[ELPIRATA]

Ok, its been like a week or 2 already and Im enjoying this baby a lot. I'm not a video expert and as such I'll just hit the obvious things that I've liked so far

Im using a 16:9 Elite white screen, which is not the best for this Projector, unless you have a totally black room. To me it looks amazing, but to an expert it might not.

Also keep in mind I havent plugged in other video sources like a HD DVD player with HDMI connections and such, so far its only the standard VGA cable.

This baby is a native 1280x720/768 projector, which means that it is a Hi Def 720 , not the highest end of all, but a very good one. Able to do (numbers are amazing) a contrast of 10,000:1 this is supposedly the projector that does the best blacks in this price range (unit new is about $3,000), and it has a lot of connectors on the back and a RJ-45 connector in the front (which beats me... no info whatsoever to what its used for).

The manual says that the best cinema black features are NOT available via the VGA input, which honestly was not what I expected, though its reasonable, as most video cards already do that on their own control panel software, but still... I expected the blackest of all blacks Its not the end of the world though.

So, I can only adjust the brightness/contrast and 2 or 3 other settings, but it doesnt look bad at all. Compared to this LCD I was using, the darker scenes look a LOT better. Im missing a direct comparison with a HD DVD of Planet Earth (run at 720) and compare with my 'digital rip' and see if there's loss of detail or not, and ultimately this will either push me to get a better dvd player and such... and this might mean changes to the actual surround setup... but lets wait for those comparisons later.

I guess the biggest fear I had with the unit was related to how games play in widescreen LCD's. Jumpgate and many others who cannot support 16:9 aspect ratios/resolutions would look stretched and for the most part, there arent workarounds for them. There are forums that explain tricks you can do with certain games/monitors but many times... the game/monitor it wont do it.

This is where I was worried the most and it was exciting to find out how the projector deals with these. As I have it set at 1280x720 (slightly less height than the 768 setting) I can see the display using the whole real state of the Elite screen, which is very nice compared to 1280x768.. where black bars appear on the sides. However, when I launch any game that has been set in normal 4:3 ratio.. the projector.. voila... automatically adjust output to match the incoming signal.

So, old games like CS, NBA Live 2003, Sports Car GT, Jumpgate Classic, Rally Championship 2000, and such, the are correctly displayed in 4:3 format... which in my book is a lot better than stretched. Problem I have is that the projector uses a system in which it adjust to what content is displayed, therefore making some games harder to play than others.

The racing games look pretty nice, I may adjust the brightness a bit, but that's about it. The NBA game works well without adjustments, BUT Jumpgate Classic and shooters like CS have problems. Jumpgate Classic is too dark and no matter how much you adjust the brightness (on the projector) it still looks dark. In fact, the F5 text... is almost unreadable, reason why I kept saying in F5 that I wasnt ignoring people...

CS is another matter, it looks well but I can't see to diferentiate targets well while using the standard crosshair. I can be 15-20ft of the target and miss by a couple of feet, which is VERY BAD. Surprisingly... old UT didnt affect me much to my aiming and killing.

As I said, movies do look good, even those small rips that are common in torrent sites, it doesnt compare to a 720p source, but its still good to see instead of the horrible I thought I would get.

The projector's remote is lighted, very nice, and easy to use.

At first I was told my screen would get me like 83", which is big but no, its not like that... its more like 95" and Im quite happy with it.

Soon I'll be making more tests and playing with the Geforce settings and see if I can make it better, but the plan so far is to use the PC as my main source of media and not get an external DVD, which may or not look better, we'll know later when we do tests.

I've been waiting for this like 10 years +, and even though I know that projectors require lamps to work... I'm enjoying every minute.

ELP

[netburnr]

Pics or it didn't happen

[ELPIRATA]

One big problem with that though.... my camera is lost. I have no clue where I placed it... and I suspect its long gone if I missplaced it at a client's office.

ELP

[Tritian]

my friend had a projector. he loved it until the bulb blew out a few times. Soon, they werent making his bulb anymore, and he had to sell the projector because the only places he could get bulbs at cost 5x markup.

[ELPIRATA]

Yep, the bulb is the biggest problem with projectors. Basically Im in a state of alert looking for bulbs before my bulb even goes out. Im glad my bulb is new and it will last me at least (If I keep the actual rate of usage) a year.

Anyways, I plan to buy me another bulb, but in 2 years I most probably will move to another projector, more recent technology and such, what you can't do is stay with the same unit forever... not when you can get cheap stuff over ebay that normally would have cost a couple of grands.

ELP

[Jump]

I'm still using two 32 inch CRT's. Like the energizer bunny they keep going and going. And their original cost was way cheaper than the same size LCD. Actually, I think I won one at work so it was free.

[Eraser55]

I just bought PS3 yesterday.. cost me more then 1000$ with 3 games:/ stupid norway..

anyway,the quality on my dvd movies increased drasticly

[Diver012]

Originally Posted by Jump

I'm still using two 32 inch CRT's. Like the energizer bunny they keep going and going. And their original cost was way cheaper than the same size LCD. Actually, I think I won one at work so it was free.

Im with ya Jump! I still got the ol 29" CRT. It still works for me!

[ELPIRATA]

I hope you both use glasses or at worst... anti glare filters....

CRT's are known to cause vision problems in the long run.... and eat up a lot of power too. LCD's on the other hand.... none/minimal consumption.

I still have my CRT around, but its unplugged honestly. I probably will give them to somebody that might want them, some fella that will driver over here and pick them up too... they are bulky

ELP

[Jump]

Well, I don't site right in front of the TV like I do my computer monitor.

[ELPIRATA]

Well, the pictures, sorry for the bad quality....







ELP