DLP Rainbow Progress Thread

Doug Miller · 03-22-2004, 12:08 AM

Hey Everybody --

Wanted to talk about the "Rainbow Phenomenon" on DLP. I've had my Sammy 43" DLP for a little over a week and am one of the guys that can see it. (It makes me think of They Live -- "I've got one that can see , gotta love that movie.)

Anyway, being an idiot, I was trying to see the rainbow... and well, it worked. At first the rainbows seemed really frequent and jarring. I've noticed that over the last few days, my eyes seem to be adjusting a bit and I'm seeing them less. We watched Harry Potter Sorceror's Stone last night and I only saw them once or twice.

I'm curious on how everyone else's experience with rainbows is going. How are your eyes adapting, etc? I know the one thing I'm still noticing is that my eyes get fatigued watching it, and I'm curious if this is something that fades. The Doc' has always said that I have better than perfect vision, and I don't want that fading away over a TV

. HD looks so damn pretty on the thing that I want to hold onto it, but want to know what the future holds.

Thanks,
Doug

Jason GT · 03-22-2004, 12:46 AM

I had some eyestrain initially, though I was sitting pretty close (8-9') from a 50" set.

As for rainbows, I don't think that there's ever any real "adaptation" to them; some people (apparently) are highly susceptible to rainbows. Personally I see them in classic rainbow situations (high contrast + motion), nowhere else.

Michael Osadciw · 03-22-2004, 01:30 AM

It's unfortunate I can't watch single-chip DLP too long without getting a serious headache. I really like the colour and depth perception of DLP over other displays. But when I watch it, not only do my eyes get fatigued, but my brain does as well. I don't even have to 'see' colour wheel for that to happen. My brain is picking up something I can't see visually and makes my head feel heavy and hurt...very strange. It's not fun, especially when I have to look at them all day sometimes. Hence, I'm sticking with LCD for now.

Mike

Gabriel_Lam · 03-22-2004, 01:53 AM

Doug,

One thing you may want to try is using some bias lighting behind the TV (it should not throw any illumination on the screen itself). This tends to help a bit. Use a very dim lamp or something. If that helps, spend a few more bucks and get some D65 bias lighting.

Eric Samonte · 03-22-2004, 09:19 PM

I had an X1 before, great pj but I suddenly saw them. At first I thought it was just a glitch or something, like pixelation then, suddenly it reared its ugly head that I couldn't stand it. I returned it. So a few weeks later I happen to pass by a Samsung DLP. Lo and behold I got a glimpse of rainbows again. While I wasn't getting any headaches and such, I do see them wuite easily that I believe, I'm one the few who are actually susceptible to them. As for "getting used" to rainbows, I don't think I will be. Then again, maybe a 4x wheel might make a world of difference.

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Scott L · 03-23-2004, 04:30 AM

Yea have any of you guys seen a DLP with a 4X color wheel? I wonder if the effect disappears completely or we need to go even faster.

ChrisWiggles · 03-23-2004, 02:39 PM

No, not even the 5x color wheels eliminate rainbows for me.

DaveGTP · 03-23-2004, 04:42 PM

I still see rainbows on our X1, but lately it's hard to tell. I think my brain has tuned out a few of the tinier rainbow effects. I have watched very little that is not anime lately (beyond a bit of Babylon 5 and a bit of *cough* some, uh, LOTR movie. Anime shows rainbows only VERY infrequently, as I mostly see them in high-contrast, light on dark, black on white, type scenes.

I still see a lot of them in very dark movies. I have demo'd a 5x Marantz $12k projector at a HT shop, and didn't see any trace of rainbows. Although, I'm not sure if there was enough contrast for me to be victim to it badly. Samsung RPTVs I can only see them on it if I deliberately try to generate them, and it is very difficult to see.

I've got an Infocus 4805 on pre-order for upgrade - I'm confident the 4x wheel will get rid of most, or almost all, of the rainbows for me. General comments on the AVSforum rainbow thread and Optoma H30 thread indicate that an upgrade to 4x gets rid of the vast majority of rainbows for a majority 0f people. Some are still victim, though.

I have a theory that the more of a videogamer you are, the worse the rainbows will likely be. In my small, unscientific sampling of people, so far, the gamers (me and a buddy) see them the worst, followed by the semi-gamers (fiancee, a couple of friends), followed by non-gamers (fiancee's parents). Fiancee's parents, when questioned, have no idea what we are talking about. This is based off comments from those who have seen the X1 in action. Just a theory.

Max Leung · 03-23-2004, 09:19 PM

I could see rainbows even on an NEC HT1000 (DLP 4x) projector. Plus eyestrain, like looking at a dying fluorescent light.

I can only see rainbows on a 5x DLP on very high contrast images, such as credits rolling. However, the eyestrain is still there unless the projector brightness is lowered, or on a multi-thousand dollar screen (like a Stewart Greyhawk or Firehawk).

I blame DLP for making me see rainbows on rear-projection CRT televisions.