SVGA with Faroudja or XGA without???

van_d_ · 05-03-2005, 04:15 PM

Guys I’ve been hammering my head lately what projector to chose for home theater.
I have tried so far regular SVGA with no video enhacement chips ;
Toshiba TLP (800X600)And Sharp SVGA DLP (800X600) – very compact unites, but
Both have a ‘screen door’ effect.

Infocus –X1 – SVGA (800X600) with Faroudja chip – no screen door effect – even basic (not HDTV) channels look good.
But the unite its very bulky…

I have never tried for home video any XGA Projector.
Do they have ‘screen door’ effect?

If XGA is not meant for home video is it still going to deliver smooth no digital artifacts video like the SVGA with Farougja DIS??

How does a regular video signal ( basic (not HDTV) Satellite channels tru DTV or Dishnet) look like if the XGA has no Faroudja or any other DIS?
So what should I buy:
SVGA with Faroudja or XGA without???

I have laid my eyes on the following projectors @ Fry’s electronics;
Optoma H31 Home Theater DLP 800x600 3000:1 contrast ratio $1,299.99
Optoma EP738 DLP Projector 800x600 SVGA2000:1 contrast ratio $899.99 - my choice
Optoma EP739x XGA (1024x768) DLP Projector 2000:1 contrast ratio $1,599.99

Optoma EP738 DLP Projector 800x600 SVGA deliverers ve-e-ry smooth picture for a SVGA ( no screendoor effect whatsoever ..very compact unite (Size of tel. answering machine), very good price…
Is it worth to spend more money for the XGA version?

John S · 05-03-2005, 04:22 PM

Never really thought of it in these terms...
I take it HD Projos are over the budget?

I think right now, you would have to go with an X1 / 4805 sort of thing given your somewhat limited testing of it.

There is so much more to a display than resolution / connection.

Color decoding, grey scale tracking, ect..ect.. All add as much if not more to the picture quality than raw resolution.

James Phung · 05-03-2005, 04:47 PM

I find it odd that you see less sde on one dlp 800x600 projector vs another, as they should be very similar when it comes to sde. However, brightness, focus, zoom all factor in when it comes to sde. You should see less sde with a 1024x768 projector. Faroudja helps clean up the picture, but it does not play any factor with SDE. I'm thinking you may have screen door mixed with something else like video noise or something...

van_d_ · 05-05-2005, 04:59 PM

James, I know exactly what a video noice and Screen door effects are.
Faroudja makes bi-i-i-ig difference of redusing the SDE to minimum. I have tested many SVGA projectors with and without Faroudja. Put Infocus X1 or X2 next to a regular SVGA business projector and you will see what am I talking about. You have to feed tehm from the same source.

Update:

I called customer service @ Optoma Co and talked to a tech support.
They said that Optoma H1 – home theatre has 2 ‘Faroudja’ like chips called Pixelworks
One for Deinterlacing: Pixelworks PW1231
And one for Video Scaling: Pixelworks PW166
Also 6 segments 5X speed color wheel

So if the Projector is not meant to be for home video even dough it has high contrast and is XGA – it still will have lot of cons when used as home theater – low speed wheel (2x) and smaller color segment number 3 or 4) which will cause “Rainbow effect” and bad deinterlacer. If you watch regular cable – it will look like a crap.

So I think I’ll go with a hometheater one.
The Infocus X1 has good, smooth picture – I do not notice any screen door, but a lot of rainbow effects when you move your eyes fast from corner to corner you see this red-orange trail.. some people don’t, but I do.

I also fount a very good priced BenQ PE 5120 home theater which I want to check out too.
BenQ PE 5120 - I thinks it beats them all (SVGS-s). – Smallest unite, lowest price, lowest noise, ‘Faroudja’-like Deinterlasing chip for smoothing the picture..

$847 @ nextag.com

DLPTM Projection System
- Native 16:9 WVGA Resolution
- 1100 ANSI lumens
- 2000:1 contrast ratio
- 60" @ 6.6ft Wide Angle Lens
- HDTV Compatible (YPbPr)
- 6.4 lbs
- 26 dB Noise Level under eco-mode
- 1:1.2 zoom lens
- 5 segment color wheel
- 8 sets of Preset Mode

James Phung · 05-06-2005, 09:41 AM

Actually, the X2 does not use a faroudja chip. If you're willing to look at the Optoma H31 mentioned above (which is 852x480 native resolution, not 800x600, and 4x wheel), you should also look at the Infocus Screenplay 4805 which is very similar but has a Faroudja chip and is better calibrated out of box.

Technically, every digital projector has some sort of deinterlacing chip, and technically, they can say their's is similar to Faroudja. However, they are not faroudja, though I hear the pixelworks chip is pretty decent. The benq I must note uses a 2x color wheel.

Screen door also depends on optics and technology. I know DLPs have a better pixel fill (80% and up) than LCDs (60%).

**HTF Ads**

Neil Joseph · 05-06-2005, 02:50 PM

Does your budget include the Panasonic 700? (a WXGA projector @ 1280x720) Not sure of the latest retail price on that side of the border but others can chime in to that effect.

van_d_ · 05-09-2005, 04:16 PM

Well,
Panasonic PT-AE700U is on the pricy site... It’s almost $2000
Optoma with the same features is mach cheaper ..
Or I'll wait for Infocus X3 – XGA native with Faroudja Dis comes this June for 1000-1100 USD if its not out already...

James Phung · 05-10-2005, 11:57 AM

There's no mention of the x3 having faroudja in any of the information i've seen on it. The x3 should still look great with or without faroudja. You only need faroudja if you plan on watching a good amount of 480i sources.