Godfather Pt1-Dr Doolittle 2 and my FPTV (1 Viewer)

[Daniel_M]

I'm posting this here in the software section in the

hopes that both Godfather fans and people with some

tech knowledge of FPTV's can help me figure out

if I'm having a problem with my projector or not.

Now before I get to the question, I want to avoid

another Godfather transfer quality pissing match by saying

I understand Gordon Willis's approach to the cinemagraphic

style of the film. I understand the interior scenes

are SUPPOSED to be dark and moody. I also know that

Willis took great pains to make sure the dark areas

were not muddy and some detail could be seen, even in the darkest scenes.

I have a Sony CRT front projector that is about three

years old. I use it on average for about 8 hours a week.

I've noticed that the blacks in some films are just mud

even though the the system has been carefully lined up using the Video Essentials DVD.

The Godfather looked really bad, way too contrasty (I

know it's a high con picture on purpose) but I've seen

it both on a regular TV and in the theater about half

a dozen times, and never did the blacks look so bad.

I noticed the same problem with Dr Doolittle 2 although

Brokedown Palace looked OK and that film has it's share of

moody scenes.

Am I the victim of not so perfect tranfers to DVD

where the blacks are crushed? Or, should I re-tweak

the projector?

Even by turning up both brightness and contrast which

I don't like to do after a Video Essentials lineup

I could not resolve detail in Godfather or Dr Doolittle 2

which leads me to suspect there is a transfer problem.

I'm in the video business and I understand technically what

I'm doing when I do the Vid. Essentials lineup. I redo the

V.E. lineup once every couple of months and have always

liked the results.

If it is the projector is there an overall black level

tweak I can do inside the unit? I have pro waveform/vector

monitor I can hook up if that might help.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Daniel_M]

OK, no replies after a couple of days.

I'll simplify the question.

Has anybody else noticed the Godafather part 1

and/or Dr. Doolittle pt 2 to be very contrasty

with loss of detail in the black areas of some scenes, especially interiors?