Choosing Proper resolution for my Runco 940/Barco 708

[ScottMcDonald]

MOD NOTE: Added to FAQ page

I need some help choosing a proper resolution for my Runco940/Barco 708. This is a great little projector that I've got connected to my HTPC. I'm currently using an ATI 9600XT AIW graphics card. 95% of my viewing is DVD and the other 5% cable TV sports.

I'm currently running 800 x 600 at 72hz. Good picture quality. I'm using TT2.0 with latest update and FFDSHow. I resize using a doubling of my computer resolution so 800 x 600 is 1600 x 1200 for my resize, lanconz x 2, sharpen at about 30 and that's my settings. My Home theater screen is 94" across and 53 " wide. I've tried powerstrip custom resolutions of 1280 x 720 but the picture seemed to soft. 1024 x 768 and again too soft. Am I just expecting to much out of these 7" tubes or would an upgrade to a better video card be in order here? Perhaps the NVIDA 6800 series.

Am I defeating my 16:9 screen when running 800 x 600? Many times I have to modify the aspect ration of TT in order to fill my screen. I realize a 2.35:1 will have spaces top and bottom....but it seems that even the 1:78's have trouble with my settings. Am I missing something basic here?

Any tidbits of your knowledge would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Scott McDonald
Salt Lake City, Utah

[crteaman]

Hi Scott,

The answer to your conundrum is around 600p I can assure you they really sing at this, we spent many an hour on the 7series/runco with the crystalio scaler.

james

[ScottMcDonald]

So if I am to understand correctly....800 x 600 is the way to go....moving to a more advanced graphics card, etc. would have no real affect on picture quality.....the projector runs its best at my current settings.....

Am I correct????

Thanks,

Scott

[Roland @ B4]

With out doubt 600 vertical lines is what suits the Toshiba tube used in the barco 708, Cine 7 and runco 940 prefer
The horizontal resoloution will actually make little differnce other than to increase the scan rate. So I would stick with 800x600. which is of course a 4x3 resoloution. Use the projector's vertical hieght adjustment to squeeze the image onto your 16x9 screen.
You will then have to set your PC so that it always fills the screen. ( as you point out some films will have black bars top and bottom to keep their original aspect ratio. This will still have black video information)
Your issue sounds like a PC one rather than a projection one.

[cosaw]

The horizontal resoloution will actually make little differnce other than to increase the scan rate.

Further to Rolands point and on the basis of this I only run at the max horizontal res of the source so that I don't need to run the scan rate higher than is needed for no gain. So for dvd I run at 720 wide.

I created a custom res of 720x576p and it really looks cracking! My tubes (sd-187) are the same size as yours I think but the Toshibas you have I think are brighter and crisper. That would fit with the advice of others who suggest 600p.

I used to run at 75Hz but as I don't perceive much flicker in film at 50Hz I started running at that instead. Some say a lower refresh can look crisper this way but I'd have to test further as I don't yet understand the possible theory behind this. Wonder if others could expand on this point - is it true or not or is it tube dependant - what's the theory?

Scott a quick question - you seem to have higher spec software and hardware than me. You're running at 72Hz, does this mean your playing pal at 24 frames per second with pitch alteration? This is something I'd like to achieve but don't know how feasible it is.

Simon

[crteaman]

800x600 is not 600p? also you most certainly do not want to be running anything like 70hz plus on that unit, the re-trace (re-fresh) is a bit high for it, yes it will do it but its not ideal.

james

[Roland @ B4]

Are you sure that's what you meant?

[ScottMcDonald]

Thank you very much for your feedback. I really appreciate it. I'm not quite sure that I want to reduce my frequency from 72 hz. The picture I get at that frequency seems clearer than 60 hz. I think I'll give the custom resolution mentioned above a chance....720 x 576. By the way, when using FFDSHOW resize option I can check box either the resize box or the ratiobox.ie...1600 x 1200 or the 16:9 box. When I check the 16:9 box does that mean I'm no longer resizing my projected image? I currently have the resize checked and the button checked next to the custom resize I'm running of 1600 x 1200....not the 16:9......

Thanks,
Scott

[ScottMcDonald]

Originally Posted by cosaw

Further to Rolands point and on the basis of this I only run at the max horizontal res of the source so that I don't need to run the scan rate higher than is needed for no gain. So for dvd I run at 720 wide.

I created a custom res of 720x576p and it really looks cracking! My tubes (sd-187) are the same size as yours I think but the Toshibas you have I think are brighter and crisper. That would fit with the advice of others who suggest 600p.

I used to run at 75Hz but as I don't perceive much flicker in film at 50Hz I started running at that instead. Some say a lower refresh can look crisper this way but I'd have to test further as I don't yet understand the possible theory behind this. Wonder if others could expand on this point - is it true or not or is it tube dependant - what's the theory?

Scott a quick question - you seem to have higher spec software and hardware than me. You're running at 72Hz, does this mean your playing pal at 24 frames per second with pitch alteration? This is something I'd like to achieve but don't know how feasible it is.

Simon

Yes I am running 24 Frames....My CPU is an Intel 3.4 socket 775...I'm not overclocking but it will overclock to about 3.6....I replaced my AMD 3200+ XP CPU with the Intel 3.4 and saw a definite increase in performance....with FFDshow....never skipping frames, etc. Glad I made the switch....but still using AGP.....

[surrey lad]

Originally Posted by crteaman

800x600 is not 600p? also you most certainly do not want to be running anything like 70hz plus on that unit, the re-trace (re-fresh) is a bit high for it, yes it will do it but its not ideal.

james

Hi James, what is 600p then if its not 800x600?

Henry once said that a cine 7 looks good up to 720p maximum, would that not be 1280x720?

BTW I normally run my cine at 720 x 568p (well thats what I select under powerstrip) with cracking results.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Why 568 and not 576?

Just curious.

Gary

[surrey lad]

Sorry that was a typo error, I meant 576.

[Gary Lightfoot]

OK.

Gary.

[Vince M]

I would also suggest Scott that being your fare will be NTSC-that 540p will be nice as well,when Runco bundled the VHD controller with the 947 it recommended 540p.

[crteaman]

When I talk about resolutions I talk of movie relative reolutions that suit film, yes 800x600 is possibly great for 4x3 but for 16:9 1280x600 or more likely with a Barco 1440x600.

We tested this on a cine 7 using a crysalio scaler (actually used 620) what became clear when creating timing specs on certain crt units is the way they deal with/clamp the signal.

By changing for example the timing specs such as the front porch or back porch by a tiny amount would make a difference in the crt's ability to deal with it, we always start with the VESA timing specs, sorry for not talking in PC monitor specs, its not what I work with although there are some crossover resolutions.

A tremendous performance can be had from a cine 7 or its derivative's by using the likes of the Philips 963 (faroudja 2300 chip) component out directly into the unit, as 'godfather' will testify to.

James