CRT on a budget-message for Jenz.

[Phil Hinton]

I have just clicked on the M2N link at the top of the screen,regarding 2nd hand Barco CRT's. If i am on a budget of say £3.5 what can i expect to get.Also, i hope you can give me a hint as to what the quality of these machines are like and where do they come from. And finally what are the features of these machines,do they have 16:9 mode?

Got to say i am more than a little interested!

[Jenz]

For that price you should be able to get a good 2nd Hand Barco 708 probably a Vision machine or Multimedia machine. That will set you back something like £2500+Vat, then a screen on top is going to be around £550 for a 7ft one.

Installation would be extra, I paid £350. Additionally you should consider cabling and your sources.

I will be putting together a complete run down of what I did and got on my site.

Kust watched the new HKL Fist Of Fury R2 7ft wide. Be VERY careful, expressing Interest is the worst thing you can do. If you see one, you will buy one.

I'm feeding my a Progressive Scan RGB Image from a HTPC scaled to 1024x768 (though I have been using 800x600 alot - and don't tell HC Dude!) and a Sony 725 via Component. I also feed in Playstation 2, Dreamcast and VCR using dTV and a switching Amp.

Whereabouts are you? You may be able to pop in and see mine.

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Webmaster, http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com

[This message has been edited by Jenz (edited 18-02-2001).]

[Phil Hinton]

Cheers Jenz,

I know as soon as i see one i am bound to buy one.I am in the north east near co.durham,so i proberly wont be able to see yours.

I really have problems understanding the hcpc route as i dont know enough about pc's.

My idea is to have a 7ft 16:9 screen and design some masking for it.I dont know how i would go about it.i would want the masking to go from 4:3,to 16:9 to 21:9(2.35:1). I dont know what your thoughts on this idea would be. I have looked at stuart sceen but they quoted over £3k,well they can **** off.

Another idea was to have a large 8FT screen with moving masking so the height of the screen remains the same and it only moves out.My little understanding of hcpc's doesn't help, but would i be able to preset the size and ratio of the picture to fit my desired idea,or is it a nonstarter.Any ideas?

[Jenz]

You can set up the Barco's Memory Banks to size like that. I have specific sizes for certain stuff.

VCR stuff for example looks pretty ropey 7ft large so I use a Mem Bank to shrink it down.

I will be putting my Stuff up on my site as soon as possible so you will see it there.

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Webmaster,
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com

[tryingtimes]

Hi Guys
I too have responded to the M2N banner.

As you may have read I was previously looking into second hand selecos but prefer the future proof nature of the datagrade projectors such as the 708 (ie capable of 1080p)

Jenz - Did the £350 installation include the Physical installation of the projector and screen as well as the calibration and setup of the projector?

Presumably the Barco 708 includes inputs for component, s-video AND RGB - is this correct?

Would I be right in thinking that these Barcos mainly come from business use such as pubs, corporate presentation rooms and learning centres.
It would be nice to know the history of a particular projector.
Did you get to find out where yours had come from?

I'm starting to think that CRT is the only route that is going to satisfy my desire for picture quality. I'm too distracted by the respective problems of the sony10ht, selecoht200, sanyoplv30, etc

[Jenz]

Originally posted by tryingtimes:
Jenz - Did the £350 installation include the Physical installation of the projector and screen as well as the calibration and setup of the projector?

Presumably the Barco 708 includes inputs for component, s-video AND RGB - is this correct?

Would I be right in thinking that these Barcos mainly come from business use such as pubs, corporate presentation rooms and learning centres.
It would be nice to know the history of a particular projector.
Did you get to find out where yours had come from?

I'm starting to think that CRT is the only route that is going to satisfy my desire for picture quality. I'm too distracted by the respective problems of the sony10ht, selecoht200, sanyoplv30, etc

Yes Install price included fitting, setup and calibration. It's about a days work including putting up the screen and the small problem I had with a big ceiling space (had to be resolved with some steel rods).

Yes it has RGB, Component and S-Video. I also use a VGA Switch.

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Webmaster,
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Just thought I ought to mention that although the 708 may be capable of accepting a 1080P signal it isn't the ideal signal to use with one. You really need a 9" crt to properly resolve that sort of information.

I'd guess that a 708 is going to look better at 720/768P.

Gordon

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StereoStereo
Intelligent Solutions for Intelligent Homes !

[Jenz]

Yes I agree with Gordon. Personally I think you'll be expecting too much to get 1080p from it.

Saying that whoever see's my CRT goes away with little doubt that they want one http://www.wvip.co.uk/ubb/wink.gif

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Webmaster,
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com

[Phil Hinton]

Interesting i just recieved an email from lynda at Screensuk regarding this thread,

She states "Did you know that the Barco guns only last a max 7,000hrs,and the parts can be expensive to replace.Would u not be better spending an extra £500 and getting a new CRT"

Don't know? would i?

[HT Dude]

Oh if the two projectors were of like specification and quality, then of course, the new one would be the way to go. But models like the Barco 708 mentioned above are far superior to the Ellie in terms of specification and quality.
To suggest the two are in any way comparable is silly. The Barco can, for example, be fed with the RGB input from a PC. The Ellie VGA input is 'unreliable' in terms of compatibility.
Incidentally, the Barco 708s mentioned above are good for nearer 9,000 hours and have been refurbished so won't have any need for replacement parts.

[This message has been edited by HC Dude (edited 20-02-2001).]

[Jenz]

Let's assume 7000 hours usage. Let's assume 4hours viewing per day. Let's assume 2000 hours already on the clock when you get it (Mine had 24 - Sorry HC Dude http://www.wvip.co.uk/ubb/wink.gif)

5000 hours remaining = 3.42 Years usage...

Personally I feel quite strongly that the Hours usage is a FUD factor (Fear and Uncertainty and Doubt).

In all honesty your choice should be based on the following:
1) Does the Projector you are buying suite your need? For me and my HTPC and VGA requirements the Ellie was questionable.

2) Are you comfortable buying 2nd Hand? For me I knew and trusted the Seller and the Distributor so this wasn't a problem.

These will help you steer towards the best unit. If the Ellie meets your need and you do not want 2nd hand then buy it (I would have). If you are willing to tackle 2nd Hand then you can get a better projector for the same price or less.

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Webmaster,
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com

[Rob]

I was interested to note from the screensuk site that the Ellie has a component adaptor as an optional extra (£350). I don't know how reliable this would be compared to the RGB. It also claims a 1300 lumen brightness. This seems very high for a 7" tubed projector.

[cossie0]

I aske the question of how long on average a CRT projectors CRT's would last and I enclose their reply.

The lifespan of a projection CRT (it makes no difference if it the projector is datagrade or not) is determined by the wear of the phosphor surface that emits the light when excited by an electron beam: the more light it excites, the faster the phosphor wears out. Unlike a lamp that has a certain life time after which it suddenly dies, we define life time of a projection CRT as the point in time where the light output is reduced to 50% of the original light output: you can continue to use your old CRT's but at a reduced performance.

By understanding this, you can see that the life time is very much determined by the way the projector is used and the picture content that is displayed on the projector.
- If you display a lot of pictures with high white content (wordprocessing, spreadsheets, . . .) than the phosphor can wear out quite fast. On average for such an application, you can count on roughly 5,000 hours.
- When you project a lot of video however, the average white content will be a lot lower and the CRT's can have a lifetime of 10 up to 20,000 hours.

Some other parameters that can influence life time:
- Be carefull not to stress one CRT more than the others as in this case, this one CRT will need an earlier replacement. Typical example is the blue screen that many VCR's or DVD's show when not operational, and causes faster wear of the blue CRT.
- Obviously, also the contrast and brightness settings will influence the life time of the CRT's. The higher these controls are set, the more you wear out the phosphor of the CRT's.

In general you can easily say that, though replacement CRT's are not cheap, CRT projectors have a lower cost of ownership in a Home Theater than the average lamp based LCD or DLP projectors and in many cases, no replacement is needed during the entire life span of your projector.

So there you have it, Hope this helps.

[cossie0]

Sorry I meant to say I asked the question to Barco technical support.