I can join in! Yesterday I received an Infocus X2 which I have
for an extended loan. Watched some DVD's last night (no good
screen as of yet) and I could see the "rainbow" effect. I have
yet to watch a full movie on a screen so I don't know how much
of annoyance this will be, but from the test I don't think it will
be that bad. If you get soaked into a movie I highly doubt you
will see it and it was most prominent on white hot surfaces when
I blinked my eyes.

Otherwise this is a GREAT projector for the money. Very nice
picture and this was only with a composite connection. Going
to upgrade to s-video and perhaps component later.

Hey Rob, how lucky! How long do you have the projector for? When I first received my projector, I also used a blank white wall once or twice and it suited me fine for the time being. I like how you can throw the image practically anywhere. Although hardly ideal, there are many uses: check out this link on Guerilla Drive-Ins. Sounds like this goes hand in hand with DV filmmaking!

Gints, yes I was well aware of the rainbow effect before I purchased the X1. I also visited several home theater forums on the matter to see whether this would prove to be a potential problem.

But now, with many hours of use on the projector, I've come to the same conclusion as many other (happy) X1 owners. If it weren't for this knowledge, many of us would have overlooked the rainbows altogether. There are only a few people who are very sensitive to it, and of course, if you're one of them, you'll know right away and can't stand it.

The truth is though, I kept an eye on my friends and family to see if they noticed anything awry but all they were focused on was the image and movie. I refrained from telling them about the rainbows and they noticed nothing wrong.

As for me, I did detect them here and there at first, very brief, fleeting rainbow hues in the peripheral of my vision. When there were distinct contrasts in the picture, and especially when I turned my head or blinked, as Rob noticed.

Also similar to Rob's experience, you stop noticing it quickly enough however. If you can, check out a projector in person and see if it bothers you. Otherwise, I doubt you'd even notice if it weren't for the reviews.

In fact, I predict having such a large image in your living room is what will be the most disconcerting aspect at first. I'm only now recovering from the spectacle of it all. I try to watch and study one movie every two days on it, and this has been the most enjoyable aspect of owning a projector.

As a compliment to this thread, what is everyone using for a DVD/entertainment center and speakers?

I've been keeping an eye out for Region free DVD players - NOT for piracy reasons - but because many films I've been purchasing lately have been foreign films and sometimes it's difficult finding Region 1 DVDs from other countries. I recently purchased Hero and watched it on the projector (Hero's been out in China for two years now and was only released to American screens this week; they have the DVD for sale if you look around).

Chris,

I grabbed an economical Zenith DVD216 system as a starter. To my surprise, it's been pretty good for only about $230 USD.

I was walking through a Best Buy here in Chicago one day and decided to upgrade to my first surround sound system after testing the home dvd player waters for a while. I was late to the DVD party but a friend of mine was annoyed with my simple stereo setup and suggested otherwise.

I was actually shopping for some DVDs to add to my quite limited selection at that time, but also wandered into the home theatre section. Before that day, I was thinking about buying a flat screen tv, but began checking out the home theatre systems on display. I couldn't believe that there were affordable systems, because the last time I kept track of home theatre equipment, everything was over $1,000. So I was pleasantly surprised to find simple home DVD players for $49! My Mintek dvd player was only $39 or so and it's been very reliable the last couple of years.

Anyway, I complained to several people at Best Buy that there was no way to really truly review the home theatre systems because they were only setup to test stereo material. So finally a manager agreed with me and ripped open a dvd copy of Gladiator. The difference between that and some bland, corporate soft rock sample cd they had was amazing! It brought the Zenith system to life and I bought it on the spot.

I know this isn't worthy of a pro, but it's a great starter system and has brought me hours of pleasurable movie watching.

That's my story.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...13659?v=glance

Christopher: I have the projector for at least 6 months as it now
looks, perhaps longer. Time will tell!

As to the rest of my entertainment facility. I have an el cheapo
DVD player which has s-video connector on it's mainboard but
not on the outside casing so I'm gonna solder that in. Then I
will probably be looking for a DVI progressive DVD player in the
near future (X2 has progressive DVI in!).

The one thing I most like in my setup is my Yamaha RX-V620RDS
AV receiver. It has Dolby Digital and DTS decoding and offers a
slew of settings to setup your speakers. It supports video and
audio switching at the same time which is neat. Great receiver.

I have some older not too good Philips speakers, though. But
for now they will do. Can't really open the audio anyway since
I have 3 neighbours surrounding me who would probably not
like that too much, heh.

p.s. the Guerilla Drive-In sounds nice!

rob i know you probably know this already but having a front projector with DVI/component inputs available but not utilizing is pretty much a cardinal sin! it's literally night+day difference if you view component/DVI progressive vs s-video!

I wanted major bang for the buck when I decided to put an audio playback system in my kitchen (hey, don't laugh, that's where I watch TV and DVDs most of the time!)...so I called B&H and got a Sony home-theatre-in-a-box (HTIB), which included the model 750 receiver (100Wx5 for the satellites plus a powered sub) and all the speakers for about $260. Yeah, I know, not pro, but people can't believe how well it performs. It really does a sweet job handling movie audio, even the rockumentaries and action/adventure shoot-em-ups. And it eats up very little space. The low-model Panasonic DVD fits right on top of the receiver.

For the living room, it's a bit more intricate--plus an older set of gear: Yamaha Dolby Pro (5.1) receiver with JBL 4311Bs (control room monitors) at the corners, Eminence center channel and Marantzes in the rear channels. Driven by a higher-end Panasonic DVD with a nice jog-shuttle.

OK, enough about the nailed-down home installs...when it's time to take the show on the road, it's back to 2-channel stereo. Usually, it gets plugged into a DJ system or small SR system: Mackie or Numark mixer, Mackie power amp, E/V speakers. This really "projects" the sound...it almost doesn't matter what kind of projector I'm using.

I know Yi, it's just a money kind of issue. So for now it will have
to do with s-video. Hey, it's an improvement over my TV anyway!

i dunno about netherlands but here in the US dvd players with component outputs are available for less than $100 INCLUDING the cost of component cables. =).

Mike, you've got high end gear all over your house! Must be very nice.

I just went with a home theater in a box solution too. After the projector and screen expenses, I had only so much left over. I went with a Pioneer model, clickable here.

You can spend a great deal more for cables of course. I was thinking of changing over to Monster cables but they easily add up in cost! Additionally, I'm trying to find a better way of concealing them - right now they're just out in the open.

Rob, if you got your setup for free then that's a great deal. The question is whether you'll be able to give the projector back! BTW, is the X2 quiet in operation?

I think it's pretty load. If I remember correctly it is rated at 39 dB
(which was 37 for the X1). I haven't been able to seriously
watch a movie with it yet so I don't know. It also depends where
you place it I guess.

A small test reveiled I will probably have to place it very near
to the couch to not blow up the picture too much (ie, my wall
will be too small). I'm not sure about where to place it yet or
if I'm going to change the layout of my room or not. Hopefully
I will have some time next weekend to fiddle with that.

Will be hard to give back indeed <g>

Yeah, Chris, it's fun having all that stuff. I've always loved it since I was a kid and in fact used to sell it (was manager of a stereo store in New Haven). Of course, I use some of it for work so I can always justify a purchase.

On the subject of cables, I would be very cautious about the claims made on behalf of exotic, high-dollar cables. Double-blind listening tests have shown that there is no audible difference between ultra-high-cost cables and conventional ones of appropriate quality and diameter. You have to ask yourself why you never see the exotic-materials cables in pro systems, instead seeing the good old standards like Switchcraft, Neutrik, Proco, Canare, Belden, Rapco, to name a few. These are all made of conventional materials with high-quality construction. (Of course, the size and multiplicity of cables found in pro systems are enough to run up the $$$). That being said, go with a quality-built cable from a good manufacturer.

And there's nothing wrong with gold-plated connecting surfaces; the corrosion resistance of the plating helps with longevity: a 10-year-old gold plug still looks brand new and conducts perfectly. But don't be fooled there either; it is so easy for a cheap offshore manufacturer to skimp on materials (thin wire, flimsy metal contacts, weak plastic plug bodies, etc.) and gold-plate the plugs for a few cents so it LOOKS like a quality cable.

One of the best things you can do with respect to cables is to keep the run as SHORT as possible. With line-level cables (the RCAs between VCR, CD player and amplifier, etc.) the longer you go the more chance there is of hum/noise pickup.** With speaker lines, if you double the length, you virtually have to double the diameter ($$) to get the same power handling capacity.

That's just my 2¢ worth.

[I]** One of the big distinctions between consumer and commercial audio is typically that consumer gear uses RCA (unbalanced), while pro uses XLR (balanced) connections, which gives you the luxury of going hundreds of feet with no discernible signal loss. Also, what's considered "line level" for pro is 14dB higher than for consumer, giving you a hotter signal to work with. But you can certainly manage the signal with consumer gear if you know the right things. Much has been written about this, check out one of Jay Rose's volumes if you are interested in learning about this in more detail.

+++++++++++++++

Hey Rob, have you thought about hanging the projector from the ceiling?

regarding cables (which can spawn another thread altogether) it's pretty easy. just get any brand that is magnetically shielded so you don't get radio interference and it'll be as good as monster, which is over-rated as a brand. i have acoustic research and they're cheaper and just as good as monster.

True, it is necessary to use shielded cable for input-level (not speaker) connections. That's not about brand, but the type of cable. However. there is a difference in the amounts of shielding coverage, with 95% considered good. It takes metal to make a shield, and more metal is better, whether braid, spiral wire, foil, or a combination. Cheap manufacturers use less metal.

Without endorsing specific brands, i agree AR cables are good, Monster are good but very expensive (and sometimes annoyingly thick), and any of the pro brands will work reliably (some have lifetime warranties).

If you buy a 65¢ cable, it may work OK today but break down at the worst moment. You are right, this COULD spawn another whole thread.

As for getting the video signal to the projector, the higher frequencies involved make safeguarding signal integrity more challenging than for audio frequencies. The better A/V cables actually use RG-59/U (the same kind of coaxial cable used for cross-wiring cable TV) for better matching and less loss. Of course, I have also successfully used S-Video runs of up to 100 feet with good cable, and similar lengths with VGA (for presentation graphics from laptop to projector).

on a related note to front projectors and cables:

since most front projectors will be mounted at a pretty fair distance away from its source, how far can DVI signals travel without degradation? i mean it IS digital after all not analog like component or S-Video.

I have no idea, but I've thought about it in the following way.

Either of these will apply:

1. I will put the projector at the back end of my room. My DVD shelfs are there as well, so why not put my DVD player there as well? More easy to put a DVD in that way as well. Very short line from player to projector. The audio is going over coaxial SPDIF anyway so that shouldn't be a problem for most rooms (I had no problem with such a long cable for audio myself => and that was a CRAPPY cable). The only problem will probably be that the projector projects too large of an image, time will tell.
2. The other option is to put it much closer and with the X2 I can probably mount it "under" a table infront of the couch. It projects UP so it will be the correct hight. And it will probably create just a large enough image as well. In this case my receiver (and the place where my DVD player currently is) and DVD player will only be something like 6 feet away (1.5 meters) or so. Shouldn't be a problem for S-Video / DVI me thinks?

Ofcourse it will be very easy to put ALL of the equipment in the
back if I decide to put the projector there. I don't need my
receiver to be in front of me. Don't change it while watching a
movie anyway.

Hey 6 feet is a piece of cake! (that's the length of a typical S-VHS cable) And hey, you can still adjust the receiver by aiming the remote back over your shoulder! :-)

most IR remotes you can bounce off of front project screen and it'll reach the back no problem.

I did a bit more testing and with my current room layout I probably
can't get it to work easy. The projector under the table is no
option, too close to the screen and just a bit too low. I had
it on a camera case this weekend which was the right height
and just beside the couch. Ofcourse this projected too far to
the side. I'll have to do some more testing I guess...

Mike, you're the resident cable/electronics expert. Very good info, thanks. I'll look for those other brands before having to resort to Monster.

Not sure how to run the cables, and at what lengths yet. Right now it isn't the greatest looking installation. Any good strategies on how to conceal them? I'm thinking of buying some cable runners that stick to the wall, but I'm uneasy that it may peel the paint if I ever have to remove it.

Rob, you may have to invest in a ceiling mount for the projector. I decided to mount mine permanently and the angle is great. The projector is out of the way as well. Of course, you'll have to move DVD equipment and so on around. Now that I'm aiming for a permanent installation, I may purchase a screen that I can pull down from the ceiling....

I've thought about ceiling mounting as well, but that's probably
not an option for various reasons. Oh well, I'll figure it out in the
end sometime. For now it works for the little time I have available
to actually watch something.

The new Panasonic ..AE700 looks pretty good! Does anybody have any first hand experience with that one?

Projector Central has.
see:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/pana...0_sanyo_z3.htm

And for my part, I'd like to ask if anyone has personal experience with the Optoma EZ Pro models?

ive just sold my infocus x2 and im now looking for something better. its always attached through my pc where i watch dvd tv games surfing editing etc.

i love the x2 but im looking for something with a higher resolution as iim aquiring a 10 wide screen. :)
im looking toward a panasonic PT-AE700U Projector

the panasonic is a much lower lumen count but a higher resolution.

will this make my screen look darker when i have pc on or just when watching dvds etc

Happy with the projector & the price
 

After a lot of looking, I wound up with the HP 6120 -
no big complaints either. Blacks are black, colour good,
contrast okay in ambient and pretty nice in the dark.

Fry's had an open box for 1399. nice.

I'm really needing a screen tho now.
If anyone in Vancouver knows where to pick up
a DaLite Model B, the 94" 2.5, lemme know

linked off of projectorcentral:

http://www.mountsandmore.com/cats/Al...nual/0C159.htm

imho, you can't really tell a diff between expensive & cheap screens. but that's just me.

I screen, you screen
 

Hmm - a good screen makes the image to me.

I've left theatres and not gone back due to bad screens-
but I was a projectionist for years so pickier than normal.

The tear thats patched and left there,
that soda pop stain, the wrinkle - I can't let it go.

a couple hyundies for a screen is no big if you consider what
the film itself cost -

now to find a local one where I don't have to pay
huge shipping that doubles the cost. GST is bad enough.

Yes, a damaged screen is a bummer (distracting)...presumably buying new, even a lower-priced model, would avoid that problem.

Tough break about that GST, eh? I don't suppose the feds would let you get away with smuggling one in from Seattle, y'know take it out of the box, swaddle it in gaffers tape, make it look used? :-)

Bingo. Do it all the time for ....

Oh. We never had this conversation.
Ahem.

Heh heh.

Hey, what a nice day today!

:-)

projector 'banding' in new setup
 

it was, of course, too soon to crow about the new projector.

worked fine in the old location, but at the new digs w/ a 10m
(30 ft) cable to it, there is pronounced light and dark 'banding'
scrolling bottom to top - almost like old helical scan flop.

Its all dig, so its got to be refresh/Hz or something?
checked connections, RTM again, checked online, no mentions -

Anyone run into this? Is it AC interference?
[lack of] cable shielding, grounding?

thx/TM

just wanted to let ya'll know about two sony front projectors:

-Qualia 004 is rated to be 1920x1080

-SRX-R110 is a commercially rated to be 4096 x 2160

Ah yes, a lovely projector (Qualia 004) for a mere 25 grand.

And 4096 x 2160 (Cinema HD) on the SRX... Ay mami, ay papi!!!!

www.tvtechnolgy.com says:
"The SRX-R110 4K projector is slated to sell for $80,000 (plus $15,000 for the lens) when released in January."

Maybe after I get my tax refund... (grin)

but it didn't say anything about 1080progressive for the qualia 004.

and the 4k, is that progressive?

Uh, don't know if progressive, but sure is expensive!

Oh, BTW, what's up, a Boston dude saying yall??? Are you actually from Crawford, Texas? :-)

Go Patriots!

just trying to get down with the cowboys =).

yesh, i hope pats win superbowl this year, it'll make redsox's win even better.

Yee Haa! ride'em cowboy!

Yes, looking good against the Steelers.

As for the Sox, congrats on that, I'm closer to NYC so I'm a Yanks fan, but you guys earned it. (Anyway, 26 World Series wins is a little ostentatious, right?)

Anyway, keep us abreast of new projectors in the sub-millionnaire market. :-)

I'm betting on something cool in the DLP realm real soon.

cheers
m

i was just @local staples and saw really really small projectors. do these mini FPs do as well as their big bros?

If you are talking the really itty-bitty projectors, you have traditionally paid a premium for the convenience of tucking one in your briefcase, although it's getting better. They (Staples) do have one "normal size" projector that looks fairly interesting, the Optoma EZ Pro 750. It's DLP, XGA, 1600 lumens, 600:1 contrast and has a 3-year warranty and costs $1499. Of course, I have never tried one to see how it performs in real life, and have no idea of its quality or reliability. Maybe there are some real-world users who can comment on it.

One thing I find unappealing about almost all of them is the excruciating price of replacement bulbs, like $400-500! There was one exception that I recall, I think it was a CTX brand that used a simple reflector halogen bulb that you can get at Home Depot for about $15. But I don't know if this brand is available anymore or whether it is any good. The specs looked pretty good for the money.

well aren't they ALL $400+?