What front projector for my home theater? (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Vic
Is there a mimimum ceiling height required to use one of these units? Also does Curt Palme have a web site, other than posting on AVSforum? I notice he is located in Vancouver. I would not mind finding out what he has available and at what prices. I have a rumpus room measuring a little over 10'W by 19'L with a ceiling height of just over 7'. I am thinking it could be converted into a reasonable theatre room. I have been looking at RPTVs but if a person could get a CRT unit for a reasonable price, it might be the way to go. The one drawback I can see is that there is no one in my area that I can think of that would have any experience in installing these units. It sure would be nice to have a dedicated room since I mostly watch movies anyway.
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[RobertR]

To elaborate a bit on what Vic is saying about HTPC used with a CRT projector, you can put together an HTPC for less than $500. In conjunction with a CRT projector, you will, for around $3000 to $4000, have image quality that USED to cost in the $50,000 range. This is the best time EVER to own a CRT projector.
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[Huey]

If CRT is so good why are their prices dropping so quickly? Not a troll attempt but a serious question

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Vic I know you have your doubts but I have over 800 posts so I am not a newbie trying to be funny, I am pretty serious (search for some of my posts) and I am asking only cause I wasn't aware that you can get a CRT projector for that money (1500-2000). As for the HTPC I think it was a valid question that indeed is important to the poster. In my case I have no problem cause I already have an HTPC sans the audio card.
You know, you are getting me interested in trying a CRT since I don't mind tweaking as I find it rewarding. Do I need special tools or just AVIA? One thing I don't understand is what kind of resolution a projector like that the Barco 800 have? What about aspect ratio? Is there such a thing as a 16:9 CRT? Men I sure need to read a lot more about CRTs.
Don't worry after this round of questions I am going to the AVS for info.
Regards

 

[VicRuiz]

CRT projectors were never manufactured for the home theater market. They were intended for commercial and professional applications (presentations, screening rooms, and the like). Universities, corporations, government agencies, all used CRT projectors for these purposes. What's happening now is that all these entities are switching to digital projectors because they fit their requirements better. Ultimate picture quality is not a major consideration (nor should it be) in a corporate boardroom or a college classroom. Brightness and ease of use and set-up are the primary concerns there. As a result, all these entities are simply dumping their CRT's (sometimes even for free) and replacing them with digital. This has created a boom market for used CRT projectors for the past year or two. There are people that specialize in finding these bulk bargains, getting them back in optimum performance condition, and reselling them for a profit. Curt Palme is one of such people. In fact the emergence of digital projectors has been a godsend for the home theater market because now videophiles can acquire CRT setups for their home that they could only fantasize about before. In that sense, thank God for digital!

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Vic Ruiz
STOP HDCP/DFAST/5C
[Edited last by VicRuiz on October 16, 2001 at 10:05 AM]

 

[VicRuiz]

quote: Originally posted by Luis Gabriel Gerena
Vic I know you have your doubts but I have over 800 posts so I am not a newbie trying to be funny, I am pretty serious (search for some of my posts) and I am asking only cause I wasn't aware that you can get a CRT projector for that money (1500-2000). As for the HTPC I think it was a valid question that indeed is important to the poster. In my case I have no problem cause I already have an HTPC sans the audio card.
You know, you are getting me interested in trying a CRT since I don't mind tweaking as I find it rewarding. Do I need special tools or just AVIA? One thing I don't understand is what kind of resolution a projector like that the Barco 800 have? What about aspect ratio? Is there such a thing as a 16:9 CRT? Men I sure need to read a lot more about CRTs.
Don't worry after this round of questions I am going to the AVS for info.
Regards[/quote]
Ok, I apologize. I guess it was my turn to get defensive.

Let's see if I can answer some of your questions:
As I said before, a properly setup CRT does not need to be tweaked nearly as often as most people think. Most of the negative reports that people hear can be attributed to improper setup. In order for it to be stable a CRT installation needs to be extremely precise. The projector needs to be perfectly centered and exactly perpendicular to the screen in order to minimize the stress on the electronics that causes image drift. If this is done, tweaking should be minimal. The person you hire to do the setup must do the astigmatism, scheimpflug, and greyscale adjustments, and after that all you should do are convergence touchups. All you need is Avia to set up your white and black levels.
CRT projectors are not fixed resolution devices, as digitals are. They are multisync devices, meaning that they can display any resolution that's within their specs. The most important specs you look for are horizontal scan rate, vertical refresh, tube size, and light output. Let's take my Marquee 8000 for example. This is a CRT with 8" tubes, 950 lumens, maximum horizontal scan rate of 130 Khz, and maximum refresh rate of 150 Hz. This means it can display any resolution, from regular NTSC (15.75 Khz), to 480p (31.50 Khz), to 1080i HDTV (33.75 Khz) and 720p HDTV (45 Khz), and any resolutions and refresh rates in between. I personally run my DVD's at 1280x720@72Hz (54 Khz) and they look stunning.
CRT tubes are 4:3 but because they display all kinds of resolutions, the electronics can be adjusted for any aspect ratio you desire. You can set it up for 1.33, 1.66, 1.78, 1.85, 2.35, 2.76, or any aspect ratio in between. Since I mostly watch DVD's and HDTV on mine, I use it in 1.78 (16:9) mode.
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Vic Ruiz
STOP HDCP/DFAST/5C
[Edited last by VicRuiz on October 16, 2001 at 11:10 AM]

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Do I really need to hire someone to do the things you said? I am asking cause I don't think it will be easy to find someone in Puerto Rico that works with CRTs. About been 4:3 only...will it work like a regular 4:3 tv, hence using less resolution when displaying "anamorphic" dvds? What about the light around the 16:9 area, does it bother?
Guess I needed one more round of questions

 

[VicRuiz]

No, you don't have to hire somebody to do it. In fact, most people at AVS do it themselves. I chose to do it because one of AVS' renowned techs was in NYC at the time and I took advantage of it, but I had done the initial setup myself. He just tuned it up. In fact, if you buy from Curt Palme, he will set-up the PJ for your particular situation so that all you'll have to do is put it at the proper distance to get a pleasing image. However, you should read up on how to make these adjustments yourself because no matter how good Curt may set it up, things may move during shipping, and the PJ needs to be optimized at its final location. All the information on these adjustments is in the Forum. If you're a technical person, they're not that hard.
I didn't mean to say that the CRT's were 4:3 only. I meant that the physical shape of the tubes is 4:3, but this has little relevance on the aspect ratio you can choose. You use the image size controls to make the image 16:9, but you're still using all the scan lines. There's no resolution loss. The process is similar to the vertical compression some 4:3 RPTV's employ.
I'm not sure what you mean by "the light around the 16:9 area". Please clarify.
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Vic Ruiz
STOP HDCP/DFAST/5C

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

What I meant is that in an LCD projector for example, if it has 4:3 panels then there will be light spreading around the borders not use by the 16:9 dvd and thats why I picked my 16:9 native projector. Anyway I think you already answered that question. I contacted Curt and he is sending me the list on Monday.
Do you mean that a CRT has what its usually called an "anamorphic squeeze" type of feature in order to use all the scan lines in 16:9 dvds?

 

[RobertR]

Do you mean that a CRT has what its usually called an "anamorphic squeeze" type of feature in order to use all the scan lines in 16:9 dvds?

Yes. You simply squeeze the vertical size by 25% and voila!--You're able to get the advantages of DVDs enhanced for 16:9. Since CRT PJs have multiple memories, this setting is easily saved.
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[Bill Lucas]

Luis,
There is no "light bleed" with a CRT projector like there is with a digital projector. Black is defined as the abscence of light. CRT projectors have the ability to NOT project light from any given area of the face of the CRT. This is why there is no light bleed and CRTs can produce deep blacks. Regards.