sony VPL VW10HT projector (1 Viewer)

[Kevin U]

I have been using this projector for about a year now on a Stewart 82" grayhawk screen. I am generaly pleased with this unit(except for the price of the replacement bulbs).

Watching DVDs through the component inputs is pretty high quality with good color seperation. However, when I use it with my TV cable box (we have Adelphia cable using their Motorola digital converter box) with the composite video input (this is all that is available from the cable box, besides the coax)the colors are just all over the place. I cant adjust enough red hue to to rid the normally white colors of a greenish cast through the whole picture. Different channels exhibit very different colors and therefore need readjustment for almost every channel.
I am undecided about whether this is just a cable box problem (I have had the cable company out a couple times and am told all the signals are ok and the picture is as good as it will get)or something that can be better adjusted soemhow within the projector. Is 1000 ansi lumens
bright enough for good whites?

Does anyone have a similar experience with this unit used with a cable TV box?? If so, any suggestions on how to correct it?

 

[Neil Joseph]

With this projector, or any other for that matter, my priority would first be to properly calibrate for DVD and/or LD and Tv viewing would come way down the list for me. You are correct that with cable TV, every station has a different "colour scheme" and based on that it is impossible to calibrate properly for every station. Question, how much TV viewing do you do on your 10HT?

 

[Kevin U]

Thanks for your response Neil.

Unfortunatley, it is my only TV viewing source in the main Theater/entertainment room, which is a finished walkout basement that I designed/installed myself. The 5.1 dolby digital and DTS audio is just a killer in this room and I love listening to a lot of music and watching music DVDs. I am using all Sony ES hardware with seperate pre/pro, a single 5 channel amp for the center and surrounds (Legacy Audio speakers and sub) and 2 older sony audio stereo amps used as monos for each for the fronts (Infinity Overeture power towers). The room really rocks for this stuff!

But TV is just not cutting it here!!

I have another smaller setup in another area of the basement that I set up for the kids and "visitors" to watch different material than the adults( and it is the workout room to). It has a 30 " DV Toshiba TV,cheap technics surround receiver and phillips combo vhs/dvd player that does the trick there, but no real seating area accept the floor. I never intended that area to be my main TV viewing, but the cable channel viewing is certainly much better!

I have considered putting some inexpensive TV behind the screen (which is motorized to go up/down with projector power on/off), where all my components are on a shelf unit that moves in and out for service (there is 40" wide of space behind the screen where a fireplace was originaly designed to be when the house foundation was poured) but it would have to go on top of the shelf unit and this might be a real safety problem when moving the unit in or out. Besides, I spent a boatload of money on the projector setup so I could have big screen viewing for sports and stuff and realy dont want to watch TV on a smaller TV screen

What is your opinion aboout going to a Satelite system,which would also allow me to possibly have an HDTV output to the projector? Do you think this might give me a better color presentation for the TV channels??
Thanks again for your input.
Have a great day!
KU

 

[Jeff J]

the non-hd output from my dtc-100 is a very significant improvement over a regular composite cable signal into my pj. However, keep in mind that SD cable/satellite is never going to look as good as HD/DVD.
I would definitely recommend a directTV HD satellite box. HD-Net is simply awesome, HBO is decent, and now they have showtimeHD. If you have a HD capable display, you should definitely be using it to its full potential with the HD programming that is out there. At some point I will probably get a box that will output 720p, but the DTC was such a good deal that I could not pass it up.
one other thing that you might want to consider is Dscaler. With a capture card, Radeon video card, and this free program you can turn a PC into a high quality scaler. I use Dscaler for LD/games/some tv viewing - output quality is similar/better compared to the DTC depending on source quality.
good luck
-jeff

 

[Kevin U]

Thanks Jeff...did you have a similiar experience with the cable system in your area?? Which LCD PJ are u using? I know I am not going to get a TV signal that is as good as HD or DVD, even through a satelite system, but my current cable system quality just plain sucks and I get mad evertime I watch network and movies shows through the PJ.

I take it you mean DTC as Direct TV Converter?? IS the DTC -100 the only box they offer at this time?

I dont have a PC in my audio rack...yet, but will keep that dscaler in mind.

thanks again
KU

 

[Jeff J]

kevin,
I am using a modded DPL projector with anamorphic lens - not exactly apples to apples to the sony, but pq differences related to sources should be relatively close. this might be a silly question, but do you see the same color shift from channel to channel if you plug that cable box into a regular tv?
there are a number of DirectTV boxes that are HD capable on the market - the DTC-100 is an older model made by RCA. as far as I know, all DirectTV HD boxes will also bring in OTA HD broadcasts as well which is nice - some NCAA tourney games were broadcast in HD last season.
I dont have cable now, but from memory, I dont think that there was that much variability from channel to channel. if you are that dissatisfied with cable, I would really suggest directtv - HD really is great stuff. the only down side is once you start watching HD dvd is just not going to look that good.
you might want to look around www.avsforum.com for a little more detail on the latest info on HD hardware or digital projector info in general.
-jeff

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

If the source is only available to you via composite then it will never be good blown up to 92 inches, period.

If you can go to s-video output from your cable box it would be better... but there will still be light level and color level differences from channel to channel.

 

[Kevin U]

Thanks Kimmo..You are right about the blown up nature on the 82". My idiot cable system does not offer the s video output from their box and whenever I ask them about the say "it is in the future". I have been asking for a year! I dont think it is going to happen. I might be satelite bound!
Have a gr8 day.
KU

 

[Bill Slack]

Having an S-Video output wouldn't improve things at all. It would most likely make it look worse, except for the digital channels. If it had S-Video out it would likely just have a notch filter.

Your analog channels are composite it in nature (as are laserdiscs.) Perhaps the Sony doesn't have the greatest comb filter, or maybe the tuner in the cable box is not very good.

Try a different tuner. Try an outboard comb filter (I use the Crystal Vision VPS). One solution some folks has used is a high-ish end JVC SVHS VCR (The 7xxx or 9xxx line) which have pretty good comb filters and very good tuners.

You could also just use the SVHS VCR's comb filter by routing your cable box composite out to the VCR and then output the S-Video to your projector.

I never got cable to look great in my setup (just a 40" set) and satellitle at least eliminates all the analog noise, but the resolution is pretty pathetic.

 

[Bob McKenny]

Kevin,

I have a 10HT and a 110" Grayhawk and I would suspect all of your problems lie with your cable company. The 10HT has very good composite video performance.

My cable company is Time Warner here in Houston and their digital channels are pretty good on my 10HT via composite or S-Video. The analog channels via the cable box are much more variable. With alot of them the flesh tones look way too green. I also get HDTV service via cable which looks outstanding. Time Warner uses all Motorola equipment. On balance, my cable picture quality is very good. Sounds like you aren't so lucky however.

I would suggest you go the DirecTV route. I used to be on DirecTV but switched back to cable when Time Warner started offering HDTV for $4 a month with no equipment to buy. I would have had to upgrade my hardware to go HD.

In your case, I would probably look at a Hughes (or Toshiba/Mitsubishi made by Hughes) receiver. The RCA works good with the 10HT on HD material but on standard definition (SD) material it wants to convert everything to 540p which the 10HT does not support without having to go into the setup menu everytime you go from HD to SD. The Hughes based receivers will output standard definition in 1080i which the 10HT handles fine. An alternative is to use the S-Video input for SD material and RGB input for HD on the RCA.

Bob

 

[Kevin U]

Bob,
Thanks a lot for that input. Sounds like u have already experienced most of what I have been dealing with.I havent really tried the VCR routing yet, mostly because I have a relatively inexpensive vcr because I dont think i am going to focus on any material i have on tape. i will replace most of my tape material that is worth while on dvd if available (you will laugh but I still have a sony beta machine that I used to record music on before CDRs where available. I have some pretty cool things on those beta tapes!)It may be worth a shot to hook up thru it though, just to see if there is any improvement.

SO if I go the satelite route, the set top box i get with it will give me the HD and SD capabilities? Or do I have to specify the box to a satelite Co., or buy it myself to meet my specs? Did you say the "green" tint on analog channels of cable was corrected with your HD cable?
Thanks again for your help. I hope to get this problem licked soon.

BTW, have you found a good on line source for the replacement bulb for the 10HT? My local sony dist. will only sell it to me at list which is $500! My first bulb only went about 1000 hrs before it lost its quality. i think I can do better. Any suggestions?
regards,
KU

 

[Kevin U]

hey Bill,
Thanks for that info. WHere can I get one of those comb filters you mentioned? Where does it get connected? between cable box and pre/pro? About how much are they?
thanks again.

Is that a wife u found at the HTF meet? shes a keeper.
Regards,
KU

 

[Bill Slack]

Considering Bob's comments on the quality of the internal comb filter, an external one might not be the best thing for you, but...
You feed it a composite connection and it outputs S-Video (which has chrominance/luminance separated.) I got my VPS-1 off of eBay for ~$100. It originally listed @ $549. I've seen them on audiogon.com from $150-$200 a few times.
DBS might be a good way to for you. I save about $15/month and get 2 extra HD channels. I paid ~$400 for my dish and receiver, which also gets local over-the-air stations with a cheap (indoor) antenna.
And rofl. No.. she was our waitress the first night. I finagled her onto my lap and Dana Filhart had his camera.

 

[Kevin U]

ok...thanks for that info....
she is still a keeper...for whoever is keeping her.
where/when was the HTF meeting? when is the next one?
ku

 

[Bob McKenny]

Kevin,

In order to go the satelite route you will have to spend approximately $500-$700 on equipment. This would include an elipitical dish and HD receiver that will decode everything (Off the air analog, Off the air HD, Normal digital satelite channels , and satelite HD channels). You would also need a HD capable antenna for the Off the air stuff.

The green tint that I see on some of the analog channels in not really correctable. The 10HT is not near as forgiving as a normal television when the colors are off due to its accuracy. Normal TV's tend to make everything look more red due to improprer red push on most models which tends to cancel out these green casts you see on your 10HT.

My local channels are broadcasted in analog and also are upconverted by the local affiliate to HD when no original HD material is present. The channels that are upcomverted to HD look much better.

I purchased my projector from Medical Video Systems (medicalvideosystems.com). I believe they sell bulbs for about $450.

Also, if you don't know, there is a great 10HT dedicated forum at thebigpicturedvd.com. Look under hardware forums and you will find it.

Bob

 

[Bill Slack]

You can get an HD setup with a Hughes E86 decoder box (same as the current Sony/Toshiba decoder boxes) and an eliptical dish for $430 (including shipping) if you install it yourself, and I believe you have to commit to a minimum service. That's from Minidishes.tv, where I bought my setup from. No affiliation with them, just always seem to have good prices, and seemed easy to deal with and friendly...

And Kevin, this year the HTF meet is the HTF/AVS cruise. The last few years folks went out to Hollywood and we got some private tours of studios, including spending all day at Fox. Very fun.

 

[Kevin U]

Bob,
Thanks again for you reply. I am talking to Earthlink(https://register.earthlink.net/cgi-b...fc4929f9446048) about their satelite deal that iincludes the single dish ( a little bigger I think, maybe 24") that serves both highspeed internet as well as direcTV and i understand a third module can be added to the dish that receives the local nets. Have u any knowledge on this config or know anyone who has used this? I have no other way to get true highspeed internet access (the cable modem that adelphia offers is not 2 way so i still wouldnt be able to use one phone line) and i am thinking kill 2 birds with one stone?
Your comments?
Of course I would still need to sign up for directv service but I am still not clear on if I have to purchase their receiver box, what choices they may offer for this, or will they allow me to buy my own?
Regards,
KU