DLP and rainbow...i can't see it? (1 Viewer)

Before I actually saw a DLP screen, I read about horror stories of a rainbow effect.

Went to check some out today, and out of about the 6 or 7 different ones I saw, I couldn't see any "rainbow".

Is it just me, or was I not looking correctly? I tried looking back and forth rapidly, or up and down.

What kind of setup environment was it. Not everyone can see them.

The in-store displays. Looked at several different models and sizes, even the same version in different stores

Are these RPTVs you are talking about? What store did you go to? Was it a Best Buy or something similar, where all the lights in the store are on?

If so, that's not enough to go on...you have to watch them in a dark (light controlled) room.

But I mean what kind of store? I'm envisioning a large chain store with everything out on the floor in a brightly lit environment, which will greatly diminish rainbow visibility. A proper setup, in a dark room will reveal rainbows much easier.

Dan- I like you have never seen them. I try and look for them on my 4805 projecting a 106" image in a dark room and have had no luck...which is a good thing I guess!!!

Chris, yes, they were all on showroom floors (BB, CC, and Sears). Well lit areas

View in a dark environment, and see whether they are visible or bothersome to you.

I've got a SP5700, and I never see the rainbows. My wife does occasionally. The best example which gets her every time is in TLOR ~ Fellowship, when they are on the mountain side and its snowing. Bright scenes are supposed to do that - if your prone.

I see it on my 4805 when I have my computer's display on it. It has to be a white backgorund with black text, I can see rainbow shimmers on the edges of the text, just faintly though from my distance. I am still wondering what all the hub-bub is or why I can't see 'em during movies!

I have a 4805 and I see flashes of rainbows occassionally, typically when there is a scene rapidly moving from a white area to a very dark area, or vice versa.

However, this is a very small deal, as you can tell, lots of people don't even notice it.

I am SUPER picky ... I'm always staring at the screen trying to see the pixels when I should just sit back and enjoy the damn movie!

I read somewhere that less than 10% of people can see or are bothered by rainbows. Chances are you are not. I can see them if I look, but they don't worry me and I can't really see the point of searching for them.

Steve

Also, isnt the effect less with the rptv sets versus fp?

Also I think the effect goes away over time, and using proper calibration.

The first movie I watched had rainbows all over them, and for the next week I would see them.

After a couple weeks I hardly ever noticed them. Only black and white movies seem to really bring them out, and even then it is still easy to watch and not headache inducing.

I truly believe most people who returned their x1s or other dlp projectors, probably would have had the effect diminish for them if they had stuck with it.

On a side note I can still bring them out if I crank up the contrast or if I make the image size too big for my viewing distance.

It sounds like you're not trying hard enough. The DLP "rainbows" bothered me less than the washout, motion artifacts and smearing of other types. Ya' picks yer poison.

Not technically speaking, if only because it's a smaller screen, you may be viewing at a smaller viewing angle, and thus moving your eyes around less, hence less rainbow visibility. Also, many RPTV users are viewing in lit environments, rather than the dark environments needed for FP, which will bring them out more. But there is no technical difference, though colorwheel speeds will vary between models, etc.

Explain to me how one tries "hard enough" to see them...I looked at these DLP's with the express purpose of trying to see this rainbow horror story I keep reading about.

Only thing I can imagine, is that perhaps I'm not doing the right sequence of actions...of course these were all on the well-lit showroom floor.

I've tried looking rapidly back and forth across the screen, as well as up and down, and in circles. Hell, i've even shook my head back and forth while doing this (must have looked like an idiot, but oh well).

Tounge-in-cheek, Dan. From the same horror stories you've read, I'd expect to find a pile of quivering, waxen bodies in front of the DLP sets in Best Buy. I found that I can spot them if I shake my head as if in the throws of a Grand Mal seizure. Try it, then you too can post "AH-HAH!" that you saw them and warn the unsuspecting...

Seriously, even if you are susceptible, it's tough to judge on a selling floor.

You go to a proper environment. A well-lit floor in a chain store is not a proper environment for viewing ANY video, let alone hunting for artifacts such as rainbows. The bright lights will reduce visibility significantly. Room color will also affect it. Regardless, it varies from person to person, view in a proper demo room with the lights off to match your viewing conditions at home (which hopefully are a darkend room) and see if in normal viewing, they bother you. You may not notice at all. If you want to dart your eyes around, you should be able to see them, but people don't shake their heads around and glace around really fast back and forth usually, during normal viewing.