rate, you could probably fund an extended Australian holiday by booking in a few days of calibrations in advance, David!

[colinr0380]

Is it just me or did anyone else think at the mention of a sling room that if it were coupled with a 3D projector and a blacked out room it would be the ultimate conditions in which to watch the upcoming Gravity in?

[swo17]

How often do any of you projector users change your lamps? Once mine hits 2000 hours I am prompted to replace it, but I am cheap and would maybe like to get more of my money's worth out of it as long as I'm not risking damage to the rest of the unit.

[matrixschmatrix]

My last one burnt out in the player without any ill effects, and well before that happened it was getting dimmer and dimmer to the point where I had to have the ultrabright dynamic lighting settings for things to be reasonably visible. Dunno exactly where that was in hours, but I'd take the bulb dimming as a prompting rather than a strict time-used.

[knives]

Amateur question: I just got a PS3 and it is only reading my television as 4:3. I can't find where to switch it to widescreen in the video settings (only offers to watch in pan and scan or letterbox for 4:3).

[peerpee]

Amateur question: I just got a PS3 and it is only reading my television as 4:3. I can't find where to switch it to widescreen in the video settings (only offers to watch in pan and scan or letterbox for 4:3).

It's probably the "input" settings for that particular input (HDMI) on your *TV* that's the culprit?