CRT-RP Image Quality vs Front Projector (1 Viewer)

[Kirk Patrick]

i am sending back a hitachi 51 crt-rp after 2 weeks of auditioning
beautiful dvd picture but too many other drawbacks which i won't list here

i have quickly become addicted to a large dvd picture and don't the like the options in dlp and lcd rp

can someone give me an idea of the relative merits of a say an optoma h31/infocus 4805 picture vs crt-rp in terms:

sharpness
brightness
color saturation
artifacts etc

i am waiting for the retailer to pick up the set and so am still watching dvd's like dr. zhivago which looks terrific...beautiful on the hitachi

can i get that same pq on an 854x480 fp?
thanks all

 

[Paul Seyfarth]

That 51 won't look very big at all after you check out front projection. And yes the pricutre on that will be great(if you have a dark room), although there are some new front projectors coming out quite soon that have rather decent upgrades to contrast, brightness, resolution.

I don't get that wow factor looking at RPTV's at all any more after going to front projection I don't think I would ever go back.

Even the buget front projectors are quite good.

 

[Kirk Patrick]

i watched apocolypse now and am watching dr. zhivago both of which have incredible blacks in them (apocolypse now especially)

i don't expect to get crt blacks but i'd sure like to get something approximating the "film-like" look of rp-crt which is why i bought the rp-crt in the first place

the rp-lcd and dlp just don't have the film "look" (though i do like the sharpness and fact that they don't need convergence) i am hoping the fp does

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Get the 4805 I am sure wont be dissapointed. After getting the FP you will not called a 51" tv "big screen" anymore. The PQ is great also and if you drive it with a HTPC setup it could be awesome. I saw Chronicles of Riddick yesterday in HD and it was amazing..so much that I only had plans to watch a few scenes and go to sleep but couldnt stop watching.
I have a thread here with some images. Do a small search.
Regards

 

[Kirk Patrick]

luis

terrific screen shots!

are you seeing any screen door at that distance?

i can sit 14 feet away in one direction but would prefer to sit 11 feet away in another, could i go with a smaller image to eliminate any screen door?

why is a htpc so popular? alot of people use them for their home theaters..what am i missing?

tx

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Thanks for the compliment but I wish you could see them live!
At 14' I can see some flashes of SDE in extremely bright scenes or credits but nothing that will take me away from the experience and thats if I am looking for SDE which I normally dont do. At 11' you will need to go smaller for sure but SDE is viewer dependant so its something you are gonna have to test yourself. Like some people could sit as close as 1.5x others need 2x so its hard to say for sure.
HTPC is THE difference in my setup. Aside from using DVI and the perfect Offset/Gain numbers that Bob Williams (4805's engineer) posted in the avsforum. You also have ffdshow which I use to resize the image 3x dvd size, clean noise (denoise3d) and sharpen a little for a much better image than a dvd alone can do.
One BIG important thing is that I am able to perfectly match my projector at 1:1 mapping by outputting a 854x480 resolution. Since the 4805 is among the few PJs that will sync to 72HZ (including the color wheel) I use 854x480@72Hz which gives me a butter smooth film playback (24fps x 3 = 72). By using 1:1 map the image is razor sharp compared to when the projetor has to resize the image to match the 854x480 native resolution.
My image now looks better than when I took those pictures.
Regards

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Basically, no I don't think an entry digital will touch a well-setup CRT RP in terms of picture quality. But, that doesn't mean that you might enjoy the larger picture, and could live with the weak image quality in comparison. The entry digitals now are superb for a big picture, they are enjoyable even for me (and I'm super picky), and unless you're already really picky about the video quality, I would say go with a FP. But don't kid yourself, you're not going to get the PQ of a well setup CRT RP or FP.

 

[frankinG]

Chris and I seem to share the same view on CRT performance when it comes to picture quality in many areas. Being a previous SONY G70 owner, I am still a hardcore believer that the technology to replace the CRT in either front projection or rear projection has not been invented yet. Yes there are good products just looking to kick the crt to the curb but not just yet.

Just think about it in these terms as a typical HD rear projection set has three 7" crt guns projecting at a distance to the screen at less than 2 feet. Plus the smaller screen sizes all add up to a better picture. Not the 'wow' factor of a large front digital projection system but a better picture in all areas never the less.

I have seen the performance of the SONY G90 ( the king of all front projectors in my opinion )and their digital rival ( the QUALIA 004 ). The winner? Well I can tell you it was not the QUALIA.

 

[Kirk Patrick]

i bought the hitachi without ever seeing a really good picture on it because i read enough posts about crt quality to believe that it puts out the best picture

my hunch was a good one, the dvd's on the hitachi are superb...it is indeed a "filmlike" (ie. "rounded" or "dimensional" for lack of better terms) picture that has to be seen to truly get it

however, if one wants to have a single set for tv and dvd, a crt-rp will simply not do, in my opinion, there are too many other negatives and trade-off's with this set to be able to keep it as a single source for all material

it looks like costco up here has a few options like the optoma 31 and nec 410 so i can give it a shot

canada has generally very poor options for fp compared to the us...other technologies (dlp-rp, lcd-rp, crt-rp) are pretty good but not fp

thanks chris for your always helpful posts

 

[ChrisWiggles]

you are in Vancouver, home to Curt Palme, one of the kings of used CRT projectors, if this is appropriate for you, you should explore this option. Usually not for most, but if PQ is your goal, this is the way to do it big and cheap and better than pretty much anything on earth.

 

[Kirk Patrick]

i received curt's mailing list for quite awhile but due to a very small condo, some light issues and advanced laziness i decided against the crt

just a little too much work as well as the size and install issues

if i had a basement, it long ago would have been a done deal for a crt setup especially as they are getting really cheap

my brief experience with this hitachi has been enough to convince me of the crt superiority in terms of pure image

i think, like many, i am putting my faith and patience in the evolving digital gear to eventually catch up to crt (hopefully sooner rather than later)

 

[Evan M.]

Like Chris and FrankinG said....You will not get the PQ with a digital FP like you can with a CRT RP set. With that said though you will not be a ble to get the WOW factor with that RP set as you can with a well set up FP set. To me the little decline in picture quality was well worth the much bigger size, smaller price tag and not having a giant ugly imovable box in my living room. I will say though that if you plan on doing all of your TV viewing on it also you may want to consider getting a "cheap" tv for normal viewing and using a FP for movies, sports and the occasional forray in HD material that you need to see BIG. Bulbs are expensive and you may not want to "waste" your bulb's life watching local news and Seinfeld re-runs.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

I agree wholeheartedly. For many people, I think they would enjoy the larger picture the most, as they probably do not have a really high-quality display currently, so moving to a decent FP may still be a step up in quality, and it's much bigger as a plus! If you're already "ruined" by high-quality displays, maybe the choice is a little more difficult, but entry digitals have come a long way in both price in quality. For a few thousand bucks, you can have a superb picture, and quite big at that!

 

[Kirk Patrick]

this is exactly what occaisioned my desire to return the hitachi
i have a 27" sony wega which puts out a superb sd picture

the sd tv picture on the hitachi is bigger but not better

so my thinking is to keep the sony exactly where it was and get a pj for movies and maybe ultimately hdtv, though here in victoria, shaw cable wants $850 after tax for their hd/pvr...a little pricey considering whats available on hd so far

 

[Evan M.]

I do exactly what you do except I have the 27" Pnasonic flat screen. I really think you will be happy with this type of set up.