Screen shots -- Enjoy! (1 Viewer)

[Ivan Luk]

Here are some screen shot pages from my current setup:
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[Edited last by Ivan Luk on September 24, 2001 at 03:42 AM]

 

[johnathan]

Wow
Those shots are amazing. Most beautiful. Thanks for sharing. You did a nice job arranging them also. John
PS there is a problem with the Chocolate link the url should be Link Removed
But it now reads Link Removed
Just a little guess work thanks for sharing .
[Edited last by johnathan on September 24, 2001 at 03:03 AM]

 

[Ivan Luk]

Thanx John--I corrected the link.
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[Nate Anderson]

Hey Ivan, could you do me a favor and try to get a shot of the bus driving off into the sunset at the end of Almost Famous?
I've been looking for a shot of it for some time. Thanks!
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"What if he honks in the car?"
"I'm giving you a no honk guaruntee."
[Edited last by Nate Anderson on September 24, 2001 at 10:30 AM]

 

[James Nguyen]

Nate,
you may want to put that request in a spoilers ubb block for the sake of those like myself who haven't yet seen the movie.
I've been waiting for the new "bootleg" edition of the DVDs to come out

 

[Richard Kim]

Excellent shots, especially those featuring Kate Hudson.

 

[MikeEckman]

James, how could a single screenshot be seen as a spoiler? Do you not look at the backs of movies before watching them, or do you make it a point to never see a theatrical trailer for a film?

 

[bill lopez]

How do you do that?

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Wow. Those screen-shots are AMAZING. That's what I want to see on my screen when *I* get a projector!!!
Is that a CRT projector you're using?
Tell me about your Rock+ scaler...what other scalers have you tried? How is it at deinterlacing tricky material like stuff needing 2-2 pulldown instead of 3-2 or tricky video sequences? Does it do a good job deinterlacing/upscaling native 480I video?
The results on your screen clearly were spectacular!!!
I'd love to hear more details about how you get an image that darn good

-dave

 

[Scott Simonian]

Wow! Those looked soooooooo film-like. Beautiful. Is that all on the scaler, cause I dont know anything about that particular projector.

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Yes, these are bruises from fighting. Yes, I am comfortable with that. I am enlightened.

 

[Ivan Luk]

Thanx for the compliments everyone!

Nate: I'll try to get that shot for you the next time I setup to take some more screen shots (perhaps when the new Bootleg version is released!). It is a fairly involved process.
Richard: Schwing!

Bill: Magic!

There's some information on the screen shot pages as to the equipment, software and hardware that was used. Please read that, and if you have more specific questions, I'll be happy to answer them.
DaViD: As nice as the screen shots are, the actual image is better live, in-person! The camera I used can't quite capture the dynamic range of the colors, nor the detail.
Yes--that's a CRT projector. An NEC 6PG running at 1280x720 progressive at 72Hz refresh.
Prior to the Rock+ scaler, I used a Crystal Image also at 720p. And prior to that, I had a Faroudja LD-200 doubler. There is no comparison between the Rock+ and the other two I had before--it simply blows them out of the water.

The Rock+ is probably the most flexible scaler at its price point ($5K). As you can somewhat tell, it produces a gorgeous image from my Denon DVD-3300 DVD 480i output. It does a great job at deinterlacing, handling 3:2 pulldown conversion perfectly. In fact, I run the Rock+ at 72Hz, which means the scaler actually translates 3:2 to 3:3, which provides for a judder-free image compared to the standard 60Hz.
As for 30 fps video based material, the Rock+ is very good. Perhaps not as fantastic as Faroundja's DCDi, but it's arguable. The best thing is that the Rock+ can be easily upgraded via firmware downloads from the web! And so far, the updates have been frequent. So in time, I believe that the Rock+ will surpass Faroudja's DCDi. Currently, I would say that the Rock+ is 90-95% as effective as DCDi, depending on the material.
I think the key to any system audio or video is balance. IOW, GIGO. Firstly, the movies in question have good to excellent DVD transfers, with Vertical Limit being the obvious winner among them. Everything matters, from cables (I use BetterCables.com's Silver Serpent Component Video cable) to components (DVD player, scaler, projector), AC quality, screen, et al.
In the end, all the careful the wonderful setup on the front end would go to waste if the projector setup isn't optimized. That is perhaps the most difficult part, especially with a CRT projector. It is not for the impatient, faint-hearted, and/or non-techie. While I did my own projector setup, most CRT purchasers should spend the dollar$ to get a pro to do it.
A lot of CRT users and pros hang-out at AVS Forum. If it weren't for that forum and the people on it, I would have never ventured into front projection (had a Toshiba 56" 16:9 RP prior). It's been three years of bliss with the current projector.

Scott: Well, it's not just the scaler, although it plays a huge part in the quality of the picture. Do you live in Fresno?
Helpful links:
AVS CRT Projector Forum
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TAW Rock+ Support Forum
BetterCables Silver Serpent
Denon DVD-3300
My DVD Collection
P.S. My handle on the other forums is "Rice Rocket." I wish I could change my login here, but it doesn't seem to be easy to do?
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[Chris Moreau]

Geeze, thanks a lot, Ivan. Now I have to go home and kill myself!

 

[Ivan Luk]

Hey Chris--are you now "mostly dead" or "all dead?"

"Inconceivable!"
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[Neil Joseph]

Great collection of screen shots man. I like to see well done, well taken shots. For Vertical Limit, you have to take your own picture of the following key scene though...
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...to make your pic collection complete.
orangeman
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[Edited last by Neil Joseph on September 28, 2001 at 03:04 PM]