Old vs. New DLP projector question

danDo · 01-16-2006, 11:16 AM

We have been setting up a small home theater since about Christmas time. Our screen came in on Friday so we set it up and decided to watch a movie before we did anymore work.

Our current projector is a Compaq mp1600 (yes very old, but I got it cheap from work). There are no issues with the projector itself. The problem is that my wife apparently suffers from "rainbow effect" and the associated horrible headaches.

We had planned on getting a new projector eventually, but we obviously need to get one as soon as the room is finished.

So I came here and searched for information but could not find a specific yes/no answer to the following questions:

1) If you have rainbos effects on older projector can you still have them with a newer projector? I read that the newer ones are not as bad, but that did not really answer the question.

2) Is there a difference between hdtv and projector image for beign susceptable to rainbow effects?

3) If we are only using the projector for movies (max 10 hours a week) is there "really" an issue between dlp and lcd?

Thank you in advance,

Dan

John S · 01-16-2006, 11:30 AM

1. Yes, even though improved I can see rainbows on every 720p DLP I have ever viewed on.

2. I see them on all DLP displays, not just front projectors.

3. define issue? There are trade offs between the two technologies. Rainbows are a big one with DLP, 3 chip LCD's are immune to this, but tend to dsiplay a bit of screen door effect, and tend to not produce all the shadings of black that a DLP will.

I chose the cheapo Infocus SP5000 LCD and I am very happy with it. But in a dedicated theater, I think I'd look at a Z3 as the bargain projo of choice. The Z4 has amazing specs, but now your really pushing $2K for a projector which was way out of my budget.

Joseph Bolus · 01-16-2006, 11:49 AM

I saw occasional "rainbows" from DVDs' on my old Infocus X1 (which utilized a 2x speed, 4 segment color wheel); the newer 4805 model includes a 4x speed, 6 segment color wheel, and I have *never* seen a "rainbow" from any projected video source while viewing it. (And none of the numerous relatives and guests that I've had over have complained about "rainbows" either. Mostly, they just can't get over how good the picture looks!) The 4805 is being replaced by a newer model that was recently introduced at the Vegas CES, and you should be able to pick one up at a bargain price right now. You could try it out, and if your wife has problems with it you could eBay it and not lose much (if any) money. I still think that it's the best 480p widescreen DLP projector out there.

John S · 01-16-2006, 11:53 AM

The 4805 is tougher to see them on for sure.

With that projector, it is like I will view for 2 hours and not see them, then all of the sudden I start see'n them, and I see them the rest of the viewing session. So way improved for sure.

Infocus does make it ultra easy to try out the projectors though. So little to no risk involved.

danDo · 01-16-2006, 01:15 PM

I asked question 2 wondering if it would be worth while for my wife and I to take a trip to best buy and plop her infront of the various dlp TV sets and see if there are any rainbow effects for her. She noticed the rainbows in the movie almost immediatly when she moved her eyes around.

I ask question 3 because in my short time "guesting" on these forums I noticed a definate DLP camp vs LCD camp. The only differencec I am aware of are the rainbow and screen door look.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Dan

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John S · 01-16-2006, 02:46 PM

Plop down in front of 720p DLP displays.

My friend who is also senitive to Rainbows, tells me the 1080p sets are much better on the issue. And if there is one in the store, I will bet they will have it as the one you plop down in front of.

1080p front projectors are out of most people's price range still.

danDo · 01-30-2006, 07:18 PM

Well we ended up going to a locak home theater installation company and checked out their lcd and dlp projectors. My wife saw no rainbows so we decided to go with the 4805. Quickly set it up and as soon as the movie was on she saw rainbows streaking across the screen

The sales person at Infinity was really nice about the situation. So we are waiting on a RMA for the 4805 and we went ahead and ordered the 5000 instead. I was pretty amazed at the picture quality of the 4805 just sending the video from my old dvd player.

Does anyone know if the 5000 has a similar chipset for converting the image? Will I need to send it progressive scan or need to get an "upconverting" dvd player?

Thanks for your help.

Dan

Reginald Trent · 01-30-2006, 08:20 PM

You wouldn't have to worry about rainbows or SDE if you got a Panasonic 900U

Joseph Bolus · 01-30-2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Does anyone know if the 5000 has a similar chipset for converting the image? Will I need to send it progressive scan or need to get an "upconverting" dvd player?

Dan:

Sorry to hear that your wife could see the "rainbows" with the 4805. Some people are just hyper-sensitive to RBE, and will have trouble with RBE no matter how fast the color wheel is rotating. Fortunately for DLP chip makers, the percentage of people that are bothered by RBE supposedly drops to around 5% after the color wheel gets to the 4x speed range.

As to the Infocus 5000: I think you'll be happy with it. It's a true high-def projector with a native resolution of 720p. Due to the high pixel count the SDE on the unit is more than tolerable at 1.5x the screen width. The contrast ratio is not as good as the 4805's, but it does provide a brighter image. The 5000 lacks the 4805's excellent Faroudja DCDi de-interlacer chip, so I would definitely recommend mating it with a good progressive-scan DVD player. An upconverting player is not required; the onboard Pixelworks chip does a more than adequate job with scaling.

Good Luck!